Nuffic Neso Thailand's swift start in 2012
Bangkok has suffered severe floods during the fourth quarter of 2011. Most international events were postponed, including the major education fair of the year, the OCSC International Higher Education Expo. From early 2012 the situation has returned to normal, but there are fears that the floods will continue to affect Thailand.
The Thai government has now prepared a master plan and established a single command authority for water management and flood prevention. Meanwhile, several education events have taken place in the first months of the new year.
Dutch institutions on education expo
On 21 and 22 January, the postponed OCSC Higher Education Expo took place. More than 250 higher education institutions from 19 countries participated. Approximately 22,000 visitors attended the event. About 1,500 students visited the Nuffic Neso Thailand’s booth and nearly 1,000 attended counselling sessions or filled in the survey questionnaires.
Dutch higher education institutions that participated in the Dutch pavilion were Rotterdam Business School, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, the University of Groningen, Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Wageningen University and Van Hall Larenstein, and Saxion University of Applied Sciences.
Dutch Universities Placement Day
Before the OCSC fair, Nuffic Neso Thailand organised the first Neso Dutch Universities Placement Day at the Novotel hotel Siam Square. About 80 students, parents, and schools representatives were present. The six participating Dutch universities were very content and suggested that Nuffic Neso Thailand should organise the event every year.
On 20 January, Wageningen University, the University of Groningen, Rotterdam Business School, and Saxion University of Applied Sciences participated with Nuffic Neso Thailand in the OCSC Placement Day.
Netherlands Alumni Association Thailand
On 3 February Nuffic Neso Thailand hosted the “Tulip Night and the 40th Anniversary of the NAAT Netherlands Alumni Association Thailand”. This event was organised together with the NAAT and the Netherlands Embassy. More than 300 alumni, students and other guests had a very successful celebration, emphasising the importance of good alumni relations.
EU Roadshow
On 8 February, Nuffic Neso Thailand joined the EU Delegation in Bangkok in the 4th EU Roadshow to Ubon Ratchathani in the north-east of Thailand. European colleagues participating in this successful Roadshow were Campus France and the British Council.
New academic calendar
Starting from August 2014, Thailand will have a new academic year commencing in August-September, instead of June. Individual universities can already start the new calendar in the 2012-2013 academic year. This change aims to bring the Thai academic year in line with other ASEAN countries in anticipation of the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.