Graduate Study in Thailand
leductony@yahoo.com 09/19
Hi Group,
I have a friend who is moving to Thailand for work.
She is interested in continuing her education. She
speaks some Thai but will probably need more language
training. Can anyone tell me if there is a good
graduate anthropology (master/Ph.D.) program in
Thailand , particularly Bangkok ? I would appreciate any
information. Thanks for your help!
regards,
Anthony
Off-topic for the list, but there is no Thai university that offers a Ph.D.
in Anthropology--so several Thai are now pursuing Ph.D.s in Hanoi . Several
of the first-tier Bangkok universities offer M.A. degrees in Anthro
(Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, Silpakorn, etc.) - depending on her interests she
might also want to pursue an area studies track or cultural studies track
(as for instance at Mahidol). Chula has an English-language M.A. in
Southeast Asian Studies (http://www.seachula.com/). Outside of Bangkok,
there are anthropology departments at most of the major universities, but
whether or not they offer a degree called "anthropology" at the M.A. level
would require place-by-place research.
Best,
Frank Proschan
Dear all,
As one of the few Thai specialists who is also a member of VSG, let me
clarify some things about post-grad study in Thailand , especially with
regard to anthropology.
First, it is not true that no Thai university offers a PhD in
anthropology -- Chiang Mai University does and actually has a couple of
students from outside of Thailand . It would be receptive to an application
from an American student and if anyone is interested, I can provide contact
information. There are also PhD programs in anthopology-sociology at
Ramhkhamhaeng University in Bangkok and one in Thai studies (which subsumes
anthropology) at Mahasarakham University in NE Thailand , but both programs
are in Thai. The Ramkhamhaeng one is not very strong, in my opinion. The one
at Mahasarakham is headed by Dr. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, long at Chiang Mai
University . It has one student from Vietnam who took an MA -- in Thai -- at
Thammasat; there is also a Lao in this program.
Mahidol University at Salaya very near Bangkok offers an MA program
headed by Dr. Ratana Boonmathaya, who holds a PhD from the University of
Washington , and she has told me they are planning to open a PhD program. The
program uses both English and Thai. Ratana's email address is
daengrawee@yahoo.com. Although as Frank notes, there is an MA in SEA studies
at Chula in English, I do not know of any other MA programs at universities
in Bangkok that are in English.
There is an exccellent English-language MA program in development
studies at Chiang Mai University . This program has had many students from
Vietnam , Cambodia , Laos , and China , as well as a few native-English speakers
from the UK , US, and Australia . I can, again, provide more details if anyone
is interested.
Biff
Charles Keyes