Good Thai Schools In Chiang Rai.

[skybluestu]

The OP is spoilt for choice, there are many good schools in CR to choose from and I'd be surprised if any of them didn't have the correct licenses to operate legally. The school I work at often has visits from the MOE, as I imagine all schools do, who check that everything is in order so I think Tim needn't worry about the lack of a license that the MOE require schools to have.

And hopefully chiangraitim isn't the new head of the international school as it's not very professional to post unsubstantiated misinformation about another school on a public forum!

[villagefarang]

So the plot thickens. Growing up in the politically charged world of academia, this stuff sounds vaguely familiar.

[nickjam]

I don't think there will be much of a religious element to the school. No mention of it was made to me during the application and interview process. I myself am not religious and none of my lessons will reference the good man upstairs. Personally, I'll be looking to improve fitness & skill levels across all disciplines whilst emphasizing values of teamwork, fair play, commitment and dedication. The house system, whilst providing competition will also reward students for acts of citizenship both inside and outside of the school. In the first term we'll be offering after school clubs for junior swimming, basketball and mini-tennis

I don't want to sound like a salesman and I have no idea about other schools in the area. All I will say is that having worked in government, bi-lingual and international schools in Thailand, its refreshing to see that these guys are putting a lot of money and effort into building a great facility and hiring an experienced and qualified staff.

[chiangraitim]

The OP is spoilt for choice, there are many good schools in CR to choose from and I'd be surprised if any of them didn't have the correct licenses to operate legally. The school I work at often has visits from the MOE, as I imagine all schools do, who check that everything is in order so I think Tim needn't worry about the lack of a license that the MOE require schools to have.

And hopefully chiangraitim isn't the new head of the international school as it's not very professional to post unsubstantiated misinformation about another school on a public forum!

Edited March 6, 2010 by chiangraitim

[robinhoodlum]

Hi All,

I am amazed at all the response and just how useful all of the info has been. I just got back from CR and visited four schools with my kids in tow. Trapped in a car for five days with two bored kids and a wife who does not read maps (this I found out for the first time), now I understand why man invented GPS!

Anyway the schools were

Meereuk or (st Mary's School) I saw two schools under this name. The Kindergarten and the Primary.

The Kindergarten was in a much smaller area than I had hoped, with little space for exercise and large classes. I found the staff to be friendly and the kids looked to be happy. I did notice that some of the kids were ill with face masks, with the smaller less ventilated area, it crossed my mind that children may spread illness quicker, and why didn't the school just ask them to stay at home till better?

The Primary school was a different story, my kids are not old enough for that school, but it was a nicely laid out, open school and I found a chap called Stuart there who has been very helpful to me, and his colleges who also seemed very nice. I think this is a school worth considering if your kids are that age. I did not find an over emphasis on Catholicism but it was present.

The next school was Tassaban 7 school, which as I read in a previous post, has a good well organized clean feel about it, the classes still on the large size 30-40. The staff were friendly and both my children took a competency test (kind of) and we were told they did have submissions. I would also say this school is worth a visit. Downsides would be, no native english speakers, actually for anyone who has a half thai half brit kid who wants to keep his kids on top of English WITHOUT having a Philippine accent there is only one school which I will get to in a few lines.

The next school was Wassaporn (or something like that) Its a new school, recently built, looks pretty cool on first impressions, it has a swimming pool for the kids and some new innovative designs for the school itself. It looked like a contemporary school, with lots of potential.

Downside was a very strange vibe from the staff, was not allowed to take a quick trip round the school, and felt unwelcome or at best awkward trying to interact with the staff.

We were told there were places and invited to fill out a rather lengthy application form, which too me was not a typical form, there was an emphasis I think on parents occupation wage bracket, sort of stuff that rang an alarm bell in my head. Anyway they called the next day to say the school was full, so I'm not sure what was going on there. I have heard since that this school is an offshoot from a disgruntled doctor duo from the Pitta Suka (Montessori) who fell out with the owners and started their own school.

The Pitta Suka was on my list, but it was struck off after almost everyone I spoke to told me it was a bad place to go, not so much on the educational front, but just the attitude of the school itself. It seemed the high costs of schooling there comes with some pretty lofty ego issues amongst the staff. Also from an earlier post I have read that this school is used as a kinda of gateway for missionary types, who, paid for by their ministries "volunteer" themselves at no cost to the school. So last report was only two actual "qualified" Montessori school teachers and the rest kind of self financing volunteers who I am sure would have all the required qualifications to be teachers. also on the radar was largish classes of mixed age??

I took a look round the school that has not been finished yet the CRIS school, and yes it does look impressive although being in the construction industry here in Thailand, I am pretty sure that only a tiny percentage will be completed by August, other cool stuff that it provides (as mentioned in an earlier post) like the pools and other amenities will be finished in the next year or two, so for me, no kids schooling on a building site if possible, and access to those amenities of course are a few years away. Also I did a little sniffing around the ownership, not much except they are Korean Christians, how hard core I don't know.

