Thailand had and continued to make strides towards fulfilling
its international education goals, but not with the kind of
clarity, consistency, and resource management that it needed.
Though Thailand incorporated a lot of influence of
internationalization and international higher education
programming from Western countries – specifically, the U.S.
and Europe – it had both a commitment and solid presence in
the development of a Southeast Asian regional bloc known as
the ASEAN Economic Community that demanded more
regionally-specific solutions to regionally-specific issues,
making aspects of Thai internationalization unique from its
Western and East Asian counterparts. Cultural and
infrastructural aspects distinguished Thailand even more from
its Southeast Asian counterparts. Hard data reflecting
Thailand’s success in Southeast Asia was influenced by
unique variables specific to the region and therefore could not
be met or judged at face value with internationalization
activities in the West and in other parts of the world.
However, the data did reflect an underserved international
education community in both Thailand and the rest of
Southeast Asia that could theoretically be improved with
better domestic infrastructure.
V.DISCUSSION
A. Definition of Internationalization
Theoretically, curriculum development can be attained both
domestically and internationally by Thai students through oncampus
learning or experiences abroad. Though as more
international academic partnerships occur (collaborative
degree programs, study abroad/exchange programs),
curricular integration between two foreign institutions will
continue to develop and make domestic internationalization
stronger.
However, there was a slight contradiction to this summation
during the course of this study. English-medium international
business graduate programs in Thailand, and English-medium
degree programs, particularly in business, aided in
establishing a social status and an English fluency. Therefore,
English was the singular hallmark of international degree
programs offered in Thailand. There still existed a strong
notion amongst some Thai universities and private institutions
that English as a medium of instruction was either the sole or
primary indicator of international higher education program in
Thailand rather than one component out of many. Regarding
the administration of international engagement (a.k.a. “Thai
internationalization”), it was unquestionably being left to
individual institutions to develop specific policies appropriate
to them while no formal, detailed policy or definition existed
at the national or government level. Though supportive of
internationalization, the Thai government did not have an
official policy or general national requirement for its
implementation. This practice reflected at least superficially
the same definitions of internationalization. [17] Though there
was also a potential dichotomy sought between a uniquely
Eastern definition and facilitation of internationalization and a