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Welcoming event at Honor Hall, WU

Walailak University (WU) is expanding its educational collaboration with leading higher education institutions in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan. The collaboration will focus on joint research initiatives, as well as student and staff mobility programs.

A welcoming event and discussion on the collaboration were held today (20 August 2024) at the Chorpradu Chamber, WU Hospital. The delegates were facilitated by Dr. Orathai Phubunlap Gunaseelan, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Royal Thai Embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan, for their visit to WU.

The delegation will remain in Thailand until 22 August and will participate in the Carbon Neutral Tourism Workshop and a tie-dye activity in Krabi Province, organized by the WU School of Management, before their return.

Professor Dr. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, President of Walailak University, said, “There are many issues that our universities can address together, conducting research to tackle the challenges we face, while also enhancing knowledge for our students.” He highlighted that WU’s support for faculty members in publishing research in Scopus-indexed journals, particularly in Quartile 1 and Quartile 2, and their collaboration with international researchers, has led to the university receiving the Outstanding Award for Excellence in Internationally High-Caliber Research from Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation.

He also briefed the delegates on the university’s emphasis on English language proficiency to enhance students' competencies in today’s globalized world, as well as the adoption of the United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework to foster critical, analytical, and synthetic thinking of students in small class sizes of around 25-40 students per class.

Dr. Orathai Phbunlap Gunaseelan noted that Walailak University is an excellent choice for collaboration, emphasizing the university's active promotion of partnerships with international institutions. She added that the embassy is working diligently to secure funding for these initiatives and believes this will mark the beginning of a fruitful and constructive partnership in the future.

“On behalf of the Royal Embassy in Astana, I would like to extend our deep gratitude to Walailak University for their generous efforts in supporting the embassy's project to promote educational and academic collaboration between Thailand and Central Asian countries, which our embassy covers. The Royal Embassy has the privilege of bringing six distinguished delegates from leading universities in the three countries, along with Mr. Madi Akylbekov from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan, to visit your university. The embassy sincerely hopes that this visit will serve as a platform for future collaboration,” she said.

During the event, representatives from M. Auezov South Kazakhstan State University in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz State Technical University in the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajik National University in Tajikistan presented the universities’ backgrounds and potential areas of collaboration. WU College of Graduate Studies and International College also presented their programs and areas of focus. This visit is considered a significant step forward following the WU team’s visit to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan earlier in April.


Collaboration discussion at Chorpradu Chamber, WU

Dr. Orathai Phubunlap Gunaseelan, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Royal Thai Embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan 


Associate Professor Dr. Surin Marsrikrod, Vice President of WU

Dr. Gulmira Issayeva (left), Dr. Arida Turymshayeva (middle) from M. Auezov South Kazakhstan State University, and Mr. Madi Akylbekov (right), from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan


Dr. Venera Baichekirova (left) and Dr. Zamira Makieva (right) from Kyrgyz State Technical University.


Dr. Sunatullo Azimov (left) and Dr. Emomali Miraliev (right) from Tajik National University


Mr. Madi Akylbekov, Head of the Strategy and Project Work Division of the Higher and Postgraduate Education Committee, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan


Welcoming event at Honor Hall, WU