External assessor competence in Thai vocational education: international policy lessons

Purpose This study aims to examine how international vocational assessment policies can inform Thai external quality assurance (EQA) reviewers while respecting differences between institutional reviewers, learner assessors, examination experts and verifiers. Design/methodology/approach A critical literature review and comparative qualitative document analysis examined 29 public source records from Thailand, ten comparator jurisdictions and cross-system guidance. Sources were coded by role, decision right, competence control and evidential status. A three-question transfer test assessed adaptation to the institutional EQA mandate of the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment. Findings Five families of controls recur across the documentary cases: domain input, role-specific preparation, authorisation, consistency checks and continuing oversight. Their forms vary across roles. Thai rules already provide certification, renewal and performance controls; a proposed Thai Assessor Competency Framework specifies vocational-sector scope and additional evidence across the assessor lifecycle. Research limitations/implications Documents do not establish implementation or effectiveness, and one researcher conducted the analysis. Thai Assessor Competency Framework and its pilot thresholds require stakeholder co-design and empirical validation. Practical implications A bounded pilot could examine case-based judgement, sector currency, report quality, fairness and implementation burden within existing five-year certification and renewal terms. Originality/value This study links differences in assessor roles to transferable control functions and develops a testable policy framework for Thai vocational EQA.