On December 15, 2023, at 14.00 hrs., Mr. Colin Davy, Managing Director, Elite International Student Consultancy Services, and his colleague paid a first visit to the main campus of Kasetsart University to meet with university administrators so as to initiate collaborative activities between Kasetsart University and the University of the West of England or UWE Bristol, UK, particularly for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of Engineering, Business Administration and Economics.  The administrative members of Kasetsart University, namely Assistant Professor Nadhawee Bunnag, Ph.D., Assistant to the President for International Affairs; Assistant Professor Korakit Choomgrant, Ph.D., Associate Dean for International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences;  Prof. Matthew P. DOWNS, Senior Consultant for International Affairs, Faculty of Economics, and Associate Professor Buncha Chinnasri, Ph.D., Assistant to the President for Quality Development and Deputy Director of Kasetsart University International College (KUIC), had a very fruitful discussion with them.  They all were willing to promote short-term exchange of students and teaching staff for the duration of two weeks, one semester or one academic year.  Both universities offer summer school programs for international students at undergraduate level, thus it is much easier for both sides to start the student exchange, focusing on knowledge and understandings in culture, society and politics of Thailand and UK.  In addition, Kasetsart University has been developing a joint degree program in Food Security and Climate Change in collaboration with partner universities in Southeast Asia.  It seems possible to invite UWE professors as guest lecturers in some courses of the said program.

The University of the West of England, also known as UWE Bristol, is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK.  With more than 36,000 students and 4,200 staff, it is the largest provider of higher education in the South West of England.  It is located 100 miles (160 km) west of London.  One hour 40 minutes’ drive from London’s Heathrow airport.

UWE is one of the newer Universities in the UK formed in 1992 after the merging together of several smaller Colleges.  The Frenchay campus is undergoing a constant program of expansion.  In 2012, major changes were introduced to the Frenchay campus at UWE Bristol.  First, the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, the largest robotics laboratory in Europe, was opened and later on in the same year the UWE Bristol International College was opened to students. The International College provides international students with the necessary academic, subject-based and English language skills needed to successfully progress to a degree course at UWE Bristol.