How was organizing the first international congress in Thailand managed?
What were the challenges, how did the organizing committee get things to
work together?
Thailand was elected to host the 4th AOCR during the third AOCR held in
Singapore in 1979. The venue was a very new and modern convention center,
the Hyatt Central Plaza, opened in 1982. The convention center was close to
the international and domestic airport (not the current [Suvanarbhumi
airport].) The organizing committee came from both major university
hospitals and a few private hospitals. The president of the congress, Dr
Romsai Suwanik, was very well known internationally. Most of the Thai
radiologists at that time also had their training from abroad. We used our
connections to invite many guest lecturers from overseas.
How did it feel that this was the largest AOCR since 1975 with 1500
attendees? What and how did the organizing committee manage to achieve this
feat?
There were not that many congresses held during that time, especially in the
region. Thailand had less than 500 radiologists then. The participants were
not only radiologists but radiological technologists, a few medical
physicists, and many technical exhibitors as well.
This was prior to electronic communications and in the early years of the
AOSR - was the AOSR known to all in Thailand, or was it still relatively
unknown to the Thai radiology and allied community then? What about then and
now?
The Thai radiology community was small at that time. Thailand had only a few
hundred radiologists. Most of the radiologists were in the university
hospitals and some private sectors. Everyone seemed to know each other.
Although AOSR was not well known to Thai radiologists before the congress,
the president of the congress and the chairman of the local organizing
committee (Dr.Romsai Suwanik and Dr Dusdee Prabhasawat, president of the
Radiological Society of Thailand in the year 1983 ) were both well respected
by the radiology community and easily got participation from everyone. (Both
of them have passed away.)
