Thai Education system - Simple questions

[JackisBack]

I'm not sure where to post this , mods please move if necessary

A bit of background first , my Thai wife has a sister and that sister is married to a foreigner from England, sadly that foreigner was killed in a car accident six months ago , the sister has one child from her marriage to the foreigner , a daughter now aged seventeen.

The daughter is currently attending a Thai government school and will soon be moving to her next and last class level ( M 6 ) at that school , then moving on to a collage or university , according to her mother the daughters past and present exam grades in all subjects are above average and her written and spoken English is good and I can have a reasonable English conversation with the daughter .

Now I admit I know very little about the Thai education system , so the following questions may sound some what simple and basic.

The daughter is going to spend one more year at the Thai government school and towards the end of her school year take a set of exams , and these final exam results will determine which collage / university she can apply to , her mother says that the final exam results at the end of the year , if disappointing , cannot ever be taken again , so if the daughter has one bad exam day , its going to affect her future employment prospects , has the mother got this right or can the daughter re take the end of year exam a second time some how ?

The daughter currently does not know what career path to take , but when ive talked to her she keeps saying that she would like to find some thing career wise in engineering , may be chemical related , but she really seems to have no idea what engineering as a career covers. I have asked her if she does do well in her final exam results and finds a place at a collage / university , when the time comes to leave , how will she find employment in the field she has been studying , her answer was that the collage / university will find her employment , is this correct and the normal practice ?

The daughter has told me that she has to make her mind up as to the type of employment / career she wants , then find a collage / university that will teach the specific subject only for that specific career , is this correct .


The daughter told me she has for some years now been attending extra weekend schooling at a local teachers house , and on school holidays she has been attending extra schooling at a city private tutors , as this extra learning will increase her chances of obtaining better exam results at her government school , the cost for this extra schooling is very high , is this normal when I would think that the government school should provide free all the necessary schooling and tuition for the student to be able to pass any and all exams set by the government school .

Many thanks

[naboo]

Government schooling is basic unless she is in one of the good ones. Without knowing where she is at school it is difficult to say anything at all about the standard of education being received.

At the same time, I understand that it may not be a good idea to share in an open forum where she is at school. I have some knowledge here, the moderator Scott seems to know his stuff, perhaps a PM to him with more information would be better.

[AyG]

Just a few comments:

(1) She probably mentions engineering because it's a very prestigious subject - possibly the most prestigious, above medicine.

(2) Once you're in university it's relatively easy to move to a different subject within the first year, which is helpful if you discover you don't like the subject. In fact, there are quite a lot of common courses between subjects.

(3) Extra tuition is very common. The state school system really is very poor. Competition for university places can be very tough.

(4) Universities don't find you employment, and employment is not guaranteed. It's important to make a good choice of subject.

[Scott]

Extra tuition is very, very common, both in the school and outside of school. It does get expensive, but since she is so close to graduation, it's probably not a good time to start messing with her education too much at this point. She has also experienced a rather traumatic loss, so stability is important.

[JackisBack]

Thanks every one for the comments


Ive not personally met that many seventeen year old school students , but from talking to her she does seem to generally enjoy learning and is looking forward to continuing her education at a collage / university . The loss of her father has been very traumatic , but thankfully her mother is a strong willed person intent on doing what ever's necessary to get her daughter to a collage / university .

After talking to her , it seems that there's a trend at her government school and many of the students want to go down the doctor / nurse / pharmacist / dental / vet / optician / law / career path , but she herself is still currently undecided . I did bring up the subject with her of what type career opportunities would be widely available once she leaves a collage / university to find work , and that if she chooses a lesser known profession , the demand for that profession may be limited along with any job vacancies , I think she understood what I was trying to outline . So how does a newly graduated student actually go about finding work , especially if its in say the field of chemical engineering and not one of the above more common career paths .

[AyG]

Universities arrange job fairs where prospective employers and students can meet to see if there's a match.

It's also possible for graduates to approach employers directly to ask about potential vacancies - particularly helpful with smaller firms which don't attend job fairs.

Then there are the advertisements in the press.

