Walailak University Climbs to 1001+ in THE World University Rankings 2027, Joins Thailand’s Top 3 and Ranks No. 1 in the South
Walailak University has climbed to 1001+ band in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2027, propelling it to Thailand’s Top 3 universities, and No. 1 in the South. The new ranking is a jump from the 1201+ band and sixth place in Thailand it held last year.
The rankings, released on September 30, cover a record 2,297 universities worldwide.
Out of the 24 research-intensive universities from Thailand, Walailak shares third place with Chiang Mai University and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. THE assesses universities on 17 performance indicators across five pillars: Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, Industry and International Outlook.
Research Quality, Walailak’s strongest pillar, was the main driver of the improvement. The university climbed from 996th to 734th in the world on this pillar, ranking first in Thailand, as its score rose from 56.4 to 66.2. The number of Walailak publications counted in the ranking grew 19% from the previous edition, from 2,976 to 3,542.
International Outlook also strengthened, moving from 1,004th to 885th globally and ranking second in Thailand. The university’s international co-authorship score rose from 74.3 to 81.3, and more than half of its publications now involve international co-authors.
Professor Dr. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, President of Walailak University since 2016, said this is the first year the university has made such a leap, rising to the 1001+ band after three years at 1201+. “This is a proud moment for everyone at Walailak University,” he said. “Moving up to a higher band and ranking third in the country and first in southern Thailand reflects the dedication of our researchers, academic and support staff, students and partners. It shows that a new, regional university can compete on the international stage.”
He added that the university will continue to develop and maintain its standards in pursuit of becoming an ever-better world-class university.
Walailak University adopted the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF), which emphasizes student-centered learning, to raise the standard of its teaching. More than 90% of its academic staff are now accredited by Advance HE under the framework.
The proportion of academic staff holding the rank of assistant professor or above has also risen, from 55.35% in 2024 to 57.91% in 2025 and 65% in 2026. Professor Sombat said the university aims to raise it to 70% within the next one to two years. “This is an important milestone that reflects standards on a par with leading international universities, and it follows our sustained commitment to improving quality in every area,” he said.
Walailak is recognized by Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation as one of the 20 Global and Frontier Research Universities, the first tier. Between 2022 and 2026, its researchers produced more than 3,900 scholarly outputs, nearly three-quarters of them in top-quartile (Q1) journals indexed in Scopus. In the last fiscal year alone, October 2025 to September 2026, 907 of its 1,140 published articles (79.56%) appeared in Q1 journals; 1,035 (90.79%) appeared in Q1 or Q2 journals, the highest proportion in Thailand; and 831 (72.89%) involved international collaboration.
Walailak has attracted more than 50,000 applicants a year since the 2024 academic year. In the 2026 academic year, it admitted a record 4,152 new students, whose average high school GPA (GPAX) of 3.46 is the highest since the university was founded in 1992.
