Suchatvee wants more Thai students in US
>> Democrat Party deputy leader Suchatvee Suwansawat wants more Thai students to study in the United States to improve their potential to compete with their Vietnamese counterparts.
Mr Suchatvee, also a former president of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, on Facebook on Friday recalled he visited the US six years ago when he was chair of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand.
There, he met Allan Goodman, CEO of the Institute of International Education, who is a good friend, he said.
He said Mr Goodman told him there were over 20,000 Vietnamese students in the US, and the number was four to five times larger than that of Thai students.
Mr Suchatvee said he was shocked by the information, adding it proves that growth in the Vietnamese economy has allowed its citizens to send their children to study in developed countries and that those countries recognise Vietnamese students’ potential.
He said he has raised concerns regarding competition between Vietnam and Thailand several times with the government but it has done little.
He concluded the post by calling on the government to improve Thai students’ abilities so they can “survive in a world driven by a race for human resources”.
Failure to do so will result in Thais being trapped in poverty and the economy’s inability to grow due to the citizens’ lack of skills, he said.
According to 2021 Unesco data, Vietnam sent 137,022 students to study abroad, the most of Asean countries. A total of 23,155 of the students were studying in the US, it said.
Meanwhile, Thai Chamber of Commerce chairman and president of Thailand-Vietnam Friendship Association, Sanan Angubolkul, recently partnered
“[ Students must] survive in a world driven by a race for human resources.
FORMER PRESIDENT OF KING MONGKUT’S INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LADKRABANG AND DEMOCRAT PARTY DEPUTY LEADER, SUCHATVEE SUWANSAWAT
with the Embassy of Vietnam to allow student exchanges with Thailand, with about 5,000 Vietnamese students expected to further their education in the kingdom as part of the partnership.