Study Abroad in Phuket, Thailand (Prince of Songkla University)

I am currently doing my second semester in Phuket at the Prince of Songkla University and I am more than grateful that Asia Exchange enabled me this great opportunity and experience, the first semester here has been absolutely amazing!
The customer service Asia Exchange and the university provide is simply excellent, for instance, whenever I had a question, they responded immediately or tried to help me out as good as possible.
I met so many awesome people during my time in Thailand and I am more than happy to be able to be here for another semester.

Thank you for making this happen!

Asia Exchange is Great! Their faculty is always happy to answer questions and get involved. I'd recommend them to anyone!!

They set up events throughout the first couple weeks to get us oriented. And have staff live in the area for some time. Nice group of people.

Two of my highlights were the trip the planned to Phi Phi- an island off of Phuket, Thailand. And getting to have lunch with one of the employees and the co-founder. Both were fun and I'm so happy I choose to experience it.

I love Thailand so I thought studying there though Asia Exchange would be a good idea. The staff at the university and Asia Exchange were very friendly, but the paper work was quite complicated. If you want to study in Thailand, do it by yourself or through another organization. That's my tip.

I applied to AE very spontanously and went to Phuket for the spring semester. The organization was great and we had someone at the destination who helped us with every problem.

The university is in Katu which is just perfect. It is right between touristy Patong Beach and local Phuket town. Also Phuket has more private beaches which are all a short distance away from Katu. We international students mostly shared luxury villas and appartments for a very low price. In this way we could just hang out together after the classes.

The university had various course options. Some courses were even better than in my homeuniversity. Also the workload was quite high and attandancy was required. However, there was still some time to travel and see the country.

We had a buddy program at the university where I met two awesome Thai girls. The introduced us to the real Thai culture and helped us to improve our language skills. I even was privileged to meet their families spend some time in their hometowns. That was awesome!

I have some awesome memories of the semester, Thailand, its people and Bangla :) I got all the ETCS I needed from my homeuniversities and therefore it was totally worth it!

If you want to have a high quality studies in a paradise environment and break out of your academic routine then you might want to keep reading about my experience in Thailand in the Prince of Songkla University.

Like many of us I always wanted to study abroad and like most of the people who have done that I also repeat these well-known words - This was the best decision!

I studied in the Prince of Songkla University in Phuket campus in the faculty of Hospitality and Tourism. What I recommend to do from the first day you arrive to Thailand is to start adapt new culture and customs day by day. There is no point to think "But in our country we do like that and that is the only way to do things" No it's not. If they would be in your country it just would be other way round. More quickly you can understand that, easier it is for you to get used with local lifestyle and rhythm.

Make friends with locals. I am so happy about my Thai friends. They have showed me most beautiful viewpoints in the island, the best local restaurants and secret beaches that you would never ever find by yourself. I have learned to cook Thai food and participated in all of the well-known festivals in Phuket. It might seem to be easier in the beginning to hang out with friends that you already know from your country or from exchange group but can’t you do that back home as well?

Respect the local customs and traditions. In the PSU (Prince of Songkla University) you have to wear uniform and follow up to this rule. Also pay respect to your teachers and don’t be late!

Try to catch up Thai language. You don't imagine how happy locals are even if you can say basic words like "thank you" and "hello" in Thai. And not to forget to get better prices in the markets and driving with taxis if you already know the numbers and more sentences in Thai language.

Try to find a balance between studying and free time. It might be quite hard to study in a tropical climate because you are always tempted to go outside and enjoy the sun. Every time you grab a book you might think "But I am in Thailand. I would much rather be at the beach surfing or sunbathing." Plan your time wisely and you will have time for all cool hobbies you could take up in here and also for university.