42 Bangkok was founded by Prof. Dr. Suchatvee Suwansawat, President of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Bangkok, Thailand. He was inspired to bring the 42 learning platform to Thailand when visiting Ecole 42 Paris, France in March 2019. This unique development model that focuses on computer programming knowledge by having students self educate themselves was found to be very effective. This program, developed by a leading French academic computer team, happened to be consistent with the policies of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation of Thailand; whose main goal is to create and develop Smart Citizens, providing equal opportunities for lifelong learning to people of all ages, ultimately driving innovative research and development to satisfy the country’s needs. Therefore, in collaboration with Ecole 42 Paris, 42 Bangkok was established as a new member of the 42 Network with 53 campuses around the world as well as being the first to exist in the ASEAN community.
Established through a memorandum of understanding between the institute and Ecole 42 Paris, France on 15 November 2019.
Construction of the 42 Bangkok campus took place on the 4th floor of the Central Library at KMITL with cooperation from all parties involved in procuring the construction budget. Professors and students from the Faculty of Architecture designed 42 Bangkok’s interiors with the concept of wormholesfolding spacetime. Construction commenced on June 15, 2020, then progressed with a hitch until its completion on January 19, 2021.
During the construction of 42 Bangkok, a special board was appointed to carry out a continuous flow of 42 Bangkok activities. Assistant Professor Dr. Chaiyan Jettanasen, Vice President for International Affairs, starting Executive Director of 42 Bangkok, and a key figure in driving cooperation with Ecole 42 Paris, began operations by selecting students in the preliminary stages through online exams (consisting of more than 7,000 applicants from around the world) which ultimately lead to 1,500 applicants qualifying. To date, 42 Bangkok is still accepting applications throughout the year.
The 42 Bangkok establishment was officially named “42 บางกอก” in the Government Gazette, Volume 138, Special Section 249 ง, dated October 12, 2021, and represented by the symbols/logos:
Assistant Professor Dr. Chaiyan Jettanasen was then appointed as the first and foremost Director of 42 Bangkok. The objectives of the 42 Bangkok establishment are as follows:
42 Bangkok aims to produce quality programmers and IT developers, currently a scarce resource worldwide, through a teaching format that responds to learning in the disruptive era. This new era of learning will demonstrate that learning is not limited to university, reducing the need to use old systems, and finally reflecting the mission of KMITL which aims to drive the potential of the youth and personnel to prepare for an economy where society is driven by innovation, proving to be a disruptive turning point as digital disruption in the Thai education industry.
42 Bangkok is a coding school like no other, completely free of charge and open to all with no prerequisites.
You only have to be at least age 18 to apply. It offers full immersion in a program built to find and create the best programmers. Where people who code meet other people who code.