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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000018 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SCUL ECON KPAO TH CH
SUBJECT: UNIVERSITIES JUMP ON CHINESE STUDIES BANDWAGON 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000018  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
This cable was coordinated with Consulate General Chengdu. 
 
¶1. Summary.  Exchanges between Chinese universities and their 
counterparts in northern Thailand have become so commonplace 
that some local Thai university presidents complain about their 
frequent trips to Yunnan and other provinces to sign memoranda 
of understanding.   Official Thai government encouragement of 
Chinese language studies means no university wants to be left 
behind.   Despite all the activity, however, observers say that 
Thailand lags other countries in the region in promoting Chinese 
language learning.   End summary 
 
¶2. Northern Thai universities are aggressively going after 
exchange opportunities with China, primarily with institutions 
in Yunnan province.  Direct flights between Chiang Mai and 
Kunming, as well as visa-free entry to China for Thai academics 
carrying official blue passports, make setting up exchanges 
relatively easy.  With the Thai government actively promoting 
Mandarin study, every university in the north is busy developing 
language programs and exchanging students, with no apparent 
effort to avoid duplication or competition with each other. 
 
¶3. Kunming's Yunnan Normal University (YNU) is the most-cited 
Chinese partner for northern Thai universities, having signed 
agreements with Rajabhat Universities in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, 
and Lampang as well as Chiang Mai and Payap Universities. 
Dr. Wu Yinghui, Director of the Office of International Affairs 
and Dean of the Institute of Chinese and International Studies 
at YNU, flies to Chiang Mai frequently to develop and nurture 
exchanges. 
 
¶4. While most of the programs are cut out of the same mold, 
Chiang Mai University (CMU) has scored the prize of hosting 
Thailand's second Confucius Institute, in partnership with YNU. 
(Note: media reports compare these institutes, sponsored by 
China's Education Ministry in over 20 countries since 2004, to 
the British Council and Goethe Institutes.)   Although YNU had 
earlier courted and been courted by Chiang Mai Rajabhat 
University, Dr. Wu told the Consul General that his institution 
and the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign 
Language settled on CMU as the site for the Confucius Institute 
because "Chiang Mai University is a better brand name".   The 
Institute, which was to open in December at CMU's International 
Day, has been postponed pending the visit of a high-level 
Chinese official, according to Dr. Wu. 
 
¶5.  Beyond language programs and exchanges in the Faculty of 
Humanities, CMU's Faculty of Social Sciences is starting a 
Chinese studies program because "frankly, Thailand doesn't have 
much expertise in this area" according to the dean, Dr. Seksin 
Sriwatananukulkit.   Conversely, the dean reported that 20 
Chinese students will be entering the faculty's Thai studies 
program at the behest of giant Thai corporation Charoen 
Pokaphand Group (CP).  CP, the first and largest major Thai 
investor in China, told Dr. Seksin that the company's offices in 
China need local Chinese staff who can understand Thai language 
and culture. 
 
¶6.  (Consulate Chengdu confirmed that CP is in great need of 
more bi-lingual staff as the company expands its presence in 
chicken and pig farming in Sichuan province.   Chengdu added 
that the Thai Consul General posted in Sichuan claims to be one 
of only a small handful of Thai foreign ministry officials with 
strong Chinese language skills.  He told the U.S. CG that very 
few senior Thai diplomats have the language skills necessary to 
do business in China, although the number of Chinese speakers in 
the ministry's junior ranks is increasing rapidly.) 
 
¶7. In addition to universities, high schools in northern 
Thailand have also established relationships with Yunnan Normal; 
graduates from the school regularly spend a term teaching 
Chinese language at Chiang Mai's private Montfort Academy, alma 
mater of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.   Other high schools 
are involved with similar exchanges, hiring Chinese teachers and 
sending students to China for study.  Consulate Chengdu reported 
that high schools in Kunming are overwhelmed with offers of 
exchange programs with Thai high schools 
 
¶8.  The Chinese studies program that looked ready to outshine 
all others in northern Thailand opened two years ago at Mae Fah 
Luang University (MFL), a seven-year-old institution  north of 
Chiang Rai that aspires to serve "the Greater Mekong Subregion". 
  HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn flew up from Bangkok with 
the Chinese Ambassador to dedicate the Chinese-built 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000018  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Suzhou-style center in February 2004, bringing a lot of 
attention both to the university and to ambitious plans for the 
language center.   Since that flashy beginning, however, Chinese 
government support has been limited.    According to Director 
Pratin Manomaiwibul, the Sirindhorn Chinese Language and Culture 
Center has seven native speaker teachers and two Thai lecturers 
teaching 180 majors and 300 who are minoring in the language. 
The Chinese government helps recruit but not does not fund the 
native speaker teachers. 
 
¶9.   Thailand's Education Minister gave an additional boost to 
Thai-Chinese exchange activity by signing an agreement with 
China's Deputy Education Minister Zhang Xinsheng January 11 to 
train teachers, award scholarships, provide volunteer teachers, 
license textbooks, improve the curriculum, and develop Mandarin 
teaching software.  According to a January 16 story about the 
signing in the English-language Bangkok Post,  Zhang pointed out 
that "Thailand is relatively late" in introducing formal 
language learning.   Thai business people were even more 
critical in pointing out the tardiness of Thailand's commitment 
to developing Mandarin skills; Seven-Eleven president Kosak 
Chairasmisak noted that "there are very few people with a deep 
understanding of the Chinese language.  A lack of in-depth and 
all-round knowledge could hinder investment and 
competitiveness." 
 
¶10.  Comment:  Considering the number of Thais claiming Chinese 
ancestry, the area's proximity to China, and the push to 
increase Chinese studies, investment and tourism, relatively few 
people in northern Thailand know more than a few words of 
Mandarin.   The proliferation of academic exchanges and the 
Thai-Chinese education agreement are belated attempts to remedy 
the situation.  If the government commitment can harness and 
strengthen what Thai universities have enthusiastically started, 
a future generation should be better prepared to engage China in 
the areas of business and diplomacy. 
CAMP