Government House, "Suphamas" confirms that Thailand has never recognized degrees from California University because no one has ever submitted them, throwing the blame on the original university for verification, pointing out that a professor position must have a Thai university as a comparison, saying that it cannot be used to fill out documents, asking to go back and study the law on whether using a position without a guarantor is wrong or not. Ms. Supamas Isaraphakdi, Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), spoke about the case of Dr. Kesakamol Pliansamai, Senator, who used her degree from California University to apply for Senate membership, saying that this case must be divided into two issues: the equivalency of doctoral degrees, whether completed at the bachelor's, master's or doctoral level, if completed in Thailand, the Ministry of Higher Education must certify from the beginning of the curriculum. However, if the qualification or curriculum is completed abroad and in tended to be used in Thailand, a request for qualification equivalency must be submitted to the Ministry, as there are more than 10,000 universities under its care. We cannot list all of them. Ms. Supamas added that in the case of California University, an investigation found that no one had applied for a qualification comparison, so the qualification had never been certified. They had to wait for someone to apply before they could enter the examination and review process, just like other universities abroad, such as the United States, England, and China, to see if they could be compared with Thai bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. As for the professor position, Ms. Supamas said that she will have to apply for an academic position, starting from assistant professor, associate professor, to professor, which will have a process of applying through a university in Thailand. Then, she will have to send the matter to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation to request royal app roval for this position, for which we already have a committee and process. Ms. Supamas added that for professors who want to come to teach or lecture in Thailand, the person who must check is the university, not the ministry. For example, if a professor from China wants to come to teach at Krirk University in Thailand, it is the responsibility of Krirk University to compare the professor position with that of a professor in Thailand, which each country has different procedures and processes. Therefore, in the case of Dr. Kesakamol, the matter will not reach the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. However, when seeing a case study like this, it is likely that the role of the ministry should be reviewed. In the case of professors certified from abroad who want to come to work in Thailand, it may have to be sent to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation for acknowledgement and help check, because it is a social problem and a rather serious matter. When a sked if anyone had ever submitted a degree from California University to the Ministry of Higher Education for equivalency, Ms. Supamas said that from the information she had found, no one had ever asked for a equivalency from the Ministry. When asked if this is a confirmation that it may not be a real doctorate degree, Ms. Supamas said that whether this doctorate degree is liked or not, yes or no, the person who must investigate the truth must be the United States Ministry or the person responsible for approving the curriculum of the United States. As for the duty of the Ministry of Higher Education, whether there is a real document or not, we do not know, but it may help prove it. But the main duty must be the country of origin. And when receiving the document, the Ministry of Higher Education has the duty to follow the process to see if the degree can be compared or not. In many universities that have people who have applied for a degree comparison, they will be able to do it more quickly because there are already standards. But if there is none, it may take some time. When asked if there had ever been a case of a master's degree or bachelor's degree from abroad, but when comparing qualifications, they did not meet Thai standards, Ms. Supamas said that there were cases where they could not be compared if the standards did not match. It could be a matter of the number of credits or the number of thesis, as a bachelor's degree must have 120 credits. At the same time, if the number of credits is not enough, when comparing to a foreign country, it may not be the same, which can happen in every case. Therefore, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation must submit the qualifications. Therefore, the qualification comparison has both a pass and a fail answer. When asked if she would have to return to using her Thai qualifications if she failed, Ms. Supamas said that her existing bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from abroad would not be applicable to Thailand, but they could be used in her home country. When asked if the professorship of Dr. Kesakamol is currently unproven to be a professor from which university, and whether the professorship she claims to have can be used to fill in various data in Thailand, Ms. Supamas said, 'It probably can't be used yet. It can be used in cases where a Thai university is the one who compares it, but it's not like the degree that the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation is the one who compares it. The professorship position of the university where he will come to work and receive his salary will be the one who compares it.' When asked if using the professorship in Thailand without any university to compare it to would be illegal, Ms. Supamas said she was not sure about the law and would like to go back and study it first. Source: Thai News Agency