Topic: Ramkhamhaeng univeristy

[airpuka]

Im going to be entering there international program as a student. anybody heard anything good or bad about them?

[anyonefortennis]

Can't say I've ever heard out good about them, but I've never worked or studied there either, the nearest I got was to working at a private uni just down the road from the Hua Mak campus.

There has been much written about the standard of education (amongst other things) given at RU, very little of it positive, but with a total student population of 250,000 + there must surely be some people out there with something good to say.

I suggest you go onto the forum at a site such as sanook.com or kapook and ask for feedback from people who are studying there.

I have to ask...............Why have you chosen RU? Which International Programme will you be studying on? What is the reason for studying? Frankly outside of Thailand I think a degree from our friends at APEC University would get just as much recognition as an RU degree. RU does have a role to play in the Thai education system, especially with their distance learning programmes that give opportunities to students who cannot attend a regular course, but as a provider of international programmes..............

[blackpanther]

Chula is the only decent uni in thighland. i very much doubt that ramkhampeng will be of a decent standard.

[hero]

But Ramkhamhaeng students are well-considered among Thai folks, certainly a lot higher than most of the private universities.  I know Thai teachers who have post-grad qualifications from there because of the flexibility of their courses.  For a career in Thailand, I would have thought that their Grad. Dip. Ed is better than ABAC for that reason - ABAC is not considered great quality by Thai folks.  Plus, the Ramkhamhaeng option is far cheaper!

[Mods-Rockers]

Chula is the only decent uni in thighland. i very much doubt that ramkhampeng will be of a decent standard.

Well many would say that this is somewhat a generalization, Chula indeed has an excellent name in certain fields but falls far behind other Thai universities ib other fields. Horses for courses and all that!

[retiredstillteaching]

RU is the popular and accepted uny in Thailand to get a law degree.

Academically, Mahidol University has left Chula behind in the dust of Chula's own false arrogance, true complacency and smug, self-defeating self-satisfaction.

However, Thailand still does not have even one university on anyone's listing of the best 100 universities of the world...or 200 best...or 300...

...I'd venture to say that Mahidol would be the first one to start showing up on such lists within a few years. Their International Program, for example, is exclusively in English. Chula can't compare nor can it keep up with Mahidol.

[airpuka]

well i chose ramkhamhaeng because i hear they are like all the women i have had, cheap and easy.

[hero]

How many times I have heard from expats that "Thai degrees are worthless outside Thailand" - yet so often it is from folks who are fully committed to spending the rest of their careers here.  Certainly for those thinking about a career in Thailand's (messy) education system then a Thai degree is certainly a valuable and viable option I would have thought.

 

[brian_q]

Before I moved from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, I considered going to Ram for an MA because (1) they would accept previously earned credits from my uni in the US and (2) the flexibility of the program. Unfortunately, while they would accept the credits towards graduation--which I could have easily done in one year, they wanted me to pay for two years so that put an end to that. In meeting with the Ram folks in the Department of Education, I figured out that I could get out of the experience what I wanted to get out of it. A job offer at a school in Chiang Mai changed everything and while I am still interested in an MA, it is something that I will do in the future and not here in "the rose of the north."

--Brian

[retiredstillteaching]

Regrets hero but I'm not clear...do you mean a farang matriculating to get a degree from a Thai university in Thailand?

If so, I do know of only a handful, such as one farang from UK who's saving up to earn a magister degree in education from RU (but hasn't begun yet). He's about the only one I know who's even contemplating such, so I wouldn't say it's unheard of or unthinkable, but after ten consecutive years here I'd say it's rare indeed.

I have an M.A. earned in the USA along with teacher cert earned there, so I haven't ever seen the need for me to think of enrolling in a Thai university, but I seriously doubt I'd do it anyway. I have a couple of dozen books about Thailand written in English by Thais with farang collaborators or by farangs, such as the late David Wyatt of the Siam Society, all of which pertain to my subject areas and serve me fine. Also, how many university profs in Thailand are capable of lecturing in English to native speakers? Brian, perhaps you could speak to this matter?

