Bought grades, sold souls an all-access pass through the halls of higher learning

Published: 2/01/2011 at 03:58 AM
Newspaper section: News

Want a bachelor's degree? One can be had for between 37,000 to 90,000 baht, depending on the institution. There's a service that will hack into a university's computer, insert your name on a degree and voila, you can even join the graduation ceremony.

Want a 3.5 GPA? No problem. A hacker can arrange it. Want to be on the honour roll? Just pay a little more.

In fact, your kids can even obtain a primary school certificate; that's only 5,000 to 8,000 baht.

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About the author

: Writer: Voranai Vanijaka; Position: Political and Social Commentator

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bkkmatt
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Discussion 12 : 03/01/2011 at 11:04 AM12
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@ diss 10. Every PM and EVERY Thai over the last 100 years knows EVERYTHING can be bought for the right price. Not just Thaksin. Arbhisit (military) no change there. You can still be corrupt now abd even more so if recent polls are correct.
Thailand has always been lawless, not just under Thaksin.
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tommylee
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Discussion 11 : 02/01/2011 at 11:42 PM11
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Interesting, but universal, not restricted to Thailand.
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somchai
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Discussion 10 : 02/01/2011 at 10:02 PM10
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Great article. Thaksin taught us Thais that everything can be bought but luckily he is gone and Abhisit has put our nation on the right track.
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wangsuda
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Discussion 9 : 02/01/2011 at 07:00 PM9
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Re discussion #8: I am on of those "English teachers" you are talking about. I, and my co-workers at our school, will gladly show you our transcripts, diplomas, and credentials verifying our qualifications. And what you'll find is that the three of us hold more legitimate, world-wide accepted degrees than the Thai foreign language department.
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grass-seed
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Discussion 8 : 02/01/2011 at 03:13 PM8
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Excellent article by Khun Voranai. It would be interesting if he wrote an article on the higher qualifications of some of the so-called foreign teachers of English in Thailand. Given their poor teaching skills, I am pretty sure many of their "diplomas" were purchased locally.
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grass-seed
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Discussion 7 : 02/01/2011 at 02:36 PM7
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I just finished conducting a PhD thesis exam at a Thai State University. I was the third examiner. The poor girl (lecturer at another university) had taken 5 years to do the research and write the thesis in Thai. But really she just wasn't bright enough. Cried at times because she couldn't answer the simple questions. However, the committee let her pass on compassionate grounds-only child, lost of face, done a lot of hard work, want her out of here, we won't let someone with her academic background enroll again. So she will become a "Dr" with very little brain.
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meadowlark
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Discussion 6 : 02/01/2011 at 10:44 AM6
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Voranai is so right about the teachers who have no knowledge of their subject matter and students who use the easy way to obtain a degree. I know this 1st hand. My partner just finished his course work in Business admin at a bangkok university and learnt nothing. He may not be awarded this degree because he feels his assigned thesis advisor is too incompetent to supervise the process. Students are angry about being cheated out of hoodles of tuition fees for courses that are substandard and teachers who have been doing the same instruction for 20 years. They don't speak up for fear they will be labelled and never graduate.What a sad state of affairs. I am in the process of demanding that all tution fees be refunded.
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LAGuyinBKK
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Discussion 5 : 02/01/2011 at 10:18 AM5
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It's a good, perceptive article... one that Thais need to read and understand, not just farangs....

But the headline is a bit narrow-minded, as regards the article. Yes, the article starts about cheating and faking grades and exams in university. But clearly, the broader message is the same scamming occurs broadly throughout Thai society....

In other words, it's endemic... a culture of corruption... Until that changes, it's hard to see how Thailand is going to advance or prosper...

Do you want a Thai engineer with a faked degree designing your bridges? Do you want a doctor with a faked education or medical certificate treating patients? Do you want wholesale slaughter on the highways because the common method of traffic law enforcement is 100 or 200 baht "fine" pocketed and looking the other way. The list, unfortuntely, is endless.
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Renaissance
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Discussion 4 : 02/01/2011 at 09:29 AM4
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Firstly, I don't think Khun Voranai should dirty himself by becoming a politician. He'll just become like all the other politicians.

Secondly, we need people to keep talking about the corruption. Talking about it like in the last 2 years or so is new to Thailand. It didn't use to happen. It shows that gradually people are getting sick of it. Eventually, change will come when people start to feel the pain caused by corrupt activities. Then there will be a backlash of some kind, like in China now.

Indeed, some of the current crop of corrupt politicians may find themselves enjoying their last few years of freedom now without realizing it. The day will inevitably come when they will be jailed for a long time for their corruption over the years. Change will come!
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pquinlan
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Discussion 3 : 02/01/2011 at 09:07 AM3
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Again, an excellent piece of work from K. Voranai, but I feel compelled to point out that this is the third millennium, not the second. Also, stay right where you are. Thailand needs journalists who are good at telling it like it is, and it is possible to have a lasting and positive effect on the political stage without joining the monkey troupe.
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