Chulalongkorn University

Thailand’s first institution of higher learning officially came into being in March 1917. The groundwork and preparation, however, took place more than a century ago. The worldwide economic, social and political changes in the late nineteenth century contributed to Siam’s decision to adapt in order to avoid being colonized by Western powers (“Siam” became “Thailand” in the year 1939). Thus, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) introduced a royal policy to strengthen and improve the government so the country could successfully resist this tide of colonialism. One of the major parts of this policy was to improve the Siamese educational system to produce capable personnel to work in both the public and private sectors. As a result, a school was founded in 1871 at the Royal Pages Barracks within the Grand Palace compound. Later, in 1882, King Chulalongkorn developed this school and gave it the name “Suankularb”. In the same year, the King also established other schools, the Army Cadet School, the Cartographic School, the School for Princes and the School for Dhamma Studies.

The development of Chulalongkorn University continued. From 1934 to 1958, the university emphasized improvement of undergraduate education; thus, more faculties were established. In 1961, the university established the Graduate School followed by research centers and institutes.

CU) was established in March 1917 by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) and named after his father, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), who had laid the foundations for modern education in Thailand. Currently, CU is composed of 19 faculties, 23 colleges and research institutes with over 37,000 students, including 24,620 undergraduates and 10,530 postgraduates (7,990 in the Master’s Degree and 2,540 in the Doctoral Degree programs), and over 2,800 faculty members. As the year 2017 marks the beginning of the second century of CU, new strategies have been formulated for 2017–2020 to raise the University to many aspects of excellence according to the vision of CU as a world-class national university that generates the knowledge and innovation necessary for the creative and sustainable transformation of Thai society. Divided into the four areas of Human Capital, Knowledge and Innovation, Local Transformation and Global Benchmarking, CU strategies 2017–2020 are devised to fulfil the University´s missions, which are as follows:

Develop graduates that have the academic ability, latest skills, public consciousness and also leadership. Pioneer and integrate knowledge, create teaching and learning and research innovation, Produce local and international academic research, Exploit knowledge for the sustainable development of the country and society.