On 15 September 2016 the Most Venerable Somdet Phra Wannarat, Abbot of Wat Bowonniwet Vihara who was also born in Trat, changed his name from Nitipoom Navaratna (นิติภูมิ นวรัตน์) to Nitiphumthanat Ming-rujiralai in order to continue the legacy of his late father Mr. Ming.
His Ph D dissertation was titled ‘Changes and developments in political views of military governments of Burma in 1962 – 1997’ which he wrote and defended in English and was translated into Russian.
He is also a graduate of the Capital Market Academy (Batch 5) [7] where senior officers from banks, listed companies and high government officials hone their leadership skills.
He also attended the National College of the Interior (Batch 57),[8] an institution which trains civil servants and officials to be provincial governors.
In 1991 he was offered a scholarship in the Soviet Union to pursue his doctorate degree and he later resigned from the Royal Thai Police with the rank of captain.
Nitiphumthanat was also the Director of Asian and African Studies, Martin de Tours School of Management and Economic at Assumption University of Thailand[13] from 9 August 2003 – 31 May 2015.
The public eagerly awaited the appointment of Saengchai's successor and after a nine-month hiatus, Nitiphumthanat was offered and accepted the position as Thai Rath's new International Affairs columnist,[14] a job he has now held for more than twenty years.
The country's political and economic stability was then disrupted by fighting between the so-called Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts which later developed into ongoing clashes between supporters of the exiled former Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra and the anti-Taksin group calling themselves the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC).
To avoid this political impasse, on 7 May 2014, Nitiphumthanat was ordained as a monk and spent one month at Wat Bowonniwet Vihara, before traveling to India and Nepal.
He declined and the army, unwilling to provoke resistance from the temple, allowed him to return to Wat Bowonniwet Vihara on condition that he refrained from public activities and reported to and got permission from the Chief of the National Council if he wanted to leave the country.
He has joined with colleagues to form Balance Group Global[16] in order to further this vision for agricultural services development and promotion of the gemstone industry in Thailand.
In the bestselling autobiography "A Boy from Khao Saming" Chapter 6, Page 67 to 85, Nitiphimthanat tells the story of the economic scarcity in his early life which prompted him to dig for Siamese rubies near the Thai-Cambodian border on weekends and school holidays.
He used to be known for having the largest private collection of raw gemstones in the country and in 2003 he was elected to be the vice president of the famous Thai Gem and Jewelry Manufacturers Association and reelected to serve many terms of office.