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[Baytur]

Not sure if it will shed any light on the situation, but I've emailed a well known Int. Prog. (and will try to email some others with:

Quote

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am an EU National living in Bangkok. I am interested in studying for a B.A Arts Business English with your Int. program. Before enrolling I wish to confirm with the MoE or CHE (Council of Higher Education) that the B.A is fully certified. Is there an accreditation number or license number that I can confirm this degree is fully accredited with the MoE before enrolling?

Thanking you,

[Baytur]

brucetefl, on 2012-05-25 10:25:05, said:

You are making a big assumption--that there is a list of accredited BA programs.  This list may, in fact, exist.  It may not.  If it does, then in 3 years I am certain our program will be on it.  We have acted according to all rules regarding accreditation of programs.

I'm just looking for certainty in murky waters. I do not know how the MoE operates with regards to degree accreditation, I doubt many MoE and MoL employees do too, and if they look for accreditation with this brand new degree that they've never seen or even heard of before, I doubt telling them 'Oh Accreditation was applied for, they never responded so that legally makes it accredited, no sorry there are no documents issued by any body with regards to it, you'll just have to believe me officer Somcahi' is going to get you whatever stamp or WP you need, if such a situation arises.

I'm sure you can see the value that one official document from the MoE or CHE regarding the B.A would add to your course. Can you not get one? With such a document I'm sure your course would go from 20-30 students to 200 students!

Edited by Baytur, 2012-05-25 10:44:38.

[brucetefl]

I will be genuinely interested to see if you get a response and what that response is.

I will try to get documentation.  I have simply been working for to long on this to expect to receive anything quickly.

Edited by brucetefl, 2012-05-25 10:53:43.

[Scott]

I think a lot of questions have been asked and answered.  If you don't like the answer, so be it, but there are getting to be some rather personal remarks made that would be best left unsaid.

Please exercise care in your posts.

[Baytur]

brucetefl, on 2012-05-25 10:38:28, said:

I will try to get documentation.

Please keep us updated. Thanks.

[brucetefl]

I have a few updates:

As you can see from the attached file, all degree programs from an accredited Thai college or university are approved by the CHE.

And as you can see by the link here, Thongsook is indeed an accredited college.

http://www.nesothail...ai-universities

While I am going to try to get a letter from CHE similar to the attachment, I believe this completely puts this matter to rest.

As an aside, I hav enever heard back from our friends at Payup, even after sending him a message through this website.

Attached Files

•  accreditation_small.jpeg   86.89K   8 downloads

[brucetefl]

Richard of Payup has contacted me.  I am sure he can give us a few pointers.

[richard10365]

Hello Bruce and everyone. My apologies for not responding sooner. I've been a bit busy.

The original post asked for opinions about the program and based on the Thongsook website I gave my opinion. Much of my concerns about Thongsook comes from the Thongsook website. To me, the website is vague and if it were more specific we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. Most of my concerns and the concerns of others could easily be eliminated by updating the website. In fact, your enrollment might increase. Also, these are my opinions based on my experience alone.

About what I said,

• Accreditation by the Ministry of Education (MOE). It's not there.
  
  • ​State ran universities usually don't have to prove their are legit but the private ones should say something like "Thongsook International is fully accredited by the government of Thailand" or something like that. The statement "Thongsook College was established as a private institution of higher education" doesn't say that. It makes people question the value of the degree they will walk away with after they finish their studies. In fact, this is how this thread got started.

• Prerequisites to enroll are usually mentioned on university websites that are accredited. These prerequisites are the same all over Thailand. A high school diploma, M6 diploma, GED, or in the case of their Masters Degree, they should ask for a bachelors degree. I didn't see that either.
  
  • ​This is something I would look for to make sure the people who are studying higher education have actually completed the prerequisites to actually study there. Now I haven't looked at every university in Thailand but I am willing to bet on most them, the prerequisites are there. If prerequisites are not there it makes me think they will take anyone. Having prerequisites on a website adds a bit of legitimacy to the university and says we have basic standards. Once again, without it, it makes people wonder about the value of the degree you get from the university.

• The website say their MBA is not yet approved by the MOE.
  
  • ​This is very confusing to me and while it is terribly honest, it makes me think that this degree is not approved. So why should I study it? If it is approved, why have the statement there at all. If it's not approved, why list the MBA as a course? It's just confusing.

• Information about the teaching staff and their education and research credentials. Most accredited universities have something.
  
  • ​It would help to add a bit more about your educators and their research. This is more true for your graduate programs as mature students have more of a tendency to judge a program based on what they read about who is teaching it.

I do think that Thailand is an awesome country to study in. Perhaps going to the USA or the UK has it's benefits for Thai students, but foreign students learning a program such as International Business Management, using English as the medium of instruction, in a country where English is not the native language does provide incredible insight to concepts that students in the USA or UK could never imagine. Graduates from international programs in Thailand are more equipped to function internationally than most grads from the USA.

There are many different international programs in Thailand taught by many different universities. From the far south of Thailand to the middle in Bangkok and far north in Chiang Rai, these programs are only getting better as the outside ASEAN influence helps to create the conditions for positive change and clear direction for quality higher education. Thailand is changing and education along with it. I hope Thongsook prospers and does well in the future. There is more than 60 million people in Thailand and they all can't study at one university. Private and government, there is plenty of room for everyone. I hope in the future Thailand will have a reputation that students from around the world consider when searching for their higher education needs.

[brucetefl]

Thank you for your comments, Richard.

First of all, the wording on accreditation was a direct translation from the Thai website.  For a foreigner, having the word "accredited" is probably better.  In Thailand, if you say you were "established as an institute of higher education" that means CHE... accredited.

You make some good points.  The website needs some improvements.  But our international program has not even begun (with a start date of 2 June--dare I suggest that Payup website may have even been just as bad or even worse a few years back when you started running programs for the first time?  Lets not make any sweeping generalizations based upon a website for a new program.

Edited by brucetefl, 2012-05-26 09:17:51.

[richard10365]

Bruce, I do feel like I might have been too pessimistic about your school. I apologize and wish you the best of luck.