The history of higher education in Thailand can be traced back to the modernization period almost one hundred years ago when the nation needed to adapt herself dramatically to cope with the changes brought along by western superpowers and to maintain its sovereignty. The primary purposes of higher education then were to cultivate intellectuality in our young and capable people with modern knowledge so that they would serve in government services for the modernization of the nation. Systematically, Thailand may have adopted higher education philosophy and system from western nations, but in reality King Vajiravut who established Chulalongkorn University, the first university of Thailand, had clearly
shown his intention to cultivate the consciousness of being Thai along with the modern knowledge in his young men. Some of the obvious evidences are the university’s Thai style architecture and academic gown designed according to his own initiative. Courses of Thai arts, literature, language, history, and Buddhism were also offered in the university together withother subject matters adopted from western countries.