Page 105 - A Life Well-Lived Is a Beautiful Memory

obscure without sacrificing rigor. His last attendance of an AEP meeting was in October 2022,
in Seoul. By that time, he knew that ‘the end was clearly coming’, but he was in his usual jovial

mood with a contented smile throughout the sessions. He chaired the concluding session of the
meeting with style.
As the Thai counterpart of the ACIAR project, Ajarn Bhanupong made an invaluable
contribution to broaden our understanding of the success of Thailand as a major exporter of

process food and the challenges faced by Thai exporting firms in complying with international
food safety standards, a prerequisite for successfully penetrating developed-country markets. He
contributed a number of papers to the project based on field visits and interview with exporting
firms, including a major contribution (jointly with Chalermpol Chamchan) to Food Safety Concerns

and Trade: The Developing Country Perspective (Macmillan India, 2005).
A final tribute to Ajarn Bhanupong personality: he liked people and ideas, and he did so
without thoughts of private aggrandizement or personal vanity. He was a great raconteur with
a fine sense of humor and deep respect for others. He was a ‘man of conviction’, but he was

never aggressive or incoherent even in intense arguments; reasoned calmness was a hallmark of
his character as a public intellectual. As Hal Hill (of ANU) has aptly characterized him, Ajarn
Bhanupong was the embodiment of all that is admirable about Thai culture and personal behaviour.

Prema-chandra Athukorala is an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Australian National
University (ANU) and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. His
publications include eleven books, seven edited volumes, and over two hundred papers in scholarly
journals and multi-author volumes. He has served, at various times, as a consultant to the World
Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Trade Organization, International Labor Organisation,
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, International Trade Centre, United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

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