Chaitawat is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki. His research interests focus on cities, development, migration, and social and public policy in connection with land, housing, and poverty.

He is currently a grant recipient of the Finnish Cultural Foundation for a postdoctoral research project, From Thai Rice Fields to Finnish Berry Forests: Thai Berry Pickers in Finland and Their Experiences of Social Inequalities Throughout the Mobility Process. He also coordinates the Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets (DEFEN-CE), an EU-level research project funded by the Directorate-General for Employment, the European Commission (2021-2023).

Chaitawat holds a BA in International Affairs (First-class honours) from the Thammasat University Thailand, a Master’s in Cultures and Development Studies from the KU Leuven and an MSc in Gender from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Chaitawat completed his Doctor of Social Sciences at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki. His doctoral research focused on urban land use and poverty in Bangkok, Thailand. It examined the social, political, economic, and cultural determinants of urban land use, urban informality, street vending, rural-to-urban migration, urban commons, and religious land.

He is a member of the International Editorial Advisory Board of Housing Studies journal and the Editorial Board of the Just Ecological Political Economy (JEPE), the Global South Theme, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science’s (HELSUS).