Thailand's Nation Group in JV with South-East Asia University

Nation Multimedia Group (NMG), in a joint venture with the South-East Asia University, is all set to penetrate the local education market.

Named "Nation U", the joint venture will spend Bt250 million on the endeavour. The group has already signed a Bt175-million takeover deal with Siritaj Rojanapruk, owner and licence holder of Lampang's Yonok University. Under the deal, Nation U will own and operate the Yonok University, which has a 164-rai campus and 14,000-square metre building. The new institute, to be called Nation University (North Campus), is currently accepting applications.

NMG chairman Thanachai Theerapattanawong said the new university would provide courses in the fields of mass communications, business administration, liberal arts (English and Chinese), and health science. The campus aims to produce 1,300 graduates in the next four years and up to 1,800 in a decade.

In addition to the campus in Lampang, Nation U is also setting up a Bangkok campus at the i-Tower on Vibhavadi-Rangsit road. The Bangkok campus, which will offer courses in mass communications, business administration as well as master's degrees, aims to produce 1,000 graduates in four years and up to 2,000 in a decade.

"I believe that NMG has a strong potential, especially in terms of its network and skills in the media field," Siritaj said.

Thanachai, meanwhile, explained that the group's entry into the educational sector was in line with NMG's mission statement - "to inform, to educate and to entertain".

He said the new joint venture had Bt50 million in registered capital of which 25 per cent has been paid up.

NMG owns a 55 per cent stake in the joint venture, while the remaining 45 per cent is held by Sermsin Samalapa and the South-East Asia University. The South-East Asia University has been in operation for 30 years now and currently has more than 7,000 students.

"Education has played a significant role in the economic, social and political development of Thailand. We [NMG] want to create a medium-sized, but top-quality university in the country so we will be able to transfer specialised knowledge and skills in the field of mass communication, especially in terms of new digital and social media, as well as business administration," the group's chairman explained.

He said Nation U also expected to open new campuses in the South and Northeast in the next five years.

Thanachai said print media currently contributed to 80 per cent of NMG's revenues, but in the next three years, it expects the educational side of the business to show a significant increase from less than 5-per-cent to about 30 per cent.

He added that NMG expected its sale revenue to rise by 15 per cent this year. The company earned more than Bt3 billion in total revenues and more than Bt300 million in profits last year.

Suthichai Yoon, the group's editor-in-chief, said NMG itself had joined up with many local universities to help raise the standard of education in the areas of mass communications and business administration. The move is to educate a new generation that will grow up to become leaders in society. The youngsters will be taught to not just follow textbooks, but instead come up with out-of-the-box ideas, he said.

"Driven by the new digital media technology, mass communications will play a bigger role in the Thai society. Media firms will go from being just media organisations to knowledge organisations that are set to provide valuable knowledge to the public," Suthichai explained.