British American is to close its Bangkapi branch in March. This reduces the institute, popular with new teachers, to just 3 or 4 branches from over 10 a few years ago. Any comments from BA teachers, past or present?

This is new news.

I think they currently have 5 branches, this will reduce it to 4, but it is surprising because that branch is suppose to be the head office.

Bang Kapi, Fashion Island, Rangsit, Bangkhae, Ngamwongwan are the locations of their current branches.

This is new news.

I think they currently have 5 branches, this will reduce it to 4, but it is surprising because that branch is suppose to be the head office.

Bang Kapi, Fashion Island, Rangsit, Bangkhae, Ngamwongwan are the locations of their current branches.

They also have one in Pahonyothin next to Horwang school.

At one time they had many branches, but they have been closing their branches or cutting down the size of their branches for years. If it is true that Bangkapi is shutting down, this will be their second head office to shut down. I think they have also shut down at least three other branches in the last 10 years or so.

i walked into one of their office on silom road in the mid 90's and was greeted by a lovley british teacher, she was polite and very inviting i returned a few years later to a new location on silom road and the place was full of thais, i was not able to get the information i was after and i left with impression that the school had been sold and no desire to return. the bottom line is, in the service industry if customers do not feel as though they are being served they will not return and businesses will close.

i walked into one of their office on silom road in the mid 90's

Sorry, British American did not have a branch at Silom. You might be thinking of ECC or the like.

EF are down to 6 from 12.

I believe this trend is because schools now have a pool of contracted teachers to teach the summer school/evening/weekend classes that language schools used to do. Less demand for language schools ans I feel this trend will continue.

British American have closed down ALL branches, but will re-open Chokchai 4 branch on 5th January 2008. IMOP the director has lost a lot of good teachers, as well as office staff, because of closing down the branches.

i walked into one of their office on silom road in the mid 90's and was greeted by a lovley british teacher, she was polite and very inviting i returned a few years later to a new location on silom road and the place was full of thais, i was not able to get the information i was after and i left with impression that the school had been sold and no desire to return. the bottom line is, in the service industry if customers do not feel as though they are being served they will not return and businesses will close.

I would think you have a better chance of being serviced by an office full of Thais rather than a lovely Brit.....sorry.....couldn't resist.

I'm a bad, bad boy!

i walked into one of their office on silom road in the mid 90's

Sorry, British American did not have a branch at Silom. You might be thinking of ECC or the like.

Seconded

It's interesting to see the collapse and consolidation of language schools in Thailand following the similar pattern in Japan a few years back. I would guess this is partly due to market saturation, partly to economics, and partly to the realisation that there's no 'quick method' for language learning in the target populations. I'd also even suppose that the growing effectiveness of EP programs in both countries to booster the typically grammar-based teaching of the native population may be taking a small bite out of them.