Do remember that unemployment in Thailand is extremely low, so the chances of there being no work are remote.

[seajae]

ok, our daughter is 15, she wants to be a doctor. She was attending a private catholic school but we had to move her to a different shool for her last 3 years as there is only 1 school in the southern region that has 1 class in each of years 4,5,6 that actually teaches the subjects she needs to do to get into the medical university. She had to sit an exam as there are only 30 spots open in it for the whole of the south(she was even offered free schooling/accomodation at one southern college for the same years but it didnt have the right subjects), she ranked fairly high so was admitted. She has been going to after school classes right through her secondary school years, she goes every afternoon and also on weekends to ensure she gets the proper schooling. Even though the school itself is supposed to teach the correct subjects the teachers dont do it properly, this is why after school classes are so busy, the teachers dont teach during the day because that gives them more after school work to get more money, simple. Schools have special classes to learn some subjects so she needs to be in one of them if she wants to go to a good uni otherwise she will not learn what is needed but she will still need after school classes as well, definitely a backward schooling system here.

[varun]

Hopefully this will help.

The daughter is going to spend one more year at the Thai government school and towards the end of her school year take a set of exams , and these final exam results will determine which collage / university she can apply to , her mother says that the final exam results at the end of the year , if disappointing , cannot ever be taken again , so if the daughter has one bad exam day , its going to affect her future employment prospects , has the mother got this right or can the daughter re take the end of year exam a second time some how ? Partly correct.

There are common entrance tests (Onet, GAT, PAT etc.) that determine the university one can get into based on the test scores.

At the 'better' universities (Chula, Thammsat, Mahidol etc.) there maybe an interview portion as well that is taken into consideration.

Not sure taking the common entrance test(s) is a one-time deal, but unlikely I think.

The daughter currently does not know what career path to take , but when ive talked to her she keeps saying that she would like to find some thing career wise in engineering , may be chemical related , but she really seems to have no idea what engineering as a career covers. I have asked her if she does do well in her final exam results and finds a place at a collage / university , when the time comes to leave , how will she find employment in the field she has been studying , her answer was that the collage / university will find her employment , is this correct and the normal practice ? Incorrect. The university won't find her employment persay; they typically organize job fairs where candidates can meet with prospective employers, have an initial screen and/or an interview.
Although uncommon, I have heard of offers being made on the day itself.

Most decent universities also have a career center where they can view job postings / internships.

The daughter has told me that she has to make her mind up as to the type of employment / career she wants , then find a collage / university that will teach the specific subject only for that specific career , is this correct .

There's no such thing as specific 'subjects' only for specific 'careers' ; most universities have multiple FOS (Field(s) of Study)

A FOS usually comprises of generalist courses, core courses and elective courses.

Each FOS may branch out to multiple career paths, depending on a combination of the core & elective courses.

Edited March 24, 2015 by varun

[SlyAnimal]

Are after school & weekend tutoring classes common in Thailand?

Yes definitetly, generally anyone who has money will send their kids to these types of classes in order to get ahead.

Are after school & weekend tutoring classes necessary in Thailand?

Because such a large proportion of students take these additional classes, they essentially do become necessary in order to "keep up" with everyone else.

Particularly as many students in Thailand aren't interested, are bored or just in general aren't focused while studying at school. As a result, they misbehave or don't learn as quickly in class, and so the teachers don't cover as much content since they are teaching to the entire class. Add in that often, even if they had great classes, they often wouldn't be able to cover the entire curriculum anyway due to the number of non teaching days (competitions/cultural days/camps/school trips/cleaning the school before education review office visits etc).

Also there is a belief that the government exams (ONET), which your daughter will take in M6, aren't really related at all to what is taught in class. As the exams are significantly more difficult, with the national average only exceeding 50% for 2 subjects last year (I think, I can't remember), the national average for English was 19%, despite the fact that it's a multiple choice exam where statistically if everyone guessed every question, the national average should be 20%. With averages like that, I tend to agree with people who say that much of the ONET test content isn't taught in schools (Or if it is, it's not taught very well if most of the people sitting the exam fail).

