Thai universities have produced award-wining scientist and research papers of scholars from Thai education are quoted all over the world. Graduates of Thai education institutions are highly regarded in today’s competitive global market.

In Asia, a student mobility flow has always been from East to West.  But some forecasters suggest that the pattern is going to change soon and Asian students may prefer “intra-regional” universities in coming years instead of popular destinations in West. Thailand, the Southeast Asian country, land of smiles, a tourism paradise is rising as the “world-class regional academic and education hub” in Southeast Asia.  According to the data by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), Thailand’s inbound student mobility rate increased by 979% from 1999 to 2012. Being integrated with ASEAN, Thailand has strengthened its education network. Thai universities have teamed up with foreign higher education institutions for international degree recognition, credit transfers and mobility programs.

Thailand has 17 universities listed in the overall Times Higher Education World University rankings on the basis of performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. Universities, medical schools, colleges, culinary schools, law schools, and engineering schools are highly recognized and renowned for their academic excellence in world academic community. Higher Education institutions have specialized faculties, innovative and advanced technology, global connections and industry relevant teaching and research. Institutions believe on nurturing students to make them able to contribute to build a rich sustainable community. Thai universities have produced award-wining scientist and research papers of scholars from Thai education are quoted all over the world. Graduates of Thai education institutions are highly regarded in today’s competitive global market.

Apart from all these factors why miss the opportunity to spend the most energetic phase of your life studying in a country where you can have world-class education with mini vacations every weekend? Sandy tropical beaches, luscious cuisines, ultramodern skyscrapers, cutting-edge technology, modern but similar culture, hospitality are the luring factors of Thailand. Students can enjoy local street to exotic foods with affordable prices. Cost of living for a student is very much lower than other English speaking countries. On top of that Nepalese students do not need to worry about homesickness, if you miss your home you are just three and half hours away, tickets are readily available and economical too. Since Thailand welcomes any genuine student who wants to study a full degree, just one exchange semester abroad, or even a short vocational course with English as medium of instruction, Nepalese students are considering Thai universities and colleges more than ever. For Nepalese parents Thailand is also relatively inexpensive alternative to high-cost destinations like U.S.A, Canada or Australia.

Who do not want to spend the most energetic phase of his/her life studying in a country where you can have mini vacations every weekend? Sandy tropical beaches, luscious cuisines, ultramodern skyscrapers, cutting-edge technology, modern but similar culture, hospitality are the luring factors of Thailand. Nepalese students do not need to worry about homesickness, if you miss your home you are just three and half hours away, tickets are readily available and economical too. Since Thailand welcomes any genuine student who wants to study a full degree, just one exchange semester abroad, or even a short vocational course with English as medium of instruction, Nepalese students are considering Thai universities and colleges more than ever. For Nepalese parents, Thailand is also relatively inexpensive alternative to high-cost destinations like U.S.A, Canada or Australia. Moreover Thailand has also been providing numerous short-term and long-term scholarships for Nepalese students in various fields such as medicine, engineering, economics and agriculture.

In conversation with Mr. Milan Kumar Moktan, Founder of EduQuest Nepal,an education consultancy in Kathmandu, informed that the graph of Nepalese students enquiring his office for Thailand has surged in recent years.Students visit with their unique interest of programs and Thailand serves it all. Students who returned after completion of their degree are pleased about the decision they made for their career and even recommend the country in their peer group. He told that he constantly hears from his students currently enrolled in Thailand and has never received any negative remarks.He added that the students were ready to enroll and study online during the COVID times too. It suggests that Thai Universities have developed efficient online teaching methodologies at the time of COVID-19 pandemic and students are preferring it to continue their education.

Although the history of Nepalese students studied in Thailand is very long, visit of former Crown Prince Paras Shah to Thailand in 2003 is marked as an important event in the Nepal and Thailand bilateral relationship. His visit was hosted by United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). Meanwhile in 2017, Miss Nepal 2010 Sadikshya Shrestha was awarded The Wilhelm Hill Prize for the most outstanding academic performance in MBA degree during her study at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand. This has motivated the young Nepalese students to dream and achieve their educational goal in Thailand. Over the years Thailand has been an optimal choice of every aspiring student from Royal family to Nepali medium class family.

By Manisha Moktan
Educationalist and Education Counselor