I was born in a used car dealer family, and grew up in Bangkok, Thailand in the 1970s. I studied from elementary to secondary school at Saint’s Gabriel College where my engineering interest was formed. I became an engineering student at Chulalongkorn University in the 1993. During the four years of my undergraduate study, I participated in many environmental conservation camps that allowed me to socialize with friends in various disciplines and broadened my perspective of thought from merely engineering. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in May 1997, I worked as a civil engineer at Thai Engineering Consultants Company Limited from June 1997 to May 1998, and the Office of Accelerated Rural Development from 1998 to 1999. I was awarded an International Road Federation Fellowship in 2000 to pursue the graduate study in the USA, and Huff Graduate Fellowship in Transportation from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), USA. 

I earned a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in transportation engineering in May 2002 and December 2006, respectively, from UT Austin.  During my graduate study, I worked as a graduate research assistant in various research projects from Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), National Science Foundation and the Southwest Region University Transportation Center.  During the seven years of my graduate study, I learned to think of difficulties as challenges that could be overcome, and to always look on the bright side of a bad situation. After I got my Ph.D., I became a postdoctoral fellow at UT Austin from January to May 2007, and then a transportation engineer at Maricopa Association of Governments, Phoenix, Arizona from June to December 2007.  After seven years studying and working in the States, I decided to return to Thailand to be with my family in 2008. 

I worked as a lecturer in the School of Transportation Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), Nakhorn Ratchasima, Thailand from January 2008 to September 2009. Then, I moved to King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok in October 2009, and was promoted to be an assistant professor in 2010. I was married to an accountant in a private company in 2012. We have a daughter who was born in 2013. In the same year, I was promoted to be an associate professor. I have been the director of civil engineering technology program since 2018. On May 7th, 2020, the KMUTT university council approved my promotion to be a full professor since October 11th, 2019. In March 2023, I became a Fulbrighter as I was approved by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for a Fulbright grant under the 2023 Fulbright Thai Visiting Scholar Program to conduct a research project at UT Austin from January to June 2024. 

       Over the past years, I have taught four graduate courses and four undergraduate courses. I advised a doctoral student and 56 master students. I was awarded research grants from KMUTT, Thailand Research Fund, Thai Roads Foundation, Thailand Accident Research Center, Office of National Research Council of Thailand, Commission on Higher Education, and Thailand Science Research and Innovation. I received the best research paper award from the 5th National Transport Conference, Thailand in 2008 and the outstanding research paper award from the 17th National Convention on Civil Engineering in 2012. I was named a 2016 Thailand Research Fund Research Scholar (equivalent to an NSF CAREER award recipient in USA) by Thailand Research Fund. These research projects were related to transportation network modeling, transportation logistics, traffic safety and transportation planning. I have published 37 articles in international journals, 8 articles in Thai journals, 23 articles in international conference proceedings, 37 articles in Thai conference proceedings, a book chapter and a Thai textbook.

       In addition to research, I have participated in consulting projects for Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning Office, Office of Energy Policy and Planning, Provincial Electricity Authority, Department of Highways, Marine Department, Department of Land Transport, The Vacharaphol Company Limited (i.e., Thairath), Department of International Trade Promotion, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Expressway Authority of Thailand, and Department of Rail Transport. I have been a member of the expert committee to evaluate environmental impact assessment reports on building, land allocation and community service for the Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment, Samut Prakan province from 2016 to 2024. These works allowed me to apply concepts and theories to practical projects, and to improve my teaching by using real case studies extracted from these projects. 

Office Address:                                                                                

Department of Civil Engineering, 

Faculty of Engineering, 

King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi                                                    

126 Pracha U-tid Road, Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok, 10140, Thailand

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8691-138X

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ampol_Karoonsoontawong

Office Phone: 02-470-9150, 02-470-9134-6

Fax: 02-427-9063

Cell Phone: 083 296-7575

Email: ampol.kar@kmutt.ac.th, ampolk@gmail.com