SURVEY: Would you recommend a foreign student to attend University in Thailand?

[FredNL]

For studying Muay Thai maybe....
Criminals from all over the world coming to Thailand to "study" Thai Kickboxing...

Edited December 4, 2016 by FredNL

[GinBoy2]

Seriously, how is this even be a question?

 

Thai universities barely educate, and certainly don't promote the questioning mind, that most of us in the West gain from our college education.

Thai universities are merely a continuation of the basic school education that teaches the population to learn and regurgitate in order pass exams with the goal of getting to that all important graduation picture.

 

I used to work for a technology company, and our HR dept would rank overseas applicants by virtue of their degree. The Filipinos could qualify for admin positions, the Thai degrees couldn't even qualify for that

[richard10365]

One of my classmates from Payap University in Chiang Mai graduated from Harvard University and another from the London School of Ecnomics both with master's degrees.

Sent from my SM-P601 using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[atyclb]

can an educator (inside knowledge) comment on assumption university ??

[atyclb]

On 12/4/2016 at 8:45 PM, harrry said:

I would think Hawaii would be a better choice for that.   Here you are getting a rather filtered view of Tai History and movement and hence rather difficult to see the wood for the trees with the language changes and development..

 

 

hawaii has far from a stellar educational standard to put it kindly.

[harrry]

3 hours ago, atyclb said:

 

 

hawaii has far from a stellar educational standard to put it kindly.

So it would seem by current rankings.  It used to have a higher one but I guess that was due to Margaret Mead whose original research was not exactly based on good sample selection.  

How do they get over the problems of restricton of discussion of subjects that may be relevant, and the rather fact poor understanding of the areas history and developement.  I would think that would be hard.  

I am not saying Thai Universities are bad, there are some very good areas here.  

 

 

Edited December 8, 2016 by harrry

[Fookhaht]

On 12/4/2016 at 2:53 PM, SaintLouisBlues said:

I wouldn't recommend a Thai student to attend university  in Thailand

I would recommend a Thai university education to only Thai students ONLY if they plan to stay in Thailand for a mediocre career.  If any have designs on a career abroad, or to rise to the top of the pack within Thailand, I would agree with SaintLuisBlues.  

My opinion is based on nearly 15 years of teaching in Thai tertiary institutions at the bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. levels.  I would rate the Thai bachelor and master levels at the high school level of education in the USA  (especially in regards to developing and nurturing critical thinking).  I have also taught  in the USA at the high school level, so I have a reasonable basis of comparison.  Further,  Thai Ph.D. work is saturated with plagiarism from others' research. There is very little policing/monitoring of this particular problem.   Rather than creating a body of new knowledge (the purpose of Ph.D.-level research), Ph.D. programs tend to be simply degree mills where the students go through the motions, plagiarize the dissertation, get the sheepskin, and then enjoy their highest-level academic salaries in essentially tenured positions for the rest of their careers within the country.   

Edited December 8, 2016 by Fookhaht

[scorecard]

A better survey - go to some of the many Thai universities who currently have many foreign exchange students (both undergrad. and grad. level) including many from Germany. Ask them, straight from the horses mouth.

 

Also remember that the foreign universities involved (and there are many) would never agree to these formal exchange arrangements if the local universities don't pass their requirements, including student outcomes. Some of these foreign universities conduct quality de-briefs of their returning students and share the results with their Thai counterpart.

 

Overall I can take an educated guess at the student response and the de-brief - a large number would say yes they would recommend their Thai university to other students. 

[BlindMagician]

On 12/4/2016 at 11:17 AM, harrry said:

I disagree. if the person we are talking aout is living in Thailand it can be a good option for a first degree.  Not that the degree is great (though some are OK) but because almost all western universities accept a Batchelor Degree from here as entry qualification to Masters degrees.  That said it would be wise for a person to spend some time studying in the other country after finishing the degree dong say a grad Diploma to get used to the very different way universities work.

