Thailand is accelerating the production of professional engineers to cope with the upcoming free flow of professional engineers within the region, when the ASEAN Community is in place in 2015.

The ten ASEAN members have agreed on the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Engineering Services, which aims to facilitate mobility of engineering services professionals and to exchange information in order to promote adoption of best practices on standards and qualifications.

According to the Council of Engineers of Thailand, Thailand currently divides engineers into four groups: Adjunct Engineer, Associate Engineer, Professional Engineer, and Senior Professional Engineer. Among the four groups, the Associate Engineer category is the largest, with 100,000 persons.

There are only 25,000 Thai professional engineers and senior professional engineers who are eligible to take part in the free flow of ASEAN professional engineers, covering seven fields, namely civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, mining engineering, chemical engineering, and environmental engineering.

The Council of Engineers of Thailand has set a target to develop 10,000 adjunct and associate engineers into professional engineers each year. In this regard, it will provide support for adjunct and associate engineers who need to attend training and seminars, which would be organized by the Council and other organizations. This will increase the number of hours for their training, so that they will meet the requirements for upgrading to professional engineers.

Under the MRA on Engineering Services, an ASEAN chartered professional engineer will be eligible to apply to the professional regulatory authority of a host country to be recognized as a registered foreign professional engineer.

By the end of 2013, the Council of Engineers of Thailand is expected to start to accept applications by Thai professional engineers to be registered as ASEAN chartered professional engineers. It is in the process of working out additional regulations on visa issuance for registered engineers from other ASEAN countries wanting to work in Thailand.

It will also hold forums in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Commerce to listen to the opinions of engineers nationwide, before the new regulations come into force in early 2016. Reports the Thai Government Public Relations Department.