Bhavana Bodhigun Vocational College (BBVC Samui).

Qualification, in plain words

The Vocational Certificate (ปวช.), taught residentially, in six subject areas: accounting, foreign languages for service business, hotel, tourism, food and nutrition, and digital business technology. Not a degree site.

Awarded or overseen by: Surat Thani Provincial Vocational Education Office (สำนักงานอาชีวศึกษาจังหวัดสุราษฎร์ธานี). In Thailand the body whose name is on the gate is often not the body that confers the qualification, so this is worth checking before you commit to a place to live around a campus.

On the founding year: The college's own history page dates the laying of the foundation stone to 23 May 2016; it is not one of the state colleges on OVEC's government list.

Address as published: 111 Moo 1, Na Mueang sub-district, Ko Samui District, Surat Thani 84140 (วิทยาลัยอาชีวศึกษาภาวนาโพธิคุณ)

Bhavana Bodhigun Vocational College (BBVC Samui) at a glance

Bhavana Bodhigun is the island's second vocational college and the more unusual of the two. Its own history page records the foundation stone being laid on 23 May 2016, under the vision of Phra Ratchawatchara Bodhikhun -- formerly Phra Bhavana Bodhikhun -- and the People's Foundation for the Reform of Thailand, with the aim of teaching a trade alongside Buddhist practice in the tradition of Buddhadasa. It is a foundation college rather than a state one: it does not appear on OVEC's list of government vocational institutions in Surat Thani, and it publishes under the Surat Thani provincial vocational office banner.

By its own published figures for the 2569 (2026) academic year it has 242 students, 35 teaching and support staff, 25 classrooms and a student-to-teacher ratio of about 6:1, and it runs as a boarding college with its own dormitory system -- which is why it draws students from beyond the island as well as from it. Its six subject areas are unmistakably built for the Samui economy: hotel, tourism, food and nutrition, foreign languages for service business, accounting and digital business.

Notable facts

• Residential by design. The ปวช. programme is advertised as แบบอยู่ประจำ -- students board -- which is rare for a Thai vocational college and worth knowing if you are comparing it with a day school.
• Its own activity record lists the college representing Thailand in cooking at WorldSkills 2026, which for a 242-student island college is a serious result and a fair signal about the culinary teaching.
• Na Mueang, on the southern coast, is quiet and green and a long way in character from the north-east beach strip; the college's published coordinates put it inland of the south coast road.