Scholarships & Financial Asistance For Thais

[dddave]

My question is about the education system in Thailand, but this teaching forum is as close as I could come.

My girlfriend's 16 year old niece, though from a poor family of Khon Kaen farmers has prover to be an outstanding student, maintaining number one position in all her classes from the beginning. She is now approaching her final year in High School (Cheum Phere Suk Sah, Khon Kaen) and remains top in her class maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

Her goal is medical school and a career as a physician but money is a big obstacle. Her family is poor and while I have assisted with books and transportation fee's over the years, I lack the financial resources to fund her university education.

Friends who know a little about scholarships in Thailand say that while some are available, the system is pretty corrupt and most go to influential families rather than needy students.

Is anybody on this forum familiar with what financial assistance is available for a student in her circumstances? Are there any private foundations or organizations that provide assistance?

Does the government have any specific programs for the training of doctors?

How many years is medical school in Thailand and do the universities in Udon Thani and Khon Kaen City have good programs?

What would be the estimated cost per year for such a program?

She is so bright and such a hard worker; I hate to see her potential wasted.

Any suggestions or observations welcome.

[Phatcharanan]

Asian University and Payap offer some really good scholorships to disadvantaged students......although not in medicine.

I would think that her best chance is in applying to universities in other countries..............such as Australia etc.

[dddave]

Asian University and Payap offer some really good scholorships to disadvantaged students......although not in medicine.

I would think that her best chance is in applying to universities in other countries..............such as Australia etc.

Thanks; can you or anybody else recommend any resources that would help educate her about the process of applying to foreign universities and requesting financial aid?

Good guidance counciling doesn't seem to be available.

[Mario2008]

There are a lot of Thai companies that offer scholarships, but you will have to do a good search for them with google, searching in Thai will offer the best results.

Problem is, you might be a bit late, unless you mean she still has 1 year to go at "high" school.

Tisco bank has for example a scholarship program, and TOA paint used to have a scholarship program for children painters.

There are some good opertunities, but you have to look for them. i had some good results for some of students. The best was with the Bangkok Post foundation, as they are give a scholarship from elementary school right up to graduting from university is someone has potential.

[dddave]

Thanks Mario. Yes, she still has a full year to go. It seems from what you say, that we better seriously start looking now.

I should have remembered that even in the USA, the serious groundwork gets done late junior and early senior year. Thanks for the heads-up.

[Mario2008]

Find some big companies in the area and check their website for scholarships or community/social programs. That was how I used to do it.

[richard10365]

As far as financial aid goes, If the family makes less than 200,000 baht per year she can apply for a loan that she will have to repay after she graduates.

As far as studying what she wants, she will have to take the exams every Thai student takes. If she qualifies, she can get the school and major she wants. She will still have to pay for the school either through loans, grants or other means.

I use to live in Sa Kaeo. My friends little sister was in the same situation. Her family is quite poor. She did well on her exams and got Chula for a school. She is about to graduate with a science degree and already has a job with Siam Cement Company.

If your GFs niece does well on her exams she can get what she wants. If she does not she will have to try to get whatever is left over.

[jjjbkk]

Here are some scholarship sources that I know of:

1. The public university I work for in the BKK area has scholarships available for exceptional students from under-represented provinces. My experience with these scholarships is that they are NOT awarded to students who come from families with big names. Rather, students who are in need are often reluctant to reveal their need during the application process because they are afraid it will hurt their chances at admission. We usually catch the students with financial need in the interview stage and have to encourage them to apply for the funds set aside for them (this is true for both direct admit and national exam applicants). I don't know if every public university has scholarthips available, but it would be a good idea to contact the universities in which your neice is interested in applying. You would probably need to contact the student affairs division of the faculty.

2. You seem open to the idea of looking for education outside Thailand. Personally, I think that even with financial support to study abroad, the expenses would be much more than staying here in Thailand. If your neice is really good in English, then she might want to consider studying in an international program. I know that the international program in my faculty (not medicine) is trying desperately to attract students from outside Bangkok with full-ride, 4-year scholarships. If there are some international medical programs out there, it would be worth calling to see what kind of financial assistance is available.

3. The American Chamber of Commerce has a very good university scholarship program. I believe the scholarship funds sophomore through senior years for exceptional students with financial need. You can go to the AMCHAM website for more information and download the application.

4. I know that the Soroptomist International Club of Dusit have a scholarship for medical students. I believe this scholarship only funds the last few years of medical school, however. Check with them for application requirements.

5. Another scholarship program is the SET Foundation. The SET Foundation works almost exclusively with students studying in Nakhon Sawan. Although this program is geographically limited to Nakhon Sawan, SET's director was very helpful to me in finding some scholarship funding for a student studying at an Issan university.

6. There are some Thai foundations that offer university scholarships as well, but I don't have the information in front of me at the moment. If I have time this week, I will try to look up and post the information.

7. I second the recommendation of contacting large companies. You never know which companies are looking for easy CSR points.

I hope that helps!

[dddave]

jjjbkk, thank you for your very informative post, really helpful and full of ideas.

I would very much appreciate any names and addresses you may come up with.

Her English is a weak point so a Thai University would probably be best for her. It was really encouraging to read that there are programs out there looking for needy Thai students from disadvantaged areas.

[BAYBOY]

There must be some Govt. funded schemes for " bright' students from poor families.

Locally we had a young boy here who showed great promise whilst at High School. He, my wife tells me, won a scholarship to France. Spent 2 years there learning French, then sat and passed a Batchelors degree in Engineering! Came back about a year ago and speaks good English, French, and of course Thai. Mother lives in a small house and he is working hard to build a new home for her. Dad disappeared years ago.

The scholarship was funded by some Govt dept during Taksin's reign.

Also know of another bright boy who got a scholarship to Chula to do Vet. science. All fees and costs paid for, plus decent subsidy for accomodation.Again from a broken home. The Mother works like crazy to help her son.

So many cases here of the Father leaving while the children are so young and the Mother does a heroic job in bringing up the children.

Check out the Thai Universities and The Local Education Dept.

BAYBOY

[mca]

The owner of Kow Yoo Hah Motors Khun Winyu ( the Isuzu dealership in KK opposite Big C ) has a foundation for scholarships or at least he certainly used to. Come to think of it they might well have a branch of the dealership in Chumpae if you want to check.

Edited February 23, 2011 by mca