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Education in Thailand

An Old Elephant in Search of a New Mahout

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Editors:
  1. Gerald W. Fry

    1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

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  • The first ever (in English) truly comprehensive book on Thai education
  • Illuminates many striking paradoxes associated with Thai education
  • Offers rich and extensive empirical data on educational inequalities and disparities in Thailand
  • Provides insights into the nature of quality problems at all levels of education
  • Includes an appendix with brief biographies of prominent Thai educators, past and present
  • Includes two chapters by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, one on the history of Thai education and one on the education of the disadvantaged

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Table of contents (27 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-lxxiv
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  2. Background: The Thai Context

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. History and Development of Thai Education

      • Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
      Pages 3-32

    3. The Thai Context: Historical, Cultural, Demographic, Geographic, Economic, and Political

      • Gerald W. Fry
      Pages 33-56

    4. Religion and Educational Development in Thailand

      • Gerald W. Fry
      Pages 57-75

  3. The Contemporary Thai Educational System

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-77
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    2. The Structure of Thai Education

      • Cuttariya Jangdecha, Panthep Larpkesorn
      Pages 79-92

    3. Preschool and Primary Education: Thailand’s Progress in Achieving Education for All

      • Sheldon Shaeffer
      Pages 93-124

    4. Rethinking Thai Secondary Education

      • Amornwich Nakornthap
      Pages 125-161

    5. Vocational Education in Thailand: Its Evolution, Strengths, Limitations, and Blueprint for the Future

      • Yongyuth Chalamwong, Wanwisa Suebnusorn
      Pages 163-187

    6. Nonformal and Informal Education in Thailand

      • Sumalee Sungsri
      Pages 189-222

    7. Thai Higher Education: Privatization and Massification

      • Oliver S. Crocco
      Pages 223-255

    8. Quality and Autonomous Universities: Policy Promises and the Paradox of Leadership

      • Rattana Lao
      Pages 257-270

    9. The Internationalization of Thai Higher Education over the Decades: Formidable Challenges Remain!

      • Porntip Kanjananiyot, Chotima Chaitiamwong
      Pages 271-321

  4. Major Educational Issues: Inequalities and Disparities

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 323-323
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    2. Education of the Disadvantaged

      • Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
      Pages 325-344

    3. Inequalities in Educational Attainment

      • Dilaka Lathapipat
      Pages 345-372

    4. Regional Educational Disparities in Thailand

      • Gerald W. Fry, Hui Bi, Rosarin Apahung
      Pages 373-391

    5. Education in Thailand’s Ethnic Languages: Reflections on a Decade of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Policy and Practice

      • Suwilai Premsrirat, Kirk R. Person
      Pages 393-408

  5. Educational Issues: Quality

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 409-409
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Keywords

About this book

This interdisciplinary book offers a critical analysis of Thai education and its evolution, providing diverse perspectives and theoretical frameworks. In the past five decades Thailand has seen impressive economic success and it is now a middle-income country that  provides development assistance to poorer countries. However, educational and social development have lagged considerably behind itsglobally recognized economic success. This comprehensive book covers each level of education, such as higher and vocational/technical education, and such topics as internationalization, inequalities and disparities, alternative education, non-formal and informal education, multilingual education, educational policy and planning, and educational assessment. The 25 Thai and 8 international contributors to the volume include well-known academics and practitioners. Thai education involves numerous paradoxes, which are identified and explained.  While Thailand has impressively expanded its educational system quantitatively with much massification, quality problems persist at all levels.  As such, the final policy-oriented summary chapter suggests strategies to enable Thailand to escape “the middle income trap” and enhance the quality of its education to ensure its long-term developmental success.

Editors and Affiliations

  • University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

    Gerald W. Fry

About the editor

Gerald W. Fry is a Distinguished International Professor at the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota.  He received his BA from Stanford University, an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University.  Previously Dr. Fry was a professor of political science and international studies at the University of Oregon where he also directed the International Studies Program and the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.  He was the team leader for major Asian Development Bank projects related to education reform in Thailand and Laos.. He has previously taught at Stanford  and various universities in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.  In 1991-1992 he was a Pew Fellow in International Affairs at the Kennedy School at Harvard. His many publications include the books, Pacific Basin and Oceania; The International Education of Development Consultants: Communicating with Peasants and Princes; the International Development Dictionary; Thailand and its Neighbors: Interdisciplinary Perspectives; Association of Southeast Asian Nations; and Historical Dictionary of Thailand.


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