History and Development of Thai Education

Abstract

This chapter begins by examining the indigenous Thai concept of education. It then provides an overview of the historical evolution of Thai education. This section describes education in the old days when monks were the teachers and temples were the schools. Then it discusses the visionary reforms of King Rama V or King Chulalongkorn the Great, my great-grandfather, to modernize and secularize Thai education and to extend education to the provinces. It also describes how His Majesty was far ahead of his times in terms of taking two extended trips to Europe and visiting other parts of Asia such as India and Indonesia to learn from other systems of education and cultures. This chapter touches on many aspects of education to stimulate further reading and discussion, especially with respect to comparative perspectives on educational development. More elaborate details on these various topics are provided in subsequent chapters of the book. In the latter part of the chapter, there is information on various special projects which I have launched in the past 37 years to improve access to Thai education for all and to raise its quality such as education for various disadvantaged groups, science schools for the gifted, and education for disaster victims. This chapter should provide readers with a historical introduction to Thai education about which they can read in other chapters to learn more in detail about contemporary Thai education and the many challenges it currently faces.

This chapter is based on an earlier presentation prepared for the Stanford Overseas Seminar on “Thailand: Education, Development, and Globalization,” August 29, 2008, at Chulalongkorn University.