🔸The Office of Arts and Culture was initially established as an academic support unit under the Teachers’ College Act in 1975. Its primary mission was to implement conservation, promotion, and preservation programs for religion, arts, and culture. Initially named the “Pibulsongkram Teachers’ College Center for Arts and Culture,” the office evolved alongside the transformation of teachers’ colleges into Rajabhat Institutes under the Rajabhat Institutes Act. Over time, it has played a dual role—both as a university unit and as a cultural network organization collaborating with various agencies.
🔸1977: The center was designated as a supporting unit for the Cultural Promotion Center, a division of the Cultural Bureau under the Department of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Education.
🔸1980: It was renamed the Center for Cultural Promotion and Development.
🔸1982: The name changed again to the Phitsanulok Provincial Cultural Center, serving as a network unit of the National Culture Commission (NCC), under the Ministry of Education.
🔸1992: The Office of Environmental and Cultural Heritage Conservation, under the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning, Ministry of Science and Technology, requested all provincial cultural centers to join its network for local environmental and cultural heritage conservation. This led to the establishment of the Local Environmental and Cultural Conservation Unit, tasked with managing provincial-level cultural heritage conservation projects.
🔸1995: The unit was renamed the Center for Arts and Culture, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat Institute.
🔸1999: Following an institutional restructuring at Pibulsongkram Rajabhat Institute, the previous arts and culture center was reestablished as the Office of Arts and Culture.
🔸2001: The National Subcommittee on Environmental and Cultural Heritage Conservation expanded its role to include natural environmental conservation alongside cultural heritage preservation. From 1999 to 2002, the office was under the supervision of the Vice President for Student Affairs.
🔸2002-2004: It was placed under the supervision of the Vice President for Special Affairs and International Relations.
🔸2005: With the transformation of Pibulsongkram Rajabhat Institute into Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University under the Rajabhat University Act, the organizational structure was modified. The Office of Arts and Culture was elevated to an administrative unit equivalent to a faculty, with a director holding a status similar to that of a dean.
🔸The Office of Arts and Culture now functions as both a university unit and a cultural network organization. It collaborates with the Ministry of Culture as the Phitsanulok Royal Celebrations Cultural Center and with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as the Phitsanulok Local Environmental and Cultural Conservation Unit.
🔸Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University allocated a two-story building—previously used as a library—to serve as a permanent cultural center. The office moved into this building on August 12, 2006.
🔸The first floor houses the Phitsanulok City Museum, which has been open to the public since 2009.
The second floor serves as the Lower Northern Provincial Cultural and Tourism Center, which has been operational since January 2011.
🔸In 2015, the university restructured its internal administration under Section 18(5) of the Rajabhat University Act of 2004. The Office of Arts and Culture, established as a department under ministerial regulations, was further structured into a single sub-unit known as the Office of the Director of the Office of Arts and Culture.
