From: ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Samart Srijumnong)
Subject: IT personnel shortage to get worse (fwd Dec 11 Bkk Post)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 17:51:12 GMT
Keywords: Thailand


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Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 23:02:38+0700
From: Kamol Hengkietisak <kamol@ipied.tu.ac.th>
Message-Id: <9212111602.AA04212@ipied.tu.ac.th>
To: post-thai@ipied.tu.ac.th
Subject: Bangkok Post Dec 11: IT personnel shortage to get worse
Status: R


by Kamol Hengkietisak
THAILAND is suffering an acute shortage of skilled information 
technology (IT) personnel and the shortage is getting worse, 
according to Manoo Ordeedolchest, president of the Association of 
Thai Computer Industry.
 
Manoo, who is also managing director of Datamat Ltd, was speaking 
at a panel discussion on "Trends in IT -- the Challenge for 
National Competitiveness" during the IT Week seminar on Thursday 
at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre.
 
He said the country has about 5,680 professionals in the 
information technology industry at present. Universities are now 
able to produce graduates in the field of computer science and 
computer engineering at a rate of about 1,000 per year.
 
This figure is a recent event for the last two years. Before that, 
the country would be lucky to get 300-400 graduates 10 years ago.
 
A system analyst now has to supervise information technology worth 
about nine million baht per year, but Manoo noted that in the year 
2000 if the IT personnel graduation rate is maintained, one 
analyst will have to supervise IT worth 30 million baht, 
considering the growth in IT spending in this country. This is too 
much a burden for the industry.
 
If the country cannot produce enough highly skilled professionals, 
would it be possible to reduce the use of IT? Manoo's answer to 
this was an emphatic "no." Thailand needs to keep up with its 
neighbours and the world to maintain a competitive edge in the 
global marketplace.
 
The need for highly skilled personnel will be even more pronounced 
in the future when more complex and demanding applications are 
used. For this reason, short- and long-term plans will have to be 
devised to cope with the problem.
 
A short-term solution is to organise an intensive training course 
to upgrade programmers to analysts. For this purpose, the Japanese 
Government supports the establishment of a Software Training 
Centre by the Ministry of Universities Affairs.
 
The sad thing is that only 15 turned up to apply for training, 
according Manoo. The reason may be that due to full-time courses, 
employers did not allow their employees to attend the course, or 
public relations were sorely lacking.
 
For long-term solutions, government and private tertiary 
institutes have to shoulder the burden, he said.
 
On this point, Prof Dr Pairash Thajchayapong could not guarantee 
the delivery of enough such graduates. He cited the lack of 
instructors as the main reason, as very bright students would 
rather go to the private sector and earn 3-4 times more.
 
Prof Dr Pairash, president of King Mongkut's Institute of 
Technology Lat Krabang and acting director of the National 
Electronics & Computer Technology Centre, said several 
universities tried to increase the number of students in the 
information technology field, but as long as the shortage of 
instructors cannot be tackled, the problem will not go away.
 
Giving them an extra teaching load with more pay could be a 
short-term solution, but the instructors could only teach a 
certain number of hours before the quality declines, he said.
 
More incentives need to be given to attract people into the 
profession. Prof Pairash cited neighbouring countries such as 
Singapore which pays the instructors at the same rate as they may 
earn from the private sector.
 
Another point that compounds the manpower shortage problem is that 
IT professionals are leaving the field to become managers or sales 
directors. Manoo noted that only about 80% of graduates in the IT 
field entered the profession.
 
The lack of highly skilled IT professionals is one of the reason 
why Thailand is currently the manufacturing base of computers and 
peripherals for multinationals, while higher valued-added 
components such as design and testing facilities are located 
elsewhere such as in Singapore and Japan.
 
On training IT personnel, Prof Dr Srisakdi Charmonman of KMIT Lat 
Krabang, would like to see more coordination among Government 
agencies.
 
He told the audience that Thailand had proposed Software Training 
Centre with Japanese Government help even before Singapore but 
could realise the project later due to internal rivalry between 
the Ministry of Universities Affairs and the Science, Technology 
and Environment Ministry.
 
Japanese Government was purplexed when they received assistance 
from the two agencies. The matter had to be resolved by the 
Cabinet resolution and that Ministry of Universities Affairs got 
the nod to carry out the project.
 
Prof Srisakdi mentioned the lack of research and development 
support from the Government and private sector as one of the 
reason that universities' instructors have to teach too much and 
thus lack necessary skills to keep up with advancing technology.
 
The lack of research fund could be cited as another reason for 
perennial shortage of instructors in this vital field.
 
If the country continued to ignore R&D, "we may be able to use 
only outdated technology," warned Prof Srisakdi.
 
Bunjong Tariyo, senior vice president in charge of computer 
department, Bank for Agriculture & Agricultural Cooperatives 
(BAAC), was more optimistic about the usage of IT in Thailand.
 
He said that he spent most of his adult life in the US and saw the 
development of IT in that country. He just came back a few years 
ago but were amazed how quickly Thailand adopted the new 
technology.
 
Bunjong noted that by being late in adopting IT may not be 
disadvantageous right now because the country could now afford to 
adopt newer technology without paying the price of maintaining 
compatibility of the outdated (old) technology as was the case 
with several US companies.
 
Bunjong cared more about the efficient use of the existing 
equipment. In his opinion, the present usage of IT is inefficient 
due to lack of qualified personnel and know-how.
 
However, if the country keeps learning new technology and its 
application, one day it will be able to catch up with others but 
it would be unrealistic to catch up with the US, he added.
 
Since the IT is getting more sophisticated and varied, it poses 
increasing problem for IT personnel to devise systems that satisfy 
users' demands.
 
Concerning his clients who are mostly farmers, Bunjong said that 
the bank needs to upgrade its information system so as to be able 
to provide timely information to its clients to carry out the most 
efficient production.
 
Bunjong saw the role of database as the necessary tool for 
management to make informed decision in running the organisation. 
So well-planned database structure is essential. Online 
information should be widespread and the management must be 
trained to use database effectively.