Education in Thailand part 4

Tertiary & Higher Education

The established universities in both the government and private sectors offer excellent programmes especially in the fields of Medicine, the Arts, Humanities, and Information Technology, although many students prefer to pursue studies of law and business in Western faculties abroad or in those which have created local facilities in Thailand. During the first years of the 21st century, the number of universities increased dramatically. This does not automatically reflect an increase in the number of institutions, but is largely due to the fact that many establishments of further, vocational, or higher education were allocated the right to rename themselves to include the word university. Neither does it reflect an automatic improvement in the level of the degrees they confer, many of which are not yet internationally recognised. It raises however, the county’s pride on an international scale, in the number of 12th Grade school-leavers following undergraduate programmes before embarking on their careers and certainly improves the education and prospects of those who will enter full-time employment. A glance at the classified job sections in the newspapers will show that there is now rarely a white-collar employment of any kind that does not stipulate a bachelor degree as a minimum requirement.

For a full list of universities and higer education institutions in Thailand see: List of universities in Thailand. Over half of the provinces have a government Rajabhat University, formerly Rajabhat Institute, traditionally a Teacher Training College.