Abstract This article examines Thai higher education through the lens of the long-established myth of Thailand as a non-colonized country that seeks to sustain the country’s cultural legacy and assure its global visibility. A combined analysis of historical factors and the concepts of discourse and social practice are employed to explain the social phenomena that have affected Thai higher education. How coloniality shaped Thailand, which is widely considered a non-colonized country, and the hidden influences from Western countries from the colonial to the post- wwii period are discussed. This article aims to enhance understanding of the realities of constructing higher education within diverse socio-political and cultural frameworks. A historically grounded analysis of changes and their drivers reveals how the past informs the present and clarifies the concept of “coloniality” through the Thai context.
Penpisoot Kwan Maitrarat (Fri,) studied this question.