Some students also turn to private tutors etc to teach them the "tricks" on how to answer multiple choice questions correctly, as they believe that what is examined is too difficult to do legitimately, and so they instead study old tests etc in their exams, so that they can learn how to identify types of questions and then what the answer should look like.

As a result, a huge amount of learning is done outside of the classroom in tutoring classes, and so anyone who doesn't have a tutor may end up falling behind.

Tutoring is also very popular for many Thai families, because it means that they essentially have a babysitter for their kids until they finish work etc, and many of the parents are unable/unwilling to assist with teaching their kids, and so prefer to just outsource it instead.

If she has just 1 bad exam day, will she be screwed for life?

No, not really. As although ONET is really important, of the universities have their own entrance exams as well, so there are multiple exam days. This admittedly is also part of the need for private tutors, as for each entrance exam, she'll likely take a day off school, which of course means she gets a lot less study done in class, and if half of her class takes the day off for a particular university which she isn't applying to, the teachers likely won't teach much/anything on that day, or will re-teach it the following day, so they get really far behind on teaching the class just prior to their ONET exams. Also as another poster mentioned, there are lots of universities in Thailand, and some of them will accept virtually anyone, so it'd just be the prestige of the university that she attends which would vary.

Should my daughter be choosing her career now, in M6?

Pretty much, although universities vary. e.g. My wife studied industrial engineering, and although she selected that right from the onset, she said that many universities made students study papers from engineering specialization during their 1st year, and then the students would choose what they wanted to specialize in at the end of their 1st year (Well actually they had to apply for it, as there were limited places available).

Thailand has a lot of competition for the good jobs, and so they often have very specific requirements. So people do need university degrees, and the degree does need to be in the relevant field, although for the lower tier jobs, they're not as fussy. But your daughter wouldn't want one of the lower tier jobs.

[SheungWan]

Don't keep bugging her with the what do you want to do next stuff. Its difficult enough without the adults freaking out on their behalf. Just provide financial support if and when.

[Rhys]

What is important ot you.. maybe is not important to her.. but guide her as you do.. cheers mate

[dragonfly94]

so is the basic govt education system completely insufficient for any child to get the needed qualifications for University entry, without loads of extra private classes, if so why and what need to change? Lots of teachers in our family at public Schools, they are always off on training courses in their own time and work hard, but nothing appears to change in the Schools.

Edited April 5, 2015 by dragonfly94

[kaorop]

Do remember that unemployment in Thailand is extremely low, so the chances of there being no work are remote.

Yes and I'd think zero for a reasonably fluent in English Thai in any engineering field, she'd probably have her pick of jobs and companies.

[SheungWan]

Are after school & weekend tutoring classes common in Thailand?

Yes definitetly, generally anyone who has money will send their kids to these types of classes in order to get ahead.

Are after school & weekend tutoring classes necessary in Thailand?

Because such a large proportion of students take these additional classes, they essentially do become necessary in order to "keep up" with everyone else.

Particularly as many students in Thailand aren't interested, are bored or just in general aren't focused while studying at school. As a result, they misbehave or don't learn as quickly in class, and so the teachers don't cover as much content since they are teaching to the entire class. Add in that often, even if they had great classes, they often wouldn't be able to cover the entire curriculum anyway due to the number of non teaching days (competitions/cultural days/camps/school trips/cleaning the school before education review office visits etc).

Also there is a belief that the government exams (ONET), which your daughter will take in M6, aren't really related at all to what is taught in class. As the exams are significantly more difficult, with the national average only exceeding 50% for 2 subjects last year (I think, I can't remember), the national average for English was 19%, despite the fact that it's a multiple choice exam where statistically if everyone guessed every question, the national average should be 20%. With averages like that, I tend to agree with people who say that much of the ONET test content isn't taught in schools (Or if it is, it's not taught very well if most of the people sitting the exam fail).

Some students also turn to private tutors etc to teach them the "tricks" on how to answer multiple choice questions correctly, as they believe that what is examined is too difficult to do legitimately, and so they instead study old tests etc in their exams, so that they can learn how to identify types of questions and then what the answer should look like.

