Mahidol University International College (MUIC) Alexander Kagi

Alexander Kagi – 4. Semester BBWL – Mahidol University International College Mahidol University International College (MUIC) Alexander Kagi Basic Information Exchange semester: Spring 2014 Length of exchange semester: mid April – late July (3rd trimester at MUIC) My email: [email protected] Freemover, 4th semester BBWL, Assessment GPA 5.3 I am going to talk about my experience on exchange in Thailand. However, my experience might differ substantially from other exchange students, since I’ve lived in Bangkok for almost 2 years now. The reason why I chose Mahidol and not Chulalongkorn or Thammasat is because I am spending my 5th semester at an exchange partner university in Tokyo, Japan (Keio University) and you can only do exchange with a partner university for 1 semester. Also, if you want to have a really strong student campus experience, engage in many activities on campus and go out to student bars around campus, Mahidol is a good option, since Chula and Thammasat are city campuses. Therefore, I would choose Mahidol again, even if I hadn’t made use of my partner university slot yet. Also, I attended MUIC during the 3rd trimester, as the first HSG student ever in this particular term. Since the 3rd trimester is quite off-‐cycle, there were only about 25 exchange students in my term as opposed to a usual 250 exchange students in the 1st trimester (September-‐December). Host University General The Mahidol University International College (MUIC) is part of the Mahidol University, which ranks among the most prestigious universities in Thailand. Other public famous universities include Chulalongkorn, Thammasat and Kasetsart. Popular private universities are Bangkok University, Assumption University and Stamford International College. The campus of Mahidol University is located in the Nakhon Pathom province in Salaya, Phuthamonthon Sai 4, westbound of Bangkok. Mahidol also has a campus in downtown Bangkok which is dedicated to some of its international master programs. Salaya, where the main Mahidol University campus is located, is on the outskirts of Bangkok and can be reached in about 30-‐60 minutes drive from Bangkok, which might be a disadvantage to some, as you have to decide between living closer downtown or closer to the university. The campus is huge, and the entire area of Salaya is flooded with students. On campus there are trams, bicycles and golf cart services that can be Alexander Kagi – 4. Semester BBWL – Mahidol University International College used for on-‐campus transportation. Moreover, if you have a car, there are many parking possibilities available on campus, since most Thai students come to uni by car. MUIC is mainly one building on the Mahidol campus, the rest of the campus is dedicated to the Thai programs (taught in Thai). At MUIC there are currently about 2,500 students enrolled, all in undergraduate programs such as liberal arts, social and natural sciences. At MU as a whole there are about 26,000 students enrolled. In terms of support service, the international office is doing a great job and basically the entire administration at the university is very good. Also grading of your exams is done extremely quick, compared to HSG. Facilities The MUIC building offers many computer labs, a nice library and many different restaurants, cafes and eateries. Facilities are generally state of the art, and as of 2015 the new MUIC building will be opened. I had everything I needed at MUIC, 500 pages of free copying and printing are included every trimester, scanners and computer labs are available etc. In terms of food you can pretty much find anything on campus, a huge variety of Thai food and also Western food, coffee, shakes, sweets, sandwiches, fruits and even a fried chicken stand on the ground floor. Other than that the campus features 2 7/11 convenience stores, a U-‐store, a central (main) library, ATMs, a branch of the SCB (Siam Commercial Bank), 5 swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts, badminton hall, football field and a gym. There is pretty much everything you need right there on campus. Also, around uni there are many good restaurants and eateries. Particularly, I would like to suggest Anya’s Place restaurant, which ranks among the best in the area and is highly valued by Thais. The only thing I did not like about MUIC facilities was the fact that the library already closed at 6pm and during exam period at 7pm, which was far too early for me. Personally I was part of the Tennis club. We were playing twice a week for 2 hours. The Tennis courts at MU are in great shape and prices per court per hour are 50 THB. Academics Usually students take 4 courses at MUIC per trimester. Exchange students normally only take 3-‐4 courses. However, I took 5 courses. Each class takes place twice a week for 2 hours with a break in between, depending on the teacher though. Generally, the teaching method requires attendance. I only skipped 1 or 2 times, and actually I was happy to go to class to see my friends etc. If you miss more than 4 times Alexander Kagi – 4. Semester BBWL – Mahidol University International College you are not allowed to take the exams, plus in many classes attendance is even part of the grade. What you should definitely be aware of when choosing MUIC in the future though, is that grading policy had just been changed as of my trimester to a much harsher policy compared to previous exchange reports. It does not follow a curve. If you want an A you need to achieve an overall score of more than 90%. This means that it’s now possible that in one subject no one gets an A at all anymore. Assignments, presentations, quizzes and attendance scattered over the course of the trimester all count towards your grade. I would chose 5 courses again though since I feel that I had enough free time and did not miss out on any social activities because