Barriers in establishing a collaborative university-industry educational program in a fast growing economy: the case of Thailand

Summary form only given. Thailand has started her economic and social development about 30 years ago by promoting import substitute industries. The first phase has been so successful that the Government has began the second phase by promoting export oriented industry and foreign investment to earn the much needed extra income to develop infrastructures and other services to improve the standard of living of the people. Now Thailand is facing tougher competition in the regional and world markets and her comparative advantages, like cheap labor and natural resources, are diminishing rapidly. In this situation, collaboration between industry and educational institutions would be very beneficial in developing human resources for industry itself both in terms of quantity and quality. The professionals should be better equipped and flexible enough to master the continuously changing technologies but some barriers, both attitudinal and structural, are very strong in preventing the two parties to cooperate effectively. Most of these derived from the fact that the industrial development always took the short-cut routes and made step changes all the time. Unlike developed countries like the US, the European countries or Japan where technologies have solid bases, most technologies in Thailand were imported instantly by joint venture partners and investors did not see the need to partake in human resources development nor the need to develop their own technology. But with stronger competition on the world market the situation has to change and systematic cooperations should begin