General Background, Thammasat University

Established by the Thammasat University Act in 1933, the university was inaugurated on June 27, 1934 as an open university with the objective of propagating the learning of law and politics to all. The university was then named, “Thammasat Lae Karn Muang,” literally, “The University of Moral Science and Politics”. By 1949, there were four major fields of study: Law, Commerce and Accountancy, Political Science and Diplomacy, and Economics. In 1952, the name was changed to Thammasat University. Two years later, the fields of Social Work and Journalism were added. The Institute of Public Administration, offering a postgraduate program, was established in 1955. It was transferred to the National Institute of Development Administration in 1966. Thammasat University marked a milestone in university education in Thailand by introducing liberal arts education with the founding of the Faculty of Liberal Arts in 1962. Since then, liberal arts education has spread to all universities in Thailand, providing what is called foundation core-courses for all undergraduates. The Faculty of Liberal Arts has grown into several major fields including the following disciplines: Chinese, Drama, English as a Second Language, English Language and Literature, Geography and Natural Science, German, History, Japanese, Library Science, Linguistics, Mathematics, Philosophy, Psychology, Russian, Statistics and Thai. In 1984, the Department of Sociology was upgraded to become the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology and the Department of Journalism became the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication. The year 1986 brought several changes to the University. The new campus site at Rangsit was opened to new students. Currently all first year classes are held there. Also newly established and situated on the new campus site is the Faculty of Science and Technology.

Presently, Thammasat University has eleven faculties: Law, Commerce and Accountancy, Political Science, Economics, Journalism and Mass Communication, Liberal Arts, Science and Technology, Social Administration, Sociology and Anthropology, Engineering, Medicine and Graduate School.

In 1991, the Faculty of Medicine was established at the Rangsit Campus. The faculty admits students with bachelor degrees or nearing the completion of bachelor degrees with a minimum of 80 cumulative credits, of which 26 credits are subjects in science and mathematics. The curriculum employs the method of problem-based learning and takes five years to complete.

Thammasat University also offers graduate programs leading to master degrees in Accoun ting, Business Administration, Marketing, Economics, Law, History, Library Science, Mass Communication, Political Science, Social Work, Sociology, Anthropology, Thai, Linguistics, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Applied Statistics, Community Development, and English Language and Literature. The Faculty of Economics offers master degree programs both in Thai and in English. The details of the graduate programs are in a separate volume. In 1993, Thammasat began admitting graduates for a doctoral program in Business Administration, a jointventure program between Thammasat University, Chulalongkorn University and the National Institute of Development Administration and financed by CIDA and The Association of Deans of South East Asian Graduate Schools of Management (ADSGM).

Thammasat has four institutes whose responsibilities are predominantly research work. These are the Thai Khadi Research Institute, the Human Resources Institute, the Information Processing Institute for Education and Development, and the Institute of East Asian Studies.

Having started out as a law school, Thammasat University has gradually expanded to offer courses in Social Sciences, Humanities and Sciences with the aim of providing higher education in the fields that are pertinent to social need and to promote research and Thai culture.

Several university alumni have been men in prominent positions, such as, Prime Minister, Supreme Court judges, solicitors, government ministers, members of Parliament, members of the Senate, and successful businessmen. In fact, Thammasat University alumni help serve the country in all working areas, at the local, national and international levels.

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Extract from Undergraduate Bulletin 1994, Thammasat University.
Stp@14Feb96