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Thai universities tap into rising Chinese demand


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Thai universities tap into rising Chinese demand

By Panu Wongcha-um

 

2019-01-17T035604Z_1_LYNXNPEF0G04K_RTROPTP_4_THAILAND-EDUCATION-CHINA-PIX.JPG

Chinese national Cherry He Ting (L) teaches a student in a coffee shop in Bangkok, Thailand, November 18, 2018. Picture taken November 18, 2018. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Chinese national Cherry He Ting rattles off in fluent Thai as she presents her masters thesis ahead of graduating from a Bangkok university, where she has studied for the past three and a half years.

 

The 28-year-old history student is among thousands of Chinese who join Thai universities every year, according to Thai government data, which shows their annual enrolment numbers have doubled since 2012.

 

Hit by years of declining enrolment of Thai students, the institutions are scrambling to meet this recent surge in demand as Chinese students look for alternatives to Western schools.

 

Chada Triamvithaya, an academic at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang who has been researching Chinese migration patterns in Thailand, said universities currently make twice the amount in tuition fees from Chinese students as they do from locals.

 

"Apart from private universities, state universities, even one for Buddhist monks, are now creating courses aimed at attracting Chinese students. It is all about the money," she said, adding that the lure of rising Chinese demand in Thai education has already attracted Chinese investment into the sector.

 

Thai universities offer more affordable overseas study for Chinese students, compared with more popular destinations like Australia, the United States and Britain, Diane Hu, assistant professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University told Reuters.

 

Many of these Chinese students come from the largely rural, southern provinces, hoping to escape a highly competitive but poor education system back home and land well-paying jobs in Southeast Asia's second biggest economy.

 

"Further interest in southern provinces can be attributed to heightened trade ties between the two countries and Belt and Road-driven initiatives," Diane said.

 

China's Belt and Road programme promotes expanding land and sea links between Asia, Africa and Europe, with billions of dollars pledged for infrastructure development.

 

Chinese students say Thailand offers better prospects because of lower tuition fees and friendlier visa rules than in the West.

 

Studying for an undergraduate business degree costs up to 120,000 baht (2,874.46 pounds) a year inThailand, while tuition fees for a similar course can range from $8,000 in Singapore to over $60,000 a year at some U.S. universities.

 

Chinese students are also facing greater scrutiny in countries like the United States, where the Trump administration is considering new background checks and other restrictions over growing espionage concerns. 

 

"If I work here I will have more opportunities than where I came from," said Cherry, who first arrived in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand almost eight years ago as an exchange student.

 

She said she arrived by boat on the Mekong River from her hometown of Jinghong in southern China. She first studied tourism management at a university in Bangkok before doing a master degree in history at another university.

 

As many as 8,455 Chinese students enrolled in Thai universities in 2017, twice that in 2012. The total is as high as 30,000 across the country, according to research by the Asia Research Center for Migration at Chualongkorn University.

 

'SOFT POWER'

Thai universities rank well below those in neighbours like Singapore and Malaysia, according to the Times Higher Education World University Ranking, Both those countries have schools among Asia's top 50 whereasThailand's top institution, Mahidol University, has slipped nearly 30 places in recent years to rank near 100 out of 400 schools across Asia.

 

Chinese demand has risen in spite of this, and both private and state universities now hope that rising foreign enrolment will help bring in more revenue and improve the quality of education.

 

"Chinese students are part of the soft power assertion of China into Thailand," said Chada at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, adding the rising number of students has been followed by a rise in Chinese teachers, translators, and academics getting more jobs in the Thai education sector.

 

Woraphong Dechasasawat, the vice president of one of the country's largest Chinese-language business schools, says the institution aims to find students from among the roughly three million Chinese who would struggle to find university placement back home each year.

 

"There will always be demand when you talk about China, it is about how ready are we in adapting to it," he said.

