IN MEMORY OF
Associate Professor Manat Chaisawat
Past President (2010 – 2011)

Associate Professor Manat Chaisawat had passed away in September 2021 in Phuket, Thailand. He was one of the founding members of APacCHRIE and was the host of two annual conferences of APacCHRIE in Thailand.

He was with the Prince of Songkla University for more than 24 years serving in different campuses. He was an Associate Professor, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and a member of the Federation of Accounting Professionals (Under the Royal Patronage of The Majesty the King). His educational achievements included an MBA majoring in Finance, BS in Business Administration and BS in Commerce. He had held several administrative positions with Prince of Songkla University, namely as Secretary of Faculty of Management Sciences, Deputy Dean, Dean, Director of Extension and Director of the MBA programme.

His contributions were globally recognized when he received the 2017 APTA (Asia Pacific Tourism Association) Founder’s (Dr. Hai-Sik Sohn) Award. He wrote a number of academic and research papers in the areas of Policy and Planning of Tourism Product Developments and Hospitality Education. He was also one of the Associate Editors of Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research. He held various positions in international associations such as Board Member and National Representative of APTA (Asia Pacific Tourism Association) and Founding President of TAAT (Tourism Academic Association: Thailand). To keep abreast with developments in Tourism and Hospitality, he had held several Professional Membership in AIEST (Association Internationale D’Experts Scientifiques Du Tourisme), APETIT (Asia-Pacific Education and Training Institutes in Tourism), I-CHRIE (The International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education), and PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association). He had been invited as a guest speaker in various national and international conferences and has participated as session chair, chair, and moderator to support conferences.

Associate Professor Manat Chaisawat was such a gracious man always with smile on his face and was an avid supporter of APacCHRIE. All of us from APacCHRIE want to express our deepest sympathy and condolences to the surviving family. May his soul rest in eternal peace!