BANGKOK — Quarantining yourself at home doesn’t mean filling your hours with series binging and indecisiveness over what food to get delivered – make like billions of students with schools closed all around the world, and get yourself some e-knowledge.
The following is a list of online Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) run by Thai universities or educational institutions that you can check out in your comfort at home while the coronavirus is running rampant nationwide.
Chulalongkorn University’s MOOC only has free courses taught by university staff. Currently-open courses in the English language are “Survival Thai” and “Thai on Campus.” Only a Facebook account is needed to use the courses.
Courses in Thai are more varied in topic, such as “Health in Global Warming” and a course on the Maha Chat, the Thai version of the Buddhist religious text “Vessantara Jataka.”
Similar to Chula’s Mahidol U’s online English courses are geared towards foreigners learning about Thailand. Courses foreigners can enroll in right now are “Introduction to Thai Language and Culture” and basic Thai courses, with a wider variety of classes in Thai.
Although the website is slightly wonky and the courses are all in Thai, the classes offered by the Office of Higher Education Commission are surprisingly varied, such as “Anti-Corruption in Thailand” and “Northern Thai Food.”
Every Tuesday and Thursday in April until May 7, the Chitralada Technology Institute will be live broadcasting their vocational cooking classes for various traditional Thai dishes on their Facebook and YouTube. Their first class teaching pad krapao, garlic stir-fry, and soup with stuffed cucumbers is ready for binge-watching.
All classes are in Thai so get a co-quarantined friend, or one over video chat, to help. Schedule here.
From 3D printing a face shield to creating a motivational LED board for healthcare workers, this STEAM course offered by a partnership between Thai and Taiwanese authorities is a course that integrates science, tech, engineering, art, and maths. Lessons start broadcasting April 24 at 6pm, Bangkok time. Register and see the full schedule here.
Bonus:
For those who need to work from home making Thailand-related graphics or content, free photos, videos, and graphics relating to Thailand and Thai culture are available under the Creative Commons license at the government’s Open Educational Resources website.
However, note that only Thai keywords work in the search function.
