In Thailand, there has not been a similar public outcry towards the Confucius
Institute. However, these concerns were applied as the researcher had originally set
out to examine the connection between the Confucius Institute and the Chinese
embassy in Thailand, and whether it operates to expand its influence within the Thai
education system. As will be argued in this paper, scholarly concerns about the
broader impact of the Confucius Institute are justified because the Confucius Institute
in Thailand operates along lines which further the Chinese government’s policy. The
ways in which the Confucius Institute functions in Thailand to generate a new way of
viewing China can be understood by applying the conceptual framework of
hegemony, which is explained in the next section.