Revolutionizing Education in Japan: An Exclusive Interview with Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology President Lan Xang on Bridging the IT Skills Gap

Release date 2024.09.23

Thai-Japanese Institute of Technology (TNI) opened in June 2007 with the philosophy of “developing academics, contributing to the promotion of industry, and contributing to the economy and society.” Based on the Japanese philosophy of “monozukuri,” the university places emphasis on basic social skills such as professional ability, English and Japanese language skills, and business practices, and has nurtured students with practical skills and knowledge, sending them mainly to Japanese manufacturing companies in Thailand. As Thailand’s industrial structure and the values ​​of Thai students change with the times, the university has also begun new initiatives. We spoke with Associate Professor Ransan Lertnaisat, who became the fourth president of the university in January 2023, about the current situation and challenges of TNI.

(Interview conducted on August 27th, by mediator Kantatong, CEO, and the THAIBIZ editorial team)

Medator CEO Kantathorn (left) and Thai-Japanese Institute of Technology President Lansan (right)

The start of the TPA project, which will serve as a bridge between Japan and Thailand

Q. How did the Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology come about?

President Lan Xang:Thai-Japanese Institute of Technology (TNI) was established in 2007 by the Technology Promotion Association (Thailand-Japan) (TPA). TPA is a non-profit organization established in 1973 by former students studying in Japan, especially those on Japanese government scholarships, with the aim of transferring and disseminating the latest technology and knowledge from Japan to Thailand, and developing human resources. At the time, there was an anti-Japanese movement in Thailand and anti-Japanese sentiment was worsening. There was a growing awareness of the need to create an institution that would serve as a bridge between Japan and Thailand, and the Japan-Thailand Economic Cooperation Society (JTECS) was established in Japan in 1972 under the initiative of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), with social educator Goichi Hozumi as its chairman. Then, on the Thai side, Sommai Huntrakul (former Minister of Finance) and others worked hard to establish TPA, and from the beginning there was a vision of establishing a university in the future.

When TNI opened, it received support from organizations such as the Embassy of Japan in Thailand, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Bangkok Office, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok (JCC), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Association for Overseas Technical and Industrial Training (AOTS), and the Japanese Association of Thailand. Japanese companies also provided advice on what education methods would be best and what courses should be established, and donated equipment and machinery, and offered scholarships, internships, and employment opportunities.

“Five GEN” Concept, Japanese Language Acquisition

Q. What is the faculty structure and curriculum at TNI? How do you approach “manufacturing” education?

President Lan Xang:Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology (TNI) started with three faculties: Engineering, Information Technology, and Business Management. It now has five faculties, including the Global Communication and Thai-Nichi International College (English-language course). There are currently 25 courses in total, including a graduate school. In addition, there are nine programs for working adults. In 2025, the school plans to open a “Faculty of Digital Technology for Business Industries.”

The “monozukuri” education method starts from the five “GEN” concepts: “Genba” (workplace), “genbutsu” (actual product), “gensoku” (reality), “genri” (principles), and “gensoku” (principles). All students must learn not just theory but also practical know-how. There is a learning method called “3PBL+P”: “Project-based learning”, “Problem-based learning”, “Practice-based learning”, and “Personalize learning”. Students must learn Japanese labor concepts such as “5S = Sort, Set in order, Clean, Standardize, Discipline (Shitsuke)”, “Kaizen”, “PDCA”, and “Organizational diagnosis”.

All students are required to participate in a one-semester corporate internship. TNI has a network of about 1,000 companies to send students as interns, 70% of which are Japanese companies.

In addition, all current students, about 3,500 in total, are required to study at least five courses of Japanese language to acquire Japanese concepts and spirit. TNI currently has about 30 Japanese language teachers, of which more than 10 are Japanese. They can train Thai engineers who understand Japanese and Japanese to meet the needs of Thai and Japanese companies.

Emphasis on applied research, researching diesel as well as EVs

“Wide range of majors at the TNI Faculty of Engineering” Source:TNI

Q. What is your research and development structure?

President Lan Xang:In terms of research and development, the university has decided that each faculty must establish two or three Centers of Research Excellent (CORE). Research places emphasis on “applied research” that can contribute to companies and industries. Specifically, the “Advanced Mobility and Propulsion Research Laboratory” in the Faculty of New Materials, New Energy, and Engineering, which is supported by Toyota Motor Corporation and is researching and developing diesel, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), and electric vehicles (EV). Personally, I am concerned about how repairs will be handled for battery electric vehicles (BEV), and I think that BEVs cannot withstand the heavy loads of pickup trucks, so diesel is probably a better option at this time.

