:: Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University ::

The Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Building
Nine Decades of the Faculty of Arts

It has been almost a century since H. M. King Vajiravudh established Chulalongkorn University and the Faculty of Arts was one of the university’s first four faculties. Since then, the Faculty of Arts has fulfilled its mission to produce graduates whose areas of specialization are Thai and foreign languages, their literature and culture as well as their history. It has been acclaimed, both nationally and internationally, as a resource for people in the Arts and Humanities.

Upon its establishment in 1916, the Faculty of Arts was located in Windsor Mansion , a royal residence built at H. M. King Chulalongkorn’s royal command for H. R. H. Crown Prince Maha Vajirunahis. Later, it was transferred to the current site, which comprises four buildings: the Arts I Building, which is now under the management of the university; the Arts II Building, which serves as the Faculty of Arts’ Library and the administrative offices of the Faculty of Arts; the Arts III Building, which was demolished and replaced by the Boromrajakumari (BRK) Building and the Arts IV Building.The BRK Building is used for classrooms and offices and is shared by students and staff members from other faculties. This means that the Faculty of Arts has sole use of only the Arts IV Building to conduct classes and other academic activities. The building, with only four classrooms, is too limited in space for the Faculty to organize classes and activities in a satisfactory manner. This greatly hinders the further development of the Faculty that is necessary in order to maintain the highest standards of teaching.

For this reason, the Faculty of Arts has tried to obtain financial support from the university to construct a new building where it can have full autonomy in the use of classrooms and offices. Appreciating that the Faculty of Arts is in crucial need of a new building, the university has had the plan of a new building sketched and has applied for funds for its construction from the government. Now that the budget has been allocated, the construction can be launched in 2007, which coincides with the celebrations of the ninetieth anniversary of the Faculty of Arts.

The building will have nine storeys and is to be named “Maha ChakriSirindhorn” by H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. It will consist of nine reading and conference rooms, seven language, computer and geography laboratories and ninety classrooms. These ninety classrooms will be divided into twenty-four rooms that will be able to accommodate nine seats, twenty-four rooms of fifteen seats, twelve rooms of eighteen seats, six rooms of twenty seats, twelve rooms of thirty-two seats and twelve rooms of sixty seats. All of these rooms will be unfurnished. To ensure quality teaching, they will need basic furniture such as desks and tables as well as high technology audio-visual aids; for example, one-hundred-inch folding screens, overhead projectors, wireless, portable amplifiers, LCD projectors, laptop computers and visualizers. The budget granted is sufficient to cover the construction cost only and the Faculty of Arts cannot depend on government funding for furnishing it and to pay for the installation of the high technology equipment vital to quality teaching and learning. The Faculty will also have to be responsible for utilities bills and the building’s maintenance expenses.

Final estimates indicate that the Faculty of Arts has to acquire the following sums for furnishing and installing audio-visual systems in the rooms:

Furniture (90 rooms) approximately 10,000,000 Baht
Audio-visual aids (66 rooms) approximately 3,000,000 Baht
Multi-media system (24 rooms) approximately 13,000,000 Baht
Laboratories (7 rooms) approximately 14,000,000 Baht.

This will bring the cost to at least 40,000,000 Baht in total. There is also a need for the Faculty of Arts to raise funds in order to pay to the university, at least 1,800,000 Baht a year, for utilities . The Faculty of Arts has therefore discussed this matter with the Association of the Faculty of Arts Alumni in order to find ways of raising funds and in order to form a foundation to administer the building in the future.

H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has named the foundation, the Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Foundation for the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University and she has graciously agreed for it to be under her royal patronage. Her Royal Highness will also chair the Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Foundation for the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University .

The Committee of the Foundation wishes to ask Arts students and alumni, as well as those who are interested in promoting education, to follow the example of H.R.H. Princess Maha Chari Sirindhorn and donate to the Foundation.

For further information, please contact

Piyaporn Homsiri,
The Association of the Faculty of Arts Alumni
Tel. 02-2532059.

Jarin Muanjamnong,
The Dean’s Office, Faculty of Arts,
Tel. 02-2184885.

Donation Form - Please download here.