St Petersburg University to train tourism professionals with advanced Thai language skills

The Rector took the initiative to create a new educational programme to train future tourism professionals with in-depth knowledge of Thai culture and language. He said this would involve organising a meeting with Thai and Russian companies to find out what staffing needs and requirements there are in the travel industry. Nikolay Kropachev also expressed his willingness to offer the Thai Minister of Tourism or his deputy to chair the board of such an educational programme. 

The rector also suggested that SPbU students be trained in Thai medicine. He said that he saw in this direction a prospect for the development of economic relations between the countries: ‘I think that after the appearance of such an educational programme among Russians, the demand for medical tourism in Thailand will increase.’

At present, SPbU has 15 educational programmes with a Thai component, one of which is "History of Thailand and Burma (Myanmar)".

‘SPbU has been the most popular Russian university among international students for the past six years. The competition for foreign applicants is 21 people per place. And only a thousand government-funded places available. No other university in Russia has such a competition,» says Nikolay Kropachev. Moreover, most students consider SPbU to be the only preferred Russian university for admission. If they don’t get into our university, they apply to universities in Europe or in their own countries’. The rector also pointed out that the university also accepts foreigners on a fee-paying basis, which is not the case at other universities in the country. 

Although the University has cooperation agreements with universities in Thailand, students are more likely to choose other Asian countries: China, Japan, Vietnam and Korea to travel under the Academic Mobility Programme. The parties agreed that student exchanges between SPbU and Thailand should be intensified. To this end, the rector stressed the importance of establishing partnerships not only with educational institutions, but also with Thai companies that could be of interest to students for internships.

In 2017, the SPbU Research Park was visited by a Thai delegation led by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand.

The Thai ambassador noted that education in his country is heavily oriented towards Western traditions and that few people in the country have a good understanding of the cultural and social processes that are now taking place in Russia. In this regard, he announced his intention to open a Russian Room in Thai universities, similar to the SPbU Thai Room, in order to introduce Russia to the students of this country. 

Thai Room is a classroom at St Petersburg University, opened in 2012. The interior features elements of Thai design: furniture in traditional colours, decorative panels with views of Thailand. The shelves are filled with books on the country’s history, culture, language and folk art.

The SPbU collaborates with Walailak University, Kasetsart University, the National Science and Technology Development Agency of the Kingdom of Thailand, and is planning a collaboration agreement with Chiang Mai University, as well as the extension of the collaboration agreement with Thammasat University.

At the end of the meeting, it was decided to send official proposals for the development of education and science to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand in the Russian Federation and to ask for support from the Russian Embassy in Thailand. 

After discussing cooperation with Nikolay Kropachev, Mr Sasivat Wongsinsawat attended a meeting of schoolchildren from the Kingdom of Thailand with university students. Their trip was part of the Young Ambassadors of Virtue project run by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The visit to Russia included Moscow and St Petersburg, and SPbU was one of the highlights.

In 2023, diplomatic relations between Russia and Thailand turned 125 years old, and Professor Boris Melnichenko of SPbU and Senior Lecturer Sergey Trifonov of SPbU made a great contribution to their study.

Schoolchildren learned about exchange programmes, Russian language courses, and the life of foreign students in St Petersburg, took part in a quiz, learned about famous Soviet and Russian cartoons and tasted desserts popular in Russia. For their part, the young guests performed popular songs in Thai, talked about their country’s traditions, and demonstrated national dances and rituals related to the training of a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) fighter.