For a long time, Thailand has relied on synthetic refrigerants and is only now discovering the enormous potential in natural-refrigerant technologies.
As more manufacturers of RAC equipment switch their production lines to natural refrigerants, Thailand needs to prepare its service workforce to better understand how to use it safely. In Thailand, where knowledge on flammable natural refrigerants is scarce, efforts are now underway to prepare technicians, vocational teachers and chief trainers from skill development institutes to safely handle cooling agents. Eight training courses were organised in 2019, and more to go in the future.
To train enough RAC technicians, five key organisations came together: King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB), the Office of Vocational Education Commission (OVEC), the Department of Skill Development (DSD), the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Together, they selected eight training centres that provide courses on handling natural refrigerants. The curriculum is supervised by KMUTNB.