Similarities and Differences of Coworking Space in Thai Universities

Abstract

Coworking Space is a shared workspace that is growing in popularity nowadays due to its flexibility –work staff, workplaces, and work time are optional. Also, Thai government places great importance on this issue, universities are allocated budgets for the management of coworking spaces to promote learning and connections between the public, private, and educational sectors. Meanwhile, the government emphasizes on ‘Work-From-Home’. Therefore, coworking space has become the tool used to follow these two policies. The aim of this article is to study the similarities and differences of Coworking Space in five Thai universities, consisting of Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University, Chiang Mai University, Khon Kaen University, and Walailak University were investigated. 12 categories were studied: name, purposes, locations, spaces and layouts, budgets, divisions in charge, regulations, types of services, clients, fees, full-time staff, and advertising channels. Results revealed that management approaches, types of services, and some other details were varied across the areas, depending on the context and the identity of each area. Nevertheless, the major aspect shared among these universities was found: coworking spaces were created to provide the common areas for the public, private, and educational sectors to participate to exchange ideas and establish local networks.