Academia In Thailand

[dcpo]

Hello everyone. I recently completed a PhD at a fairly prestigious British university. In January next year I'll be moving to Bangkok. I am British, but my girlfriend is Thai. She has completed a master's degree here and her visa will expire soon, which is my reason for moving (though living in Thailand also looks like a lot of fun). My plan is to work for a year or two in Bangkok, then depending on how things have worked out between us, either get married and bring her back to the UK on a family visa, or come home on my own.

I'm 28 years old. Ideally I'd like to continue my academic work at a university. My subject is mathematics. I have a decent publication record and my research so far has been well received. I also did quite a lot of teaching while I was a student. I've been reading around the forum for information but I have a few specific questions, and if anyone could help me out with them I'd be grateful.

1) What options are there for early career pure maths researchers in Bangkok? From reading around it seems like there are opportunities for people with my qualifications as 'lecturers', but what does this involve? I've heard it mentioned that during term times between 12 and 20 hours 'contact time' per week are required at public universities. Does this mean 12-20 hours of actual teaching, or do other activities, such as research, count towards this? To what extent will not being able to speak Thai (I am learning but it'll be a while before I reach any kind of competency) affect the teaching situation in maths?

2) Assuming I can work for a university what's the best way to make an approach? From what I've read the best method is often to turn up (smartly dressed) and give someone your CV, but if I want to do research might it be a good idea to email some academics in various maths departments beforehand?

3) How will the Thai academic year dates affect my employment prospects? Would it be feasible for me to start working in early March, say, or should I plan on finding some other work for a few months before starting a university? I understand that I'll need to get a work visa before I can start working anywhere.

Thanks in advance for any responses, and any other good advice for that matter.

[endure]

Have you ever been to Thailand? It might be an idea to visit the place before you commit yourself to moving there.

[dcpo]

I've never been there, but I can always move back if I don't like it.

[richard10365]

I would suggest working in Bangkok because they can pay you a higher salary. Chulalongkorn or Mahidol have huge budgets and they might be able to pay you a decent salary however, it probably won't be close to what you can get in the UK.

Keep in mind, the semester already started and the next semester would be the summer semester in March (Thai academic calendar). The next 1st semester starts in June. However, in 2014, all Thai universities will switch their academic calender to start in September to be in line with all the other ASEAN universities.

Good luck! Thailand is a great place to live but the culture might take a while to get use to. Be patient and keep an open mind.

[Trembly]

You may as well contact the HR departments of the universities with the biggest budgets / largest international colleges in Bangkok :

• Chulalongkorn
  
• Mahidol
  
• Thammasat
  
• Bangkok University
  
• Kaset University
  

[dcpo]

Thanks for the replies so far. To recap, my plan is to work in Bangkok. I have a reasonable idea of what kind of salary I can expect. I know it will be considerably lower than what I might expect as an early career academic in Europe, but that's not really why I'm going.

[squarethecircle]

Thanks for the replies so far. To recap, my plan is to work in Bangkok. I have a reasonable idea of what kind of salary I can expect. I know it will be considerably lower than what I might expect as an early career academic in Europe, but that's not really why I'm going.

I'm curious why you're going then - I assume to be with your girlfriend?

I'm not familiar in-depth with the university system here, besides a few conversations with professors (both Thai and westerners working in unis as English "professors" with bachelor's degrees) but I think for someone with your background you should be emailing academics as well as HR departments here. Honestly I think the best/most worldly-minded ones from a western POV are probably working abroad in places like Europe/US/Singapore/HK/Aus/the Middle East, since behavior that would violate basic codes of conduct/academic honesty (ie: plagiarism) in western universities are more-or-less the normal way of doing things here. I also have the impression that they tend to treat western academics as more of a public relations opportunity (a white face to show in advertisements) rather than a sincere addition to the academic community, though this may be different at the best universities. I recall a story I read on this site about an expat's Thai friend in an American university a couple of decades back. The student plagiarized his/her master's thesis and got away with it, then returned to Thailand, where they now serve as a department director in one of the top unis in the country. This is an unconfirmed anecdote, but it's also representative of mine and many other westerners' experience of what goes on in the education system here.