of workload. During the exam weeks Thai students also study a lot and are not available to hang out naturally anyways. Courses I took ICMB221: Principles of Marketing (Aj. Apiradee) accredited as Marketing 6 ECTS The content of this course was quite interesting and many small clips and real life examples were used in the lecture. In the beginning of the term you must build a team of about 5 people and submit a weekly assignment of about 3 pages that will count 10% towards your grade. Moreover, there is a group presentation, which accounts for another 10%. Midterm and final exam will make up for the rest. Apart from the sometimes rather dull teaching style of the teacher I recommend this course. The teacher is kind and will help you with any concerns. No attendance is checked with Aj. Apiradee. ICNS104: Fundamental Statistics (Aj. Varumpa) accredited as Forschungsmethoden 6 ECTS Probably no one enjoys statistics. This was also the case at MUIC. I did not like the course content and teaching method. It is important to take part in every class since there are quizzes, assignments and a lot of content the teacher writes down on the whiteboard during class. If you miss one class you miss out on a lot of new content. The slides do not provide a lot of information, and basically the teacher notes all the essential information down on the board during class. This way you have a hard time copying everything during class and cannot really pay attention to the content. In my opinion the teacher could have easily included all the information in the slides, so we can actually listen to her teaching. I basically had to reread everything again at home in order to understand the content. Luckily, the teacher is very kind again. She gives bonus points where she can and helps you out at any time. This makes the subject a whole lot more bearable. In this class traditionally the average score is really low and a lot of students fail. There were some students taking the course for the 3rd time already. Alexander Kagi – 4. Semester BBWL – Mahidol University International College ICMB371: Business Finance (Aj. Sirithida) accredited as Finance 6 ECTS For me this was one of the most interesting courses and I would without a doubt recommend it. The course is very transparent and the teaching method of Aj. Sirithida is great. Again, this course requires attendance; the teacher is quite strict and gives out weekly assignments to be handed in. Attendance and assignments account for 20% of the final grade. Recommended. ICMB431: Strategic Management (Aj. Dissatat) accredited as Strategisches Management 5 ECTS, Electives 1 ECTS Funny and experienced teacher. Checks attendance in every single class. Slides are very informative and well structured. In this course you must form a group again with which you will prepare a total of 3 cases. The cases are presented in a role-‐play game, once you are the board of directors, shareholders or management team. There is no midterm, however, 3 extensive reports have to be submitted and 1 presentation as the management team is part of this course. The final exam accounts for 35% and good understanding of the major concepts is required. Most effort had to be put into the cases. ICSS112: Introduction to Psychology (Aj. Jaruwan) accredited as ReKuKo 6 ECTS This course covers basic psychological concepts and also goes into biology quite a lot. Especially the first part about the biology of brain structures etc. was not very enjoyable for me. The teacher is kind, but a hard grader. There are two announced quizzes, which account for 10% each and a midterm and final exam. For the exam you need to study all the slides by heart. No attendance is required and your effort is bundled around the quizzes and exams. I would probably choose the course “Introduction to Sociology” instead, if I were to decide again. Generally, I would say that content wise the courses cover about the same at MUIC as they do at HSG, so you won’t learn less or more than at HSG. I think taking 5 courses is absolutely feasible though, and I did not miss out on any social activities with my friends. Teacher-‐student contact is very good; you can add them on LINE, facebook and contact them anytime per mobile phone. Practical Information Prior to going abroad Application process is very easy and efficient and all well explained on the MUIC website. Also visa application is fast and can be done at any consulate. I was already living in Thailand before my exchange and had to leave the country to get my visa. So I went to the consulate in Hong Kong to get it done. You don’t need more info here, as Thailand has everything you need within borders and you can read it all online. Alexander Kagi – 4. Semester BBWL – Mahidol University International College Living arrangements As I have lived in Thailand before and also did not want to live together with only international students, I did not choose to live in the international housing offered by the international office. I have my own condo in South Bangkok, Sathorn. It’s on the other side of the river in Thonburi and just about the start of the suburban areas of Bangkok. It has a pool, gym and beautiful view from 19th floor where I live. I also have my own car here, so getting to university was quite easy, with a 20 minutes drive. If I wanted to stay in Salaya over night, mostly during the week after hitting one of the Thai bars out there, I could just sleep over at my Thai friends’ dorms or house. I couldn’t have had it better in terms of housing. On the weekend I was relatively close to the city and during the week I had the freedom to choose. Having a car is very beneficial especially if you have a lot of Thai friends. Many of them have houses in the suburbs. Public transport is limited out there and Taxis often do not know where exactly you want to go. Plus Bangkok is huge and if you only hang out in the downtown area, where