Chula1

Chulalongkorn University is the first university in Thailand. It was officially opened in 1916, although its history stretches back several more years. It can easily be called the Harvard of Thailand. It has sixteen faculties (or departments) which cover all disciplines, from science and technology to the humanities and social sciences, along with three colleges, ten research institutes and other supporting institutes.

Popularly known as Chula, the University has 20,000 students preparing for Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degrees, and 2,500 full-time faculty members. Chula receives 60% of its funding from government, 30% from property management and the remainder from academic fees.

Enough of the official website stuff! Chula is big. It is really much bigger than I remember when I last visited it some twenty years ago. It, along with Tammasat Unversity are the most prestigous schools in Thailand. They are both very difficult to get in and once a student graduates, his or her career is pretty well set.

This January, I was able to visit with our point of contact, Dr. Sumitra Angwattanagul and visit some of the locations we will become familiar with during our internship. I also got to look at our living facilities both inside and out. Here are some of the pictures I took.