ABSTRACT
The previous chapters have focused on providing the theoretical foundation of this book, which rests on the integral relationships between the external forces such as colonization and globalization on Thai higher education, this chapter focuses on the interrelated phenomenon of the internationalization of higher education. The development of internationalization in Thailand must be read in relation to the historical development of the Thai state to favor European and American models. Similarly to how “globalization” has replaced the European/American as the point of reference, so has the term “internationalization.” In fact, Yang (2014, pp. 153–154) persuasively argued that for the non-Western universities, especially those in Asia, the internationalization of higher education should be understood in relation to longstanding Western domination and conception of higher education in the region: “Within the contemporary context of Western dominance, internationalization of higher education in non-Western societies necessarily touches on longstanding knotty issues and tensions between Westernization and indigenization.” According to an interview (April 9, 2014) with Thailand’s expert on internationalization of higher education: “Westernization, modernization and internationalization are all the same things. It’s the process of internal adjustment to respond to external demands.”
