Spoonfeeding?

One would not be mistaken to say that Thai universities are practising the spoon-fed system. This is due to two basic problems. Firstly, too much time is spent in lecture rooms. The average time in which classes are held during a week, not on Saturdays and Sundays, in a university is 25 to 30 hours. Consequently students cannot find time to work and read widely by themselves. Secondly, normally Thai people do not speak English. Thai is the official language while English is taught in schools and universities as a second language. Most of the available text books are written in English (although some are translated into Thai). Still, owing to the delicacy of the language, things cannot possibly be explained clearly. Students read English slowly and with very little understanding.

The system used in some other universities abroad is entirely different from the Thai. For example, in New Zealand. I have not more than twelve classes during the week (including tutorials). But I have to work very hard by myself in the library. It is really a hard life for a student from a university with such a different system to study in a modern and standardised academy. This is perhaps the reason why Thai students cannot do very well compared with other Asian students who come from universities which are run in the style of the English educational system.