International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, IEAS

Academician

Suvit Vibulsresth

Profile:

Elected Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences in 1997, Dr. Suvit Vibulsresth is a distinguished Thai space scientist and geospatial technology expert whose career has contributed substantially to the development of Thailand’s Earth observation and space infrastructure. He received his B.Eng. in Telecommunication Engineering from Osaka University, Japan, his M.Sc. from McGill University, Canada, and his Ph.D. in Remote Sensing and Space Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan, under the supervision of Professor Shunji Murai, and also pursued advanced studies in remote sensing at Purdue University, USA. He began his professional career as an engineer in Thailand’s Post and Telegraph Department and subsequently served as a scientist at the Applied Scientific Research Corporation of Thailand. He spent more than twenty-five years at the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), ultimately serving as Secretary General, and was Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment from 1997 to 2001. In 2001, he was appointed Executive Director of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), Thailand’s national space agency, where he played a central role in the development of national space and geospatial programmes. A Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, he has received the National Research Council of Thailand Distinguished Scientist Award, royal decorations from the Thai Royal Household, and the Asian Conference on Remote Sensing Outstanding Contribution Award.

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Dr. Vibulsresth’s work has focused on satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems, Earth observation systems, and the application of space technology to disaster management and natural-resource monitoring, with particular emphasis on strengthening Thailand’s indigenous Earth observation capabilities and geospatial data infrastructure. In 1981, he led the establishment of an early Landsat satellite receiving ground station in Southeast Asia, contributing to the development of Thailand’s national remote sensing data infrastructure. As Executive Director of GISTDA, he conceived and directed Thailand’s first national Earth observation satellite programme, THEOS (Thaichote), launched in 2008, providing satellite-based capabilities for cartography, agricultural monitoring, forestry management, coastal surveillance, and flood-risk assessment. He also contributed to the establishment of Thailand’s national spatial data infrastructure (Thai-SDI) and the Sentinel Asia disaster-monitoring node, while leading multinational projects in the Mekong River basin addressing agricultural remote sensing, land-use change, and food-security assessment. He has authored more than 120 publications in international conference proceedings, monographs, and regional journals, and has jointly supervised more than thirty doctoral students from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam as a visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University and the Asian Institute of Technology. Collectively, these contributions reflect a sustained career connecting space science and geospatial technology with national Earth observation capabilities, disaster management, natural-resource monitoring, and regional scientific cooperation across Southeast Asia.