 

Part of Dhurakij Pundit, one of the country's largest private universities, the school started with 23 Chinese students in 2010 and now hosts about 3,700.

 

Some Chinese investors have even invested in private universities like Bangkok's Krirk university, with plans to introduce more courses aimed at the Chinese market, according to media.

 

Many researchers believe this trend will continue as China looks to expand its influence across Southeast Asia and beyond.

 

"The Belt and Road initiative has led to more Chinese students going to study along its corridors in the past year through government scholarships," Aksornsri Phanishsarn, an economist at Thammasat University told Reuters.

 

"But Thailand has seen its own surge as well due to large trade and tourism between the two countries," said Aksornsri.

 

(Additional reporting by Jiraporn Kuhakan, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Shanghai and Beijing Newsroom; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

 
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I csn't believe there aren't better universities in China than anything Thailand can offer. bearing in mind the positioning of Thai universities on the world scale. On the whole, Chinese people are smart, very smart, especially in tech. Thailand isn't at all smart.

 

Perhaps something else is going on here?

 

Addendum:

Ah, just spotted this. Thailand mops up the dregs. the lads and lasses who can't get into Chinese universities. Hardly something to boast about I wouldn't have thought...

 

"Woraphong Dechasasawat, the vice president of one of the country's largest Chinese-language business schools, says the institution aims to find students from among the roughly three million Chinese who would struggle to find university placement back home each year."

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, HalfLight said:

I csn't believe there aren't better universities in China than anything Thailand can offer. bearing in mind the positioning of Thai universities on the world scale. On the whole, Chinese people are smart, very smart, especially in tech. Thailand isn't at all smart.

 

Perhaps something else is going on here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

the so called "smart" steal the tech ideas from whoever they can or pay somebody to pass the test for them

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4 minutes ago, HalfLight said:

I csn't believe there aren't better universities in China than anything Thailand can offer. bearing in mind the positioning of Thai universities on the world scale. On the whole, Chinese people are smart, very smart, especially in tech. Thailand isn't at all smart.

 

Perhaps something else is going on here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chinese universities are not much better than the ones in Thailand, same sh.. lived there, know that, Chinese are not smart nor clever as many westerners are, Chinese are much better at cheating/copying then anybody else I met

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2 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

the so called "smart" steal the tech ideas from whoever they can or pay somebody to pass the test for them

'Smart' doesn't necessarily mean acquisition. 'Smart' in this context means utilising the tech well.

 

I personally don't have any problem at all with China stealing tech from the USA.Or anything else to be perfectly honest. USA stole enough from the rest of the world, a bit of quid pro quo payback won't do them any harm.

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1 minute ago, HalfLight said:

'Smart' doesn't necessarily mean acquisition. 'Smart' in this context means utilising the tech well.

 

I personally don't have any problem at all with China stealing tech from the USA.Or anything else to be perfectly honest. USA stole enough from the rest of the world, a bit of quid pro quo payback won't do them any harm.

I do have a problem with that because they stole MY (not USA) invention....took them to court and the judge ruled it was my fault, it happen because I went to China, if I was not happy with the decision I could leave

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31 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

Chinese universities are not much better than the ones in Thailand, same sh.. lived there, know that, Chinese are not smart nor clever as many westerners are, Chinese are much better at cheating/copying then anybody else I met

Well, I guess we're both guilty of sweeping generalisations. I don't have the stats but I'd be surpised if there are more USA in the 5th or 6th sigma than Chinese, and that's what we would call really smart.

 

Stealing or cheating is OK with me, whatever disseminates knowledge - I don't care, and the USA treating knowledge as a tech advantage, and implying political supremacy (much as the Russians treated sport as evidence of an idealogical supremacy a while back) is anathema to anyone with a brain.

 

What we have is 2 super poweres biffing it out. The USA is no stranger to dirty, underhanded tricks, so it can't complain if someone else plays their game better than they do.