The last school was the AMEC school, First impressions were it was run down and badly needed some basic upkeep, the costs for this school was higher than the others, so it was tough on first impression to see where the money was going. But after arriving at the school, we were met by a farang chap that was one of the senior teachers there and he walked me round. What I saw slowly began to grow on me, and the crappy classrooms became less important.

Each class maxed out at about 15-20 tops, I did not see one class with more than 20 kids. In that class were two teachers one either Europe or the US. Second an English speaking Thai. This does not exist in any other school that I saw.

The next pleasant surprise was that for the first time the kids at the school came to greet my children and invite them to play which ended in them all having lunch together. talking in both thai and English, I have to say for the first time since being there, I saw something akin to my own schooling, perhaps a sense that the kids were developing as individuals rather than the conformity of a typical Thai school like Tassaban 7. I saw my kids having fun, and I saw a good interaction between the staff and the kids. Not so regimented. This for me is the best place for half Thai half Brit kids who need to experience and learn Thai, and its culture, without losing that vital spark of being individual as well as keeping English part of their daily lives.

So I think St Mary's Primary (not kindergarten) school and Amec were the best schools. On another note, I warn others that accommodation is not is easy as one would imagine, so once you find a school, then get cracking on accommodation.

Once again many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, I am sure it will be a very useful guide to others in the future. I will update this thread after a month of them starting at AMEC and share any issues on whether my choice was correct.

[Limbo]

Great feedback!

Thanks Robin!

Limbo

[skybluestu]

I'm usually more of a hindrance than a help, must be getting old! Good to know you found somewhere to your liking and that you explored all options, you could have been put off by the attempts to discredit some schools in earlier posts.

If you PM 'soap' I'm sure he'll be able to answer any questions you might have about AMEC as his son was a student there until very recently and you won't need a translator if done via the internet (he's a scouser!), he may even be able to help with accommodation suggestions too.

Was nice to meet you and your family last week, hope the move goes OK, I'll let you know if I hear of anywhere to rent that would be suitable for you.

[kolmer]

I've done some checking around, and it seems alot of the schools in Chiang rai have some kind of religious element to them, for example the CRIS school (Chiang Rai International School) also seem to be the CRICS school (Chiang Rai International Christian School) and the mareeruk school is also called St Mary's School.

What I am looking for is a good Thai School, (that adhere to the standard customs and culture of Thailand) with programs in English. Are there any Thai people reading this that know of a Thai School with a good reputation amongst Thais in Chiang rai?

kind regards

robin

i think the new wisanusorn www.wisanusorn.com near koolpunt is the best

i've had children in mareeruk for 2 years until anubarn 2

they have 58 children in one class 1.5 year to 3

they have 38 children in one class from 3 to 6 years

the teachers are all thai and some english so i think this is not worth the money

i hope this helps

Wow, those classroom numbers sound nasty. Also mixed classes is not ideal. Given how rurul Chiang Rai is, the level of English amongst the Thai students is well lower than in Bangkok. For my son who is considered advanced, I cannot wait to get him into a decent school which can push him to his potential, rather than excel at the lower end of a Thai school.

Tim

Tim,

I work at the Wisanusorn School as the one and only English Teacher. Class room size is usually broken down to about 15 kids or less in a class.

the big classroom is Montesorrie time. There are about three or more teachers in the classroom when there are that many kids in the class. the biggest class is the Kindergarten. I think it is like 30 kids or 35... the whole school only has about 50 + kids.

[Limbo]

Tim,

I work at the Wisanusorn School as the one and only English Teacher. Class room size is usually broken down to about 15 kids or less in a class.

the big classroom is Montesorrie time. There are about three or more teachers in the classroom when there are that many kids in the class. the biggest class is the Kindergarten. I think it is like 30 kids or 35... the whole school only has about 50 + kids.

Sorry dear Kolmer, but I hope that your English is better than your Italian.

Maria Montessori was Italian.

And I don't think she was sorry about that (maybe during Mussolini's days, but not in general).

When I started the process that would lead to the foundation of the first Montessori style school in the

north (the Piti Suksa), of which the Wisanusorn to a certain extend could be called an offspring I couldn't

expect that she was already that outdated that even teachers wouldn't bother to spell her name

correctly 555!

I think the Wisanusorn looks like a great school, the teachers that I know have my confidence and I think it is

a very good alternative to the Piti Suksa and the AMEC.

Good luck and be nice to the kida!

