In the shape of an elephant’s head, the Southeast Asian state of Thailand extends over an area of over half a million square kilometers. The state is bounded on the one hand by the countries Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia and on the other hand by the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea.
Numerous small islands surround the mainland. The “Land of Smiles” is world-famous for its dream beaches, which attract bathing and surfing. The capital Bangkok in particular is a popular travel destination, but it is also becoming increasingly popular for studying abroad in Thailand.
Study in Thailand: Kingdom Facts
According to localcollegeexplorer, the climate in Thailand is largely tropical, in a few regions temperate and usually around 30–35 ° C year-round. At night it only cools down insignificantly. In the north it is cooler, in the south it is humid and in the inland it is muggy and hot, while a cooling breeze blows on the coasts. Thailand is in the area of influence of the monsoon winds, which bring with them varying degrees of precipitation. While there is a ten-month rainy season in the south, the months of May to October are particularly rainy in the north. Again and again there are sometimes violent typhoons and floods in Thailand. The most pleasant travel time is in winter from November to February.
Until the middle of the 20th century, Thailand consisted mostly of tropical rainforests. Nowadays they only make up about a quarter of the country. The landscape of the coastal regions is determined by mangrove forests and swamps, in the interior there are fertile alluvial plains, but also drier steppe areas. In the north are the foothills of the Himalayas and in the northeast there are various high plateaus. The diversity in the animal and plant world is correspondingly large.
The Kingdom of Thailand, known as Siam until 1939, was, unlike many other Asian countries, never under European colonial rule. Even today it is still a constitutional monarchy, which has been headed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn since 2016. He rules over 69 million people, 75% of whom are Thai and 15% Chinese. Mainly they belong to the Buddhist faith.
The Southeast Asian country is an economically emerging country and has recently undergone major changes. Agriculture was replaced in its primary position by export and industrial production. Thailand is now the tenth most important car manufacturer in the world. Other important branches of the economy are the production of steel, electrical and electronic equipment and the textile industry. The service sector and tourism also play a major role. These technical and economic developments make studying abroad in Thailand so attractive for students who love to travel.
University forms of Thailand
The establishment of the first two universities in the kingdom at the end of the 19th century served to train Buddhist monks. Gradually followed by military academies, vocational schools, technical institutes and royal government institutes, which trained teachers across the country. The original teaching staff are now among their Rajabhat -Hochschulverbund who received university status in the 1970s. The nine so-called Rajamankhala universities, which are now called Universities of Technology, were originally technical institutes. In return, technical institutes with university status developed from some of the technical colleges.
There are currently a total of 79 state universities in Thailand, which are fully funded by the government. 63 of them are admission-restricted, and 14 are autonomous, but still subsidized by the state. In addition to the state universities, there are 71 private universities.
Studying in Thailand is also possible at the various types of colleges that provide practical training: Technical, Community, Professional and Teacher Colleges. While some universities only offer undergraduate courses, a doctorate is also possible at certain colleges.
University funding and quality assurance
The importance of the education sector to the Thai government is shown by the fact that its funding accounts for around a quarter of total government spending. Around 12% of this goes into tertiary education. The Thai Ministry of Education (MoE) is the highest authority above all educational institutions. Both state and private institutions must be accredited by the MoE. It is affiliated with the Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC, formerly Ministry of University Affairs), which regulates international cooperation and ensures the quality of research and teaching.
The number of international university branches is growing steadily and reflects the increasing importance of Thailand for the Asian and global markets. The general conditions for Thai students and students worldwide who want to study in Thailand are promoted in a special way through international study offers from the state. They are aimed at both local and international students and primarily offer English-language courses. In special cases there are also courses in standard Chinese. At some universities, guest lecturers from renowned European and American universities teach semester by semester.
More than 20,000 foreign students came to study in Thailand in 2010 – almost 6% more than in the previous year. For the most part, they came from China, Laos, Myanmar or other parts of Asia and a relatively small proportion from Europe. These included full-time students who did their bachelor’s degree in Thailand, but also numerous students who came to Thailand for a semester abroad. Study abroad or semester stays in Thailand are particularly popular in the fields of management, economics, technology and engineering.
For international students studying in Thailand is extremely beneficial as they familiarize themselves with the Asian business world, culture and mentality during the study. The state of Thailand benefits equally from the international students and the university cooperations, which bring know-how, financial and economic strength (through tuition fees and funding) and prestige. The educational institutions increase Thailand’s profile beyond the tourism industry.
