VZCZCXRO6784
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHGH RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #0310/01 0352359
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 042359Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9845
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 5936
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 6194
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2343
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0418
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 7615
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 000310 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO SCUL PREL CH TH
SUBJECT:  China's Role in Thai Education Growing, but not 
Necessarily at U.S. Expense 
 
REF: A) BANGKOK 269, B) BANGKOK 286 
 
BANGKOK 00000310  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY 
 
¶1. (SBU) This is the third in a series of cables on China's 
influence in Thailand. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary.  The impact of China's efforts to increase its 
soft power in Thailand is evident in the field of education.  The 
number of Thai students in China and of Chinese students in Thailand 
has increased strongly in recent years, and now outstrips the flow 
between Thailand and the United States.  The Chinese government 
promotes Chinese language study by establishing Confucius Institutes 
and supplying language teachers to schools.  Thai students 
increasingly view mastering Chinese as being a useful or even 
necessary component of a good education.  It is not clear, however, 
that growing Chinese soft power in education has come at the expense 
of the soft power of the United States, at least as expressed in 
public attitudes towards the two countries. (End Summary.) 
 
Fighting for Influence over Education 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to the Chinese Embassy, there are currently 
10,000 Chinese students studying in Thailand at 44 colleges and 
universities. The vast majority attend programs conducted in the 
English language.  Assumption University, a private school where all 
classes are in English, recorded the highest number of Chinese 
students with 1,436 enrolled.  China has thus become Thailand's 
largest source of overseas students, according to Thai government 
statistics.  The Thai Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) 
told us that an equal number of Thais -- approximately 10,000 -- go 
to China each year to study.  According to the OCSC, most Thai 
students go to China to study Mandarin Chinese, with the Beijing 
Language Center University being the number one destination. 
 
¶4. (SBU) By comparison, the Institute for International Education 
(IIE) reports that in the 2008/2009 there were 8,700 Thais enrolled 
in U.S. educational institutions.  This number has been more or less 
stagnant over the last five years, and is down from a peak of more 
than 15,000 before the financial crash of 1997.  Post's consular 
section reports that roughly an additional 7,500 young Thais went to 
the United States as part of the Summer Work Travel program in 2009. 
 The most recent IIE statistics estimate that 1,500 AmCits studied 
in Thailand in 2008. 
 
Institutes, Educators, and Money 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) One of China's chief tools in promoting its culture abroad 
is the establishment of "Confucius Institutes."  Dr. Sompop 
Manarungsan, professor at the Institute of Asian Studies Center, 
Chinese Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University told us that China 
had moved aggressively to establish and fund twelve such institutes 
in Thailand.  In addition, at Mae Fah Luang University near 
Thailand's northernmost border, the Chinese government has donated a 
picturesque complex of buildings, named for the Thai King's popular 
daughter, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and dedicated to Chinese 
studies.  (Note: While Princess Sirindhorn has helped to popularize 
Chinese culture in Thailand, she has also been a good friend of the 
United States.  In 2001 she founded the U.S.-Thai Education 
Roundtable, which met regularly through 2005.  The Thai Fulbright 
Commission will honor her with an award in July, 2010, for her role 
in promoting Thai-U.S. academic exchange.  She periodically 
cooperates with the Embassy to hold seminars for her students at the 
Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.  Those students recently 
organized an American Studies Club whose activities are funded in 
part by Post's Public Affairs section. End Note.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) It is difficult to pin down the number of Chinese educators 
now working in Thailand.  Officially, the Thai Ministry of Education 
reported that, not counting volunteers, there were 199 Chinese 
teachers in Thailand in 2009, 76 working in higher education and 123 
working in Confucius Institutes.  Dr. Sompop, by contrast claimed 
that there were as many as 2,700 Chinese instructors at all levels 
of education throughout Thailand teaching language, history, and 
culture.  During a December visit to Khon Kaen, Chinese Ambassador 
Guan Mu noted that there were more than 1,000 volunteer Chinese 
teachers in Thailand, but that this the number was hardly meeting 
the demand.  (Note: Although there are many AmCit teachers present 
in Thailand, we suspect the number is significantly lower.  There 
 
BANGKOK 00000310  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
are also approximately 144 Peace Corps volunteers throughout the 
country, active in community service and teaching English courses at 
local high schools.  End Note.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) Anecdotally, it is clear that Chinese academics in Thailand 
are not restricted to teaching language. In 2007/8, a Foreign 
Service Officer on LWOP to teach the Philosophy of History at 
Mahasarkham Rajabat University noted that the school's courses on 
U.S. History and U.S. Foreign Policy were both taught by Chinese 
scholars with salary support from the Chinese government. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Another tool of promoting exchange is scholarship programs. 
 Dr. Sompop told us that the Chinese government provides 100 
scholarships annually through the Ministry of Education (MOE) for 
Thai students to learn Mandarin Chinese and culture in China for 1-2 
years, and ran another scholarship program through the Thai Ministry 
of Health for training in acupuncture and genetic research. USG 
scholarship, visitor, and exchange programs, by comparison, 
generally bring around 150 Thais to the U.S. each year. 
 
Comment: Is Soft Power Zero-Sum? 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) The ultimate goal of a "charm offensive" is to influence 
attitudes, but it is difficult to assess how effective the Chinese 
effort is with the Thai public.  Certainly, observers agree that 
more Thai students study Chinese language than in the past.  But 
given that English study is obligatory in Thailand, studying Chinese 
is nearly always in addition to, not instead of, studying English. 
From post's extensive contact with Thai students, their main 
motivation seems to be a realistic recognition of China's growing 
importance to the Thai economy.  The growing number of students 
traveling to China does not necessarily explain the stagnant numbers 
of Thais studying in the U.S.  Instead, statistics indicate that the 
U.S. is actually losing ground among Thais to cheaper 
English-language study opportunities in Australia, New Zealand, and 
the U.K.  Unfortunately we do not have polling data on general Thai 
attitudes toward China, but whatever improvement there may be, it 
does not seem to have come at the expense of the United States.  As 
a survey in early 2009 by the Office of Opinion Research showed, 86 
percent of urban Thais have a favorable view of the United States, 
with only 14 percent unfavorable. 
 
JOHN