Distance Education and Online Learning in Thailand’s Higher Education

Thailand's higher education system has experienced a gradual growth of its gross enrollment ratio from 35.14% in the year 2000 to 51.3% of the relevant age group enrolled in higher education in the year 2013 (UN, UIS Data Centre). As education plays a crucial role in improving the economy of a country, opportunities wherein universities could provide the quality education, which provides the right skill set to its graduates are now being considered and explored in order to accommodate the demand of the business sector. Diversification, in terms of flexible learning methods, focuses on the delivery of these programs by the universities. While distance education is now a norm in almost all universities around the world, its presence in the Thai education system is still struggling as not all are convinced that the right skill set could be provided through this method. However, Thailand's government subsidy on distance education according to World Bank statistics (2011) is at 26.5%, proving that the government accepted the validity of degrees earned through distance education. Distance education and online learning is not a new phenomenon but rather is becoming a necessity to increase the scope of delivery of quality education. This article will present an overview of the evolution of distance learning in Thailand, focusing on programs offered and its methods of instruction. Keywords: Distance Education, Online Learning, Higher Education in Thailand DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-21-05 Publication date :July 31 st 2019