Limbo

PS: I think she put her own kid in an orphanage, but that is not unusual (see Rousseau, another famous children friend)

. . . . . . . . . . MARIA MONTESSORI 1870-1952

[skybluestu]

Kolmer, I wouldn't worry too much about what Tim thinks, if you read through the posts he had a lot of negative comments to make about every school....apart from the new international school that is (whose head teacher is also called Tim). Strange coincidence? Only Tim knows and he's made no further comments, guess we'll never know. Below is a quote from the OP's impression of the school you work at taken from post #35, perhaps it would be a good idea to invite him for another visit the next time he's in town.

'The next school was Wassaporn (or something like that) Its a new school, recently built, looks pretty cool on first impressions, it has a swimming pool for the kids and some new innovative designs for the school itself. It looked like a contemporary school, with lots of potential.

Downside was a very strange vibe from the staff, was not allowed to take a quick trip round the school, and felt unwelcome or at best awkward trying to interact with the staff. We were told there were places and invited to fill out a rather lengthy application form, which too me was not a typical form, there was an emphasis I think on parents occupation wage bracket, sort of stuff that rang an alarm bell in my head. Anyway they called the next day to say the school was full, so I'm not sure what was going on there. I have heard since that this school is an offshoot from a disgruntled doctor duo from the Pitta Suka (Montessori) who fell out with the owners and started their own school.'

[Limbo]

Hi Tim,

What I understand is that your school is financed by Korean Christians.

I don't know if you have lived a long time in Chiang Rai but if you would

have done so you probably would have noticed that in this area the Korean

Christian organisations are known for being rather 'hardcore'.

There are horrible stories about them isolating children from their parents,

their villages, etc etc. I really hope this is another story.

Are you working together with the American Christian school that mostly serves

children of missionaries or is this a new thing?

I hope for you that they get things ready before June. I see they are starting

to advertise with billboards in the streets.

Can you enlighten us about the nature of their Christian philosophy?

Do you think they want to use the school to promote their religion?

Or is it just a business enterprise?

Thanks in advance.

Limbo

[japatee]

Hi.I have also done some research on this and I've found that for a Thai school with an English programme and non religious there are the following

1.The montessori school ( expensive). www.pitisuksa.org/

2.AMEC www.amecschool.in.th a Bi-Lingual Thai school

3.Tessaban 7

4.Anuban Chiang Rai ( near Tessaban market)

Mariruk is a private christian school as is the CRICS www.flcschool.com

Santi Vithaya another christian school also has an English programme..

Hi

I know this was posted a while ago, but was hoping you could tell me how much is is to send a kid to the montessori school in chiang rai.. or if anyone else knows..

much appreciated

cheers

[mamapaparose]

Hi

Here is information about Chiang Rai Montessori School's fee

Registration fee: 25,000 Baht for kindergarten, 40,000 Baht for Primary

Yearly General fee: 5,000 Bht

Accident insurance: 200 Bht

Tuition fee: kindergarten 65,000 per year

primary (lower) 75,000 per year, upper 85,000 per year

Hope this help.

Edited October 3, 2010 by mamapaparose

[japatee]

Hi

Here is information about Chiang Rai Montessori School's fee

Registration fee: 25,000 Baht for kindergarten, 40,000 Baht for Primary

Yearly General fee: 5,000 Bht

Accident insurance: 200 Bht

Tuition fee: kindergarten 65,000 per year

primary (lower) 75,000 per year, upper 85,000 per year

Hope this help.

thanks

[Joel Barlow]

I was under the impression (hardly a studied one)

that we had three Montassori schools.

One by Country Home, one near The River (Piti Suksa?)

and another too...

and yes, the multiplicity due to in-fighting...

[toybits]

If you want your kids to learn English, then there is no better school the the Papa School. Available free of charge, 7-day a week learning schedule.

[dindong]

If you want your kids to learn English, then there is no better school the the Papa School. Available free of charge, 7-day a week learning schedule.

Agree 100% but unfortunitly many Papa's have no time or can't be bothered.

[skybluestu]

If you want your kids to learn English, then there is no better school the the Papa School. Available free of charge, 7-day a week learning schedule.

Agree 100% but unfortunitly many Papa's have no time or can't be bothered.

Very true, I met quite a few 5-7yr olds recently who had farang (English-speaking) dads and their English varied from very poor to non-existent.

[Colonel_Mustard]

Is there any news on how the new international school is doing there? Hoping to go up after Christmas to have a look before deciding whether or not to make the move but any info from staff or parents with kids there would be appreciated.

[dindong]

I think Tim from the International school did a runner with the Korean Christians.

[skybluestu]

Yeah, haven't heard from Tim since he was rumbled trying to discredit other schools in CR, not sure why though as it's the only international school here and therefore has no direct competition.

My boss visited and said, as you'd expect with any new school, it's very nice with excellent facilities but there are very few students. I'm sure that will be different in a few years though.

[konjianghai]

Saw the pictures today, i guess they are open now.

Chiang Rai International School