You touched oh so gently on one of the key reasons why they shouldn't choose Thailand for their UG degree...the bit about different ways of working. Just to give you a taster, not so long ago the Government pushed Unis to have one special course added into all curricula called "critical thinking". So what does this tell you?

[Borzandy]

If the students would like to learn about corruption or buying diploma or Buddhism, yes we could recommand to study in Thailand.

[northernboy]

Never, unless it is a linguistic program for Thai language. 

[Borzandy]

On 04/12/2016 at 11:27 AM, snowbak said:

Thailand's education is a joke. they send most of their PhD students out of the country to schools abroad.

I'm surprised, your post has not been removed.

[ecline]

I find the comments to this thread very interesting in that not a single foreigner studying in a Thai university has weighed in with their opinion. I am currently in my last year of my PhD in computational science at Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai. While I can't say anything about other universities in Thailand, the programs at MFU are of very high quality, facilities are modern and faculty are top notch (in the school of science anyway).

 

From what I see there are no free passes at MFU. If you don't do the work, you are out of the program. Plus they also go to great lengths to detect and eradicate plagiarism, the penalties for which are severe. Is the Thai education system in general world class? No, it is not. That aside, can you get a world class education in Thailand? Yes, you can. The fact that grads from MFU, CMU, Chula, AIT, etc are on the faculty at many US universities bears that out. As one poster already mentioned, a Thai university degree from virtually any university here will get you into a grad program in the USA. To say a degree from Thailand is worthless is a stupid statement.

 

Would I recommend a foreign student to study here? Depends on the situation, but I would definitely not warn them off. I have worked very hard studying at MFU. And when I graduate next year, I will be very proud of my achievement and thankful to the great faculty in the school of science.

 

 

 

[abrahamzvi]

On 12/4/2016 at 11:00 AM, 12DrinkMore said:

 

That is a bit of a sweeping statement.

 

Everybody knows about Thai higher education, it goes in line with higher hemlines.

Your disgraceful statement goes to prove the comment you are replying to, with which I personally disagree. However ,unfortunately there are some readers like you, who make statements, which throw such negative light on "all" readers.

[Honthy]

unless being seriously forced to say yes, I would say NO but the question is too wide. The problem is far much more complicated to launch one question. 

Edited December 9, 2016 by Honthy

[12DrinkMore]

9 minutes ago, abrahamzvi said:

Your disgraceful statement goes to prove the comment you are replying to, with which I personally disagree. However ,unfortunately there are some readers like you, who make statements, which throw such negative light on "all" readers.

 

Lighten up, after all you survived the night and have a whole new day full of opportunities in front of you. 

[johninbkk71]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1154113/thai-students-plunge-in-pisa-test-rankings

[williamgeorgeallen]

almost every thai who can afford it sends their kids overseas for high school or university. my son turns 5 next month so i am moving back to nz so he can start school there. not what i really wanted but thats what his thai mum wants. she has lived overseas before and would rather stay here but is willing to go for the good of our kids.

[TheFishman1]

Looks like the No S win lol TIT

[abrahamzvi]

11 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

almost every thai who can afford it sends their kids overseas for high school or university. my son turns 5 next month so i am moving back to nz so he can start school there. not what i really wanted but thats what his thai mum wants. she has lived overseas before and would rather stay here but is willing to go for the good of our kids.

May I point out that there are quite a few very good international schools inThailand, albeit they are expensive. Some international schools offer the IB, which is internationally accepted as the best high school degree.

[williamgeorgeallen]

9 minutes ago, abrahamzvi said:

May I point out that there are quite a few very good international schools inThailand, albeit they are expensive. Some international schools offer the IB, which is internationally accepted as the best high school degree.

my son has been in one of the best pre schools in pattaya for 3 years now and of course it has been fine although it is not cheap at about 10 000thb/month. i know some teachers from some of the best schools around pattaya and they have said the schools are just a business and more money focused than anything else. have heard some are charging 30 000US$/year. with 2 kids that would take almost all my income just for some thing i get free back home. i have a house in the best school zone in christchurch new zealand meaning a very high level of education for free. just have to buy the uniforms. will set my kids up better for university in nz if thats what they decide to do.

