Founded as the Languages and Professions School in 1952, it was named after its founder, Dr. Krirk Mangkhlaphrik (เกริก มังคละพฤกษ์).

It was upgraded to an institute of higher education in 1970 as the Institute of Social Technology (Krirk) and then upgraded to university status in 1995.

The university today is organized into three faculties, the International College, the School of Political Communications and the International Islamic College.

[1] For Art and Design, Krirk University was ranked first in Thailand, 7th in Asia overall and 35th in the world.

In 2022, it opened the Krirk University Branch of the Nishan World Centre for Confucian Studies.