Burapha University.

Burapha University at a glance

Burapha University began as the College of Education, Bangsaen. The Ministry of Education had founded a higher teacher-training school at Soi Prasanmit in Bangkok in 1949, raised it to the College of Education, Prasanmit, in 1954, and in 1955 opened two further colleges -- Pathumwan and Bangsaen. The government bought the Suan Luang land at Bangsaen for 252,000 baht specifically so that the public could see higher education extended into the provinces, and the university's own archive states the point plainly: Bangsaen was the first degree-granting institution outside the capital. The foundation stone was laid on 8 July 1955, which is still kept as founders' day. The first intake was 41 students, taught by seven staff under Dr. Thamrong Buasri; 35 graduated in 1958.

The institution became Srinakharinwirot University, Bangsaen Campus on 29 June 1974, then a university in its own right: the elevation of SWU Bangsaen to Burapha University was gazetted on 29 July 1990 and took effect the following day. Chanthaburi (1996) and Sa Kaeo (1997) campuses followed. Burapha today reports 27 faculties across 44 units and more than 48,000 students, making it the Eastern Seaboard's flagship public university and the region's main source of local graduates. The main campus sits in Saen Suk, on the coast by Bangsaen beach in Mueang Chonburi District -- roughly a 45-60 minute drive from central Pattaya depending on traffic.

Notable facts

• Foundation stone laid 8 July 1955; the university's own archive calls Bangsaen the first degree-granting institution in provincial Thailand -- not, as an earlier version of this page had it, a north-eastern one.
• Srinakharinwirot University, Bangsaen Campus from 29 June 1974; separated as Burapha University by a proclamation gazetted 29 July 1990.
• 27 faculties across 44 units and more than 48,000 students, on a campus by Bangsaen beach about 45-60 minutes from central Pattaya.