The reason I'm so keen to study at the Bachelor of Economics International Program, Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University is because of my interest in Economics. Many of my family members are economists. My Great Grand Father, Sanish Prabhasanobol, was the first employee at Bank of Thailand. My grand father, Prasert Prabhasanobol, recieved an M.A. in Economics from Thammasat where he met my grand mother who was studying in Thammasat as a hi-school student (around 50 years ago Thammasat had a pre-university level). He has written some books on economics. My uncle, Rujapong, used to work in BOT until he moved to the Gaysorn group. One of my cousins graduated from BE only two years ago. Another one is currently studying in third year. My mother and her sister both graduated from Thammasat university- in fact, my mother, Thananya Shrestha, is teaching at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication. So, I feel kind of yellow and red in my blood already.
 My own interests in Economics started from my study of philosophy and politics. I found out that Economics is the great combination of the two great humanistic disciplines. As my grand father tells me, Economics is the art and science of managing resources. Therefore, it is the most challenging subject because Economics is the study of macrocosmic links among resources. Economics is a study in the wholeness of resources. In this, I’m truly interested to find out the holistic, ecological ways of resource management. My grand father has also repeatedly told me that economics does not just determine the profession of a person but it shapes his thinking by synthesizing central humanistic concepts. He says Economists is fundamental to modern thinking. I agree with him because most of the great leaders and thinkers have had a solid background in the fundamentals of economics. Look at Plato, Karl Marx, Pridi Bonomyong or even George Soros.
 I am in the United States attending high school while writing this essay, I can see that the most influential person in this country is not President Clinton but Allan Greenspan, Chairman of of the Federal Reserves. I decided in 1996 that I want to study Economics when I chose to study Art-Math section in my high school because I could see that the knowledge of History and Humanities would help me better than Physics or Chemistry because it would help me understand human's thinking and practices, which are main factors in Economical events. As I was watching the Asian Economics Crisis, I could see that Psychology become a great factor in economical events, it is very fascinating to me to explore the relation of Economics and Psychology. I also studied Calculus because it is fundamental to the understanding of Economics. By talking to my two B.E. cousins and by its reputation, I know that Thammasat’s BE English program is one of the best in Thailand and Asia. Besides the high quality of study program, faculty members and student exchange program, I like the student’s activities like Harvard project that my cousin (Sira Klongvicha) participated and mini-symposium. I hope that, if I'm accepted to study BE, I’ll have an opportunity to work with my fellow students and faculty members and seek new Economics theories and practices that would apply to our country. I would like to study and find out which direction the future Economists of Thailand should go, how the future economists can contribute to lead Thailand to the right path by providing a holistic, ecological management of resources not just blind, short-term business/ corporation/industrial/finance oriented approach which led us to the Great Economic Crash of 1997!
At Thammasat as a BE student I also look forward to playing an active role in the students activities. At St Gabriel’s, I was the president of Computer Club. Currently I’m a vice president of an American Intercultural Students Exchange (AISE) Thai students. Last year, A few friends and I from my Mathayom 4 class called ourselves VSHOCX band and played XJAPAN songs at three department stores and for TeenTalk, Lok Don Tri TV program. At my American high school, I’m a member of jazz band and concert band. I play piano and guitar and I certainly hope to contribute to making extracurricular activities of BE students at Thammasat a rich one.

by Sunit Shrestha