Royal Society of Thailand

The Royal Society (ราชบัณฑิตยสภา, , râːt.t͡ɕhā.bān.dìt.tā.já(ʔ).sā.phāː) is the national academy of Thailand in charge of academic works of the government. The secretariat of the society is the Office of the Royal Society (สํานักงานราชบัณฑิตยสภา, ), formerly known as the Royal Institute (ราชบัณฑิตยสถาน, ). The office is an independent agency under the prime minister's supervision. The Royal Society was established on 19 April 1926 and was dissolved on 31 March 1934. The dissolved society was split into the Royal Institute and the Fine Arts Department. On 14 February 2015, the Royal Institute was reorganised. Its administrative council became the Royal Society, whilst the institute itself became the office of the society. According to the present structure, the members of the Royal Society are of three types: associate fellows, fellows, and honorary fellows. The associate fellows are experts selected and appointed by the society. The fellows are associate fellows selected by the society and appointed by the monarch upon advice of the prime minister. And the honorary fellows are prominent experts selected by the society and appointed in the same manner as the fellows. The society is known for its role in the planning and regulation of the Thai language, as well as its many publications, particularly the Royal Institute Dictionary, the official and prescriptive dictionary of the Thai language, and the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS), the official system for romanising Thai words. The budget allocated to the Royal Society for FY2019 is 192.2 million baht. On 19 April 1926, the Royal Society was established by King Prajadhipok. The society was later dissolved on 31 March 1933 and its divisions were incorporated into two new agencies. The academic divisions became the Royal Institute. The archaeological divisions became the Fine Arts Department. According to the Act on Royal Institute, 1934, which took effect on 24 April 1934, the institute was a juristic person sponsored by the government and the prime minister was in charge of the institute.