The Impact of the Thailand Olympic Academy on the Olympic Movement in Thailand.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the Thailand Olympic Academy (TOA) from 2010 to 2018 has attained its goals, to assess the outcomes of this program and to determine the short term and long term impact of the program on the Olympic Movement in Thailand. A triangulated methodology was used, consisting of document analysis, a mail survey, and interviews. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The results reveal that the goals of the TOA were met and that there was a large number of positive outcomes, both personal and social, from the TOA experience. It was concluded that the TOA has impacted on the Olympic Movement in Thailand because there are a greater number of people who are actively incorporating the Olympic ideals into their lives or promoting the Olympic ideals to others. For the most part, the TOA has had both a short term and long term impact. However, there are indications from the interviews that, for some, the effects of the program did lessen over time. In terms of priorities for future research, there are a number of suggestions that arise from this study. First of all, the applicability of the TOA Impact Model to other education programs should be assessed. Secondly, all TOA educational programs should be evaluated to determine their impact. Thirdly, this study revealed a number of first order effects of the TOA. A suggestion for future research would be to examine the second order effects of the program. This would involve communicating with the people that come into contact with the alumni and alumnae to assess differences in behaviour after they attended the TOA (e.g., do the students of a teacher who attends the TOA perceive a change in the teacher?). Lastly, as the number of NOAs around the world increases, it would be valuable to do comparative research to establish the effectiveness of the varying academy formats