Wanarat Thothong, head of photogrammetry of the Department of Land Development of the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand has played an important role in supporting Cartography and the ICA in Southeast Asia over the last 20 years. She has not only been active in the cartographic life of Thailand but has actively participated in various UN meetings that have been held in its Southeast Asia headquarters and in UN conferences on Standardization of Geographical Names. She has also participated in UN Regional Cartographic Conferences for Asia and the Pacific.
Wanarat Thothong is a member of several ICA commissions, and has had strong input in the ICA Commission on Education and Training, the Commission on Map Production, and the Commission on Cartography and Gender. She has hosted at least three seminars for ICA on behalf of the commission on Education and Training, the Commission on Map Production, and the Commission on Mapping from Satellite Imagery. These hosted events included the Seminar on Basic Cartography in 1991, the Seminar on Digital Cartography and GIS in 1994, and the Seminar on GIS and Mapping for Agricultural Decision Support in 2003, all in Bangkok. In addition to doing the local organization for all three, she produced, with the help of her staff, the proceedings of each event, a practice she introduced in the ICA community.
For her outstanding contributions to cartography in Thailand, Southeast Asia, and the broader Asian and Pacific region, and for her tireless support of ICA activities in the region, the International Cartographic Association awards Wanarat Thothong its Honorary Fellowship.