 

I imagine there is a rough parity between the super-smart Chinese and the super-smart Americans, same as there will be parity at the bottom end of the scale.

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

I do have a problem with that because they stole MY (not USA) invention....took them to court and the judge ruled it was my fault, it happen because I went to China, if I was not happy with the decision I could leave

I sympathise, really I do; as an individual. Still, the doubting Thaoases would no doubt say you were pretty naive - firstly not to assume the Chinese would cheat, and secondly, to put yopur trust in law and justice in any country where you don't have çonnections and can be the one cheating'. Play the game by the same rules as everyone else (including the Americans) play it.

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Just now, HalfLight said:

I sympathise, really I do; as an individual. Still, the doubting Thaoases would no doubt say you were pretty naive - firstly not to assume the Chinese would cheat, and secondly, to put yopur trust in law and justice in any country where you don't have çonnections and can be the one cheating'. Play the game by the same rules as everyone else (including the Americans) play it.

who said I didn't had connections???they belong to the WTO thus agreed to comply with WTO laws... maybe this too much for you, your name is HalfLight, it says it all... have a good one

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5 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

I do have a problem with that because they stole MY (not USA) invention....took them to court and the judge ruled it was my fault, it happen because I went to China, if I was not happy with the decision I could leave

 

Much like Thais then... They're great cheaters as well, though their tech skills appear to me to lag well behind the Chinese. The Thais only got the dregs  of the Chinese, who later became the Sino-Thai super-rich. Smaller goldfish bowl.

 

Forewarned is forearmed, or should be. I feel for your loss, I do, but wjhat on earth possessed you to take a new invention and try to get the Chinese to buy it and not steal it? The Chinese government smiles upon the Chinese stealing, so long as it's from non-Chinese. Much like the Americans have always done.

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18 minutes ago, HalfLight said:

I csn't believe there aren't better universities in China than anything Thailand can offer. bearing in mind the positioning of Thai universities on the world scale. On the whole, Chinese people are smart, very smart, especially in tech. Thailand isn't at all smart.

 

Perhaps something else is going on here?

 

Addendum:

Ah, just spotted this. Thailand mops up the dregs. the lads and lasses who can't get into Chinese universities. Hardly something to boast about I wouldn't have thought...

 

"Woraphong Dechasasawat, the vice president of one of the country's largest Chinese-language business schools, says the institution aims to find students from among the roughly three million Chinese who would struggle to find university placement back home each year."

 

 

 

I would imagine it's all about Chinese students wanting and being encouraged to assimilate into Thai lifestyle and culture. What a great place for the middle class to come and study in comparison with the West. Will be huge ties (excuse pun) obviously for the forseeable future.....

Dregs is probably a tad unfair, there's room for all, not everyone can be a scholar

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2 minutes ago, HalfLight said:

 

Much like Thais then... They're great cheaters as well, though their tech skills appear to me to lag well behind the Chinese. The Thais only got the dregs  of the Chinese, who later became the Sino-Thai super-rich. Smaller goldfish bowl.

 

Forewarned is forearmed, or should be. I feel for your loss, I do, but wjhat on earth possessed you to take a new invention and try to get the Chinese to buy it and not steal it? The Chinese government smiles upon the Chinese stealing, so long as it's from non-Chinese. Much like the Americans have always done.

Chinese are like Thais, they don't steal, scam or rant.....only farangs do

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10 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

who said I didn't had connections???they belong to the WTO thus agreed to comply with WTO laws... maybe this too much for you, your name is HalfLight, it says it all... have a good one

Well, clearly your connections did you no good, and you were naive for assuming that signing up to WTO rules means they won't cheat.

 

Still, no need to be rude, that's something else the Americans are good at and don't like being beaten at.

 

Look at it this way. One of us invented something and took it to China hoping they'd get rich and stuff but got skinned alive instead, and one of us didn't.

 

So which one's the clown?

