Her Excellency Piyapin Niyomrerks, Ambassador of Thailand to the Republic of Kazakhstan, welcomed the executive delegation from Khon Kaen University (KKU), led by Mr. Surapon Phetwara, Vice Chairman of Khon Kaen University Council, during their visit to Kazakhstan on 9 - 13 March 2025 to explore educational and academic collaborations between Khon Kaen University and leading educational establishments in Kazakhstan.

        On this occasion, Ambassador Piyapin and officials of the Royal Thai Embassy in Astana engaged in fruitful exchanges of views with the Khon Kaen University delegation regarding the overall Thailand-Kazakhstan relations and key areas for enhancing educational and academic cooperation, including student and faculty exchange programs, as well as KKU’s strengths that could support the Embassy’s mission in promoting bilateral relations through education and academic collaboration. Ambassador Piyapin reaffirmed the Embassy’s commitment to advancing educational diplomacy between Thailand and Kazakhstan to achieve tangible outcomes.

         During the visit, the delegation had constructive meetings with the executives of Nazarbayev Intellectual School and Nazarbayev University to discuss and exchange views on prospective educational and research collaborations, as well as identifying areas of common interest, particularly science and innovation, engineering, public policy, business management and international tourism, with a view to establishing frameworks for future academic cooperation between the institutions of the two sides.

         Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS) is a leading educational institution in Kazakhstan, established in 2008 by the Government of Kazakhstan under the patronage of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev as a model school to develop high-potential students in STEM and other areas. Its curriculum is taught in Kazakh, Russian, and English. The school works in close partnership with leading global educational institutions, and it currently has 22 NIS schools nationwide.

          In 2010, the government founded Nazarbayev University (NU) with the goal of establishing a world-class higher education institution. NU offers undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs in English and is recognized as one of the top universities in Central Asia. The university has established partnerships with top global universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.