This thesis discusses the impact of economic globalisation on Thai higher education and society. Thailand's severe economic crisis in the second half of 1997 through 1998 has led to education reform at all levels. Since the crisis, Thailand has been focusing on the development of its human potential and creativity and enhancing the capability of communities, societies and the nation as a whole. The education system of Thailand is being redirected away from nation-building objectives towards 'human capital' creation; education is seen as a form of economic investment. Thailand, like its industrialising neighbours in Southeast Asia and close Western neighbours, is striving to adjust to the pressures of economic globalisation. As a result, Thailand's higher education system is undergoing significant intellectual and strategic reorientation to meet the demands of the modern global economy. Urged by government and employers to produce graduates with more globally relevant knowledge and skills, Thai universities are attempting to redefine their relevance with increased emphasis on proficiency in English. This imperative explains the expansion of full-fee English-medium education and the emergence of government policies encouraging the internationalisation of curricula. Since the mid-1990s, successive Thai governments have paid some attention to the concept of internationalisation but have yet to produce a clear statement of what internationalisation means in the Thai context. Thailand's internationalisation policy, such as it is, aims to cultivate a globally skilled workforce and has directly encouraged the establishment of English-medium business graduate programs, branded as 'international' at a number of leading universities in Bangkok. This thesis examines concerns as to the level of English proficiency achieved by students passing through these programs and questions the appropriateness of the term 'international' for programs, many of which appear to be cloned from business studies degrees offered in major native English-speaking countries. While government policies assert the need to reform education at all levels, both the idea and the parameters of 'internationalisation' remain ill-defined. Consequently, this thesis maps out the scope of internationalisation in education from a global and a local Thai perspective to present a more integrated framework for analysing the implications of the policies. The approach taken presents a multilayered and holistic reading of significant economic and cultural change taking place in Thailand through the lens of higher education reforms and public debates about globalisation and education. More specifically, this thesis examines internationalisation of Thai higher education as an aspect of globalisation and 'global' practice at the 'local' level, observable in the policies, statements, actions and intentions expressed by political leaders, government officials, university administrators, teachers, students and employers. Significantly, Thai cultural characteristics have a profound impact on these key acto rs' attitudes towards practice of international education, particularly in the cross-cultural teaching and learning settings. This thesis argues that a more holistic and integrated approach to internationalisation across all related policy domains is needed if the country is to more effectively respond to the challenges of a globalising world.

This thesis describes how and what Wattana-dharm Thai [Thai culture] has influenced Thai PR practice through the eyes of Thai PR managers and practitioners. It also provides some background information about the evolution of Thai PR practice to link to the current Thai PR practice. The study employs a qualitative paradigm with in-depth interviews as the main method. Documentary sources are mostly used as a supplement. This thesis provides detailed qualitative data describing how Thai public relations (PR) practitioners operate in Thailand both offline and online. The findings highlighted that Wattana-dharm Thai has a strong influence on Thai PR practice. There are eight main Wattana-dharm Thai aspects that influence Thai PR practice: 1) Relationship orientation (relationships in a Thai style including Bunkhun, Pen-Mitr, and Alum aluay relationships); 2) Community-based orientation; 3) Sanook orientation; 4) Hierarchical structure; 5) Buddhist orientation, 6) Monarchy institution respect; 7) Face and eyes in society; and 8) Form over the content. Thai PR practice has an emphasis on Saang Kwaampratabjai [impression building] through Wattana-dharm Thai. For example, historically, Thais accepted westerners because they did Saang Kwaampratabjai by bringing technology and development to the country. Thais have a positive attitude toward westerners because of this history of impression. Thai PR practitioners also try to use Saang Kwaampratabjai influence the public, such as journalists and opinion leaders by offering incentives altruistically (e.g. Namjai, Bunkhun, etc). Thai PR practice Saang Kwaampratabjai based on Buddhism and their respect of the monarchy. Thai PR place an importance on details of public’s personal information to instigate Saang Kwaampratabjai. For online PR, Thai PR use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to support Saang Kwaampratabjai. It would appear that ICTs, in part, are used to promote company’s image rather than having any practical use. Hence, the core of Thai PR is how to practice Saang Kwaampratabjai based solely on personal and social relationship. This thesis aims to fill in the gaps in knowledge relating to PR and culture. It will make a contribution to the academic literature on culture and public relations, not only in the West but globally. This will also provide a framework for Thai PR practitioners to improve and develop their work. This thesis examines culture and PR through the lens of Thai terminology and discourse facilitated by a native inside-out view moderated by the distance obtained by leaving my country for a substantial proportion of the period of the study. This distance allowed me to re-consider many taken-for-granted aspects of my own culture, as well as allowing me to take on board other cultural perspectives available in a Western but international university. Thus this thesis is in part autobiographical, product of my research journey that allowed me to engage with a range of fundamental issues central to cross-cultural living such as hierarchy, religion, political and regal institutional frameworks, and gender.