The Education Ministry has vowed to carry on with its campaign to crack down on bogus universities after World Peace University announced it would be shutting down in Thailand.
Kamchorn Tatiyakawee, secretary-general of the Office of the Higher Education Commission (Ohec), said government and private universities operate under the law and the public should learn how not to fall victim to bogus schools.
Illegal universities are normally set up using the names of popular overseas universities. A common trick is to attract students by offering them honorary degrees.
Mr Kamchorn said new private universities must obtain permission from Ohec.
Dressing down: A scheduled recipient of an "honorary degree" removes the gown, first step in accepting that the World Peace University isn't really a university, and can't give any type of degree. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
The commission ensures institutions have adequate facilities, funds, lecturers and staff to ensure a high level of educational service.
- As DSI watches: World Peace University folds
Their operation must be carried out under the Private University Act, he said.
Ohec's campaign against bogus universities came after the World Peace University's illegal operation was exposed in the media a few weeks ago.
The university was found to have been set up illegally and was issuing honorary degrees to several well-known personalities including Wirapol Sukphol, or Luang Pu Nen Kham, who has been defrocked for allegedly breaking his vow of celibacy, violating computer crime law and committing fraud.
Mr Kamchorn said illegal universities come in several forms. The first type involves foreign universities which extend their branches to Thailand but fail to observe local law.
Another involves schools set up locally under names of popular overseas universities which then earn money by issuing honorary degrees to customers.
The latter group typically attract victims with online advertisements and often have no permanent campus or provide any actual education despite collecting "tuition fees" from applicants.
"This kind of problem appears every year," Mr Kamchorn said. "Ohec will start filing lawsuits against those which are operating in violation of the Private University Act."
An investigation is underway against the Thai campuses of two foreign universities to find out whether they are breaking the law, he said.
His agency is also trying to track down the operators of websites which offer education certificates spanning the secondary level to the doctoral level, which charge 15,000 baht per degree.
One website was found to have been offering degrees from overseas universities to applicants and transfer credits to enable the applicant to continue their higher education in Thailand.
The operators also claim they can hack universities' databases to add applicants' names. Mr Kamchorn said those who think they may be in possession of bogus degrees can contact Ohec to have their documents checked.
Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanich said the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology will be asked to help investigate the suspect websites.
Adamson University is among the universities here being investigated by Ohec. Jutapong Ratanachot, a coordinator at the university, insisted the school is offering actual educational services. Adamson University offers doctoral degrees in Philosophy of Education in the United Arab Emirates, Macau and Thailand.
Last year, the Thai-based university was approved by the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines and the project was formally acknowledged by the embassy of the Philippines in Thailand, Mr Jutapong said.
The university maintains a student consultancy centre with Filipino advisers in Samut Prakan. "We are not a ghost university," he said. "We have about 80 students, most of them are teachers and school directors, undertaking the programme. They have studied online with their advisers who live in the Philippines for two semesters."
The students are required to study online for 60 credits, meet their Filipino advisers 2-3 times each month in Thailand, and fly to the Philippines for examination. The programme costs 420,000 baht.
Mr Jutapong said documents about the university's establishment and operation were recently sent to Ohec. He will visit Ohec on Thursday. He added, however, the university has decided to dissolve its centre in Thailand. All of the students will move to the Philippines next semester for their study, depending on the programme's requirements.