The same happens in China, as well, I hear, which is why I think they'll continue to be dependent on western universities for education and western innovations to come up with new-and-improved things to produce (though the best Chinese universities I think are higher quality than the best Thai unis). Cheating is normal practice (surveys show that >80% of Thais find it acceptable in business), and this creates a disincentive toward quality academic performance and quality innovation in industry. But they have clear ideas about how they want their society to run, and due to arrogance/xenophobia/fear of "losing face", they are unwilling to take constructive criticism. Also a number of the better Thai high school students I've interacted with have stated that they want to attend university abroad, as I think they're aware of how the way things are run here.

I don't have direct advice for making application but since you haven't been here, I thought I'd give you a heads up about the way things work here, for better or worse. Also, as in China, relationship or "guaanxi" is crucial for making connections.

[dcpo]

I'm curious why you're going then - I assume to be with your girlfriend?

Primarily to be with my girlfriend, but after ten years of UK higher education I wanted to do something a little bit interesting before starting on a career. Going to Thailand seemed like a good way to maintain what is a very good relationship, while also gaining some valuable work and life experience. Hopefully the UK economy will be doing a bit better when I get back too.

I'm not familiar in-depth with the university system here, besides a few conversations with professors (both Thai and westerners working in unis as English "professors" with bachelor's degrees) but I think for someone with your background you should be emailing academics as well as HR departments here. Honestly I think the best/most worldly-minded ones from a western POV are probably working abroad in places like Europe/US/Singapore/HK/Aus/the Middle East, since behavior that would violate basic codes of conduct/academic honesty (ie: plagiarism) in western universities are more-or-less the normal way of doing things here. I also have the impression that they tend to treat western academics as more of a public relations opportunity (a white face to show in advertisements) rather than a sincere addition to the academic community, though this may be different at the best universities. I recall a story I read on this site about an expat's Thai friend in an American university a couple of decades back. The student plagiarized his/her master's thesis and got away with it, then returned to Thailand, where they now serve as a department director in one of the top unis in the country. This is an unconfirmed anecdote, but it's also representative of mine and many other westerners' experience of what goes on in the education system here.

The same happens in China, as well, I hear, which is why I think they'll continue to be dependent on western universities for education and western innovations to come up with new-and-improved things to produce (though the best Chinese universities I think are higher quality than the best Thai unis). Cheating is normal practice (surveys show that >80% of Thais find it acceptable in business), and this creates a disincentive toward quality academic performance and quality innovation in industry. But they have clear ideas about how they want their society to run, and due to arrogance/xenophobia/fear of "losing face", they are unwilling to take constructive criticism. Also a number of the better Thai high school students I've interacted with have stated that they want to attend university abroad, as I think they're aware of how the way things are run here.

I don't have direct advice for making application but since you haven't been here, I thought I'd give you a heads up about the way things work here, for better or worse. Also, as in China, relationship or "guaanxi" is crucial for making connections.

Thanks for this advice. I've been doing some reading myself and I don't expect the Thai system to be very similar to what I know of European and US colleges. I'm not sure exactly what to expect, but so long as I'm able to earn enough to live comfortably (bearing in mind that my girlfriend will also be working a graduate job) and have enough time to keep up with my research area for a year or so I'll be happy.

[squarethecircle]

I'm curious why you're going then - I assume to be with your girlfriend?

Primarily to be with my girlfriend, but after ten years of UK higher education I wanted to do something a little bit interesting before starting on a career. Going to Thailand seemed like a good way to maintain what is a very good relationship, while also gaining some valuable work and life experience. Hopefully the UK economy will be doing a bit better when I get back too.

Thanks for this advice. I've been doing some reading myself and I don't expect the Thai system to be very similar to what I know of European and US colleges. I'm not sure exactly what to expect, but so long as I'm able to earn enough to live comfortably (bearing in mind that my girlfriend will also be working a graduate job) and have enough time to keep up with my research area for a year or so I'll be happy.

I see. Don't mean to be too negative but I didn't experience culture shock at first, but after a year here I feel it more and more as I tune into the people and learn the language. You're definitely a bit unusual given your background - some of the regional universities employ western English conversation teachers who don't even have a bachelor's degree. I know some recent PhD's in mathematics from USA who are doing something similar in Saudi Arabia. You seem to be dead-set on it so good luck to you. I bet if you cold-contact by email/phone people those universities listed by Trembly, you'll get some leads.