Nitiphumthanat Ming-rujiralai (; born 5 June 1960) is a Thai politician and newspaper columnist.
Early life
He was born on 5 June 1960 in Trat Province but brought up in Chantaburi Province. It is believed that in his ancestral line that there is one man from India and a woman from China. His great grandmother was a Chinese lady whose surname was Li.
On 15 September 2016 the Most Venerable Somdet Phra Wannarat, Abbot of Wat Bowonniwet Vihara who was also born in Trat, changed his name from Nitipoom Navaratna (นิติภูมิ นวรัตน์) to Nitiphumthanat Ming-rujiralai in order to continue the legacy of his late father Mr. Ming.
Education
Nitiphumthanat studied at Wat Sueng Lang School (Buddhist Temple School) in Khlung district, also at Sriharuthai Catholic School and Khlung Ratchadapisek School. He moved to Trattrakankhun School, Trat Province and to Benchamarachuthit School, Chantaburi Province. He also spent one year as a Rotary youth exchange student at St. Arnaud High School (now known as St. Arnaud Secondary College) in rural Victoria, Australia.
Nitiphumthanat graduated bachelor's degree from the department of International Relations, Faculty of Political science, Ramkhamhaeng University, master's degree in Public administration, Thammasat University and doctorate (Ph.D) in History from the Institute of Asian and African studies (ISSA), Moscow State University. His Ph D dissertation was titled ‘Changes and developments in political views of military governments of Burma in 1962 – 1997’ which he wrote and defended in English and was translated into Russian.
From 2005 Nitiphumthanat devoted 10 years of his life to studying at six of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Firstly, he attended the Royal Thai Army War College (Batch 51), a college which admits only army personnel with a rank of colonel or above, where he studied for one full-time year. He graduated with distinction after writing his thesis "The Instilling of Virtue and Morality in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam". He then studied at the National Justice Academy (Batch 11) for a year where his graduation thesis was entitled "Law related to power of duty of the city law enforcement officers in Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The study is focused on the law related to supervision of construction works and ensuring order of the city".
He is also a graduate of the Capital Market Academy (Batch 5) where senior officers from banks, listed companies and high government officials hone their leadership skills. He also attended the National College of the Interior (Batch 57), an institution which trains civil servants and officials to be provincial governors. Subsequently, he attended the Police College (Batch 31) which prepares police colonels for the rank of major general and to become provincial commanders. He then went on to study at the renowned National Defence College of Thailand (Batch 2555) and the Political and Electoral Development Institute (Batch 5). He is one of the few people in the country who has studied at all six of these most prestigious institutions in Thailand.
Civil service career
When Nitiphumthanat returned to Thailand from Australia, he served for the Cooperative Promotion Department on the Thai-Cambodian border before establishing Balance Tutor Moo, a private tutoring school, in Bangkok. In 1985 he became 2nd lieutenant in the Border Patrol Police operating on the Thai-Myanmar border. In 1991 he was offered a scholarship in the Soviet Union to pursue his doctorate degree and he later resigned from the Royal Thai Police with the rank of captain.
Teaching and inspirational speaking
In 1982 Nitiphumthanat founded a Tutoring School named, Balance Tutor Moo, which quickly became one of the most popular Tutor Schools at that time. From 1982 till now there have been in excess of 100,000 students who have enrolled for courses. Nitiphumthanat was also the Director of Asian and African Studies, Martin de Tours School of Management and Economic at Assumption University of Thailand from 9 August 2003 – 31 May 2015. When time permitted, he also accepted public speaking engagements in every province in Thailand.