Abstract

Internationalization in higher education is often examined through policy frameworks and performance indicators, obscuring how it is enacted in everyday academic work. This chapter uses analytic autoethnography to explore how internationalization is lived across teaching, research, and administrative roles in a Thai higher education context. Drawing on vignettes from general education English teaching, international research collaboration, and academic administration, internationalization is reframed as lived academic practice rather than a policy outcome. The analysis shows that internationalization is sustained through routine academic labor, relational mediation, and facilitative practices, often beyond formal mandates. English functions as a shared communicative resource enabling participation and coordination. The chapter offers a grounded, practice-oriented perspective on internationalization relevant to scholars, administrators, and policymakers.