Country Profile and market information Thailand

Introduction

Higher Education Information

Socio- cultural and economic environment
Thailand’s population is estimated to be 66 million. The majority of the population is Thai (75%), while Chinese account for 14% of the population. The Bangkok metropolitan area is Thailand’s most densely populated area with about 12 million people, while the western and northern parts of the country are sparsely populated.

Thailand has been influenced culturally by India and China; these influences have interacted with indigenous beliefs and practices. Theravada Buddhism is the state religion and permeates the country’s arts, literature, education and the Thai way of life. Thai society is very hierarchical; every Thai knows his or her place.

In Thailand the royal family enjoys much respect. Unlike other Southeast Asian countries, Thailand was never colonized. Thai people are proud of their independence and like to be treated as equals. Partly because of Buddhism, Thai people in general are friendly and known for their tolerance, hospitality and respect for older people. Thais are not used to showing emotions and they avoid confrontations.

The Thai economy is export-dependent, with exports of goods and services accounting for over 70% of GDP in 2007. In 2008, Thailand’s GDP growth forecast was adjusted upward to 5%, although this growth may not be achieved, particularly because of the uncertain global environment and the rise in food, as well as energy, prices. According to the Economist the economy will shrink by 4.4% in 2009—the first contraction since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Growth will resume in 2010, with real GDP expanding by 1.4%.

Despite frequent instability in government, Thailand’s constitutional monarchy has helped to provide political continuity. Thailand has experienced 18 military coups since 1932. Abhisit Vejjajiva was voted by the parliament as Prime Minister in December 2008. He and his cabinet are being closely observed since many corruption cases have surfaced.

Education system of Thailand
The proportion of students moving from lower to upper-secondary education dropped from 81.2% in 1998 to 60% in 2006, undermining Thailand’s long-term competitiveness. In addition, concern has been growing with regard to the quality and relevance of basic and higher education, both of which have lagged behind the needs of a more global and knowledge-based economy.

About 14.2 million students were enrolled in the Thai education system, with 1.6 million students enrolled in higher education. Although education is largely funded and administered by the state, private organizations are encouraged to participate in all sectors of the education system. The number of private institutions at university and college levels is constantly growing in order to respond to the increasing demand of students.

There is no official ranking of institutions of higher education. However, the public universities are regarded as the most prestigious higher education institutions. Therefore, competition to enter the 20 prestigious public universities is intense. The majority of students who fail the entrance exams turn to less prestigious private or open universities.

It is possible for foreign education institutions to set up a subsidiary in Thailand. Policies, rules, regulations and standards for the establishment of international schools and colleges are stipulated by the Ministry of Education.

In general, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees awarded by well-established public universities – which offer either a wide range of academic programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels or very highly regarded programmes within their area of specialization – are assessed as comparable to the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees of the Anglo-Saxon system.

English-language proficiency is one of the major obstacles for students who want to study abroad. This is due to the fact that there is no standard of English language teaching either in the public or private education sectors.

Study abroad Market
Thailand has no official statistics on the number of students studying abroad. It is estimated that the Thai students studying abroad come from middle-to-upper-class Thai-Chinese families. The USA is still the most popular study destination, but Thai students can also be found in Australia, UK, New Zealand and several European countries.

Overall, business-related study programmes are more popular among Thai students abroad. The growing number of high-school graduates from international schools in Thailand is a major factor in the growing potential of undergraduate students.

The major reason for Thai students for going overseas to study is that they think they will find a better quality of education overseas, particularly graduate programmes.

The need for early marketing campaigns applies to Thai students. Thai students tend to begin thinking about studying overseas further in advance than the average Asian student and they take longer than average to choose an institution after they have chosen their country of destination.

Thai students are putting less emphasis on choosing a country and more on a particular course. As regards their choice of country, cost is considered to be the most important factor. When choosing an institution, the reputation of the institution is the most important factor. However, the content of the course and accessibility are becoming increasingly important factors.

The Internet is increasingly being used by Thai students to obtain information about overseas universities, as well as schools and colleges, university course guides and ‘family’ advice.

Source: Country Education Profile, Nuffic