THE STUDY ABROAD MARKET IN THAILAND: STUDENT TRENDS IN 2018 AND BEYOND

Annop Kanthatham, Advisor to TIECA Commitee, TIECA, Thailand

This session will provide you with market intelligence information in regards to the current study abroad market in Thailand

• Overall picture of the current Thai market

• TIECA – past, present and future

• Visa issues for Thai students (US, UK, Australia, Canada and NZ)

• How the behaviors of students and parents have changed over the years• attending fairs

• meeting with school reps

• looking for information

• enrolment

• social media

NEW MONARCH

• King Rama X, King Maha Vajiralongkorn

• Successor to King Rama IX

GOVERNMENT

• Since May 2014 Thailand has been ruled by a military junta, the National Council for Peace and Order

• Prime Minister - Prayut Chan-o-cha

• The government announced that the next election will be held in Feb 2019

TIECA

Thai International Education Consultants Association

-first formed as a club called ECT on May 10,1990 to represent 12 service providers who offered counselling and education consulting assistance for students and professionals who wish to pursue education abroad. TIECA was then officially inaugurated as an association on September 11, 1997. There are currently over 70 members as of today

• Board of Trade of Thailand

• The Federation of Education and Language Consulting Associationhttps://icef.my.salesforce.com/0012000

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FELCA

TIECA COMMITTEE

2008 – The Winner of the LTM Star Award in the category of Agency Association

2017 – TIECA was shortlisted for the same category

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TIECA was the recipient of the 2006 Trade Association Awardfor Excellences in Administration and Management organizedby the Ministry of Management under Ministry of Commerceand Board of Trade of Thailand.

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• On 26 August 2014, TIECA won the award for Excellence in Administrationand Trustworthy Study Abroad Management under the category "HighestLevel of Mission Complete" organized by the Department of BusinessDevelopment, Ministry of Commerce and the Trade Association, Board ofTrade of Thailand. This is the second time in 8 years .

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In 2015, TIECA had received two awards which were Trade Association Award for Excellencesin Administration and Management and also Trade Manager Award for Excellences inAdministration and Management. These awards were organized by the Department ofBusiness Development, Ministry of Commerce and the Trade Association, Board of Trade ofThailand.

In 2016, TIECA won another three awards

• In 2017, TIECA received Trade Association Award for

Excellence in Administration

• TIECA has received the awards for four years straight from 2014-2017

• To share their expertise in the field of international education.

• To assist its members in solving business operational problems in order to protect benefits of our business country as a whole.

• To increase standard practice and services of members using its code of practice.

• To get a worldwide reputation for quality as a professional group of agencies to the highest possible level.

• Having professional strategies for marketing and doing local marketing research and planning.

• Seeking opportunities to network among members and with local private sectors to improve the company's productivity.

• Giving effective communication and providing accurate information of the institutions to stakeholders.

• Pre-screening of potential applicants for their institutions.

• Arranging seminars and interviews, visa and travel arrangement for students.

• Increasing the standard of the education sector in Thailand to the highest possible level

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TIECAACTIVITIES

TIECA STUDY ABROAD EXPO

33RD TIECA STUDY ABROAD EXPO

Saturday, 3rd November 2018 at The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Thailand09.00 - 17.00 hrs.

IN 2017

• TIECA celebrated 20th anniversary

• Thank you party to celebrate the milestone

NORTHEASTERN FAIR IN KORAT

HRH PRINCESS SINRINDHORN

SCHOLARSHIPS

HELPING THE COMMUNITIES

RECENT FAM TRIPS

• USA (GSM)

• Philippines (Philippines Department of Tourism)

• Dubai

• Korea

• Canada (ILAC)

• Switzerland

• Close relationship with in country representatives and embassies

• Agent events and trainings including visa updates

• Study tour programs (UK, Australia and New Zealand)

• Newsletters, facebooks, email, visa updates

MARKET UPDATE

• US, UK and Australia are top destinations for Thai students for higher education

• Most students are from middle class families (85%)

• 15% are Thai government scholarship students

• Rising number of middle income persons

USA

• There have been a major increase in F-1 visa refusal from 2017 to present

• Many language schools have reported big drop in number of enrolments

• Students who got their visa refused, many have diverted to Canada and Australia

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS GOING TO THE US IN 2016-2017

The Institute of International Education (IIE) has conducted an annual census of international students in the U.S. since its founding in 1919. Known as the Open Doors Report since 1954, and supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State since 1972, the report provides detailed data on student flows into and out of the U.S. Visit us online at: http://www.iie.org/opendoors

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS GOING TO THE US IN 2015-2016

• In the 2015/16 academic year, 7,113 students from Thailand were studying in the United States (down 1.4% from the previous year).

• Thailand was the 24th leading place of origin for students going to the United States.

