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Walailak University marked its first-ever International Day on Thursday July 9, 2026 by unveiling a proposal for a nationwide network of Thai universities to jointly recruit and support international students, as ambassadors from Kenya and Taiwan's representative office in Thailand advocated for closer academic ties between their governments and universities across Southeast Asia.

The event, WUiDAY 2026, was held under the theme "BRIDGES: Bridging Regional and International Dialogue for Global Education and Sustainability" at the university's Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Natural History Museum (Sirin Museum). It drew delegates from seven Thai universities, partner institutions across Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia, and representatives from four international embassies and one representative office—Kenya, the United States, Bhutan, Pakistan, and Taiwan.

The Deputy Governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province Mr. Witthaya Khiaorot also attended alongside Walailak faculty, staff, and students.



In her welcome remarks, Asst. Prof. Dr. Patnarin Supakorn, director of the university's Center for International Affairs, called the gathering "a historic milestone" as the university's first international day in more than three decades of operation. She framed the event around three goals: deepening the university's own international ties, extending that engagement to support development in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, and strengthening cooperation among Thai universities nationally.

On that third point, Dr. Patnarin floated a new initiative she called the "University Network for Internationalization in Thailand," or UNIT, aimed at getting Thai universities to coordinate rather than compete for international students — including through shared arrangements for housing, airport transfers and joint programming.



President Prof. Dr. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong followed with an address built around what he called the university's "RISE" vision — representing good governance, inspiring innovation, serving society and elevating global excellence. He cited a string of recent recognitions, including two honors at this year's Global Good Governance Awards and a ranking of 47th in the world and third in Thailand in the Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026 for the university's work on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. He said Walailak has also climbed to sixth among Thai universities and into the 1,201+ band globally in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, up from a university with little international profile roughly a decade ago. 



H.E. Mr. Peter Sha-Li Lan, representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand, argued in his address — "Building Academic Bridges between Taiwan and Thailand: Collaboration for Resilient and Innovative Societies" — that sustained investment in education, more than natural resources or population size, has driven Taiwan's economic success. He noted that despite having only a fraction of the population of Thailand or Kenya, Taiwan has built one of the region's strongest economies by GDP — an achievement he credited to decades of investment in higher education and STEM training.

H.E. Lan said new cooperation mechanisms are already underway, including a Taiwan-Thailand Technology Talent Service Platform and the International Industrial Talent Education Special Program, which he said guarantees participating students both a scholarship and a subsequent job offer in Taiwan. He said last year's total at nearly 5,000 Thai students studying in Taiwan across degree and short-term programs, with more than 100 receiving Taiwan Scholarships over the past five years.





Ambassador Lucy N. Kiruthu of Kenya, a former deputy permanent representative of her country to the United Nations, delivered the morning's closing keynote, "South-South Cooperation in Higher Education: New Pathways for Africa-ASEAN Collaboration." Invoking the 1955 Bandung Conference, at which Asian and African nations affirmed a shared commitment to sovereign equality and mutual development, she called for what she termed a "Bandung 2.0" built around universities rather than foreign ministries.

Noting that Africa and Southeast Asia together are home to more than 2.2 billion people, H.E. Kiruthu laid out a five-point agenda for academic cooperation: joint research on shared challenges such as food security and climate resilience; expanded student and faculty mobility; closer ties between universities, governments and industry; responsible adoption of digital tools, including artificial intelligence; and greater investment in young people as "leaders and architects" of cooperation rather than its beneficiaries. She proposed working toward a formal Africa-ASEAN university network, an annual joint research fund and shared AI laboratories, and singled out Walailak as a strong candidate to become a "pioneering anchor" of the initiative. "Kenya stands ready to be your trusted partner in advancing this shared vision," H.E. Kiruthu said.



The morning session ended with the presentation of the university's inaugural Walailak International Student Excellence (WISE) Award, judged on academic performance, peer-reviewed publications, other academic honors, a popular vote among the university's international students, and participation in the Center for International Affairs' monthly international activities.

This year's recipient, Mr. Qudrat Ullah, a Ph.D. candidate in Agriculture and Food Science at Walailak University, was recognized for research in sustainable agriculture, environmental science, and plant-microbe interaction, including 18 Scopus-indexed Q1 journal articles published. Organizers said Mr. Ullah also won the popular vote among his fellow international students and plans to pursue a career as a university professor and researcher.

The award ceremony was followed by a parade and cultural performance featuring university's international students, closing out the morning's main-stage program ahead of afternoon networking sessions and partner-university presentations.























Photos by Addeen Tulyapong and Settaboot Onphakdee
Written by Settaboot Onphakdee
Division of Corporate Communications