As a result, a huge amount of learning is done outside of the classroom in tutoring classes, and so anyone who doesn't have a tutor may end up falling behind.

Tutoring is also very popular for many Thai families, because it means that they essentially have a babysitter for their kids until they finish work etc, and many of the parents are unable/unwilling to assist with teaching their kids, and so prefer to just outsource it instead.

If she has just 1 bad exam day, will she be screwed for life?

No, not really. As although ONET is really important, of the universities have their own entrance exams as well, so there are multiple exam days. This admittedly is also part of the need for private tutors, as for each entrance exam, she'll likely take a day off school, which of course means she gets a lot less study done in class, and if half of her class takes the day off for a particular university which she isn't applying to, the teachers likely won't teach much/anything on that day, or will re-teach it the following day, so they get really far behind on teaching the class just prior to their ONET exams. Also as another poster mentioned, there are lots of universities in Thailand, and some of them will accept virtually anyone, so it'd just be the prestige of the university that she attends which would vary.

Should my daughter be choosing her career now, in M6?

Pretty much, although universities vary. e.g. My wife studied industrial engineering, and although she selected that right from the onset, she said that many universities made students study papers from engineering specialization during their 1st year, and then the students would choose what they wanted to specialize in at the end of their 1st year (Well actually they had to apply for it, as there were limited places available).

Thailand has a lot of competition for the good jobs, and so they often have very specific requirements. So people do need university degrees, and the degree does need to be in the relevant field, although for the lower tier jobs, they're not as fussy. But your daughter wouldn't want one of the lower tier jobs.

There are two issues at hand. The first is passing exams and progressing through the education system. The second is acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge to make one able in one's chosen vocation. The two issues should be locked together but they appear to be painfully separated in the Thai education system. The student who advances is one who recognises that the 'issues' are somewhat separate and prepares accordingly, particularly where the subject concerned can be 'measured'. Supplementary study re exam technique is fine up to a point but learning the subject independently of the Thai education process is an additional 'must'. Many expats are well aware that too many students in Thailand are passing exams in, for example, English, but at the end of the day cannot either speak English or write English even adequately. Think of a student studying music. They know that whatever exams are passed will never quite be enough compared to systematically practising and mastering their musical instrument(s). So additional study should be about learning how to do, not just learning how to pass.

Edited April 5, 2015 by SheungWan

[JackisBack]

Thanks for all the past comments and advice.

I thought I would update my original post , My wifes sister's daughter has been offered a place at The Institute of Engineering , Suranaree University of Technology in Korat .

Ive spoken to the daughter about what she is aiming for in the way of a career path and final employment profession.

She has told me that once she starts studying at the university , the first year will be confined to studying several general subjects , but then after the first year, she can then specialize in a career profession for the remainder of her stay at the university

I have asked her what she would like to take up as a profession , and talked to her about what career vacancies may be available ( Job offers )

when she finally leaves university.

She currently seems unsure of what final career path to take , and as I practically know nothing about the career market in Thailand, I asked her what engineering subjects would be finally available for her to possibly consider as a career path at the university .

This is what she showed me , that was provided by the university

Now as I pointed out I really know nothing about career opportunities or job markets in Thailand , but just looking at the provided university list , I'm now wondering of the professions listed , which ones would be the one's that would offer more career opportunities once the daughter leaves university , in other words as I mentioned to the daughter , that choosing the right profession path at university may provide more career opportunities in the end . What I was trying to point out to the daughter was the last thing you want is to come out of university only to find that the career subject that you have been studying for the past years , is one thats not really in demand .

The daughter has an open mind and generally seems interested in choosing the right career path that will eventually lead her to a profession that would be in future demand .

Any thoughts or advice I can pass on to the daughter ?

[richard10365]

I would advise the daughter to improve her English. Asean has a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Engineering Services which could help get her a job in places like Singapore or Malaysia. I've attached the Asean document explaining the program. Happy new year.

