EDUCATION
SIRIKUL BUNNAG
NAKHON PHANOM : Only three Thai students have enrolled for the first semester at the two-billion-baht International Aviation College _ an institution observers say is a prime example of politicians starting up self-serving projects.
The college is part of Nakhon Phanom University, which was established in 2005.
College dean Prasong Tianthanu said: ''It is disappointing. We planned to produce 100 pilots in five years, and were expecting at least 12 Thai and foreign students to register for the full-time Commercial Pilot Licence programme.
''The short course, 100 hours of pilot training, attracted 15 Qatar Airways pilots.''
The college, which hoped to become the region's pilot-training centre, invested more than 290 million baht buying training planes.
It is paying six-digit salaries to five trainers _ two Thais, an American, a Briton and a Frenchman.
It boasts a European standard training course in English for the first time in Thailand. The course costs about 2.3 million baht. The short course costs 500,000 baht.
Mr Prasong conceded the new college had not won the trust of local and foreign carriers.
The college is far from Bangkok airports, making it harder to draw part-time trainers as well as students.
Now that the plan to train 100 pilots seems unrealistic, the college has shifted its attention to the six-month course.
Apart from the target market in the Middle East, the college is planning to court students from China, Laos and Vietnam.
Gerard Charles, the head teacher, said quality would be the key to the college's survival.
The college offers a European-standard programme, while other pilot schools in Thailand follow the US standard, he said.
Students practise on Airbus A320 simulators, which are not available anywhere else in Thailand.
At the end of the programme, students are required to do five hours' flying training, as well as training in problem solving, to prepare them for every situation.
Four sources in the Higher Education Commission agreed that the college was set up to satisfy a politician and with complete disregard to its worth academically or as an investment.
''The college was set up by a high-flying politician, who has long had solid support in this province. The college was set up to cement his popularity and bring the provincial airport back to life,'' said a source.
The airport now welcomes one commercial flight a day.
The source said many commissioners cautioned that the college is too far from Bangkok, where trainers and repairs are readily available. They suggested the college be built in nearby cities, such as Chon Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phetchaburi.
They also argued that given the budget constraints, the two-billion-baht college would eat away much needed funding for the 12 years of free schooling and the development of 60 universities throughout the country.
Wing Commander Piya Tregalnon, the president of the Bangkok Aviation Centre, a privately-owned pilot training school based at Don Muang, said the top pilot teachers worked full-time in the air force and could not travel to work at the college as it is too far away. The college now has to shoulder the high costs of hiring foreign teachers.
Students from China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore opt for Australia, which has more than 200 pilot training schools that are experienced and come with good reputations.
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