[thurien]

<Would you recommend a foreign student to attend University in Thailand?>

 

no. unless he/she/it joins for just one term in order to buy a fake diploma

[elgordo38]

On 12/4/2016 at 10:24 AM, dcpo said:

Also, most people posting on Thai Visa don't know anything about higher education,

Yes that is true. I cut the quote off there. I will read the comments and educate myself on the Thai education system of which a lot of negatives have been posted here in the past. A system can be only as good as the effort put into it by the students. Your never to old to learn. 

 

Signed a life long student of life. 

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

my son has been in one of the best pre schools in pattaya for 3 years now and of course it has been fine although it is not cheap at about 10 000thb/month. i know some teachers from some of the best schools around pattaya and they have said the schools are just a business and more money focused than anything else. have heard some are charging 30 000US$/year. with 2 kids that would take almost all my income just for some thing i get free back home. i have a house in the best school zone in christchurch new zealand meaning a very high level of education for free. just have to buy the uniforms. will set my kids up better for university in nz if thats what they decide to do.

WOW education here is not cheap then. Consider it an investment in your Golden Years. As the bible states it will be returned to you 10 fold or something of that nature. Your children will look after you when your old and feeble. Its the Thai concealed and disguised pension plan. Lets hope there is enough prosperity around for your children to share in in their working years. 

 

 

 

 

[williamgeorgeallen]

29 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

WOW education here is not cheap then. Consider it an investment in your Golden Years. As the bible states it will be returned to you 10 fold or something of that nature. Your children will look after you when your old and feeble. Its the Thai concealed and disguised pension plan. Lets hope there is enough prosperity around for your children to share in in their working years. 

 

 

 

 

i want my kids to be looking after their kids when i am old not me. the thai system of looking after your parents when they get old is part of the problem where the vast majority of people are kept in the poverty trap.

[elgordo38]

Just now, williamgeorgeallen said:

i want my kids to be looking after their kids when i am old not me. the thai system of looking after your parents when they get old is part of the problem where the vast majority of people are kept in the poverty trap.

Yes you state the obvious unfortunately this informal pension system is a crutch for the government so that they do not have to pay an honest and livable pension except to themselves of course. Governments have a keen perception of things. Thats why Thailand is buying all that military hardware during peace time. Military procurement first and well citizens welfare somewhere near the first rung of the ladder. 

[williamgeorgeallen]

3 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Yes you state the obvious unfortunately this informal pension system is a crutch for the government so that they do not have to pay an honest and livable pension except to themselves of course. Governments have a keen perception of things. Thats why Thailand is buying all that military hardware during peace time. Military procurement first and well citizens welfare somewhere near the first rung of the ladder. 

well i agree with you there. thailand who has never been to war is throwing away their military spending on a massive scale. much of it is spent on out dated useless equipment. would not be impossible for the government to cut pointless expenditure and support the poor elderly masses.  

[elgordo38]

Just now, williamgeorgeallen said:

well i agree with you there. thailand who has never been to war is throwing away their military spending on a massive scale. much of it is spent on out dated useless equipment. would not be impossible for the government to cut pointless expenditure and support the poor elderly masses.  

Well you and I know the truth do you think we can convey it to the masses? 1 body at a time. Well that would not work as I do not have enough time left. Father Time has been good to me but his hands are moving to fast around my clock. In the end I guess he will say "Times up"

[seancbk]

I wonder how many of the people answering NO, have actually done any higher education study here.

I expect very few, in which case their votes are pointless.

 

 

[SiSePuede419]

Is Boiler Room University a thing?

 

That would be the best school ?