Education at the fore
Under rapidly changing industrial conditions, skilled personnel are ever more vital, and companies are competing ferociously to attract talent.
As a result, many established Taiwanese entrepreneurs in Thailand are recruiting recent graduates and establishing their own educational programs to cultivate talent.
A decade ago BDI’s founder, Suthum Changkajonsakdi—Belinda Changkajonsakdi’s father—saw the shortcomings of Thailand’s vocational training. Because there was little coordination between formal education and industry needs, schools were failing to produce a sufficient number of graduates with technical skills. He therefore founded the Thai‡Taiwan (BDI) Technological College to train talent for Thailand’s Taiwanese enterprises.
The school’s curriculum is designed to meet the needs of industry, and the school offers two programs—vocational high school and two-year college. The former focuses on automotive parts manufacturing, and the latter on manufacturing technology and bookkeeping. About 20 students a year are provided with full scholarships for vocational education combined with practical internships. After graduation, students must spend two to three years working for a Taiwanese-owned company.
There is a saying that pioneers plant the trees and later generations enjoy the shade. As a founder of the Thai‡Chinese International School (TCIS), Suthum Changkajonsakdi counts as one of those pioneers.
Founded in 1995, this international school was originally established to educate the children of overseas-based Taiwanese businesspeople. It is set up on the American educational system and includes education at all levels from kindergarten to high school. Teachers are recruited mostly from English-speaking countries. The school’s good reputation has also attracted Thai students, and many graduates go on to study in Taiwan.
Yosapol Changcharoenkij, president of Power Fast Corporation, joined the school’s board of directors in June. “Education is the foundation of everything,” he says. “The New Southbound Policy emphasizes a people-first approach, which really means focusing on education.
As a second-generation overseas Taiwanese entrepreneur, he worries about the education of today’s kids. “As overseas businesspeople we can’t just rush headlong without building a stable foundation by focusing on family and education,” he says. “Progress can only be made if we shore up those foundations.”
The BDI Technical College addresses the immediate needs of industry through its dual vocational high school and college education tracks. But the primary and middle-school education provided by TCIS cultivates cultural and social links between Thailand and Taiwan. The benefits might not be immediately visible, but these links could provide enormous advantages for industry in the future.
“As the second generation, we have deep feelings for Taiwan and also benefit from the business relationships our parents built,” says Belinda Changkajonsakdi, who is also a director of the TCIS. “When we need to upgrade our factories today, we naturally think of buying Taiwanese equipment first.”
In schools founded by overseas Taiwanese, students come to know the kindness and compassion of Taiwan. “When students attend a Taiwanese school, their whole families get to know Taiwan better,” says Yosapol Changcharoenkij.
Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
The Thai–Chinese International School joins the festivities for Songkran, the Thai new year festival.