Although there are many concepts and ideas proposed to reform mathematics education, especially in rural areas, the experience of actual reform embeds many ironies. In the United States, some researchers and educators try to change the role of mathematics in rural context. From a Thai outlook, however, the difficulty is that this role is not going to change if the U.S. continues (as seems likely) to place great emphasis on student achievement. In the United States, great effort is being devoted to improvement in mathematics achievement, operationalized as "raising test scores." The U.S. government also supports many national evaluation and assessment programs that report students' achievement comparing the United States and international countries such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) or the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In other words, learning and teaching styles might be changed, but the goals remain the same. This paper focuses on the role of place-based education in mathematics reform. The aim of place-based education is to enhance students' achievements in order to improve a community's quality.