engineering

Thongtip Ratanarat

Thongtip Ratanarat is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Thongtip Ratanarat rather than just read about it. In short: Khun Ying Thongtip Ratanarat (Thai: ทองทิพ รัตนะรัต, RTGS: Thongthip Ratanarat; born 24 June 1942) is a Thai chemical engineer. She is a member of the board of directors of The Siam Fine Chemicals and of the Foundation for the Petroleum Institute of Thailand (PTIT).

Key takeaways

Thongtip Ratanarat belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Thongtip Ratanarat to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Thongtip Ratanarat from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Khun Ying Thongtip Ratanarat (Thai: ทองทิพ รัตนะรัต, RTGS: Thongthip Ratanarat; born 24 June 1942) is a Thai chemical engineer. She is a member of the board of directors of The Siam Fine Chemicals and of the Foundation for the Petroleum Institute of Thailand (PTIT). From 1985 to 2005 she was the PTIT's executive director.

Life and work After completing her studies in chemical engineering, Khunying Thongtip Ratanarat became a research assistant at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. When she returned to Thailand, she worked as a lecturer in chemical engineering at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in applied geophysics from Chiang Mai University in 2005. She also received an honorary PhD in chemical engineering from Kasetsart University for her work in 2013. From 1985 to 2005 she was executive director of the Petroleum Institute of Thailand. Subsequently, she worked as an advisor to the PTT Public Co., Ltd. She is Member of the Board of Directors of The Siam Fine Chemicals. She was judge of the Platts Global Energy Awards in 2004, 2011 and 2013. She was the chairperson of the committee investigating the 2013 Rayong oil spill. She is also a member of the national advisory board of the Chulabhorn Research Institute in Bangkok and director emeritus of the Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources. Thongtip has sung with King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Au Saw Friday Band. She has been a lady-in-waiting to Queen Sirikit since 1973.

Development of biofuels During her career she encouraged the local production of natural gas and focussed particularly on the development of biofuels, to overcome the volatility of the petroleum market. By 2002 she observed that ‘vulnerability is the rule of the game’ due to instability and tension in the Middle East and the related terrorism threats. In terms of self-reliance Europe and Asia were therefore following the U.S. in looking for deriving energy from other sources. In 2004 she noted that Thailand needs a master plan to maximise the value of locally produced natural gas. In 2012 she was quoted as saying: ‘We should get more serious about joint development of biofuels as, in the future, oil prices will definitely increase. It will also help strengthen the Asean Economic Community as we could all grow, blend, sell and consume by ourselves’. She urged the government to encourage the use of E20 and E85 ethanol blended fuel among Thai motorists.

Family She is a sister of Thongchat Hongladarom, the first governor of PTT, when it was still a state enterprise. She married in 1969 Chira Ratanarat, who is now the chief executive officer of The Siam Chemicals Public Company (SCC), and has with him three sons: Tisanu Ratanarat (born 1974), Sichart Ratanarat (born 1976) and Porapong Ratanarat (born 1982).

Publications Thongtip Ratanarat; et al. (1987). Population policy background paper for the sixth national economic and social development plan. Thailand Development Research Institute; Human Resources Institute, Thammasat University. Thongtip Ratanarat; et al. (2003). From banana leaf to plastic bag (PDF). The Petroleum Institute of Thailand.

References

Further reading ยุพยง เหมะศิลปิน (Yupayong Hemasilpin) and เปรื่องบุญ จักกะพาก (Preungboon Chakkaphak): สัมภาษณ์พิเศษ คุณหญิง ทองทิพ รัตนะรัต ผู้อำนวยการสถาบันปิโตรเลียม แห่งประเทศไทย (Khunying Thongtip Ratanarat. Director of the Petroleum Institute of Thailand). Kasetsart University, Bangkok (Thailand). Faculty of Engineering. December 1988 (on-line reference). Laurie Rosenthal (1991), "Khunying Thongtip Ratanarat – Aiming for Excellence", Business Review, 20: 26–27. Victoria S. Licuanan (1992), Beyond Profit: ASEAN Woman Managers in Government and Not-for-profit Organizations, Asian Institute of Management.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thongtip Ratanarat

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thongtip Ratanarat claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Thongtip Ratanarat before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Thongtip Ratanarat ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Thongtip Ratanarat

In research: Thongtip Ratanarat appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Thongtip Ratanarat in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Thongtip Ratanarat is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1942 births, 20th-century Thai businesspeople, 21st-century women engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thongtip Ratanarat outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Thongtip Ratanarat in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Thongtip Ratanarat means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Thongtip Ratanarat out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thongtip Ratanarat in simple terms?

Why does Thongtip Ratanarat matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Thongtip Ratanarat?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Thongtip Ratanarat.