I do know universities in the US have been raiding the best universities globally for the past 25 years to lure away their best faculty for the big bucks the university in the native country can't even remotely afford to match or surpass. The UK is a favorite target of and source of solicitations to universities in the US. I got the M.A. at The American University in Washington DC, which has as many if not more (superb) foreign faculty as it has highly qualified and experienced American profs.   

Where and who are the globally notable or widely respected Thai faculty at Thai universities? What big bucks and huge impact research projects are Thai uny faculty involved in? How many decades away is Thailand from the beginnings of such??

What's the old saying...once you've seen the kitchen of your favorite restaurant you won't ever want to eat there again. It's in this sense that a lot of us have been in several kitchens in Thailand.

[Mods-Rockers]

RU is the popular and accepted uny in Thailand to get a law degree.

Academically, Mahidol University has left Chula behind in the dust of Chula's own false arrogance, true complacency and smug, self-defeating self-satisfaction.

However, Thailand still does not have even one university on anyone's listing of the best 100 universities of the world...or 200 best...or 300...

...I'd venture to say that Mahidol would be the first one to start showing up on such lists within a few years. Their International Program, for example, is exclusively in English. Chula can't compare nor can it keep up with Mahidol.

Maybe I am not the best person to be contradicting you Namtok but I shall. The above generalizations are blatantly inaccurate. To judge a university solely on one of two of its faculties is at best very simplistic and at worst, a complete stupidity. I totally agree with you that the international collage does churn out some very good graduates as does Mahidols Med school. However other faculties are far from ideal. Having just finished a contract with one, so called international program along with 80% of the farang teachers I can safely say that this program sucks. Fewer than 30\% of the students could pass British (England and wales)  key stage two tests in any of the major disciplines. The faculty of arts (again on a so called international program) only last semester dropped its pass mark to 27% (10% being purely for attendance) just to ensure that the majority of students passed.

The  Mahidol faculty of engineering turns out Kwik Fit Fitters and could not lick the boots of Chula’s similar program, Kasetsart wipes Mahidols vetinary school of the map, and so on!

How is it you are such an expert on University education in Thailand when by your own admission you have taught grade and high school for the last ten years!

[ajarn1970]

Apparently Bangkok University seems to be improving its image and reputation of late as opposed to the big 3...

Can anybody add to this?

[bluefalang]

To judge a university solely on one of two of its faculties is at best very simplistic...

i agree with this. a great program can coexist next to a total sham within the same university. consumers must take all factors into account and not simply judge one program by the current reputation of another -- even if it is within the same school or department. 

(i managed to screw up the quote function. the first line is a partial quote from mods/rockers. the bottom two lines are my comment.)  

[hero]

Apparently Bangkok University seems to be improving its image and reputation of late as opposed to the big 3...

According to who?  I'm interested, but don't know anything about it.  Clearly they are doing a lot of advertising around the city, but ....

[retiredstillteaching]

I left Korea to come to Thailand at the invitation of Chulalongkorn University to join their Faculty of Education, which I did do, so I haven't taught only secondary education in Thailand. I have expierience teaching in higher (terciary) education in Thailand, and it sucks too.

[chuck_S]

Ramkhamhaeng univeristy offers a good program for students from abroad or for people living and for those who are working here in Thailand. 
The benifits of this program is, if you are a teacher and do not have your degree, this is one of the best opportunities to use.  I have seen it advertised in the Bangkok Post for international students to pay only about 30,000 thb down from the 50,000 thb orginally posted on Ram site.  A price of 30,000 is about 1 months pay from your current job, but in the long run, it might be worth it. 

I do go past there sometimes and I do see some International students there.

[hero]

Two posts removed, the offenders know who they are.  You guys already have at least one slanging match going on on a different thread in the squared circle - there's no need to fight with each other on every thread, frankly it's becoming very very tedious.

For you, Mr. RST - any thread opening with the line "You're a bonehead!" will go straight in the bin