Bachelors degree In Thai or English

[alfieconn]

Now having never gone to University myself or never being that close to anyone who has, especially in Thailand, I have a bit of a condundrum that I need some help with.

Step daughter is looking to go to an International university and do a Bachelors degree in Business studies in English.

Ok, so in my mind she would find it easier to do the degree In Thai being as that is her no.1 language,thus I am struggling to see any benefits of doing the degree in English !

What would be the pro's and con's of both ?

Would there be the same degree in both languages ?

Would a lower grade for an degree in English be looked upon by future employers as superior to a higher grade degree achieved in Thai ?

Hopefully if I hav'nt explained myself too well, people will get the gist of what I am asking.

[SlyAnimal]

A degree from an international program would assist her with improving her English

A degree from an international program would be looked upon more favourably outside Thailand, and probably by most organisations inside Thailand as well (Since she'd still have the vocab in Thai, but as English is the international language / language of business.... it'd be of more assistance to her)
As the international program will be more expensive, she'd be more likely to socialise with "high-so" people, who may be better business contacts for her in the future.

International program graduates aren't as common as regular program graduates, so it would make her "stand out from the crowd" when applying for jobs etc.

Comparatively it'd be a lot more expensive for you, and likely a little bit more difficult for her (Although as she's your daughter, I'd expect that her English is probably good enough that she wouldn't have any problems keeping up).

Essentially she'd probably be studying mostly the same material in both, except that in the international one she'd primarily be reading the original academic journals etc (Since most literature will be published in English, not Thai), while in the Thai section they'd be wanting her to read the Thai translations of those journals etc.

All in all, I think the international program would be significantly better.

[richard10365]

I got a B.B.A. in International Business Management at Payap University in Chiang Mai. We used western international textbooks and taught by a 50/50 ratio of Thai/International instructors. We did a lot of group work, case studies and presentations. You have 6 classes per semester (2 semester/year) except for the final year. We have midterms and final exams and students who fail the course have to repeat it if they want to graduate. Last year 2 of our business students got accepted to Harvard and the London School of Economics to do their master degree.

Plenty of Thai university graduates who study a Thai program do master's degree abroad so I can't really say it limits them in that regard. However, from what I can see from Thai students in the classroom, studying in an international environment does give the student that confidence and cultural knowledge to operate in an international environment better than a Thai only student would.

With the AEC complete in 2015, an international business degree might be beneficial for her......if she is a good student. If she is not a good student, it really doesn't matter where she studies.

[alfieconn]

Thanks for your replies guys, but my main concern is that she might fail her degree if taken in English where as she might well pass if taken in Thai.

Edited August 24, 2014 by alfieconn

[BBesoteric]

Alot of the courses require to take English classes, as I, a foreigner have to take Thai language.

[SheungWan]

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I got a B.B.A. in International Business Management at Payap University in Chiang Mai. We used western international textbooks and taught by a 50/50 ratio of Thai/International instructors. We did a lot of group work, case studies and presentations. You have 6 classes per semester (2 semester/year) except for the final year. We have midterms and final exams and students who fail the course have to repeat it if they want to graduate. Last year 2 of our business students got accepted to Harvard and the London School of Economics to do their master degree.

Plenty of Thai university graduates who study a Thai program do master's degree abroad so I can't really say it limits them in that regard. However, from what I can see from Thai students in the classroom, studying in an international environment does give the student that confidence and cultural knowledge to operate in an international environment better than a Thai only student would.

With the AEC complete in 2015, an international business degree might be beneficial for her......if she is a good student. If she is not a good student, it really doesn't matter where she studies.

Thanks for your replies guys, but my main concern is that she might fail her degree if taken in English where as she might well pass if taken in Thai.

If it is the case that her English is weak then your fears are justified if she embarks now on a degree primarily delivered in English even though that degree may be better for future employability. If the best she can achieve is a pass then not such a good strategy. OK, there are two options for her to take. The first is to delay starting a degree for one year and instead spend that year studying English intensively wiith a view to passing IELTS at sufficient grade for undergraduate study. The second option is to take the Chiang Mai pathway, do the IELTS in parallel and then then the UK Masters afterwards to bring her up to desirable employee standard. Mind you if you knew how much the LSE fees are nowadays for a Master's it would make your eyes water.