conduct a financial resource management study whereby the
amount of funds being directed towards “international
activity” were gauged by the level of international activity
output generated as a result.
A.How Thailand Is Fulfilling Its International Education
Goals
In order to address how Thailand was currently fulfilling its
international education goals, two specific questions were
asked during the individual interviews, and both were used as
a frame of reference when analyzing the survey results. These
questions were “What are the major strategies?” and “To what
extent is international higher education a priority Thai
universities in particular were employing English as the
designated language of all international higher education and
increasing its scope to being the official language of the AEC.
English had become a communicational “neutral ground” as
opposed to Bahasa, which was the most commonly spoken
language, population-wise, in Southeast Asia. The reasons for
this decision seemed to be practical: English had become the
primary language of business and the internet, and choosing
English prevented any cultural-lingual dominance of all
ASEAN member countries. Support courses in English
language training, Thai-English bilingualism requirements for
campus staff, and scholarly publications in English also
reflected the strong commitment to English language usage
amongst the Thai international higher education community.
Aside from English, the curriculum for international
education programs was starting to include alternative
contexts regarding foreign cultures and foreign mechanisms
within its content. However, more importantly, Thai faculty
and administrators sought to develop courses that fulfill
international standards and have equivalency to the best
courses offered in more developed parts of the world. Gaining
recognition by these types of entities by department and
degree program would, in the Thai mindset, validate the worth
of Thai academics, globally. Establishing one-on-one credit
transfers for similar coursework with international partners via
academic exchanges and/or MOUs (regional or international)
was another way that Thai academics could receive validation,
according to Thai administrators. Many references made in the
interviews, and made in Thai national publications in
deference to successful Western models of higher education.
The Second 15-Year Long Range Plan of Higher Education
(2008-2022) stated “Thailand could position herself as a
leading player in ASEAN higher education, learning from
experiences of the European Union. This statement dually
reflected, on one hand, the influence of Western economic and
academic models and, on the other hand, the need and
commitment Thailand had for inclusion within a unique
Southeast Asian regional bloc that addressed the needs of the
region before any other. Additionally, 44 statements were
made by 14 of the 23 interviewees regarding the comparison
between Thai higher education and Western higher education,
mostly indicating a desire for the former to parallel the latter.
Western universities were seen as the provenance of