Thailand aims to become education hub with global universities

[snoop1130]

Picture courtesy of Bangkok Post

 

By Bright Choomanee

 

The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation is planning to invite renowned overseas universities to set up campuses in Thailand as part of its initiative to position the country as a regional education hub.

 

Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi highlighted that Thailand offers significant potential for becoming a central educational destination in the region, citing factors such as affordable living costs, exceptional hospitality, delicious cuisine, and strong logistical infrastructure.

 

She also pointed out that many countries, including the UK and Singapore, have regulations limiting the number of foreign students at their universities. This presents an opportunity for universities to expand their campuses abroad, and Thailand is positioning itself as a prime location for such ventures.

 

The ministry is already looking ahead to next year, exploring potential partnerships with universities in the UK, Australia, and China. “We have seen positive signs regarding the possibility of these institutions extending their campuses to Thailand. If successful, this could contribute significantly to the country’s income,” Minister Supamas said.

 

Additionally, the ministry plans to upgrade all demonstration schools under its oversight to become international schools, offering global curriculums. This initiative aims to provide more affordable international education options for parents seeking to send their children to global schools, without the financial burden, reported Bangkok Post.

 

 

This strategy forms part of the ministry’s broader policy to enhance the country’s educational system and increase its global competitiveness.

 

In related news, the average monthly income of Thailand’s very poor families has plummeted, placing children’s education in jeopardy.

 

According to the Equitable Education Fund (EEF), these families’ earnings dropped to a mere 1,039 baht per month in 2023, down from 1,077 baht in 2020. This translates to a daily income of just 34 baht—far below the World Bank’s poverty line of 80 baht per day.

 

EEF’s 2023 annual report paints a grim picture: children from these impoverished households face a high risk of being unable to complete mandatory education (Mathayom 3, equivalent to Grade 9).

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2024-12-03

 

 

[BangkokReady]

[Aussie999]

Delutional

[proton]

April the first again, hilarious 

[Bday Prang]

[Celsius]

waiting for more comments 

[NoDisplayName]

3 minutes ago, Celsius said:

waiting for more comments 

 

Hub caps

Wasted all the time

 

Fuzzy Dice

Bongos in the back

My ship of love

Ready to attack

[BangkokReady]

4 minutes ago, Celsius said:

waiting for more comments 

 

It's actually an interesting idea.  Why haven't top universities opened campuses in developing countries and target rich foreign students?  I assume they've maybe considered it.

 

Not financially viable?  No one will want to work there?  No one will want to study there?  Will water down their reputation?  Lose control of the quality of teaching?  They aren't allowed?  Safety?

[whiteman]

[Mavideol]

international reputation for being well known about (NO) democracy and (YES) corruption, AKA  banana republic type government

 

 

[John Drake]

4 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

It's actually an interesting idea.  Why haven't top universities opened campuses in developing countries and target rich foreign students?  I assume they've maybe considered it.

 

Not financially viable?  No one will want to work there?  No one will want to study there?  Will water down their reputation?  Lose control of the quality of teaching?  They aren't allowed?  Safety?

 

It happens elsewhere in SE Asia. NYU had a campus in Singapore but it failed. Malaysia and China have partner universities with the West. Middlesex University in the UK used to run a semi-scam in Thailand, where Thais got a degree from there but never had to go on campus. They could just pay for it while they worked on a degree in Thailand. Northumbria tried this about 15 years ago, too. Don't know if they're still here.

[BangkokReady]

9 minutes ago, John Drake said:

It happens elsewhere in SE Asia. NYU had a campus in Singapore but it failed. Malaysia and China have partner universities with the West. Middlesex University in the UK used to run a semi-scam in Thailand, where Thais got a degree from there but never had to go on campus. They could just pay for it while they worked on a degree in Thailand. Northumbria tried this about 15 years ago, too. Don't know if they're still here.

 

Perhaps they just don't have the appeal that a university that is still in the West has.  As in, it isn't necessarily the quality of the teaching so much as what it means to go there.

[Old Curmudgeon]

5 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

It's actually an interesting idea.

 

It actually would have been an interesting idea ... 20+ years ago.

But now campus universities in the West are in decline, being replaced by on-line education: far more efficient and much lower cost for the students.

 

Whenever I read the words "hub" and "Thailand" in the same paragraph of some government pronouncement, I wonder what is behind that.

Does someone have a newly empty industrial estate they are desperate to sell as a university campus?

Are university academic positions in Thailand so full/crowded that they need to arrange more jobs somehow?

Is there some prestige/face to be gained by having a big name university put up a sign in Thailand?

Or is there something else going on here behind the scenes?

 

Thoughts, please.

 

And that begs the question of what might be next?

Probably a hub of artificial intelligence -- if it hasn't been thought of already.

The problem is artificial intelligence requires a lot of human intelligence to make it work.

Is Thailand a hub with an abundance of that?

[Patong2021]

One would have to have a credible post secondary educational system if one was promoting education.

In the west, China exploited the foreign student opportunity to send spies to infiltrate western  research facilities and to steal intellectual property. I doubt that Thailand has much that the Chinese  don't  already have access to.

 

In Canada and Australia the scam was to sell "diplomas" to  prospective immigrants under the guise that they could immigrate to a few years.  The community in colleges in Canada targeted the underclass of the Punjab and now Canada has a problem with hundreds of thousands of Punjabis who do not have an genuine education and who refuse to leave the country after their visas expire. Perhaps Thailand can target Myanmar refugees with courses such as learn to  work at 7-11 or how to scam tourists.

[Old Curmudgeon]

12 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

In the west, China exploited the foreign student opportunity to send spies to infiltrate western  research facilities and to steal intellectual property.

