Behavioural insights play a critical role in advancing Thailand’s climate and development goals. Small, everyday choices, like reusing bags, switching to electric transport, or separating waste can collectively drive big impact. Through UK PACT, projects in Thailand are helping uncover behavioural barriers and design people-centred solutions, from improving public transport usability to supporting inclusive urban mobility. By combining behavioural science with policy, Thailand can create climate strategies that are both effective and meaningful, turning ambitious goals into real, lasting change.
1) Could you tell us a little about your background and what drew you to behavioural economics and social and behaviour change communication?My background is actually in engineering. I worked in the oil and gas industry for about five years as a petroleum engineer. But while I was there, I started to realize that numbers and logic alone couldn’t explain everything, especially human behaviour. I became really interested in psychology and behaviour sciences, because they help us understand people and why they do what they do. That is the key if we want to design solutions for the society.
That curiosity led me to pursue master’s degrees in psychology and behavioural economics. After that, I co-founded “Nudge Thailand” with a few friends that study in behavioural economic. Our mission is to bring behavioural insights into Thailand to make policies and projects more people centric. For example, we worked with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on a waste separation project. We found that something as simple as giving households an extra bin worked just as well as offering a lottery reward, because the bin itself acted as a constant reminder. Moreover, another experiment founded that just showing people that their separated food waste would be turned into fertilizer helped them connect with the ‘waste journey’ and encouraged better behaviour.
What excites me is that sometimes small and thoughtful communication can make a big difference in behaviour and that’s what keeps me motivated in this field.
2) What motivates you to do the work that you do, especially in the context of climate action and sustainability?
What motivates me most is the belief that even small changes in our daily routines can add up to something really powerful when it comes to climate action. As behavioural economists, each of us tends to focus on different areas, some work on financial decisions, health behavior, and happiness. For me, it’s the environment and climate change. I feel that from the moment we wake up until we go to bed, almost everything we do is connected to the climate in some way.
Take something as simple as single-use plastic bags. If one person reuses a bag a few times, it may not seem like much. But if millions of us, do it, that means less plastic ending up in the ocean and fewer emissions from producing new bags. That’s the kind of collective impact that inspires me.
Of course, environmental behaviours are a bit more complex than, say, health behaviours. When you eat healthy, you feel the benefits yourself directly. But when you cut down on plastic or save energy, the benefits are more collective. They may not show up directly in your life, but they make a huge difference for society. That’s why I’m so interested in how we can nudge many people or communicate in ways that help them see these hidden environment costs and understand that their actions really matter.
It’s challenging, but I truly believe it’s possible. And the best part is, when we all take climate action together, everyone gets to share the benefits.
3) From your perspective, why is behavioural change so critical to achieving Thailand’s climate and development goals?
I think behavioural change is absolutely critical because so many of Thailand’s climate and development goals come down to the everyday choices, we all make. Of course, big infrastructure changes, like investment in clean energy, are important, but they won’t be enough on their own. The way people behave and make decisions is just as big a part of the solutions.
Take transportation as an example. Bangkok has around 80,000 motorcycle taxis running every day, helping people get from their homes to main roads. If even a portion of them switched from fuel engines to electric, the reduction in CO₂ would be huge.
Or think about something as small as turning off the lights in the office during lunch, when many people do it together, the savings really add up. Even household choices, like installing solar panels, are decisions that individuals can make which collectively help move Thailand closer to net zero goals.
That’s why behaviour change matters. it’s not just about big systems change; it’s also about the small, repeated actions we all take in our daily lives.
4) How has your work with UK PACT in Thailand helped address behavioural barriers to low-carbon transitions? Could you share an example?
Our work with UK PACT has been really valuable in helping us understand the real barriers people face when it comes to shifting toward low-carbon transport. We ran focus groups, workshops, and surveys to dig deeper into why people don’t use public transport as much as they could. The insights we found from the sessions were eye-opening.
For example, many people in Bangkok avoid buses because of two main issues, the overall quality of the buses and, more importantly, not knowing when the next one will arrive. While improving quality will take longer, fixing the bus schedule is a quick win, something as simple as having a reliable, visible timetable could immediately make buses a more attractive option for transport.
We also heard from mothers with young children using the skytrain or subway, who said that safety during rush hour was their biggest concern. Behavioural insights like this point to solutions such as designated carriages for parents and kids in rush hours, which could help reduce these worries.
By researching and uncovering these behavioural barriers, we can give government agencies clearer direction, not just on big infrastructures or tax policy, but also on communication and operations strategies that related to behaviours. That way, the policy can work better for people, and in turn, more people are encouraged to make the low-carbon choice.
5) What has it been like working with UK PACT partners and local stakeholders, any personal reflections or highlights from this collaboration?
Working with UK PACT partners and local stakeholders has been an excellent experience. In the low-carbon transition project, I had the chance to learn so much beyond my own field of behavioural economics, from traffic management systems and data modelling, to law, and even urban design, which are connected to transportation. It really showed me how tackling climate action requires so many different areas of expertise working together, and each field can complement each other.
Engaging with local policymakers was also a highlight, because it gave me a deeper understanding of the policy side, how every new initiative has to consider not only the intended outcomes, but also the possible unintended consequence. I also learned a lot from international transport experts, who shared examples from other countries that gave me hope that Thailand can achieve similar progress.
What stood out most for me is how collaboration brings out the best ideas. When we combine technical expertise with insights into people’s behaviour, we can design policies that are not only technically sound but also empathetic, policies that people can relate to and actually adopt. That’s the key to turning good ideas into real change.
6) Looking ahead, what are the key opportunities you see for integrating behavioural insights into Thailand’s climate policies and initiatives?
Looking forward, I see an opportunity for behavioural insights to complement traditional climate policies in Thailand. Many policies often rely on financial incentives or penalties, like charging for CO₂, but that alone isn’t always enough to change behaviour. What really makes a difference is when we design environments and messages that make the sustainable choice easy and better choice.
For example, one insight we’ve seen is that recycling isn’t just about personal responsibility, it can also connect to helping others. In Bangkok, if people know that their separated recyclables can be donated to someone who earns money from selling them, it creates an emotional motivation that costs almost nothing but can drive real action.
That’s why I believe the future lies in combining the ‘carrot and stick’ with behavioural insights that tap into people’s values, emotions, and daily habits. If we understand what motivates different groups, we can design climate policies that are not only effective, but also meaningful and easier for people to comply. That’s how we move from a big vision, like net zero goals, into actions that add up to the real change.
7)What is one lesson you’ve learned through this journey that continues to inspire you?
One lesson I’ve learned is that we can help make the impact even the small actions can lead to the big consequence. So, this reminds me that keep going and don’t lose the confidence that we can create a better environment and society.
