Dr. Niwat Klinngam, chair of the Rajabhat Universities system which has 40 member universities visited Taiwan, in November 2014, and Dr. Pornchai Mongkhonvanit, chair of APHEIT which has 65 member universities visited Taiwan, in March 2015. They were very impressed by the quality of Taiwan’s tertiary education, so much so, that Dr. Pornchai Mongkhonvanit encouraged a lecturer in his university who was planning to study overseas in another country, to pursue her higher degree in Taiwan instead. The ESIT Project Office is now assisting her to file her application to study in Taiwan.

After returning to Thailand, the chairs of the two university systems worked with Ms. Jill Lai, educational attaché at TECO, and invited Dr. Cheng Wan-Lee, Project Leader of ESIT, to speak at the meetings of their chancellors and presidents of their respective member universities about the strengths of Taiwan’s higher education, and about the friendly academic and living environment in Taiwan.

At each meeting, Dr. Cheng outlined Taiwan’s higher education and the Elite 600 Scholarship program, a program dedicated to cultivating highly skilled professionals for Thailand with the joint efforts of the governments of Taiwan and Thailand.

The role of the Elite Study in Taiwan Project Office as the platform for Thai universities to send their lecturers to study for a higher degree at a Consrtium University in Taiwan was explained: Thai applicants can apply for universities in Taiwan through the ESIT Office, and it can also help arrange group visits to Taiwan’s universities and institutions to promote more interactions.

Dr. Cheng encouraged the universities in Thailand to expand their interactions with Taiwan’s universities, for example establishing short-term training and research collaborations, and signing exchange and cooperation agreements, as well as sending their lecturers to pursue higher degrees.

Such education interaction and exchanges are taking place pursuant to the Agreement on Educational Cooperation between Taiwan and Thailand signed in 2013. The ESIT Project Office hopes that this opportunity to address the meetings of these two university systems will help open more windows for higher education collaboration between Taiwan and Thailand. It is looking forward to seeing a wider range of study and research interactions between Taiwan and Thailand’s education sectors, and will continue its support and liaison role.