Asean MRA on Engineering.pdf

[JackisBack]

I would advise the daughter to improve her English. Asean has a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Engineering Services which could help get her a job in places like Singapore or Malaysia. I've attached the Asean document explaining the program. Happy new year.

Thanks for the advice and link

The English aspect is certainly some thing I have talked to the daughter about , her English is I would say above average and I am having as many conversations with her on a regular basis to try and improve her English skills if possible .

From further conversations with her, it does seem some what normal for a student to enter a university and then after some time to swap universities to gain qualifications in another field / subject .

For her its early days and from what she has told me , she will have about one year in the university before she has to finally select the career path and hopefully at the end , gain qualifications in the selected subject .

Some of her close friends have all so gained entrance to the same ( Korat ) university , and when Ive asked some of them what fields of engineering they want to study , most of them really have no concrete idea what the engineering subject entails , just a vague notion .

My original thought was to try and gain an insight into which engineering subject / careers may in the coming years , provide the daughter with a better chance of finding employment in the subject she has to finally select at university .

Thanks and Happy New Year

[DavisH]

Do remember that unemployment in Thailand is extremely low, so the chances of there being no work are remote.

Yes and I'd think zero for a reasonably fluent in English Thai in any engineering field, she'd probably have her pick of jobs and companies.

I don't think it's so easy to get a good job here after graduation. Just about every student I teach wants to study in the engineering field - any based on their school performance, surprisingly, they are admitted. Even those who could barely pass maths. Thus the acceptance rate and quality of the university is very important. I know a few of my students who will get jobs easily, but difficult for the poorer graduates, as competition is fierce for the few well paying 'good' engineering jobs in this country. Or maybe they just do engineering for the 'face'. Few of my students who want to do ti seem not to understand what it involves.

[DavisH]

Thanks for all the past comments and advice.

I thought I would update my original post , My wifes sister's daughter has been offered a place at The Institute of Engineering , Suranaree University of Technology in Korat .

Ive spoken to the daughter about what she is aiming for in the way of a career path and final employment profession.

She has told me that once she starts studying at the university , the first year will be confined to studying several general subjects , but then after the first year, she can then specialize in a career profession for the remainder of her stay at the university

I have asked her what she would like to take up as a profession , and talked to her about what career vacancies may be available ( Job offers )

when she finally leaves university.

She currently seems unsure of what final career path to take , and as I practically know nothing about the career market in Thailand, I asked her what engineering subjects would be finally available for her to possibly consider as a career path at the university .

This is what she showed me , that was provided by the university

Now as I pointed out I really know nothing about career opportunities or job markets in Thailand , but just looking at the provided university list , I'm now wondering of the professions listed , which ones would be the one's that would offer more career opportunities once the daughter leaves university , in other words as I mentioned to the daughter , that choosing the right profession path at university may provide more career opportunities in the end . What I was trying to point out to the daughter was the last thing you want is to come out of university only to find that the career subject that you have been studying for the past years , is one thats not really in demand .

The daughter has an open mind and generally seems interested in choosing the right career path that will eventually lead her to a profession that would be in future demand .

Any thoughts or advice I can pass on to the daughter ?

Are these courses in English or Thai? I'm not sure that will make a huge difference, but if her english is not up to scratch, then this will affect her learning of the content. Then again, some engineering companies may like a graduate competent in english.

Do these courses have a common first year? After than, she can choose which field she likes most or sees the most job prospects in.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Scott
Oversized graphic in nested quote

[JackisBack]

Thanks for all the past comments and advice.

I thought I would update my original post , My wifes sister's daughter has been offered a place at The Institute of Engineering , Suranaree University of Technology in Korat .

Ive spoken to the daughter about what she is aiming for in the way of a career path and final employment profession.

She has told me that once she starts studying at the university , the first year will be confined to studying several general subjects , but then after the first year, she can then specialize in a career profession for the remainder of her stay at the university

I have asked her what she would like to take up as a profession , and talked to her about what career vacancies may be available ( Job offers )

when she finally leaves university.

She currently seems unsure of what final career path to take , and as I practically know nothing about the career market in Thailand, I asked her what engineering subjects would be finally available for her to possibly consider as a career path at the university .

