AEC 'will boost Thai universities'

Last year, the second spot was shared by Harvard and Oxford, but Oxford dropped to the third place in the 2014-15 ranking. Among institutions in Asia, University of Tokyo came away with the highest ranking at 23, while the National University of Singapore was the best in Southeast Asia at 26th spot. 

Thailand only made it to the 200 to 400 top universities, with King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) slipping from the 301-350 band to the 351-400 list. See www.thewur.com for details.

Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education rankings, said that KMUTT beat six other Thai universities to enter this year’s ranking. 

“Mahidol University came in between 450 and 500, but the others were all ranked lower than the 500 place,” he said in an e-mail. 

Thai universities had small to moderate drops in their rankings this year, though there was no significant single factor leading to this. 

“Thailand has retained its place among the world’s top 400 this year, but  intensifying competition among developing economies is starting to show in the rankings, as it is harder to maintain a foothold among the global elite,” Baty said. 

But he said the integration of Asean states would boost higher education in Thailand. 

“With a highly competitive economy, Thailand will be attracting the best international students and teaching faculty, its universities will start partnering more successfully with industry and its reputation will improve in general – all things that will have a positive effect on higher education and will reflect well in global rankings,” he said.