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Walailak University has climbed to 1001+ band in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2027, propelling it to Thailand’s Top 3 universities, and No. 1 in the South. The new ranking is a jump from the 1201+ band and sixth place in Thailand it held last year.
According to the THE, Walailak University shares third place with two other Thai universities, Chiang Mai University and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. Its Research Quality ranks first in Thailand, while International Outlook ranks second.
The rankings, released on September 30, included a record number of 2,297 universities worldwide, 24 of them from Thailand.
THE evaluates universities using 17 performance indicators across five pillars: Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, Industry, and International Outlook.
Research quality was Walailak's strongest pillar and the main driver of the improvement. The university rose from 996th to 734th in the world on this pillar, ranking first in Thailand, with its score increasing from 56.4 to 66.2. The number of Walailak publications counted in the ranking grew 19% from the previous edition, from 2,976 to 3,542.
International Outlook also strengthened, rising from 1,004th to 885th in the world and ranking second in Thailand. International co-authorship scored 81.3, up from 74.3, and more than half of the university's publications now involve international co-authors. The Research Environment pillar also improved, from 1,248th to 1,205th in the world.
Professor Dr. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, President of Walailak University since 2016, said: "This is a proud moment for everyone at Walailak University. Moving up to a higher band and ranking third in the country and first in southern Thailand reflects the dedication of our researchers, academic and support staff, students and partners. It shows that a new, regional university can compete on the international stage."
"We prioritize raising the quality of our operations for the benefit of our students and the communities we serve. We will continue to strengthen research that benefits society and teaching that prepares graduates for the world, and to expand our international partnerships, so that our progress brings real value to our region, to Thailand and to the world," he added.
Walailak University is recognized by Thailand's Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) as one of the 20 Global and Frontier Research Universities, the first tier. It was recently named an Outstanding Research Organization by Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) for the second consecutive year, and it received MHESI's 2023 award for internationally high-caliber research.
Walailak's research spans health science, science and technology, and social science. During 2022-2026, its researchers produced over 3,900 scholarly outputs, of which nearly three-quarters appeared in top-quartile (Q1) journals indexed in Scopus and more than 60% involved international collaboration.
The university has also earned the growing trust of students nationwide, which it attributes to its close student support system. It has attracted more than 50,000 applicants a year since the 2024 academic year. In the 2026 academic year, it received 56,900 applications through the Thai University Central Admission System (TCAS) and admitted a record 4,152 new students. Their average high school GPA (GPAX) of 3.46 is also the highest since the university was founded in 1992.
