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Congratulations to Ms. Viengdala Silimongkhoun, a fourth-year student in International Business Management, School of Business Administration. She developed her classroom research project into a published article entitled "Mindful Consumption Through a Thai Lens: A Qualitative Study of Values, Culture, and Behavior."

            The work was presented at the 27^th National and International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences (4/2026), held on 14-15 August 2026 at Souphanouvong University, Lao People's Democratic Republic (online format).

The study explores the concept of "mindful consumption" among Thai consumers through semi-structured in-depth interviews with nine informants, representing diversity in gender, age group, and socioeconomic background. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis and interpreted through the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).

            A key contribution of the study is its identification of three culturally rooted dimensions of Thai society that individualism-oriented Western frameworks often overlook: sufficiency (phor phiang), generosity and collective goodwill (nam jai), and digital mindfulness, which serves as a safeguard against consumption impulses triggered by social media. The study also highlights a “value-behavior gap”: even when consumers strongly uphold sufficiency as taught in Buddhist philosophy and the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, social pressure and digital marketing may still lead to excessive consumption.

The findings fill a gap in the mindful consumption literature, which has developed largely within Western contexts. They offer an important academic insight: measuring mindful consumption in a Thai Buddhist society calls for instruments developed from Thailand's own cultural foundations rather than direct translation of scales from other countries. The study also proposes practical guidance for sustainable marketing and public policy formulation.

            The research was supervised and co-conducted by  Dr.Sarinya Laisawat Suttharattanagul and Dr.Norawat Chutivongse, Instructor in the International Business Management Department, School of Business Administration, with operational support from A.Vajirawit Siripiyaphat, Chairperson, International Business Management Department.

            This achievement reflects Bangkok University's commitment to encouraging students to produce high-quality academic work from the undergraduate level, and to concretely supporting the extension of classroom work to national and international platforms.