AIT feud puts a great Thai university at risk

My personal background is that through Swedish aid programmes to Southeast Asia I have a long history of cooperation with AIT, starting with then president Alastair North in 1984 and later on with Vice President Suvit Yodmani in 1988, who was then serving as senior consultant to the president.

Both of them were very respectable persons and we remained great personal friends even long afterwards. 

The first contacts with Professors North and Yodmani resulted in a massive Swedish – mark well here! – not aid but cooperation with the university, a cooperation that is still there, however, at a fast diminishing size.

The results of this cooperation with AIT for the Swedish-funded students from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have been outstanding, which has been well documented in many evaluations. 

Since then, I have been totally taken by the university’s noble mission for young students from all over the region and, in fact, internationally as well. For over two decades I have been the spokesman for AIT on the development cooperation arena in Sweden. 

Now I have been informed about frozen public funds for repairing damage to the university after the catastrophic flood last year and about an ongoing campaign to stop any move to make AIT into the international university it should have been from the very beginning, a true international university. 

As a representative of the Swedish aid organisation Sida, I have been behind a great number of important initiatives in practically all fields at the university. I am certain that also many Thai alumni have benefited much from the initiatives embarked upon by Swedish funds. One of them is the energy management course that is still an important part of AIT and that still attracts students from all over the region!

Sweden has for decades been one of the largest contributors to AIT. In this respect, it needs to be remembered that these funds have been contributed to AIT by the Swedish taxpayers, as in the case of many other countries in Europe and the world.

Thus, AIT, its board of governors and its affiliated organisations like the AIT Alumni Association (AITAA) have a great responsibility to ensure that these taxpayers’ money is utilised in a transparent and proper way! 

Now, from a distance I have seen that there is a bitter feud raging, which is apparently destroying the university and its academic spirit. It is also strange and very sad that it is being fought in the name of AIT. 

AIT has for many years had problems with the financing of its work. I remember that, only four years ago, the university was very weak and not transparent. As a representative of one of the supporting countries, I had no real insight in this at that time, but could only feel and suspect that AIT’s finances were not in order. There is a long story about this, if anyone is interested.

At that time we saw little concern about this state of affairs from the AITAA. Everybody seemed convinced that money could somehow be acquired somewhere, but nobody had any idea from where, and how. Few could see that the era of support from foreign aid organisations was already at that time on its way out. 

When the present president, Professor Irandoust, was installed, he soon found out that the institute was standing close to bankruptcy and he was forced to introduce almost draconian measures to get the institute’s economy back into the black.

What was worrying at that time was that there was very little understanding about – and feeling for – the necessity of introducing a more modern financial management system. 

The real problem with AIT lies in the fact that it has no owners, thus it has very little access to public funds like the national universities of any country, including Thailand. 

This is why the present AITAA’s activities look so strange – to block AIT from access to already allotted government funds and to deprive AIT of any possibility to get an international status that would give the university a new platform in the international education world, and more shared and secured financing. 

Whether these AIT alumni actions will carry any advantages for the Asian Institute of Technology evades me. 

In reality, they have blocked AIT from receiving already allotted government funds for flood repairs. They have also barred the university from an already decided international status that would secure the continued smooth functioning of the university.

Could anyone please inform me, why, and how, these two actions should be beneficial for AIT? I must admit that I am a bit in the dark about this. 

I am also somewhat worried about the mandate of the AIT alumni. I have been noting that there have been letters, where an AIT alumnus gives orders to the AIT administration to do things for him. Is that a common procedure for the AITAA? Or, is it so that these AIT alumni are striving to take over the management of the university?

I have tried to get an answer from these circles, but with no luck. What is happening, is happening behind closed doors. 

But let us see what would happen if the feud makers are successful, because with such a success comes inevitably also responsibility. I have some direct questions to them.

Has the AITAA a plan for how the finances of the university shall be built up again? Are there Thai or other sources that would take responsibility for this, after they have reached their goals? Or is this something that, as so many times before, is intended to be dealt with after the leadership of the university has been taken over? 

Why is an international status for AIT so dangerous? With my long experience with AIT and the students from the region, I can with some certainty say that a loss of international status will result in far less interest from students to enrol there. This would be detrimental to AIT at a time when there is strong and increasing competition for these students in the world. 

It would also damage the attraction and reputation of Thailand on the international academic scene. Why should any student from Vietnam go to Bangkok, if AIT is no longer functioning up to its former standard?

My question is in what respect will the AITAA agenda support greater competitiveness in the international market of the university, or, is this also an issue that will be dealt with after the AITAA has taken over the university? 

I do have to say that I am deeply worried by what is going on. It is very sad to see such a wonderful university, such a treasure for Thailand and the international academic society, being ripped apart in a power struggle like this! We should value our assets and take care of them! 

Borje Wallberg 

Former education and 

management specialist at Sida,

Adviser for the Swedish government