A leading force in rural development, an academic center for Indochina

Khon Kaen University (KKU) is one of three regional universities established in 1964, as part of a decentralized development plan for higher education in Thailand. It is located in the center of the Northeastern region, about one-third of the nation but its least developed and poorest part. KKU has grown from two degree programs (Agriculture, Engineering) to seventeen faculties, with a strong emphasise on science and technology. These are Agriculture, Architecture, Associated Medical Sciences, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Management Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Public Health, Science, Technology, Veterinary Medicine and Graduate School. In addition, KKU also operates a Computer Center, Instruction Resources, University Academic Services, the Queen Sirikit Heart Centers and the Research and Development Institute. A fully-equipped 800-bed "Srinagarind Hospital" named after H.M. the King's mother, provides sophisticated services to people all over the region.

Appropriate Science and Technology for the Rural Poor

One of the major responsibilities of KKU is to serve approximately twenty million people living in the northeast, people whose per capita income is only 40% of the national average, mostly small-scale farmers on poor land. Examples of KKU's community-oriented R&D: (1) The Farming Systems Research Group has developed a set of methodologies for analyzing complex rural resource systems. Its long-term involvement in interdisciplinary system-oriented research and training has now been adopted by the Department of Agricultural Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Furthermore, one of the methodologies, called "Rapid Rural Appraisal", has been accepted worldwide. The proceedings from an international conference published by KKU have become recommended reading material for students at several leading American universities; (2) Throughout Thailand, KKU research on small-scale water resource development has been accepted as a model for governmental application; (3) Seven health science faculties and Veterinary Medicine collaborate on community-oriented programs which are the only ones of their kind in this country; (4) Leadership in epidemiological research; (5) The population-based cancer registry has provided crucial data on the regional liver cancer incidence, the world's highest; (6) The Research and Development Institute (RDI)'s rural development know-how has brought strong links with academics and non-government organizations (NGOs).

International Relations

KKU has received generous supports from various international organizations and universities since its inception. At present, KKU is in the position to be a qualified academic partner for international linkages of mutual interests such as staff exchanges, establishing research collaboration, exchanging educational and cultural materials, transferring knowledge and technology, and engaging in any other activities which will assist KKU in the realization of its mission. KKU has forged many linkages with leading academic institutes in many parts of the world, such as Case Western Reserve University, Iowa State University, California State University at Sacramento and University of Hawaii (USA); University of Queensland and University of Technology Sydney (Australia); McGill University and University of Manitoba (Canada); University of Heidelberg and Free University Berlin (Germany); Universities of England Consortium for International Activities (England); Tokyo University of Agriculture and Kyushu Tokai University (Japan).

International Training Programs

The University currently offers a Master's Degree in Rural Development Management and joint Master's programs are conducted in Community Nutrition and Tropical Health in cooperation with Mahidol University (Thailand), the University of Queensland (Australia) and Kebangsaan University (Malaysia). For short-term training  programs, KKU has actively  organized several undertakings in Community Maternal and Child Nursing, Public Health Nursing Administration and Management, Resource System Analysis for Rural Development, Epidemiology or Health Planning and Administration and Prosthetics and Rehabilitation.

A Prominent Role in the Indochinese Region

Khon Kaen University is located not only at the heart of the greater Indochina region but quite close to southern China. At about only a hundred miles from Vientiane, the capital of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the University sees its future role linked with that of the region as a whole. As such, KKU has been the venue for both short-term training and degree programs for students from the Lao PDR, Vietnam and Cambodia. Under its current five-year plan, KKU plans to offer many more such international programs. It is hoped that shared experiences, knowledge and technologies developed with subsistence farmers in mind will be utilized for the benefit of neighboring countries, all to create a more peaceful and prosperous region.

Future Plans

To realize its important aims and to support the comprehensive and sustainable development of not only the Northeast region but of Thailand as a whole, Khon Kaen University has planned to set up more Institutes. For example, entities focused on: Science and Technology, Science and Industrial Park, Health Science Research, Peace, Biomedical Engineering, an Asian Study Center and Faculty of Mass Communications. Khon Kaen University will continue its mission with the use of appropriate technology for sustainable development and management, always with an interdisciplinary approach -- aimed for a better future for this region.

For further information, contact: 

        Vice President for Foreign and Public Relations
        Khon Kaen University
        Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
        Tel.: +66 43 244-476
        Fax:  +66 43 241216
        Telex: 55303 UNIKHON TH
        E-mail: suwit@kku1.kku.ac.th
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