Chiang Rai College.

Chiang Rai College at a glance

Chiang Rai College is the province's private degree-granting institution, at 199 Moo 6, Tambon Pa O Don Chai, Mueang Chiang Rai — south-west of the city, on the same side of town as Kanchanaphisek Technical College. It is a college rather than a university, and it is built around health sciences: nursing, Chinese medicine and public health sit alongside engineering and business.

It teaches across five levels. Bachelor's programmes run in Nursing, Chinese Medicine, Public Health, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Accountancy, Marketing and Modern Business Management; the graduate school adds a teaching-profession graduate diploma, three master's degrees (Educational Administration, Industrial Management, Curriculum Research and Development) and a doctorate in Educational Administration. Below degree level it runs a Practical Nurse certificate and a four-month caregiver course.

Two details matter to a relocating family. Students on the Chinese Medicine degree spend two full years studying theory and practice at a Chinese medical university in China. And the engineering and business faculties run Sunday-only transfer routes for holders of a Thai higher vocational certificate — three years for engineering, two for business — which is the kind of schedule that fits around a job.

Notable facts

• A private college, not a university, and the only private institution in Chiang Rai province awarding degrees — through to doctoral level in Educational Administration.
• Health sciences are the centre of gravity: faculties of Nursing, Oriental (Chinese) Medicine and Public Health, plus Engineering, Business Administration and a graduate school.
• Chinese Medicine students spend two full years at a Chinese medical university in China as part of the degree.
• Runs an on-campus dormitory, and Sunday-only or weekend timetables for its transfer and graduate routes.