The Thai Endoscopy Club was founded by a small group of gastrointestinal and surgical endoscopists, including Professors Pinit Kullavanijaya, Surapol Chuenratanakul, Sukij Panpimanmas, Piroj Luengrojanakul, Thawee Ratanachu-ek, Udom Kachintorn, Yudhtana Sattawatthamrong, and Rungsun Rerknimitr in 2001. Since then, endoscopy training workshops have been organized to expand the basic and advanced endoscopic techniques to endoscopists throughout the country, and the first live endoscopy demonstration was launched in 2004. The Thai Endoscopy Club expanded rapidly and became the Thai Association for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (TAGE) in 2005. TAGE was officially registered on December 15, 2005, with Professors Chuenratanakul, Panpimanmas, Ovartlarnporn, Ratanachu-ek, Rerknimitr, and Akaraviputh being the core members.
TAGE has nourished, promoted, and disseminated medical science, gastroenterology, and gastrointestinal endoscopy research. Further, TAGE has promoted the relationship between the association and members, medical institutions, and other professional organizations in Thailand and abroad. International endoscopy workshops occur quarterly to expand hands-on endoscopic skills for beginners. International live endoscopy demonstration meeting is held annually to disseminate basic and advanced techniques on gastrointestinal endoscopy to the members and individuals with a particular interest in endoscopy.
In 2016, the model of EUS-guided pseudocyst drainage was developed for endoscopy training by TAGE (Drs. Thawee Ratanachuek, Aroon Siripun, Kannikar Laohavichit, and Thanyaporn Chantarojanasiri). The model of EUS-guided choledochoduodenostomy, EUS-guided hepaticogastrostomy, and EUS-fine needle aspiration has emerged after that and has been used for endoscopy workshops in the annual live endoscopy demonstration meeting since 2018.
To promote the scientific environment among members of the endoscopic society, TAGE endorsed Siriraj Medical Journal (SMJ), in which Professor Thawatchai Akaraviputh is the Editor-in-Chief, as its’ first official journal in English in 2017. Furthermore, a Memorandum of Understanding with the Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (KSGE) was established to certify the Clinical Endoscopy Journal as an official journal of TAGE in 2021.
From the beginning until now, TAGE has grown continuously and become one of the prestigious professional associations in Thailand and has been well recognized among the global GI societies.