His Majesty the King’s Scholarships for Doctoral Programs pay for a PhD at the Asian Institute of Technology, an English-taught international postgraduate institute on a residential campus in Pathum Thani, north of Bangkok. The money comes from the Royal Thai Government, which funds a set of doctoral and master’s awards at AIT for students from Thailand and other Asian countries.
The award covers a doctorate in any academic program of five faculties: Civil and Environmental Engineering; Advanced Science and Technology; Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources; Climate Change and Sustainability; and Public Policy and Sustainable Development.
AIT calls the award non-binding, so there is no service obligation after graduation. There is also no separate scholarship form: everyone who files an AIT admission application before the deadline is considered automatically for the awards they qualify for.
Benefits & funding
- Covers tuition and registration fees for the full 41-month, seven-semester doctoral program.
- Covers accommodation on AIT’s residential campus plus a bursary for living expenses.
- AIT puts the value at approximately 1.96 million baht per student.
- For scale, AIT lists a doctorate at the Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology at 1,495,800 baht in total fees, with living and accommodation costs of 483,000 to 630,000 baht across the program.
- Non-binding: the award carries no obligation to return home or work for a sponsor afterwards.
Eligibility
- Open to nationals of Asian countries. The page names Bhutan, Laos PDR, Timor-Leste and Thailand, then ASEAN countries, BIMSTEC countries, and other Asian countries.
- An outstanding academic record in a four-year undergraduate program and a two-year master’s program from an accredited institution in a related field.
- GPA of 3.5 or equivalent at both bachelor’s and master’s level; AIT’s doctoral admission rule sets a minimum cGPA of 3.50 at master’s level.
- Two recommendation letters and a research proposal.
- English proficiency of IELTS 6.0 (overall and writing bands) or AIT EET 6.0 or above; AIT’s doctoral admission also accepts TOEFL iBT 80 (writing 21–23) and PTE Academic 52 (writing 62–73).
- The doctoral program must sit in one of the five listed faculties.
- Full-scholarship applicants must submit an official English score of 6 in both writing and overall, issued within the last two years.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
Afghanistan · Armenia · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Bhutan · Brunei · Cambodia · China · Georgia · Hong Kong · India
+ 38 more
Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Japan · Jordan · Kazakhstan · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Macau · Malaysia · Maldives · Mongolia · Myanmar · Nepal · North Korea · Oman · Pakistan · Palestine · Philippines · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Singapore · South Korea · Sri Lanka · Syria · Taiwan · Tajikistan · Thailand · Timor-Leste · Türkiye · Turkmenistan · UAE · Uzbekistan · Vietnam · Yemen
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Master
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Application process
- 1Pick a doctoral program in one of the five eligible faculties.
- 2Create an account on the AIT online admission portal; there is no separate scholarship form.
- 3Complete the application; you may state in your statement of purpose that you are seeking this scholarship.
- 4Upload transcripts, a five-to-ten-page outline of your dissertation research proposal and your English test evidence, and arrange two recommendation letters.
- 5Pay the processing fee of 800 baht or US$25, which is non-refundable and cannot be waived.
- 6Submit before the scholarship deadline; AIT then considers you for every award you are eligible for whose deadline has not expired.
- 7Send questions to rtg@ait.ac.th, or call Ms. Wilailak on 02-524-5023 or Ms. Kanchana on 02-524-6119.
Program timeline
Deadline for the August 2026 intake
Mar 31, 2026
Deadline for overseas applicants who need a student visa, August semester
Jun 30, 2026
2026-08
August semester begins