The Institute of International Education (IIE) has conducted an annual census of international students in the U.S. since its founding in 1919. Known as the Open Doors Report since 1954, and supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State since 1972, the report provides detailed data on student flows into and out of the U.S. Visit us online at: http://www.iie.org/opendoors

The Institute of International Education (IIE) has conducted an annual census of international students in the U.S. since its founding in 1919. Known as the Open Doors Report since 1954, and supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State since 1972, the report provides detailed data on student flows into and out of the U.S. Visit us online at: http://www.iie.org/opendoors

2015-2016 2016-2017

The Institute of International Education (IIE) has conducted an annual census of international students in the U.S. since its founding in 1919. Known as the Open Doors Report since 1954, and supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State since 1972, the report provides detailed data on student flows into and out of the U.S. Visit us online at: http://www.iie.org/opendoors

2015-2016 2016-2017

• In the 2016/17 academic year, 6,893 students from

Thailand were studying in the United States (down 3.1% from the previous year)

• Thailand had a continued decrease and moved out of the top 25 list

Historical trends: The number reached the highest in

1997 and has decreased since then. This is due to

mainly to the major economic crisis in 1997

Academic Level: Number of Thai students studying undergraduate and graduate levels were almost similar in 2016/17, the breakdown was as follows:

• 40.5% undergraduate (2,794 students)

• 37.9% graduate students (2,615 students)

• 8.9% non-degree (616 students)

• 12.6% OPT (Optional Practical Training) (868 students)

• The Foreign Office has sold its British

embassy in Bangkok for £420m (18.6 billion

THB), the biggest property sale in its history

• Money raised will be used to renovate

other embassies around the world

• British diplomats in Thailand's capital city

will move to a modern tower block in 2019,

that has been leased for the next 15 years

• The embassy was built in 1922 when the

British government bought the nine-acre

site on the outskirts of Bangkok

• United Kingdom Visa and Immigration

(UKVI) will relocate its visa approval center

from Bangkok to New Delhi, starting in

June 2018

• All decisions on Tier 4 visa

applications are being made in

Sheffield, starting in April 2017

UK

UK

• 96% of visa applications from Thai nationals are successful in 2017

• 66,682 visas were issued to Thai nationals

• 6,934 visas were issued to Thai students

UK

• Numbers in Higher Education

• Thailand is #9

• Majorities are for postgraduate level

• Attracted by the one-year master programs

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NUMBERS & ENROLMENTS IN

AUSTRALIA (JAN – DEC 2017)

TOP 10 COUNTRY RANKINGS: NUMBER OF STUDENTS ON A STUDENT

VISA IN AUSTRALIA (JAN-DEC 2017)

- Top 5 countries, represent 53% of all int’l students

Thailand is #8, 3rd in ASEAN

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NUMBERS & ENROLMENTS IN

AUSTRALIA (JAN – MAR 2018)

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NUMBERS & ENROLMENTS IN

AUSTRALIA (JAN – MAR 2018)

• There were 17,903 Thai students enrolled on all sectors between Jan to

March 2017, up 10% compared to same period the year before

• For Jan to March 2018, there were 15,004 Thai students, down by 16%

NEW ZEALAND

- Orientation for study tour groups for NZ in 2018

- NZ Ambassador to Thailand gave a welcome speech

ENZ Thailand partnered with

Krungthai Card Public (KTC),

Thailand’s largest credit card

operator, and TIECA to organize

the project

• New Zealand is already a popular destination for Thai school students – each year more than 200 students go to New Zealand for short-term English language study during March to April

OFFSHORE STUDENT VISA APPLICATION DECISIONS

FOR 2017 FOR THAI STUDENTS TO NEW ZEALAND

• 1578 visa issued for Thai students

• 112 visa applications were declined (7%)

• THAI STUDENTS IN NZ• 3000+ annually• 6th - largest source of international students• 2nd - largest Asean source• 98,186 - follow StudyinNewZealand Facebook page(Source: Education New Zealand, 2016)

CANADA

• More interests among Thai students

• Partnership with Canadian Embassy and Success Canada

• Decline in the past due to co-op program change

• More institutions are coming to Thailand to promote

IN-COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVES

• ELICOS Providers

• Kaplan

• English Language Company

• ELS Educational Services

• ILSC Education Group

• Intensive English Language Institute (IELI)

• Greenwich College

• RMIT English Worldwide

• Schools

• Australian Boarding School International (ABSI)

• The Kilmore International School

• VET/Pathway Providers

• Australian Institute of Technical Training

• Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School

• TAFE Queensland

• Study Group

• Le Cordon Bleu Australia

• ICMS Sydney

• UTS INSEARCH

• Imagine Education

• Canterbury Education Group

• EduCo

• University

• Griffith University

• Sparchcaffe Language

• INTO

• Shorelight Education

• Cambridge Education Group

• FLS

• HTMi

• BhMS

• University of the West of England (UWE)

• Northumbria University

• De Monfort University

• University of Northampton

• Teesside University

• St. George’s University, Grenada

• EDENZ Colllege

• Oxford International Education Group

• Vancouver School Board

• Kings Education

• ICMS International College of Management Sydney

• USC International Academy, California USA

(not all are being listed)

OVERVIEW OF THAI STUDENTS

• Academic calendar change• University academic calendar changed in

2014• Talked of reverting back

• Study tour, bachelor (local) and master (oversea)

• GPA, IELTS & TOEFL• International schools, EP, and international

programs/degrees• Webboard (pantip.com)• Using agents and applying directly• Searching for info on the web• Slight decline in attending fairs

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Thailand ranked #9 in the wolrd for Facebook users

• Bangkok is the city with the largest number of active Facebook users (47 millions)

• LINE is the most popular chat app

• Facebook Messenger, Youtube, Instagram and Twitter

• Google Adwords

• Word of mouth

CONTACT US

Thai International Education Consultants Association ( TIECA)K.S.L. Tower # 18th Floor, 503/30 Sri-Ayudhaya Road, Payathai, Rajthavee, Bangkok 10400, ThailandTel: (+66) 2 642 6114Fax: (+66) 2 642 6115www.tieca.come-mail : manager@tieca.com Thank youw

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