Page 73 - A Life Well-Lived Is a Beautiful Memory

Professor

Bhanupong

Nidhiprabha:

An Appreciation

Hal Hill
2 February 2024 Hal Hill and his daughter

It is with a mixture of sadness, respect, and affection that I write these words about the
late Professor Bhanupong. I had the pleasure and privilege of knowing him for more than three
decades, having first met him at an Australian National University conference in the late 1980s,
and thereafter meeting him quite frequently in Thailand, Australia, and elsewhere (including a
memorable conference in South Africa). On one of his Canberra visits, we spent a few days at

our coastal weekender, a relaxing time together when we had ample opportunities to walk and
chat together.
Ajarn Bhanupong was a warm, courteous, charming, elegant, witty, and understated person.

At the risk of misappropriating cultural stereotypes, when I reflect on him I think of him as the
personification of all that is admirable about Thai culture and personal behaviour.
We never formally collaborated academically, but I read what he wrote and always learned so
much from him. I greatly valued his thoughts, about Thailand, the big global issues of the day,
and much else.

From his many friends and admirers in Thailand I could see that he was obviously a wonderful
public citizen and a dedicated teacher. I have heard him speak about his love of teaching on
numerous occasions, and of nurturing successive generations of students at his beloved Thammasat

University. How fortunate the University was to have him as a member of the faculty for several
decades.
Ajarn Bhanupong would be too modest to claim any great academic distinction, but he
was clearly one of Thailand’s finest minds with a major international reputation in the fields of
macroeconomics, international economics, and Southeast Asian economic development.

Ajarn Bhanupong’s monograph on Thai macroeconomic management, co-authored with
Professor Peter Warr, is still a classic study. When Professor Heinz Arndt and I were commissioned

Bhanupong Nidhiprabha 73