 

So, @Patong2021, are you suggesting that China might actually become the education "hub" that Thai politicians are dreaming of??

[bkk6060]

Just give them all drivers education and training the country would be much better off.

[Patong2021]

21 minutes ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

So, @Patong2021, are you suggesting that China might actually become the education "hub" that Thai politicians are dreaming of??

 

It seems that China is trying to get there there. Pre Covid there were 500,000 international students in China. The number fell off during the Chinese lockdown but is now  in excess of 350,000. 

 

It is quite a contrast to the countries I  would describe as whoring themselves. Canada has 1.1 million+ international students. Australia 700,000+. Compared to the USA with 1.1 million and the UK at 586,000. one can see that Canada and Australia have been irresponsible.  Add to that the 4 million temporary  workers in Canada and it is easy to see why there is a housing shortage, and a clogged medical care system in Canada and why Australia has some of the same  shortages.

 

The takeaway is that is Thailand takes in  hundreds of thousands of foreign students, it will create an affordable  housing shortage  in its cities.

[Old Curmudgeon]

11 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

The takeaway is that is Thailand takes in  hundreds of thousands of foreign students, it will create an affordable  housing shortage  in its cities.

 

Good thinking.

Thank you @Patong2021 for that analysis.

 

The "unintended consequence" of a shortage of low price housing and of medical care did not occur to me, but I must agree with you about that.

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

Does this mean I will soon be able to get my second and third PhD in Thailand?

 

This is not as crazy as it sounds.

 

[Jimjim1]

8 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation is planning to invite renowned overseas universities to set up campuses in Thailand as part of its initiative to position the country as a regional education hub.

 

Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi highlighted that Thailand offers significant potential for becoming a central educational destination in the region, citing factors such as affordable living costs, exceptional hospitality, delicious cuisine, and strong logistical infrastructure.

 

She also pointed out that many countries, including the UK and Singapore, have regulations limiting the number of foreign students at their universities. This presents an opportunity for universities to expand their campuses abroad, and Thailand is positioning itself as a prime location for such ventures.

 

The ministry is already looking ahead to next year, exploring potential partnerships with universities in the UK, Australia, and China. “We have seen positive signs regarding the possibility of these institutions extending their campuses to Thailand. If successful, this could contribute significantly to the country’s income,” Minister Supamas said.

 

Additionally, the ministry plans to upgrade all demonstration schools under its oversight to become international schools, offering global curriculums. This initiative aims to provide more affordable international education options for parents seeking to send their children to global schools, without the financial burden, reported Bangkok Post.

 

 

 

This strategy forms part of the ministry’s broader policy to enhance the country’s educational system and increase its global competitiveness.

 

In related news, the average monthly income of Thailand’s very poor families has plummeted, placing children’s education in jeopardy.

 

According to the Equitable Education Fund (EEF), these families’ earnings dropped to a mere 1,039 baht per month in 2023, down from 1,077 baht in 2020. This translates to a daily income of just 34 baht—far below the World Bank’s poverty line of 80 baht per day.

 

EEF’s 2023 annual report paints a grim picture: children from these impoverished households face a high risk of being unable to complete mandatory education (Mathayom 3, equivalent to Grade 9).

One can only hope fervently that no one from around the world wants to learn English.

[WHansen]

Onto a winner there. University students that do not need to worry because in Thailand, every student is going to pass regardless of their abilities.

[harryviking]

Is there anything Thailand do not want to become the "HUB" for?? I wonder what those in charge are smoking....🙄

[Aussie999]

11 minutes ago, harryviking said:

Is there anything Thailand do not want to become the "HUB" for?? I wonder what those in charge are smoking....🙄

They seem to invent new ones every day.

Thailand - the hub of hubs

 

[Sydebolle]

What a joke, three months and 27 days too early - me thinks! 

[hotchilli]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation is planning to invite renowned overseas universities to set up campuses in Thailand as part of its initiative to position the country as a regional education hub.

Overseas Universities to set-up and educate the elite in Thailand, while those with less financial means get the government curriculum.

[Presnock]

14 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

AGREE!!!!100%, my reaction too!

[JimHuaHin]

14 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

It's actually an interesting idea.  Why haven't top universities opened campuses in developing countries and target rich foreign students?  I assume they've maybe considered it.

 

Not financially viable?  No one will want to work there?  No one will want to study there?  Will water down their reputation?  Lose control of the quality of teaching?  They aren't allowed?  Safety?

The answer to your first question, is, in addition to your possible responses in the second paragraph, two-fold - status and citizenship.  Sending your kids to an overseas (elite) university gives the family a lot of status in Thai society.

 

Back in the mid 1970s, while I was studying at university in Australia, I had many Asian friends  Some told me straight out that one of the main reason that they were in Australia was to get Australian citizenship, and then possibly return back home.  (Remember 1975, and Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam became communist.)

 

At that time, one university friend from a prominent Chinese-Thai business family old me her father had sent her elder brother to Taiwan to study, her older sister to New Zealand, and herself to Australia.  They all obtained citizenship in those countries, and eventually returned to Thailand to work (in the family business) and live.

 

More recently, about a decade ago, I met a son of a senior Thai Army General who was studying at a top Thai university.  He told me his father wanted him to go to study for a Masters degree in Japan, and for a PhD in the USA; which he eventually did.  His younger sister followed a similar course, by in mathematics.  The young man received his "Green Card", I do not know about his sister.

[RichardColeman]

I think wearing military style uniforms might be a downer

[john donson]

kao san road university degree?

[john donson]

3 hours ago, harryviking said:

Is there anything Thailand do not want to become the "HUB" for?? I wonder what those in charge are smoking....🙄

 

porn(hub)? still blocked for average somchai