Prince of Songkla University
Encyclopedia
Prince of Songkla University was the first university in Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand is a distinct region of Thailand, connected with the Central region by the narrow Kra Isthmus.-Geography:Southern Thailand is located on the Malay Peninsula, with an area around 70,713 km², bounded to the north by Kra Isthmus as the narrowest part of the peninsula. The...

, established in 1967. The name of the university was granted by His Majesty the King
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...

 in honor of His Royal Highness Somdej Chao Fa Mahidol Adulyadej Kromma Luang Songkla Nakarin
Mahidol Adulyadej
Mahitaladhibes Adulyadejvikrom, the Prince Father , or officially styled Mahidol Adulyadej, Prince of Songkla was the father of King Ananda Mahidol and King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. He was also regarded as the father of modern medicine and public health of Thailand...

, the king's father.

The university consists of four campuses and one education service area. In 1968, the first permanent campus was established in Pattani
Pattani (town)
Pattani is a town in the far south of Thailand, near the boundary to Malaysia. It is the capital of the Pattani Province. The city has a population of 43,631...

. The campus in Hat Yai
Hat Yai
Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. Located at , it has a population of 157,359 in the city itself and about 800,000 in the greater Hat Yai area. Hat Yai is the largest city of Songkhla Province, the largest metropolitan area in Southern, and third largest...

 was opened in 1971 and is now the main campus, with more than 50% of the university's students. Other campuses were established in Phuket
Phuket Province
Phuket , formerly known as Thalang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon , is one of the southern provinces of Thailand...

 (1977) and Surat Thani
Surat Thani Province
Surat Thani is the largest of the southern provinces of Thailand, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Surat Thani means City of Good People, the title given to the city by King Vajiravudh ....

 (1990). Additionally, the Trang
Trang Province
Trang is one of the southern provinces of Thailand, at the western shore of the Malay Peninsula to the Andaman Sea. Neighboring provinces are Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung and Satun....

 education service area was founded in 1991. As 2007, the university offers 295 educational programs to its 34,000 students, including 18 international programs and 3 foreign language programs.

History

In 1962 the Department of Provincial Administration was assigned by the Thai government, through the Southern Development Committee, to initiate a project to set up a university in southern Thailand in accordance with the Southern Development plan. In 1965 the cabinet approved, in principle, that the main campus of the university was to be at Ruesamilae, an urban area of Pattani
Pattani
Pattani may refer to* Pattani Province, in southern Thailand* Pattani , in southern Thailand* Pattani , which includes the above province** Pattani Kingdom, a former semi-independent kingdom...

.

Since the Pattani site abuts the sea, very high humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...

 and sea water vapor
Vapor
A vapor or vapour is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical point....

 would lead to prohibitive maintenance cost for the upkeep of the engineering laboratory equipment and engineering teaching facilities. It was agreed to relocate the Faculty of Engineering to a new site. After a long search, it was decided that the Faculty of Engineering should be located in Hat Yai
Hat Yai
Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. Located at , it has a population of 157,359 in the city itself and about 800,000 in the greater Hat Yai area. Hat Yai is the largest city of Songkhla Province, the largest metropolitan area in Southern, and third largest...

 District, Songkhla
Songkhla
Songkhla is a city in the Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. As of 2006 it had a population of 75,048...

 Province. Lady Atthakraweesunthorn agreed to donate a plot of land totalling 690 rai (approximately 276 acres) at Tambon Korhong, Hat Yai district, Songkla Province, which was to be used as a new campus of Prince of Songkla University upon which the Faculty of Engineering would be located.

In 1968 the parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

 passed the Prince of Songkla University Act, which became effective on March 13 of that year. Prince of Songkla University thus proclaimed March 13 as its “Foundation Day”. In 1969, the construction at Hat Yai campus was started. On July 5, 1971 when it was partially completed, about two hundred students and staff members of the Faculty of Engineering were moved to the new campus at Hat Yai.

Rankings

Prince of Songkla University is always ranked in the top 10 universities of Thailand. The university made 481st in 2006 and 525th in 2007 in THES - QS World University Rankings
THES - QS World University Rankings
The term Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings refers to rankings published jointly between 2004 and 2009 by Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds . After QS and Times Higher Education had ended their collaboration, the methodology for these rankings continues to be used by...

 which were 7th and 6th Thai university on the lists, respectively.

In the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities
Webometrics Ranking of World Universities
The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, also known as Ranking Web of World Universities, is ranking system for the world's universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the Web contents and the visibility and impact of these web publications...

, the university performs as a successful cyber-university. In Thailand, it has topped the list of Thai universities for five non-consecutive times in 2008, 2009 and 2011. Prince of Songkla University is the first Thai university to make top 400 (January 2008), top 300 (January 2009) and top 200 (July 2009) of the world rankings. In July 2009, the university was ranked 175th in the world, 18th in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and 2nd in the South-East Asia behind the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....

.

Hat Yai Campus


Pattani Campus




Phuket Campus


  • Department of Computer Engineering
  • Phuket Community College


Surat Thani Campus

  • Faculty of Technology and Management
  • Faculty of Arts and Management Sciences

  • Surat Thani Community College


External links

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