This is what she showed me , that was provided by the university

Now as I pointed out I really know nothing about career opportunities or job markets in Thailand , but just looking at the provided university list , I'm now wondering of the professions listed , which ones would be the one's that would offer more career opportunities once the daughter leaves university , in other words as I mentioned to the daughter , that choosing the right profession path at university may provide more career opportunities in the end . What I was trying to point out to the daughter was the last thing you want is to come out of university only to find that the career subject that you have been studying for the past years , is one thats not really in demand .

The daughter has an open mind and generally seems interested in choosing the right career path that will eventually lead her to a profession that would be in future demand .

Any thoughts or advice I can pass on to the daughter ?

Are these courses in English or Thai? I'm not sure that will make a huge difference, but if her english is not up to scratch, then this will affect her learning of the content. Then again, some engineering companies may like a graduate competent in english.

Do these courses have a common first year? After than, she can choose which field she likes most or sees the most job prospects in.

Thanks for some interesting thoughts and comments

Several things about the Wife's sisters daughter and her university entrance and future job prospects , are making me wonder ( I really know nothing about career opportunities or job markets ) .

So as far as I can see

1. The daughter has been accepted for a place at Korat university's engineering program.

2. The daughter speaks and writes reasonable English and can verbally communicate to me with out too much of a problem.

3. The Engineering place she has been offered , for the first year she will be learning only common courses , after that first year she has to then choose a subject ( from the shown university list ) , but at this stage the daughter is still confused as to what the engineering career prospects will hold when she finally walks out of the university clutching her graduation paper work .

4. All the university courses are in Thai .

5. Her mother has told me , Korat university seems to have a good reputation in the engineering field , but the university course work can be hard going for some students as the university sets a continuing minimum course pass % and many students drop out along the way.

6. Ive now learned that the daughter has put her name down to take an entrance exam at a teaching university , for teaching English .

After further talking with the daughter and some of her friends who have all so gained places at engineering universities , it does seem that most of them have no real idea what the engineering fields or professions are about , only thing in their mind is that that engineering seems to hold some sort of magical road to a future well paid career.

I have asked the daughter about her applying to take a coming entrance exam at a teaching university , for teaching English , and her idea about teaching in general and she seems enthusiastic .

The daughter was from a young age taught English by her father , and its obvious that she enjoys any thing to do with English , her mother told me her bedroom is awash with English books and English language media ( films / TV programs etc ) .

But like the field of engineering , should the daughter pass the entrance exam to the teaching university , what future prospects will there be for an English teacher , again I'm at a loss to advise the daughter on that subject

Would becoming an English teacher hold better future prospects than any thing in the field of engineering ?

I enjoy my conversations with the daughter and its refreshing to see her enthusiasm and desire to do well in the future , so any sound advice I can pass onto her hopefully may steer her in a better direction .

[AyG]

Would becoming an English teacher hold better future prospects than any thing in the field of engineering ?

Absolutely, utterly, incontrovertibly, categorically, unquestionably, surely and truly not.

All teachers here are poorly paid. Engineers, not so much.

[DavisH]

Would becoming an English teacher hold better future prospects than any thing in the field of engineering ?

Absolutely, utterly, incontrovertibly, categorically, unquestionably, surely and truly not.

All teachers here are poorly paid. Engineers, not so much.

I would say she has very good prospects for teaching english - how many Thai teachers can actually converse in english? But as you mentioned, salaries are quite low, and it seems many schools still prefer native speakers (or competent non-natives), at this point in time.

There are a LOT of fields of science, but Thai kids seem fixated with engineering. It may or may not play out to well paid career in the long run. It will depends on her performance in university and any internship. She should strive to be at the top of her class in whatever she plans to do anyway. Honestly I only personally know one engineer here and he is on a very good salary...but this is after many years of service. A number of engineering graduates start up their own businesses and quite a few end up doing MBA's. I wish I knew the job market here better too! But I always advise my students to look more broadly across the sciences and mathematics too.

