Thai students' destination choice for higher education

a comparative study on U.S., U.K. and Australia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the underlying factors for Thai students’ destination choice as well to explain the relationship between the influencing factors and decision making process of Thai students. Push and pull factors were used to explain the motivation underpinning students’ choice of study destination. A total of 660 self-administered questionnaires were distributed using convenience sampling at OCSC International Education Expo 2013, organized by the Office of Civil Service Commission (OCSC), on 2 November 2013, of which 640 were used for analysis. The results showed that both push and pull factors proposed in this study significantly influenced Thai students’ destination choice. It was found that the suitability of the environment factor and recommendations of friends and family were components of country characteristics (pull factor), which have the greatest influence on Thai student’s destination choice. Thai students’ destination choice was also influenced by the cost of education and degree (content and structure), physical facilities and resources and the value of education. On the other hand, personal factors is the push factors that can influence Thai students’ destination choice.