Reacting to the earlier report by the Office of the Auditor-General pointing out 2,030 substandard courses at 150 institutes last October, Supat said his office had identified 1,790 courses as substandard as on October 12, 2016. He said the information had been sent to the Auditor-General.

Supat said the issues related to these courses such as lecturers and student numbers could be solved by the concerned universities, warning them to cooperate with OHEC to tackle these issues in the interests of students.

OHEC had previously named 10 private universities offering 98 problematic courses, including 78 off-campus ones. Supat said OHEC had already terminated 56 poor-quality off-campus courses, while ordering the 22 other courses to suspend student intake for academic year 2016. Of the 20 on-campus courses at eight universities, three were terminated, three were asked to suspend student intake, nine were changing course content as instructed while five were being watched closely, he added.

The private institutions previously revealed as having courses of doubtful quality were: Bangkok Thonburi University (six problematic courses taught on campus and 26 off-campus), North-Chiang Mai University (two on campus), Pathumthani University (two on campus), Phitsanulok University (three on campus and two off-campus), Pathum Thani-based Western University (two on campus), Bangkok-based Thong Sook College (three on campus and 11 off-campus), Bangkok-based Siam College of Technology (one on campus), Ayutthaya-based Institute of Technology Ayothaya (one on campus and 22 off-campus), Bangkok-based Rajapark Institute (17 off-campus) and Ubon Ratchathani-based Ratchathani University (failed to submit requested information to the OHEC).