Universities in Thailand

Chulalongkorn University
จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย

Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and the most prestigious university.

It has eighteen faculties and a number of schools and institutes. Being the best university of Thailand, it normally attracts top students around the country.

It is named after King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), and was established by his son and successor King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) in 1917 by combining the Royal Pages School and the College of Medicine.

During the years 1973-1977 Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was a student at the University, becoming the first member of the Thai Royal Family to graduate from a Thai university. Prior to that, Thai royals had always studied abroad.

The demands of officials specialized in various fields by the government in the late 19th century Siam was an aftermath of King Rama V’s bureaucratic reforms, which aimed to transform the feudal Thai society into a modernized state. In 1899, the king founded the School for Training of Civil Officials in the Royal Palace. Those who graduated from the school would became royal pages – a traditional way of entrance to Siamese bureaucracy – and then served in the Mahattai Ministry. In 1902, the school was renamed to Royal Pages School . On January 1, 1911, King Rama VI renamed the school again to King Chulalongkorn’s Civil Official College as a memorial to his father and moved the school to Windsor Palace in the Prathumwan district.

The academic demands, however, increased all over the country as a whole as Siam was modernized. King Rama VI then took the remaining funds of Chulalongkorn’s Royal Equestrian Statue construction combining with his own royal funds to subsidize the construction of a university campus. King Rama VI organized various schools around the city proper into the Chulalongkorn's College. The college offered 8 majors taught by 5 schools including;

School of International Relations in the Royal Palace
School of Teacher Training at Baan Somdet Chao Phraya
Royal Medical College at Siriraj Hospital
School of Legal Studies
School of Mechanical Sciences at the Windsor Palace

King Rama VI then realized that the education should be provided to all people not only for the bureaucrats. On March 26, 1917, the college was upgraded to the Chulalongkorn University (Thai: จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย) and the schools were transformed into faculties;

Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Faculty of International Relations
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Medicine

The university firstly granted certificates to its graduates. The education for a degree was then prepared. The Rockefeller Foundation reorganized the curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine. In 1923, the Faculty of Medicine became the first faculty to accept students from the secondary education (known as Mattayom). The remaining faculties then followed suit. After the 1932 Revolution, the Khana Ratsadon wanted the legal and political studies to be independent from royalist Chulalongkorn University so they took the Faculty of Law and Political Science into their new Thammasat University in 1933.

During the 1930s to the 1950s Chulalongkorn University expanded to various fields including Pharmacy (1934), Veterinary Science (1935), Architecture (1939), Dentistry (1940), Commerce and Accountancy (1943), and Education (1957). In 1943, however, the regency government under General Phibun separated the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Science to become the University of Medical Sciences (now Mahidol University).

Chulalongkorn University managed to claim back some of its lost faculties. In 1948, the Faculty of Political Science was re-established. In 1967, the Faculty of Veterinary Science was returned from Kasetsart University and the Faculty of Medicine of Thai Red Cross’ King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital from University of Medical Sciences was moved to Chulalongkorn University. In 1972, the Faculty of Dentistry and Faculty of Pharmacy were retrieved.

Burapha University
Chiang Mai University
Chulalongkorn University
Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration
Kasetsart University
Khon Kaen University
King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang
King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
Mae Fah Luang University
Maejo University
Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University
Mahapanya Vidayalai
Mahamakut Buddhist University
Mahasarakham University
Mahidol University
Nakhonphanom University
Naresuan University
National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA)
Pathumwan Institute of Technology
Prince of Songkla University
Princess of Naradhiwas University
Ramkhamhaeng University (open university)
Silpakorn University
Srinakharinwirot University
Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University
Suranaree University of Technology
Thaksin University
Thammasat University
Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT)
Ubon Ratchathani University
Walailak University

More about Universities International September 08, 2016 01:58:54 PM