John Drake

More or less, yes.

The two ratings systems that most universities are chasing after are QS and then Times. There is a complicated history especially between those two. But none of this really matters much for Thai universities outside of the medical schools. And that is because research is far and away the most important criterium in advancing in the rankings. The journals important to rankings, moreover, are in English, with the largest number in the US and UK. Thai speaking faculty are thus at a disadvantage, along with every other non-English speaker without advanced English writing skills, in getting published. It makes it all but impossible for Thai universities to advance in the rankings. Again, the medical schools are the exception. https://www.universityrankings.ch/institutions/id4889-mahidol_university-thailand&ranking_by_fields=QS https://www.universityrankings.ch/institutions/id4873-chulalongkorn_university-thailand&ranking_by_fields=QS Note the tables below the graphs. It's easier to see that, except for Mahidol's medicine faculty, all the other faculties have dropped like a rock since 2004.

There are some private Thai universities that don't even appear on the rankings radar and yet still do good job in some areas such as dentistry, business, and radio/TV/publishing in Thailand itself. Chula and Mahidol are not that much better qualitatively. Mahidol and Chula, however, have their greatest advantage in the credential they provide, which is all that matters to some Thai institutions and companies. Also something going on with private Thai universities is that they are bringing lots and lots of PRC Chinese students to study in Thailand. In most cases these are graduate degrees the Chinese are looking for. It's a quick credential they can apply to their jobs back in China. There are many Chinese students in Thailand between the ages of 25 and 50 doing precisely this. I've met them, btw, and they are smart, disciplined, and talented. They don't have the money to go to American or European universities and so come here.

The problem for Thai universities is that newer universities are continually joining in on the hunt for higher rankings. It's possible, and even likely, that Thai universities are improving their scores but still going down in the rankings, as others get even better and still others get listed for the first time.

True. Libraries were/are an important factor in accreditation and the allowing of PhD programs. I don't know about today. But I'm sure that the Thai medical schools do have adequate libraries and funding for ongoing journals access. Not sure about all the others. I do know that Mahidol's MUIC is too cheap to get a subscription to JSTOR--or they were until a few years ago. I end up publishing two or three academic articles per year--not affiliated with MU or any other Thai university--and I can operate quite handily through the independent scholar access to JSTOR, finding other articles online in universities' online publication, through ordering books from outside Thailand, and, yes, using Zlibrary.

BTW, if anyone is interested in comparing the various ratings, you can go here: https://www.universityrankings.ch/ Many interesting breakdowns. For example, here is Mahidol: https://www.universityrankings.ch/institutions/id4889-mahidol_university-thailand

I know how to ask for my favorite lottery number. Don't need anything else.

It's most likely that the reason for ranking so low is research. The medical schools probably generate their fair share of Q1 journal articles, but the other schools and departments do not. And the way many faculty members dodge publishing in quality English language journals (Q1 and Q2) is that several Thai universities run their own in-house journals. For the sake of individuals who need a publication in order to get an academic promotion, these journals are often enough. But if you really want to find out the standing of scholarship at Thai universities, find a list of faculty members on the university websites, go to Google Scholar, search for their names, and see what emerges in the list of publications. Then, go to https://www.scimagojr.com/ and you can see the rankings of the journals they publish in. Then, if you want go to Web of Science and look up the journal to see if it is included in their database.

Those numbers are terrible. Shameful. Chula and Mahidol have medical schools and can't even crack the top 400. Seems like both have fallen significantly since the last ranking.

No.

Yes, because, unlike the US, China has so much to offer "most developing countries." https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/FLASHBACK-China-likely-to-seize-Ghana-s-mineral-and-electricity-revenue-over-default-of-loans-IMF-1954920 The four steps to Chinese delivery of "help" for poor countries. 1.) Provide loans at above average interest rates for "infrastructure" 2.) Require loans to be used to hire Chinese companies and workers for "infrastructure" projects 3.) See target countries default on loans they never were going to be able to pay back 4.) China steps in and takes over not only the infrastructure built by the loans but entire commercial sectors of the economy.

War!

I don't understand the British in particular living 24/7 in these topics about the US. I've made a few, very few comments, usually allowing for my ignorance of firsthand knowledge about UK subjects. One of the reasons of course is that the UK in actuality is a rather small irrelevant country on the fringe of Europe. Not much of what happens there effects any place other than there. The US on the other hand influences even the smallest of international actors and actions. So I can see why non-Americans shove their nose in here. Still, it doesn't excuse their woeful ignorance about subjects such as illegal immigration, which some of us have experienced firsthand for almost our entire lives. Personal experience always trumps self-serving graphs and charts put out by organizations and political parties who derive their income from serving illegal immigrants.

Not going to buy my vote with this. My vote is for sale, however, to whomever will add $200 or $300 to my Social Security check above and beyond the COLA.

Chinese ambassador meets Thai PM http://th.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/dszl/dshd/202312/t20231216_11205225.htm

The biggest item of American influence is access to its markets. Thailand has been given too much of a free run there. It should stop, now. Thailand has been spitting in the face of the US ever since Covid, when Chinese vaccines got the red carpet treatment and the PM in attendance, while US vaccines arrived on a courier flight in the middle of the night and were met with a forklift. That is abominable US policy, to just take it off a dinky country like Thailand. Like I say, shift everything to the Philippines.

Now we know why the US ambassador was snubbed like this and shoved off to meet with an underling. When is the US going to learn to play hardball with these guys? Stop giving them things (such as trade privileges and investments) and hammer the door closed. Contrary to what a lot of people think, Thailand is not an essential or even important US interest. All funding, support, investment, defense agreements and trade pacts should be going to the Philippines. Cut Thailand loose.

The embassy has been at its most creative when developing ways where it doesn't interact with US citizens in person. To go back to the letter would cause them more work. And that they'll never do.

Can't even see the prime minister. Handed off to an underling.

Precisely my thinking. I simply wish it was Biden running against Trump again, instead of that airheaded nitwit. I could bring myself to vote for Biden pretty easily, considering the economic benefits I got from his presidency.

He, as I am, is voting his economic interest. Only a fool would vote against it. It's the most fundamental reason there is to cast a vote.

I sort of agree. I just can't stand the prospect of listening to her for four years. But I can't stand the idea of listening to him, too. Add a favorable exchange rate on to your reasons btw. As is, the poll doesn't allow for another non-Harris, non-Trump choice, so I didn't bother.

"I'm Xi Jinping and I approve this message."

Why?

That she has suddenly gone on this media interview blitz, albeit all of them friendly interviewers, after hiding from the press for over two months shows she and her campaign are panicking. It looks and is desperate. And even with friendly interviewers she is chopping up responses and, as proved when the teleprompter went out in Michigan, incapable of continuing her own stump speech for even an extra 30 seconds. This is unprecedented levels of dullness.