In 1941, during the reign of the King Ananda Mahidol and during the time of Field Marshal Pibulsonggram as prime minister, a plan was drawn up to improve continued education throughout Thailand. There were plans to open a university in Ubon Ratchathani Province, but the Second World War broke out. Thailand was forced into siding with Japan. Plans to build universities in northeast Thailand were shelved. It wasn't until 1960 that plans to open more institutions of further of further education in the northeast would resume.
In 1962, under the governance of Prime Minister Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, the proposition to open an institution of further education in the academic fields of engineering and advanced agriculture was passed. Thus, the Khon Kaen Institute of Technology was born. It later became known as the University of North East Thailand. Because there was no government office that would take responsibility for managing the university directly, the government set up a national education council. This council was responsible for establishing a national curriculum and obtaining assistance from abroad.
In 1963 the faculty's subcommittee established that the campus would be located approximately four kilometers from the city of Khon Kaen and would occupy approximately 3 300 000 square metres. In 1965 the prime minister's office officially changed the name of University of North East Thailand to Khon Kaen University. The university also received the authority to control its own affairs. It was once a tradition for Khon Kaen University students from the faculties of engineering and agriculture to engage in an annual inter-faculty sports brawl in the university's sports fields.