 

Any more rudeness and I'll turn my back on you, same as most of the people you called friends have.

 

 

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, bojo said:

I would imagine it's all about Chinese students wanting and being encouraged to assimilate into Thai lifestyle and culture. What a great place for the middle class to come and study in comparison with the West. Will be huge ties (excuse pun) obviously for the forseeable future.....

Dregs is probably a tad unfair, there's room for all, not everyone can be a scholar

 

Perhaps you're right. Call me jaded and disillusioned with Thas and Thailand. Happens to many of us who've been here for a while.

 

But after all, it was the Thai journalist who wrote what I extrapolated from.

 

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, HalfLight said:

 

Perhaps you're right. Call me jaded and disillusioned with Thas and Thailand.

 

Happens to many of us who've been here for a while.

 

 

You're not wrong, happened to me too, got seriously disallusioned a few years back... Am chomping at the bit to return now tho....!!!

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3 minutes ago, bojo said:

You're not wrong, happened to me too, got seriously disallusioned a few years back... Am chomping at the bit to return now tho....!!!

 

 

Good luck to you. I wish I could, but the property ,arket in the UK killed that idea off, as did a small group of spectacularly dishonest Thais (though that was my fault for not seeing them for what they obviously were).

 

You're not THE BoJo are you?

 

 

 

 

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Seems West has started to squeeze out the Chinese, just read yesterday Chinese investment has completely dried out in US thanks to Trump & China's own policies, the students will likely follow suit. Most excellent, all Hail Trump, the savior of the white man.

 

Too bad Thailand is the path of least resistance then.

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8 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Seems West has started to squeeze out the Chinese, just read yesterday Chinese investment has completely dried out in US thanks to Trump & China's own policies, the students will likely follow suit. Most excellent, all Hail Trump, the savior of the white man.

 

Too bad Thailand is the path of least resistance then.

 

All Hail indeed.

 

But he'll get his comeuppance, and it's not that far away. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

 

 

 

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What is the advantage of all these degrees. When I went to uni 50 years ago they had the ARTS courses for the intellectuals who could not do anything useful. Now there are so many degrees that qualify you for 'whatever'. The parents must love their children to spend their hard earned money on degrees that they will never understand that are useless.

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4 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Seems West has started to squeeze out the Chinese, just read yesterday Chinese investment has completely dried out in US thanks to Trump & China's own policies, the students will likely follow suit. Most excellent, all Hail Trump, the savior of the white man.

 

Too bad Thailand is the path of least resistance then.

 

Well, some would say that Thailand is the path of least everything.

 

They might think that, I couldn't possibly comment.

 

 

 

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Good luck to you. I wish I could, but the property ,arket in the UK killed that idea off, as did a small group of spectacularly dishonest Thais (though that was my fault for not seeing them for what they obviously were).
 
You're not THE BoJo are you?
 
 
 
 
So they must have had you over big style if you can't afford to return to the UK?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

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13 minutes ago, roo860 said:

So they must have had you over big style if you can't afford to return to the UK?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

I can afford it OK, I just choose not to regress into a reduced lifestyle. Life must be a series of forward bounds. And to be honest, when I think back over my career, I should have made the move a lot sooner. Minus the thieves of course, and one Thai woman in particular who targeted me while I was still in UK. Not my present wife, who is another thing altogether.

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I can afford it OK, I just choose not to regress into a reduced lifestyle. Life must be a series of forward bounds. And to be honest, when I think back over my career, I should have made the move a lot sooner. Minus the thieves of course, an one Thai woman in particular. Not my present wife.
So you've been had over twice.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

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10 minutes ago, roo860 said:

So you've been had over twice.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

No, not twice. only once - plus a few scams by people I thought were friends, one Half-Thai/Half-British, one English and one Pakistani. All of those plus the former wife (aided and abetted by the atrocious Thai legal system) have been dealt with but the money has been the price.

 

 

 

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