Work Smart in the Thailand 4.0 era by Dr. Kalyarat Thirathanachaikun, Lecturer in the Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration, Sripatum University

Currently, Thailand has entered the Thailand 4.0 economic development model. The first model is Thailand 1.0, in which the government sector focuses on investment in the agricultural sector, such as vegetable farming, animal husbandry, and gardening. At that time, exports were only teak and tin. The next model was Thailand 2.0, which focused on light industry but turned to using a lot of labor instead, such as clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories. The next model was Thailand 3.0, which was the era of heavy industry and exports. There was more foreign investment, higher technology, and an emphasis on automotive parts and more complex electrical circuits. In terms of investment, there was also a move to invest abroad. The current model is Thailand 4.0, which emphasizes ‘driving the economy with innovation’ by changing from the past where we did a lot but got little return to doing a little but getting a huge return by using creativity as a driving force and using innovation to help change from producing goods to providing more services.
Therefore, the current work must be adjusted according to the economic development model. Many organizations have transformed their organizations into innovative organizations and have implemented new working methods to make management easier and of higher quality. When the organization has transformed itself, the important thing is that the “people” in the organization must also adapt. Otherwise, they will become obsolete and unable to work according to the organization’s objectives. Therefore, as workers, we must find ways to work intelligently, or what is called Work Smart. Now, working at Work Smart means having knowledge and skills in technology, knowing how to fully utilize technology, being creative, being able to invent new innovations in the production of goods and services, and having language communication skills, such as being able to communicate well in English or being able to communicate well in Chinese. The most important thing in working is time management, so that work life and family life are balanced. You must know how to divide your time and manage it, as well as being able to prioritize work. These things will help us work in a Work Smart way.