Mahidol maintained its status as the best university in the country in this year's World University Rankings by Times Higher Education, which added more Thai tertiary institutions to its list.
Mahidol University rose eight notches from last year to 68 in the survey of universities in emerging economies covering 442 institutions in 43 countries, although it scores in the 601-800 range worldwide.
Chulalongkorn University moved up three positions to 123. It was the second-ranked Thai institution, replacing King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, which dropped into the grouping of 201-250. Times Higher Education does not assign specific positions for universities rated below 200.
Other universities in the 201-250 group were King Mongkut's Institution of Technology Ladkrabang and Suranaree University of Technology.
Chiang Mai, Kasetsart, Khon Kaen and Thammasart universities were grouped in a lower tier of 251-300, followed by Prince of Songkhla University in the bloc of 301-350.
Mahasarkham, Naresuan and Srinakharinwirot universities, together with King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok were the remaining Thai institutions to appear in the 2019 survey of universities in emerging economies.
Naresuan, Srinakharinwirot, Thammasart and Mahasarkham universities were newcomers for the country. But only two Thai universities stood in the top 200, a drop from six last year.
Times Higher Education praised Mahidol for its overall improvements but the ranking showed it was far below the University of Malaya in Malaysia, which was rated the best in Southeast Asia at 18.
"Thai universities tend to have weak research environments. But they generally have strong links with industry and a strong international outlook," Ellie Bothwell, the Global Rankings Editor at Times Higher Education, said in an email to the Bangkok Post.
"Thai universities must provide scholars with sufficient funding and freedom to conduct research," Ms Bothwell said, adding that researchers should be given more opportunities to work with their international colleagues to boost their citations impact.
Universities in China dominated the list of best institutions in emerging economies, with Tsinghua rated on top. Peking University came second, followed by Zhejiang University and the University of Science and Technology of China at third and fourth respectively.