Thai study abroad market trends
Mar 23, 2010
General
Official figures are not available but it is estimated that annually around 20-25,000 Thai students are going abroad for study. Until the mid nineties the majority of the Thai students went to the US, but since the financial crisis in the late nineties the numbers have dropped tremendously. See Chart hereunder. From early 2000, Australia became the major destination for Thai students with the UK ranked second.
Based on the current information available from various sources the ranking of the study abroad countries for Thai students as illustrated hereunder has not changed much during the period 2007-2009. However, aside from these traditional countries a growing number of Thai students have focused on China and Japan as new study abroad destinations. European countries, except the UK, have only gained more popularity after the first EHEF which was held in Bangkok in 2004 and though the number is steadily increasing still in comparison to the “traditional study abroad countries” the total is not more than 10% of all Thai students studying abroad.
EU Perception Study, 2006
Students Profiles
For years the student market in Thailand is a post graduate market and this is being confirmed by international education agencies as well as agents in the study abroad market. During the first EHEF (European Higher Education Fair) in Bangkok in 2004 (ca 4000 visitors) it was recorded that most of the students visiting the fair were interested in postgraduate courses, 54%. The situation was more or less the same during the 2006 EHEF (31,000 visitors), 68% of the visitors were interested in postgraduate courses and PhD. A survey at the Dutch pavilion during the last EHEF in 2009 (35,000 visitors) revealed that the number of Thai students interested in postgraduate courses and PhD has increased to nearly 89%. (EHEFs Reports 2006, 2009). The EHEFs in 2006 and 2009 were organized in collaboration with OCSC.
In 2004, the majority of the visitors were female students and in 2006 this was also the same, 60% female and 40% male students. In 2009 the number of female students visiting the Dutch pavilion at the EHEF has increased tremendously to 73% compared to male students, 27% and 79% of the students were in the age group 18-30 year.
The main five fields of interest of study mentioned by the fair visitors in 2006 were Business Studies, Social Sciences, Tourism, Engineering and ICT/Communication. In 2009 the main fields mentioned were Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Technology, Business Studies/Economics and Engineering. During the last EHEF in 2009 it was noted by the participating universities that the majority of the visitors were proficient in the English language and very focused in collecting information on particular courses. As reported in the evaluation, the universities participating in the EHEF were very content with the overall increased quality (educational background, English proficiency) of the visitors.
Fellowships
During 2006-2009 the Thai Government has sent about 6,000 students annually to study abroad with a government’s fellowship managed by OCSC (OCSC, 2009). The majority of the students were sent to the US (ranked 1st) and UK (ranked 2nd) and both countries receiving nearly 45-50% of the total number of the fellowship students. The top ten countries for the Thai fellowship students, ranked on the number of students, are the US ranked 1st followed by UK, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, China, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and Italy. In 2009 the number of fellowships has decreased (15%).
*Dutch universities can contact the Nuffic Neso Office Thailand for additional information.
January 2010