GSB HSE Students Get Acquainted with Thailand's Business Environment

19 students from the HSE Graduate School of Business spent nine days in Bangkok, within the walls of one of Southeast Asia's leading business schools. The Summer School "Business Administration in Thailand," hosted by Thammasat Business School (TBS), provided a complete immersion into the living business environment of a region that is increasingly securing its place on the global economic map.

The program participants included students from the Bachelor's programs in International Business and Business Management, as well as the Master's program in International Management at the HSE Graduate School of Business.

Why Thailand?

Thailand is ASEAN's second-largest economy, with a GDP of $579 billion and a population of 66 million. The country ranks among the world's top 12 automobile manufacturers, holds 4th place in Southeast Asia for foreign direct investment ($19 billion in 2025), and is the world's second-largest destination for medical tourism. Trade turnover between Russia and Thailand reached $1.76 billion in 2025, while the number of Russian tourists exceeds 1.9 million people annually. All of this makes Thailand an exceptionally relevant case for studying international business.

A World-Class Partner

Thammasat Business School is Thailand's oldest and one of its most prestigious business schools, founded in 1983. The school holds the rare "triple crown" of international accreditations: AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA – a status achieved by less than 1% of business schools worldwide. The historic Tha Phra Chan campus is located in the heart of Bangkok, just a few minutes' walk from the Grand Palace.

University Approach: Cutting-Edge Concepts Combined with Real-World Practice

A distinctive feature of the program was not simply introducing students to Thailand as a tourist destination, but providing a full immersion into its business environment, grounded in modern analytical concepts, models, and real-world cases.

For instance, in a lecture on foreign investment, students analyzed Dunning's eclectic (OLI) paradigm and immediately applied it to a practical case: should a global technology company invest $1 billion in AI infrastructure in Thailand? In a session on market structures, they worked with competition models and Porter's Five Forces – using the example of Yandex.Go's entry into the Thai food delivery market. The Starbucks case in Australia served as a starting point for analyzing international market entry strategies using PESTEL analysis (a framework for assessing political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors).

Lectures on real estate covered not only the legal mechanisms of ownership – freehold, leasehold, and fractional rights – but also social trends reshaping housing demand. These included the rise of DINK couples (dual income, no kids), the treatment of pets as full-fledged family members, and the development of coworking spaces and shared kitchen areas within residential complexes.

Healthcare and medical tourism were examined in the context of global trends, including the use of artificial intelligence in health and wellness, as well as Thailand's competitive advantages in the global medical services market.

It is precisely this synthesis – academic tools, current data, and real business situations – that allows students not just to get acquainted with a country, but to gain a deeper understanding of how its business environment is structured and evolving.

Three Program Blocks

 

Academic Block: 7 lectures from practicing TBS professors

Thammasat Business School faculty delivered a rich series of lectures in English. Each lecture ended with a short test – students applied the concepts they had learned to specific situations right in the classroom.

• Introduction to Thailand's Business Landscape
• Economic Environment and Market Structure
• Foreign Investment and International Business
• Technology, Innovation, and the Digital Economy
• Real Estate Business
• Healthcare and Medical Tourism
• Sustainable Development and Business

Industry Block: Three corporate visits

The practical part of the program allowed students to see Thai business from the inside and test academic models against real data.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) – one of ASEAN's most liquid exchanges: 867 listed companies, 22% year-on-year index growth, and an average dividend yield of 4.2% – the highest in the region. Students explored the financial market infrastructure, mechanisms for attracting foreign capital, and the exchange's unique financial literacy educational platform.

Central Retail Corporate (CRC) – the logistics campus of Thailand's largest retailer: 175,000 sq. m of warehouse space, 4,000 suppliers, 300 million units of goods per year, and over 1,000 trucks in its fleet. A live discussion with management covered real challenges – seasonal peaks with fourfold load increases, personnel management, operational digitalization, and the specifics of AI implementation.

