Foreign Child Permitted In Thai School?

[hgma]

My son is 2,5 years old and non-Thai passport holder.

He attends a thai kindergarten right now.

my wife and i speak thai only.

deu to my non sufficient Thai and the mother speaking Lao/isan with my son, he only recently begins to pick-up his language.

Up till now ther are no worries...because anyone actualy can attend the kindergarten.

I have been "told" that when he is up to the age of giong to a basic Thai school he needs to have a recidents regestration in Thailand.

as we dont really know whats been required...would somebody kindly inform us about this matter?

Thanks

hgna

[samran]

I'm not sure it is entirely true that he will not be able to attend.

The residents register as far as I understand is needed so the child can access the 'free' Thai educational system, and enrol in the school. As how a non-Thai child can attend a school, I believe there are ways, but the paperwork will undoubtedly be different.

As to how you go about it, I am not sure, but have you asked the school you are targeting how it might be possible?

[Boo]

I am confused by some info you have put in your post.

If you wife speaks lao/issan then is she thai? If yes then why hasn't your child been registered as a thai citizen?

You say you & your wife speak thai only then go on to say you are non sufficient in thai. I am assuming this is a typo error. So what nationality are you & your wife?

If your wife is thai then it is a simple process to register your son as a thai citizen & he will therefore be entitled to the same educational rights as any thai child.

[hgma]

Your quite right "boo"

sorry about that.

My wife is Laotian.

My self Dutch.

Our son (born in Thailand) Dutch(only)

My wife and I speak Thai together.. just because there is no alternative.

My spoken Thai doesnt by any means connects to the fluant way my wife speaks with our son in Lao....she reads and write Thai fluantly

As our son is diagnosed with "delayed speech" by the autistic centre in NongKhai General Hospital (absolutly fantastic staff !!!!!) and the probible cause could lay in the fact that my Thai is based on Roman based spoken language.....same as most Thais will use the Sino Tibetian pronouncatian to speak English its confusing for him to develop a correct language in the first place.

as a matter of fact in the Netherlands there is a website called....www.ouders.nl (parents) and theyanswer all matters of health inquiry by parents.

They recommend children (in general!!!) to learn 1 language untill they reach the age of 5 and then start with second language......only that the 1st language prefferably most be spoken fluantly by BOTH parents.

ok

again

since we have our house registration yellow book all of us have been registerd in that book, my question is , before i spend more than a week asking questions where most thai people havn't have a clue of what we are talking about.........

the question.....

can my son attend the thai educational system from Paton 1-until university or not.

if soo......

can anybody who lives in thailand in the same situation as us...has any experience with this matter?

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hgma

I am confused by some info you have put in your post.

If you wife speaks lao/issan then is she thai? If yes then why hasn't your child been registered as a thai citizen?

You say you & your wife speak thai only then go on to say you are non sufficient in thai. I am assuming this is a typo error. So what nationality are you & your wife?

If your wife is thai then it is a simple process to register your son as a thai citizen & he will therefore be entitled to the same educational rights as any thai child.

[conquest]

I have seen this so often but normally it's the other way around with the Thai wife speaking broken English to their child. The worse case I have seen is a Swedish father & Thai mother that only speak English to he children and as a result the child only speaks English. The normal answer is "I don't want the child to be confused". This is absolute rubbish. A childs brain is like a sponge and will absorb so much so easily in the early years. It is normal for a child in a bi-lingual environment to be a so called slow developer when it comes to speaking. This slow development has absoluetly zero effect on long term language skills. When a child in a bi lingual environment begins to speak he/she may answer questions in the wrong language. This is also normal as the child cannot yet differenciate between the two. You should be speaking only Dutch to your child. As you have a working knowldge of Thai it will not be a problem if your child answers in Thai as you will understand. The key is to continue speaking in Dutch even if your child answers in Thai. Don't revert to Thai. If you keep on with this your child will eventually start answering / speaking to you in Dutch. If you don't speak with your child in Dutch you are robbing him/her of an opportunity and identity. He/she will never be able to speak with any of your family in Holland and you will never be able to express yourself fully to your child. I have lived in Thailand for 16 years and speak, read & write fluently but I know that it is always much easier to express yourself in your own language. At home I speak only English in the house & my wife speaks only Thai. We have two children and the both have no problems with either language. Another good example of this is those from Buriram / Surin area. Many will speak Thai, Issan, & Khmer fluently. I am sure that Thai, Issan, & Dutch will not be a problem.

With regards to the Thai school: You really want to send your child to a Thai school? If for financial reasons you have no choice I strongly recommend that you try and home tutor as well (in Dutch with Dutch Materials). Thai schools are a joke.

[hgma]

thanks for your advice.

hgma

I have seen this so often but normally it's the other way around with the Thai wife speaking broken English to their child. The worse case I have seen is a Swedish father & Thai mother that only speak English to he children and as a result the child only speaks English. The normal answer is "I don't want the child to be confused". This is absolute rubbish. A childs brain is like a sponge and will absorb so much so easily in the early years. It is normal for a child in a bi-lingual environment to be a so called slow developer when it comes to speaking. This slow development has absoluetly zero effect on long term language skills. When a child in a bi lingual environment begins to speak he/she may answer questions in the wrong language. This is also normal as the child cannot yet differenciate between the two. You should be speaking only Dutch to your child. As you have a working knowldge of Thai it will not be a problem if your child answers in Thai as you will understand. The key is to continue speaking in Dutch even if your child answers in Thai. Don't revert to Thai. If you keep on with this your child will eventually start answering / speaking to you in Dutch. If you don't speak with your child in Dutch you are robbing him/her of an opportunity and identity. He/she will never be able to speak with any of your family in Holland and you will never be able to express yourself fully to your child. I have lived in Thailand for 16 years and speak, read & write fluently but I know that it is always much easier to express yourself in your own language. At home I speak only English in the house & my wife speaks only Thai. We have two children and the both have no problems with either language. Another good example of this is those from Buriram / Surin area. Many will speak Thai, Issan, & Khmer fluently. I am sure that Thai, Issan, & Dutch will not be a problem.

With regards to the Thai school: You really want to send your child to a Thai school? If for financial reasons you have no choice I strongly recommend that you try and home tutor as well (in Dutch with Dutch Materials). Thai schools are a joke.

[conquest]

Some more info on Thai schools. I have been informed that you can send your child to a Thai school and they can study all the way up to M.6. However, as a "non-thai" they will not be eligable to receive any certificates of education. There are many cases of this with long term Lao, Vietnamese, etc.. residents that gave birth to children in Thailand. A few of the children fought to get their M.6 certificates and it was a big issue. We have a local case here, near where I live, where a Korean family sent their child to a good bi-lingual school (Saras - Ektra). He has just had the same problem. Avery sad state of affairs. Basicially it seams that if the school is not properly designated as an "Internatiol School" your child will receive no education certificates.

I am not aware of your situation, but if you don't have the financial means to send your child to an international school I would seriously consider moving back to Holland fir the sake of your child. Consider this: yout child will grow up as a non-thai speaking only Thai with no formal education in a Country where he will have no rights. That is not going to be a great future for him. Thailand will always be here.

Alternatively, why don't you move to Laos? There he will have rights as a Lao citizen. Not brilliant but at least he will have rights and more opportunity. However, to me it's a bit of a no brainer: I'd go back to Holland.

Hope that helps.