Why do so many Americans, Britons and Australians with money send their kids to Thailand to study?
The big failing with Thai education is English, and going to university in will help a lot with that and it will give them a leg-up if they want to work for an international company. They can also get work permits while they are there and get good work experience. What percentage of "Thais with money" do you think send their kids to the US, UK and Australia anyway? I'm betting it's small.
And unless they are sending them to a boarding school for K-12, they still have to rely on their Thai education to pass the placement tests to schools abroad, correct?
I would not argue that STEM programs at universities in the US are not better than the STEM programs at universities in Thailand, I do not think they are, but for anything else, I doubt it. I know that K-12 public schools in California are horrendous, and the K-12 schools my boy went to in Thailand were excellent.
There are some great K-12 public schools in the US, but not many. Why do so many Americans "with money" send their kids to private schools if the schools in the US are so good?