SCGJWD, a deep-sea port terminal – a logistics operator in the Pattaya area: handling chemical cargo, metals, and refrigerated terminal operations. The visit complemented the understanding of regional supply chain structures in the context of the lecture material on international business.
 

Cultural Block: Immersion in Thai Culture

• Welcome dinner on the Chao Phraya riverfront with TBS leadership
• Networking session with students from Thammasat's BBA and GEMBA programs
• Culture day: Wat Arun temple, dressing in traditional Thai costumes, authentic cuisine
• Farewell dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River departing from ICON Siam pier, with views of nighttime Bangkok and introductions to Thammasat Business School leadership

Grigory Olegovich Baev

Program Leader from the GSB HSE, Associate Professor at the Department of Operations Management and Logistics, Academic Supervisor of the Master's program in Operational Efficiency and Production Systems at GSB HSE

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"The summer school at Thammasat is an example of how modern business education should work: advanced concepts and analytical models do not exist separately from practice – they are tested on real material. That is why corporate visits held a special place in the program. And these were not excursions, but a genuine trip to the gemba: to where value is actually created, where operational decisions are made, strategy is implemented, and where theory meets reality. The Japanese term 'gemba' – 'the place where the real thing happens' – accurately describes what we did at the Stock Exchange of Thailand, at Central Group's logistics center, and at the SCGJWD warehouse terminal. Students didn't see presentations about business – they saw live processes: how a warehouse flow of 300 million units per year is organized, how seasonal peaks with fourfold load increases are managed, and how supply chains are structured in the Asian context. This inside view is what shapes professional thinking that cannot be gained in a classroom.

Thailand is a unique location for business education: Japanese production systems of Toyota and Honda operate here, major retailers build global supply chains, and digital solutions are being introduced into logistics and healthcare. Seeing how operational models adapt to the Asian context – with its culture of hierarchy, specific HR practices, and different decision-making logic – is invaluable experience for those transforming companies in Russia. Best practices have no geography, but they always have context. And you can only understand that context at the gemba."

Ivan Valeryevich Prostakov

Deputy Director of GSB HSE

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"The summer school at Thammasat Business School is our first joint project since the recent signing of a cooperation agreement, and it fully met our expectations. For any student, studying at a business school with three international accreditations – AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA – is both prestigious and high-quality. Moreover, participation in such a program truly allows one to see the world more broadly, to step outside familiar frameworks, and thus to develop knowledge and acquire new skills in line with the rapidly changing context of the global business environment. These are highly sought-after qualities that are greatly valued in the labor market."

Ivan Yarovikov

Student, International Business Bachelor's program, GSB HSE

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"The lectures provided a comprehensive understanding of Thailand's business landscape – with a focus on key industries, the investment climate, and a comparative analysis of regional markets. The program combined economic and business approaches and allowed us to view many processes more broadly. And most importantly, such understanding cannot be achieved without being inside the country."

Polina Suslova

2nd-year student, International Business Bachelor's program, GSB HSE

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"What I liked most was learning new things about Thailand and Asian countries in general, as well as seeing the differences between them by comparing their economic and technological development. The cultural program allowed us to see some of Bangkok's most popular landmarks, as well as try on traditional Thai attire. The company visits helped us study the internal structure of logistics companies."

Chippa Mohammad Samir

1st-year student, International Management Master's program, GSB HSE

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"The summer school at Thammasat University left the most pleasant impressions. The program successfully combined intensive lectures and industry visits – for example, we visited Central Group's logistics center and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. But beyond the academics, this trip helped me truly understand Thailand, its culture, and way of life. For me as a future manager, studying at Thammasat Business School was a very valuable experience."

The next intake for the summer school will take place in 2027. Keep an eye on announcements on the HSE Graduate School of Business website.

For questions regarding participation in international academic mobility programs, please contact the GSB HSE Center for International Exchanges.