Thai universities fail to match last year’s Asia rankings

Of 10 Thai universities on the prestigious list, seven did not score as well as last year. 
“The decline of several Thai universities in the rankings is worrying,” said Phil Baty, editorial director of global rankings at Times Higher Education (THE). 
THE released the Asia University Rankings 2018 ranking yesterday. 
Mahidol University is the best-ranked Thai institute on the list – clinging to the 97th spot that it held a year earlier. But King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, slipped out of the 101-110 band and ended up in 114th place. 

Chulalongkorn University also spiralled downward, falling from the 151-160 band to 164th. King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang has been kicked out of the 181-190 band and moved to the 201–250 band. 
Chiang Mai University suffered an even bigger blow, falling from the 171-180 band to the 201–250 band. Both Khon Kaen University and Prince of Songkla University dropped from the 201-250 band to the 251–300 band. 
King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok is in the 301–350 band this year, down from the 251+ group a year earlier. But Suranaree University of Technology performed better, ranking 168th this year, up from the 191-200 band the previous year while Kasetsart University is in the 251–300 band, similar to the 251+ group last year. 
According to Baty, while Thailand’s higher education sector has been partly hurt by rapid rises in other Asian nations, such as China, there are many changes the country could do to improve in future years..
“The nation must find ways to stem large falls in student enrolment, potentially by attracting more students from overseas or by merging or closing institutions. It must also make fundamental improvements to its research environment. Only then will Thailand be able to stand out among the heavy competition in the world’s largest continent,” Baty said. 
Singapore, which like Thailand is an Asean member, secured the top place on the Asia University Rankings 2018.
The National University of Singapore is ranked first, while Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University stands in the fifth spot. In between are China’s Tsinghua University at second and Peking University at third, with the University of Hong Kong in fourth place.
Sharing the fifth spot is the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, while the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Japan’s University of Tokyo, South Korea’s Seoul National University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology round out the rankings’ top 10.

For the full list of Asia University Rankings 2018, please visit https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2018/regional-ranking.