Kasetsart (เกษตรศาสตร์)

Thai. ‘Agriculture’. Name of the first agricultural university and the third university in Thailand, and nowadays the largest university in the nation. Kasetsart University was established on 2 February 1943, evolving from a training school for primary-level teachers in farming, which was established in 1918 as the first college to offer an agricultural curriculum in Thailand. The institute was expanded and became Kasetsart College, from which the current university developed. This public university has shared knowledge under the theme Science of Country, covering agriculture, science and technology, social and human sciences The Kasetsart University today supports academic education and research, providing a research centre, a fieldwork station for students, as well as veterinary training at the Kasetsart Veterinary Teaching Hospital. As an agricultural house of education, the university is related to the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (fig.) and hence has a similar logo and mascot, i.e. a blooming lotus flower with in its centre a depiction of Phra Phirun (fig.), the Thai god of rain, holding a sword upright while standing on the back of a naga that sprouts water from its mouth, surrounded by kanok motifs (fig.). In 1993, the university commemorated its 50th Anniversary and in 2015 its 72nd Anniversary (fig.). Both occasions were marked with a commemorative potage stamp issued by Thailand Post. In Thai, fully known as Mahawithayahlai Kasetsart (มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์), literally ‘University of Agriculture’. See also POSTAGE STAMPS (1) and (2). 回