4,000 Thai high school students study Japanese every year

Q. What kind of human resource training is tailored to the needs of Japanese companies?

President Lan Xang:When the course was first created, a subcommittee made up of members of the industry was set up to advise on what fields, knowledge and skills, including language and mindset, were needed, etc. Recently, a survey was conducted among high school students hoping to go on to university to find out whether they wanted to work for a Japanese company or organization and what their level of Japanese language proficiency was. This showed that the Japanese language remains popular and that there is a high level of interest in working for a Japanese company.

There are about 100 high schools nationwide that offer Japanese language courses and teach Japanese alongside English. Each class has about 40 students, so there are 4,000 high school students studying Japanese every year. Many high schools want to set up new Japanese language courses, but there is a shortage of Japanese language teachers, especially Japanese teachers. There is also a Japanese Language Proficiency Test twice a year, with more than 5,000 students taking each test, so Japanese is still popular. Many people are strongly influenced by Japanese anime, for example, to learn Japanese.

After the Thai-Japanese Institute of Technology (TNI) opened, the JCC established a subcommittee to support TNI, and has been holding regular meetings to confirm the needs of industry, particularly Japanese companies in Thailand, and to receive advice on whether new courses should be opened, especially in the field of engineering. As a result, many graduates are employed by Japanese companies every year, but this still does not meet the needs of Japanese companies.

Hopes for the expansion of Japanese IT companies

Q. What is the employment rate of graduates at Japanese companies?

President Lan Xang:Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the employment rate for graduates at Japanese companies was around 50-60% every year, but during the COVID-19 period, there were few recruitments from Japanese companies, so the rate dropped significantly and people started working for Western or Thai companies. Recently, it has finally recovered to around 40%. There are also graduates who have found work at companies other than Japanese companies who want to change jobs to Japanese companies. Also, most of the employment outside of Japanese companies is with Western or Thai companies, with Chinese companies and Korean companies still at only 5% and 2% respectively.

Recently, the number of Thai students interested in IT has been increasing, but compared to manufacturing, there are fewer IT companies in Thailand. If more Japanese IT companies enter Thailand in the future, there will likely be more jobs at Japanese companies. Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology is planning to soon start a special course in Japanese to learn technical terms for engineering, IT, business administration, and other fields.

TNI holds a job fair twice a year in February and September to explore employment opportunities at various companies, with about 70 companies exhibiting each time, 80% of which are Japanese companies, and 5 to 6 companies from Japan visiting Thailand each time. Meanwhile, 700 to 800 students participate each time.

TNI school building in Suan Luang district, Bangkok

A technical college suited to Thai society

Q. Will Thailand be able to maintain its position as a production hub for Japanese manufacturing in the future?

President Lan Xang:It is important for Thailand to strengthen its human resources in both quality and quantity and continue to maintain its position as a stable production hub for Japan. Thailand has higher labor costs than neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, so high skills are required, including robotics, automation, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT, making reskilling and upskilling essential. Thai-Japanese Institute of Technology (TNI) has already opened a two-year credit transfer course for working adults who have graduated from a “Higher vocational certificate,” with 200 people taking the course every year. The aim is to increase the number of participants to more than 500 within the next three years.

In order to improve the level of Thailand’s manufacturing industry, “Japanese-style” technical universities are also necessary, and “Thai Kosen” (Technical College) has already started at King Mongkut’s University. However, at Kosen, students can only obtain an “associate’s degree” instead of a “bachelor’s degree”, and many students want to study further at university and earn the same salary as university graduates. Currently, there is an advantage in that tuition fees are waived using aid funds provided to both Kosen through Japanese yen loans, but what will happen when they have to pay tuition fees in the future? There is also a proposal to make it “Kosen-like” or “Kosen-style” in line with Thai society, rather than a system exactly like Japanese Kosen. Another approach would be to upgrade the vocational schools (800 in the humanities and sciences, about 530 in science and engineering) that already exist nationwide. TNI is also planning to open a Kosen-style vocational training school in a few years.

Q. I have heard that you have various partnerships with Japanese universities and other educational institutions both in Japan and overseas.

President Lan Xang:We have partnerships (MOUs) with 77 educational institutions in Japan, including Tohoku University, Osaka University, Waseda University, and Shibaura Institute of Technology. These include 12 technical colleges. We also have MOUs with 16 universities in other countries and 20 universities in Thailand. These partnerships include student and researcher exchanges, and short- and long-term exchange programs. We also collaborate with various public institutions and Japanese organizations in Thailand, and have received donations from approximately 50 Japanese companies for various funds and educational facilities.