Chinese parents buy education and properties in Thailand as international school fees at home rise

International school fees and properties in Bangkok are a fraction of those in China

Zheng Yangpeng

 

Chinese parents keen to enrol their children in international schools but reluctant to pay the exorbitant tuition fees in the mainland are turning to Thailand as an option, a trend that has bolstered the local property market.

 

Peggy Wang, a mother of a 10-year old girl and six-year old boy, is one such parent who opted to move to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, where annual tuition fees at less than 60,000 yuan (US$8,732) are a quarter of the 240,000 yuan her children’s Beijing bilingual school had charged.

 

“The teachers in the Beijing school change frequently, but in Thailand, teachers have families there, so the faculty is stable,” Wang said. “In Beijing, my children have to take extra English classes after school in the absence of an English-speaking environment outside class, but not in Thailand.”

 

Full story: https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/2159400/mainland-chinese-parents-buy-education-and-properties

 

-- South China Morning Post 2018-2018-08-14

They did the same in Australia and now its hard for young Aussies to be able to afford to buy their own home which will happen here very quickly as the Chinese don't care what they pay .

32 minutes ago, webfact said:

in the absence of an English-speaking environment outside class, but not in Thailand.”

Where is this English speaking environment in Thailand; in bars?

46 minutes ago, mikebell said:

1 hour ago, webfact said:

in the absence of an English-speaking environment outside class, but not in Thailand.”

Where is this English speaking environment in Thailand; in bars?

Ha ha! Baffling too.

Perhaps she means, "but not in Thailand" as in, it's not possible in Thailand to find an English-speaking environment (apart from the bars!).

 

And on what visa are they allowed to stay for many years while going to school?

This global colonisation by wealth is very interesting indeed. 

I get a kick out of the usual old western colonial suspects whining about public spitting and pooping, when the real issue is seeing their WS birthright roll over for the march of history,  dont worry,  you'll be dead soon enough anyway. 

But I digress. 

It's going to be even more interesting when the inevitable property scams unfold,  and the Chinese, who always stick together, unlike us, retaliate either officially,  or by massive class actions that will have major political ramifications. 

2 hours ago, keith101 said:

They did the same in Australia and now its hard for young Aussies to be able to afford to buy their own home which will happen here very quickly as the Chinese don't care what they pay .

Yes,  and who sold (out) to them? Aussies! 

So we should just suck it up.

If it's any comfort, most of this buying is driven by rich Chinese seeking to escape the rapacious claws of the party, at some point the cashed up masses there will have had a gutful...

It was different when they were serfs.  Now they have education  and a taste of luxury.  The party deny that type of demographic at their peril.  As Romania is discovering, as we speak. 

I was at PREM international school yesterday.  I was told that Chinese make up 10% of the school now.

Also loads come on summer and other holidays for short time camps.

2 hours ago, mikebell said:

Where is this English speaking environment in Thailand; in bars?

Oh come on,  go into any mall in the majors, and you'll see Chinese customers and Thai staff communicating in rudimentary English.  

Far better than most expat westerners (myself included) grasp of Thai. 

It's this little detail in language use that makes all the difference, day by day. 

59 minutes ago, Thian said:

And on what visa are they allowed to stay for many years while going to school?

You forget. The Thai government has declared the Chinese VIPs.

2 hours ago, keith101 said:

They did the same in Australia and now its hard for young Aussies to be able to afford to buy their own home which will happen here very quickly as the Chinese don't care what they pay .

Been to San Francisco? Used to be 95 percent White in 1940. In 1970 it was over 13 percent Black. Now? Whites are 48 percent and Blacks are less than 5 percent. Want to guess who is pushing them out?

2 hours ago, keith101 said:

They did the same in Australia and now its hard for young Aussies to be able to afford to buy their own home which will happen here very quickly as the Chinese don't care what they pay .

Thailand has pretty strict prohibitions on foreign ownership of land with very limited exceptions (e.g., a factory on an IEAT site).  I know various structures can be used to get around the prohibitions, but they are costly and increasingly subject to scrutiny.  In addition, the authorities have come down hard on Chinese tourist operators in the South.

 

The rules seemed pretty silly when applied to Europeans or Americans who want resort homes since I can't see that group "taking over Thailand".  Its too far away and there just isn't the demand.  But with the Chinese the story is different.  I wonder if Thailand will crackdown even harder on foreigners "owning" land through various structures in Thailand.  There are already very strict laws in place.  I wonder in they will be even more strictly enforced now.

The area where I live had only two Chinese residents four years ago, today we have over twenty. Much of this is as a result of the local landowner who is actively building and renting houses to the Chinese community and because of the proximity to Prem International school. Our experience is that the Chinese (we see) are not interested in buying property, just renting, Thailand is already comparatively cheap as far as they are concerned.

