Expert insights on attracting more Thai students: Q&A with our Hotcourses Thailand editor

Thailand has moved from a low-income to an upper middle-income country in less than a generation and is striving to reach high-income status by 2037. Like most countries around the world, however, Thailand has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to more entrenched inequality across a variety of spectrums, including education, where vast discrepancies exist between quality and completion of education, respectively. Nonetheless, Thailand’s economy is expected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels in 2023 with growing industries such as manufacturing (particularly electronics), tech and innovation, and tourism driving a need for highly skilled workers (The World Bank in Thailand, 2021).

Looking at HESA data of the last decade, the UK has consistently welcomed over 3,800 Thai students every year, peaking in 2019/20 with 4,265 enrolments, indicating a continued interest in international higher education.

Our real-time IQ data also shows Thailand to sit within the top five source markets in terms of demand for studying in the UK and Ireland since the beginning of 2021, claiming 5.88% of overall market share. When looking at which study destinations prospective Thai students are most interested in for the same period, the UK comes out as the number one choice, followed closely by Australia.

We spoke with Pattama Kuentak, Hotcourses Thailand Editor, to hear her insights into how UK institutions can keep attracting prospective Thai students and optimise the way they engage with this growing audience to drive more interest and demand.

What are your top tips for UK institutions to engage with prospective Thai students?

Pattama: It’s important for institutions to have a presence in Thai social media and continue to engage with potential students via various platforms by answering questions and promoting relevant courses and facilities (including library and student-and-career services), so that students know what the experience at an institution would be like.

What messaging by institutions tends to drive high interest to the Hotcourses Thailand student website?

Pattama: Scholarships! Studying abroad can be a far-fetched idea for many Thai students because it’s expensive. But Thai students are also aspiring international students and global citizens at heart.  By saying there are opportunities for them to achieve this dream will grab attention and impact on their university choices.

Which media should institutions be on and on which platforms should they have visibility to best engage with Thai students?

Pattama: Video is the most engaging media as they can see and listen to the stories of an institution. Text should also be used alongside photos to attract prospective students’ attention while they are scrolling down. Although Thai prospective students are very tech savvy and tend to have most social media accounts, I would recommend using YouTube and TikTok as the main platforms – these platforms offer a high chance of visibility, as prospective students are very active in these spaces. Although Generation Z – many of whom are prospective students - are turning away from Facebook and spending more time in video-based platforms, it doesn’t mean that Facebook isn’t necessary.

How can institutions use alumni stories and experiences to attract prospective students from Thailand?

Pattama: Alumni stories are some of the best ways to attract students because they tell personal stories from a unique perspective of each student. Universities can pick alumni that have interesting and inspiring stories, whether it’s about their decision for choosing a certain university or their experiences on campus. It could expand to their future goals and how the courses help them achieve those goals. These stories should come from different types of alumni (man/woman/LGBTQ+) with different backgrounds (financial need/ countries they are from), so that prospective students see representations of people they may identify with, and eventually feel deeply connected to with these stories.

Reach more Thai students today:

Share your most engaging student content with an audience of actively researching prospective Thai students on Hotcourses Thailand, one of our leading in-country, local language student websites, attracting 4.9m users in 2021. Hotcourses Thailand offers users a wealth of study abroad information and an innovative course matcher tool that connects them to their ideal course to start their study-abroad journey.

You can also utilise our IQ data tools, which collate the search behaviours of 100m+ annual visitors to our suite of student-facing sites, for in-depth insights into the Thai market to help guide your marketing and recruitment strategies.

Get in touch with our client teams today to find out more.

Look out for our follow up article in the next few weeks where we interview some of IDP’s education counsellors operating in the Thai market.

Reference:

“The World Bank in Thailand” The World Bank, last updated September 2021, accessed 9 March 2022. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/thailand/overview#1