[naboo]

If her English is good, she shouldn't be looking at teaching English. For Thais, teaching is only a worthwhile career if you can get into the governmnet sector, and eve then many leave as they can't get a job in the city, they're stuck in Baan Nok. To get into a city government school, you need connections or money. Ability is not required.

My neice was looking at nursing last year tried to get in but the competition was fierce. She's a bright girl, but had to "settle" for a degree course in Chemistry. Nursing harder to get into than Chemistry! At the same university! I'm guessing nursing is competitive as you can get into Singapore and Malaysia with it now.

My advice would be a straight up English degree, though I'm not sure Korat University would be the best place for it. If she loves English, its where she should be heading, there aren't enough English speakers in Thailand, a decent one will get a job in the city in no time.

What has her specialism been in upper Matthayom?

[JackisBack]

Thanks to every one for your input , your comments and ideas are being passed on to the daughter in English , and I'm sure she will appreciate any advice given. If I seem to be jumping from one idea to another I apologies but as new possibilities for the daughter appear , more questions need asking and hopefully answered if possible.


Now once again admitting to knowing very little about career opportunities or job markets in Thailand , the question that now springs to mind if considering a university degree in English , where would a student who has obtained a university degree in English be looking to be professionally employed ( apart from teaching English ) . One thing spring to mind , being a professional translator , but what other possible employment opportunities may be in a Thai job's market for some one with an English degree .

The daughters past upper Matthayom school records show that her top score ( 4 ) was all ways in English classes and never ever went below 4 , with science and mathematics not far behind.

Ive just found this about Korat university ( the same university where the daughter has been offered a place in engineering ) and the family live with in easy reach of that university.

The admission requirements look some what daunting ?

School of Foreign Languages

pdf file of the above

http://soctech.sut.ac.th/fl/doc/Folder_SUT_Rev02.pdf

Any comments most welcome .

[AyG]

Ive just found this about Korat university ( the same university where the daughter has been offered a place in engineering ) and the family live with in easy reach of that university.

Any comments most welcome .

If there isn't a problem with the translation, that is a graduate programme, so not appropriate.

[JackisBack]

Ive just found this about Korat university ( the same university where the daughter has been offered a place in engineering ) and the family live with in easy reach of that university.

Any comments most welcome .

If there isn't a problem with the translation, that is a graduate programme, so not appropriate.

Thanks for that , trust me .

I will keep looking for some thing suitable , any pointers about an English degree , most welcome

last night I was shown a photograph taken on the day that the daughter went to the engineering entrance exam at Korat university , and I'm amazed that there seems to be thousands of students there all taking the entrance exam , more surprisingly the vast majority seemed to be girls and only a few boys . I would have thought that for engineering there would have been more boys , or may be I'm just out of touch with Thai university's.

[AyG]

How about getting her to do one of the free, online career choice tests? That might help her think about what she enjoys doing. For example

http://www.yourfreecareertest.com/

[richard10365]

What about the hospitality indusrty? The Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangements on Tourism Professionals awards a certificate for demonstrated tourism skills. The cretificate allows a person to work in any Asean country. English is a requirement for this. If she gets an international degree in tourism or hospitality she could increase her chances for jobs after study.

[AyG]

What about the hospitality indusrty? The Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangements on Tourism Professionals awards a certificate for demonstrated tourism skills. The cretificate allows a person to work in any Asean country. English is a requirement for this. If she gets an international degree in tourism or hospitality she could increase her chances for jobs after study.

But poorly paid. But then, money isn't everything.

[KhaoNiaw]

A minor point but it's not 'Korat University'. You might get people confused with some local technical school if you start asking for advice about it using that name. Suranaree University of Technology is a good university with high standards and expectations of students and faculty.

If she's already been offered a place there, it's well worth taking it up I would think. There's no way she would have been offered the place if she hadn't scored well in related exams like maths and science. And they may have had their own entrance process? She'll get advice along the way and can use the first year to decide what field she wants to go into. Or maybe she'll find it's not for her.

The teaching university sounds like a 'rajabhat' university and the standards there will be much much lower than at Suranaree.

Edited January 5, 2016 by KhaoNiaw