Country Report: Thailand
Publication date: 25 Jan 2019
New Country Report: Thailand
| Date: | January 25 - 2019 |
|---|
As part of our series of country reports outlining the landscape and regulatory environment for transnational education (TNE) in key countries for UK higher education, our latest report looks at Thailand.
Around 30,000 Thai students were studying overseas in 2017, with the US and the UK as the most popular destinations for Thai students.
UK TNE in Thailand currently stands at just 886 students studying for a UK award, delivered by 56 degree-awarding bodies. If we exclude distance learning, which accounts for 562 students, 12 UK degree-awarding bodies currently offer degrees in-country to 324 students.
However, the Thai Government has introduced a number of initiatives to encourage and support the internationalisation of Thai higher education, making Thailand a country with significant potential for UK providers considering growing their TNE footprint in East Asia.
New government policies have made it easier to set up branch campuses, with incentives to attract quality external providers to set up programmes in Thailand.
Increasing the number of transnational education partnerships is a key part of the country's strategy, and international partnerships have doubled over the past five years, with 135 collaborative programmes between Thai and overseas higher education providers in 2016, including 87 joint, double and dual degree programmes.
The UK-Thailand Transnational Education Development Project, jointly supported by Thailand's Office of Higher Education Commission and the British Council, has already supported the development of 19 UK-Thai TNE partnerships.
With Thailand's appetite to grow foreign investment in quality higher education, and its strategic location at the heart of Asia and the ASEAN region, Thailand is a country with significant potential for UK providers.
Read our other country reports: