Our department was established in the name of the Social Development Program since 2000 and has grown to become one of the leading Department of Sociology and Anthropology in northern Thailand. We are known nationally for our strong postgraduate program in Social Development. Our department has an outstanding research focus and extensive international link. We are also producing undergraduate students with the analytical and critical thinking skills demanded by employers. Over the last few years, our academic staffs have won a variety of prestigious teaching and research awards, along with millions of dollars in research grants from national and international funding agencies. Funding has allowed our staffs and postgraduate students to pursue their research interests in locations as diverse as France, Vietnam, India, Laos, and Japan. Much important social research is carried out within Thailand and her neighbors in both urban and rural settings. Staffs are engaged in both purely academic and rigorously applied studies that have practical outcomes for clients including community organizations, government and industry groups.

          The contemporary emergence of ASEAN Community and North-South Economic Corridor leads to our strategic planning in providing a refreshingly creative academic environment for partnership and cooperative network. In response to the need for integration of social science and ASEAN/ASIAN knowledge, the department strives to become a regional center for applied sociological and anthropological studies, linking graduate teaching and research to development policy and practice. Moreover, our Department has close working link to the especially in the areas of applied sociology and anthropology such as community organization, medical social sciences, social research, social studies, community Business, environmental impact assessment, ethnic and gender relations, ethnicity, tourism and development.