BTS and MRT is available, you will miss out on a lot of things, especially the true Thai experience that can be found in the outskirts and suburbs of Bangkok. Moreover, the uni is in Salaya, which is not conveniently connected by public transport. Plus when driving you will get to know Bangkok and surroundings very well. However, if you don’t have a car and prefer to live in Salaya, which is also a good option, especially during the week, then you can get a dorm around uni. There are many dorms out there with modern facilities and low prices. Money I have 2 bank accounts in Thailand, one with Kasikorn Bank and another one with SCB (Siam Commercial Bank). I recommend you to take your passport and your visa to the SCB branch on campus and open your bank account right away. Then transfer a couple of thousand francs (as much as you need for your exchange) for a one-‐time fee of 20Fr. (ZKB charges) to your Thai account and you are good to go. No ATM charges, no hassle, no huge amounts of cash in your wallet or dorm. Generally, I lived including water, electricity, and fuel for my car from about 50,000 THB a month. I did not monitor my expenses though, and therefore it’s hard to estimate. Host Country As you can read all of this on Wikipedia I am only going to talk about the most crucial facts in my opinion. I recommend everyone to learn some Thai once here. It will make your life a whole lot easier and especially you will make more Thai friends and won’t Alexander Kagi – 4. Semester BBWL – Mahidol University International College have a hard time with taxi drivers. As I have lived here before, my Thai is on an intermediate level and I can get around easily within Thailand. Regarding travelling I did not once leave the country during my exchange. I have travelled all over Asia and Thailand before, and did not feel the need of leaving Bangkok. The only trips I did were with a couple of Thai friends driving down to Hua Hin or Koh Chang for the weekend. If you really want to integrate into Thai culture then it shouldn’t be your aim to leave the country on every single occasion anyways, stay here and embrace Thai people and culture, spend the weekends with them. Besides, travelling solely in Thailand already has to offer enough for a length of one semester. During my stay the political turmoil was quite fired up. Thai military had closed the uni for a couple of days and the military coup started during my lectures. Campus was quite panicked and many rules were introduced, such as no on-‐campus activities after 6pm etc. However, this turmoil was quite short-‐lived and I always felt safe. Social and Nightlife Making friends here won’t be a problem. If you live in one of the international dorms, you will probably get in touch with lots of exchange students. I don’t really know about that though since I lived in my own condo and hung out mostly with my Thai friends from uni and outside uni. Thailand is famous for nightlife and in fact a lot of life takes place at night, probably due to the extreme heat during the day. Thai university students enjoy socializing, partying or just relaxing in bars a lot. There are some Thai bars in Salaya popular with students. Most exchange students though, go party downtown, mostly in the Sukhumvit area which is flooded by expats and tourists. However, if you want to experience some of Bangkok’s local nightlife you have to go elsewhere. Personally, I avoid the Sukhumvit area because for my taste it’s just too flooded with (sex-‐) tourists and sketchy people. Also the crowd there is not comprised of university students, rather people aged 25+. For my part, I went out in Thonglor. If you want to enjoy Bangkok’s local nightlife with a young, middle to upper class Thai crowd (mostly students from good universities) Thonglor is a popular place. Also recommendable is Fallabella. It’s part of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and located at Ratchadamri. Other areas to go out include RCA, Ratchada Soi 4, and places in north Bangkok such as Kaset Nawamin. Some of these places are far away though and hard to get to without a car. Alexander Kagi – 4. Semester BBWL – Mahidol University International College There are two areas I personally strongly dislike and avoid. One is central Sukhumvit, including Soi 11, as stated before. The other one is the popular hippie, backpacker street Khao San Road. I dislike tourists having this very shallow perspective on Thailand about sex tourism. Their views are heavily biased since they only see places like Sukhumvit and Khao San, which are far from the real Thai experience and solely targeted towards naïve tourists. There are some clubs and lots of bars at Khao San, but they are filthy and dominated by foreigners, mostly weirdoes who came to Thailand to do nothing and get a cheap free ride. They are staying for years and earn money through crime and some freelance jobs. Quite frankly, they are dragging the country down and just recently Thai immigration policies became very strict to get rid of a lot of foreign free riders in the country, that have been exploiting the immigration systems for years. You should respect the country and have an educated view on things here, and more importantly overcome the shallow view of an “average” foreigner. Conclusion The 2 years time in Bangkok, including my exchange, were tremendously nurturing and full of valuable experiences. Academically I feel that I have not learned more or less than I would have at HSG. It’s hard to say goodbye to Bangkok, on the other hand I am excited for my next chapter exchanging at the Keio University in Tokyo, this fall. If you have any questions about my life in Bangkok or my next exchange in Tokyo, please feel free to contact me anytime under: [email protected] Alexander Kagi (fb) Alexander Kagi – 4. Semester BBWL – Mahidol University International College

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