14 - Promising but Reluctant: Southeast Asian Studies in Thailand

Summary

While the facilities and the “raw materials” do exist in abundance, Southeast Asian Studies in Thailand has yet to be launched seriously. To fully understand this dilemma, it is necessary to delve into the various interrelated problems inherent in the university system as well as those pertaining to the disposition of the students and faculty to engage in such an adventure. For our purposes, it is quite apparent that a close scrutiny of two major universities — Chulalongkorn and Thammasat — is sufficient since they are the two most established and have “programmes” dealing with Southeast Asia.

Higher education in Thailand is closely associated with the government. Eleven universities and two institutes of technology are controlled by the State Universities Bureau. Very few private colleges that grant a four-year degree exist. Thus, most professors are government officials drawing relatively low salaries but having “tenured” jobs. This acts inadvertently against the recruitment of lecturers with good academic potential, as well as the rehabilitation of academic faculties. More important, universities and the various programmes under them must rely almost exclusively on government financial support. As programmes dealing with Southeast Asian Studies have no legal entity they are not entitled to direct budgetary support. This important feature would be dealt with in detail later.

Before we go any further, a few things must be made clear. The language of instruction is Thai while textbooks on Southeast Asia are mostly written by foreigners in English. With a very basic knowledge of English most university students find it tedious to plough through foreign texts and this directly reflects upon their lack of interest in the affairs of their fellow Southeast Asians. During the “open” period of Thai politics between 14 October 1973 and 6 October 1976, a proliferation of books written in Thai on the Indochinese countries and on China resulted in good sales figures and increased awareness among students on courses dealing with those countries. Research papers submitted in classes reflected the students' thirst for knowledge of the outside world that immediately surrounds them.