Thailand's education system has once again become a serious topic as the government, Ministry of Finance, National Economic and Social Development Council, and related agencies discuss with foreign investors to attract large-scale investments featuring modern technology into the country.
Their intention is to revise investment promotion rules so that incoming investors must develop skills and transfer advanced technologies to the Thai industrial workforce involved in these investments.
However, feedback reveals that Thailand's education system is lagging behind global trends and fails to supply workers with the skills that investors demand—whether in AI, semiconductors, robotics, data centers, cloud computing, or highly popular industries in Thailand such as electric vehicles.
A question arises between "outdated curricula" and "teachers who cannot keep up with the world" —which is the heavier burden on Thai education? The answer is "teachers" who are the ones creating the curricula.
In today's world, those who should learn first and fastest are the "teachers," as the world, especially the realm of AI and the new economy, is changing work methods across nearly all industries.
Importantly, many companies have found that students sent for internships learn new tools and ways of working, but upon returning to the classroom, they face the same old teaching styles and mindsets—sometimes feeling dragged back into the past because many teachers still use teaching materials that have been unchanged for decades, despite massive changes outside.
The key question is not only how to create new curricula but also how to develop a new generation of teachers.
If teachers have never worked in real business, government, or industry sectors, it is difficult for them to understand how the current work world has transformed.
Business instructors should have real business experience; political science teachers should have worked in government or local administration; communication arts teachers should have real media experience, because much new knowledge does not come from "textbooks" but from the "real field."
However, reforming the education system is very difficult because Thai universities still have a strong hierarchical culture tied to seniority.
Even changing instructors within the same department can lead to internal conflicts, as many have taught the same subjects for decades and see these areas as their own territory.
Another equally dangerous problem is complacency with past success. Many universities may still think "this is good enough" because they are "among the top universities" in the country. But in reality, at the regional level, Thailand's education system is continuously being overtaken by other countries.
Although Thai universities' research and teaching scores have improved, neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam are advancing faster, causing Thai universities to drop in ASEAN rankings.
Another critical issue in Thailand's education system is the very low investment in research and development (R&D) compared to leading countries.
Thailand spends less than 1% of its GDP (19 trillion baht) on R&D, while China invests about 3-4% of its GDP (20.85 trillion USD or approximately 104.1879 trillion yuan).
Meanwhile, many Thai private sector companies, especially SMEs, invest almost nothing in research. Moreover, even the existing research budgets are hard to use due to bureaucratic processes, procurement procedures, and slow approval mechanisms.
On the other hand, Thailand has begun adapting through projects linking universities with industry, such as Skill Bridge, which allows technology companies and emerging industries to help design curricula, develop personnel, and build skills truly demanded by the market, as well as efforts to attract "top talent from around the world" to work in Thailand, especially in new industries like AI, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and green technology.
However, problems remain due to Thailand's overly complex visa systems and regulations across many fields, types, agencies, and conditions, leaving even foreigners confused.
Often, Thailand already has the necessary tools, but they are fragmented, difficult to use, and slower than the pace of the modern world, causing investors or foreign experts who want to work in Thailand to give up and choose countries with faster decisions and simpler systems instead.
There are several other important issues to consider, such as whether wages are affordable and whether the education system and textbooks align internationally and accept their standards.
Ultimately, Thailand's problem may not be "lack of potential" but rather "the system" which moves slowly, lacks agility and flexibility, along with "people" who weigh the system down in a world that is changing faster every day.