I doubt they will enforce hard against the Chinese when they will do anything to get more and more Chinese tourists to come here .

1 hour ago, Thian said:

And on what visa are they allowed to stay for many years while going to school?

Would like to see that answered as well. If well cashed, elite visa for each family member?

2 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Would like to see that answered as well. If well cashed, elite visa for each family member?

Would sort of defeat the purpose of avoiding expensive international schools back in China, wouldn't it? Something else is going on, here. It's called colonization.

Been going on for a few years no, many in our moo ban renting and buying. 

 

Even grand parents are here with their grandchildren who are at school. 

2 hours ago, Thian said:

And on what visa are they allowed to stay for many years while going to school?

I would suppose they get a student visa... (ED-visa).

Peggy Wang, a mother of a 10-year old girl and six-year old boy, is one such parent who opted to move to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, where annual tuition fees at less than 60,000 yuan (US$8,732) are a quarter of the 240,000 yuan her children’s Beijing bilingual school had charged.

 

How does she have two kids?  I was given to understand that China had a one birth policy; they are definitely not twins!  The ages of the kids would mean that their births occurred before any loosening of this policy.

2 hours ago, THAIJAMES said:

I was at PREM international school yesterday.  I was told that Chinese make up 10% of the school now.

Also loads come on summer and other holidays for short time camps.

That's disgusting 

2 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

The area where I live had only two Chinese residents four years ago, today we have over twenty. Much of this is as a result of the local landowner who is actively building and renting houses to the Chinese community and because of the proximity to Prem International school. Our experience is that the Chinese (we see) are not interested in buying property, just renting, Thailand is already comparatively cheap as far as they are concerned.

China is ruining the World. Too late to save Tibet, but-but-but... It's all over.

25 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

Peggy Wang, a mother of a 10-year old girl and six-year old boy, is one such parent who opted to move to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, where annual tuition fees at less than 60,000 yuan (US$8,732) are a quarter of the 240,000 yuan her children’s Beijing bilingual school had charged.

 

How does she have two kids?  I was given to understand that China had a one birth policy; they are definitely not twins!  The ages of the kids would mean that their births occurred before any loosening of this policy.

Used to have 

 

In November 2013, following the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, China announced the decision to relax the one-child policy. Under the new policy, families could have two children if one parent, rather than both parents, was an only child

Just now, tebee said:

Used to have 

 

In November 2013, following the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, China announced the decision to relax the one-child policy. Under the new policy, families could have two children if one parent, rather than both parents, was an only child

Both kids born before that date.

Just now, animalmagic said:

Both kids born before that date.

According to the Chinese way of measuring age, the 6 year old would qualify. When born he would have been 1. Add five and you get 6.

3 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

Both kids born before that date.

It was flexible before that date 

 

You could have a second child if both parents are single children.  In most areas, families were allowed to apply to have a second child if their first-born is a daughter (!)

 

 

Just now, zydeco said:

According to the Chinese way of measuring age, the 6 year old would qualify. When born he would have been 1. Add five and you get 6.

That's true.  Does that mean I could have started drinking in pubs at 17?  I actually started at 15, but that's neither here nor there, and so was I on many a night out!

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

Would like to see that answered as well. If well cashed, elite visa for each family member?

There is probably (an uneducated  guess here) some sort of exclusively Chinese elite visa,  with different  rules and privelges.

I know that for the rank and file Thais, a China visitors visa has quite strict evidence of monetary worth rules,  because this is on the application form  (Thailand resident westerners are excluded,  as they've already passed that test).

I know the Singaporean Govt set a reasonably high residence fee of about 5 million.  The might of China's economic miracle meant the quota was quickly filled,  and guess what?  the average Singaporean Chinese have long been bitching about mainland Chinese pushing real estate to warp factor with the best of us. Not to mention overcrowding  on the trains, and they can't add more cars because the platforms are too Short! 

29 minutes ago, tebee said:

It was flexible before that date 

You could have a second child if both parents are single children.  In most areas, families were allowed to apply to have a second child if their first-born is a daughter (!)

Don't forget! no matter where you are in the world there are rules for the rich and rules for the poor, the rule you refer to only applied to the poor 

3 hours ago, zydeco said:

Been to San Francisco? Used to be 95 percent White in 1940. In 1970 it was over 13 percent Black. Now? Whites are 48 percent and Blacks are less than 5 percent. Want to guess who is pushing them out?

Vancouver,  etc. Same same but different... Currency. 

Long time I was sceptic about the "chinesification" of this country. Now I think, in some cases colonialism helped countries to develop. I think China 000.4 will do it for a start.