I've been denied entry to Thailand - Now What ! ?

[guzzi850m2]

I been recommended Maryvit by everybody we spoke to, from our kid doctor in BKK/Pat hospital to Expat/Thai parents in our village.

I thought that Maryvit had an English programe?

Well anyway, we will go look for a school next week for our 2year & 3 month old son. Problem for us is that he is a bit bored during daytime as most kids in the village are in school.

[guzzi850m2]

Better choose wisely just look below, I wonder which school it is?

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2012/01/20/pattaya-private-school-teacher-hits-10-year-old-hard/

[silentnine]

Better choose wisely just look below, I wonder which school it is?

http://www.pattayada...-year-old-hard/

would be most interested to know which school this was ..

i'm just about to enroll my 2 children (3&7) into BEST as it seems to be the only option for a reasonable price especialy now that they areclaiming that english is there main language within the school .. i know a few years ago they had a scandal which cost them many pupils but they claim now that things like that do not happen ..

[peteinchina]

Tara Pattana School is a new School teaching the English curriculum. Really nice place with properly experienced teachers and small class sizes. It has a website.

[guzzi850m2]

My boy (2 years 4 month) just started in Maryvit today. I think its called pre kindergarten.

Very impressed with the school on every visit, students disciplined and polite and everything looks clean and tidy.

I also like that he can stay on the school until he is app. 18 years old and not have to change as some of the schools in the area only goes up to 4th or 6th grade.

Time will show if my son like it there and I hope he is smart enough to keep up.

I am looking forward to pick him up at 1500 and hear how it went.

[Jayman]

My boy (2 years 4 month) just started in Maryvit today. I think its called pre kindergarten.

Very impressed with the school on every visit, students disciplined and polite and everything looks clean and tidy.

I also like that he can stay on the school until he is app. 18 years old and not have to change as some of the schools in the area only goes up to 4th or 6th grade.

Time will show if my son like it there and I hope he is smart enough to keep up.

I am looking forward to pick him up at 1500 and hear how it went.

Is this the link for Maryvit? http://www.maryvit.ac.th/html/main/sin/

I have a 4 year old that has been going to a local thai school on the end of Nernplubwan (at the temple). I believe they are supported by the temple itself. We had him in Phoenix Hilton when it first opened but even the teachers made it clear it was all about the money. I would like to start looking at different, more challenging options going forward and it sounds like Maryvit might be a good start. Looking at their site it seems to be all Thai. Does anyone have any ideas as to the pricing for a 4-5 year old and opinions on how their thai/english courses are for that age group. I will be going down there before long to tour the facility with my wife to get more info.

[Storekeeper]

I taught at BEST Burapha for 2 years and my kid attended school there during those two years. Lot of changes in the teaching staff in the two years since I left in 2010. Had some very smart students and enjoyed my time there.

Edited April 8, 2012 by Storekeeper

[oops]

Better choose wisely just look below, I wonder which school it is?

http://www.pattayada...-year-old-hard/

I taught for awhile the first time I came to Thailand. I had a great time and learned more than I could ever teach these children. I worked for the Kings School in Bangkok.. and ever morning they would have several boys lined up at the entrance to the school so everyone could see being swatted . My take on that was that only one teacher was allowed to hit the boys, this was a great way to disipline them for many reasons that I won't go into. I didn't find a problem with that because I grew up with

spankings. I saw several teachers at another school swat children on the hands, but never have I seen such abuse than in a school in Sattahip other than than a Catholic school for girls but it was a different kind of abuse that again I won't get into it on this post.. Most of the teachers seemed to be very good to the children but one which I wittnessed twice actually beating the same child with a ruler as hard as she could all over his arms chest hands and stomach to the point he peed his pants. My response to this was to walk in the room and pick him up and hug him while the kids were laughing at him I took him out side to sit in the hallway. The secound time she was doing the same thing but stopped and walked out of the class when she saw me. I seriously believe that she was given her teaching licsense because nobody could treat children as mean as she did. They were military so, I know that many are hired because their husbands are high ranking officers in which it shows throughout the school. The librarian would park her car in the corridor which was covered and elevated from the school grounds. Now this was a main covered path for the children and when it rained the school grounds would flood leaving the kids to walk out in the rain in their socks because she wouldn't move her car even though there was plenty of covered parking in the parking lot. This was just ignorant behaviour from an adult that are supposed to be teaching our children. I resigned from the school after I complained because they made her my assistant, needless to say it went from bad to worse.

[pipo1000]

=

Better choose wisely just look below, I wonder which school it is?

http://www.pattayada...-year-old-hard/

I taught for awhile the first time I came to Thailand. I had a great time and learned more than I could ever teach these children. I worked for the Kings School in Bangkok.. and ever morning they would have several boys lined up at the entrance to the school so everyone could see being swatted . My take on that was that only one teacher was allowed to hit the boys, this was a great way to disipline them for many reasons that I won't go into. I didn't find a problem with that because I grew up with

spankings. I saw several teachers at another school swat children on the hands, but never have I seen such abuse than in a school in Sattahip other than than a Catholic school for girls but it was a different kind of abuse that again I won't get into it on this post.. Most of the teachers seemed to be very good to the children but one which I wittnessed twice actually beating the same child with a ruler as hard as she could all over his arms chest hands and stomach to the point he peed his pants. My response to this was to walk in the room and pick him up and hug him while the kids were laughing at him I took him out side to sit in the hallway. The secound time she was doing the same thing but stopped and walked out of the class when she saw me. I seriously believe that she was given her teaching licsense because nobody could treat children as mean as she did. They were military so, I know that many are hired because their husbands are high ranking officers in which it shows throughout the school. The librarian would park her car in the corridor which was covered and elevated from the school grounds. Now this was a main covered path for the children and when it rained the school grounds would flood leaving the kids to walk out in the rain in their socks because she wouldn't move her car even though there was plenty of covered parking in the parking lot. This was just ignorant behaviour from an adult that are supposed to be teaching our children. I resigned from the school after I complained because they made her my assistant, needless to say it went from bad to worse.

I enrolled my boy at the local goverment school last semester and noticed when i picked him up one day that his class teacher was walking around with a whip, and that during the flag salute at the end of the day there were 2 teachers walking around with a whip.

I asked him if the teacher used it and he confirmed that she would swat on the hands of the students,including his as he is some kind of slow reacting.

The next day I had a talk with the headmaster and assured her that if she didn't take care of it,I would do it myself and it would result in a huge embarrasment for both the teacher as the school.The first response was that this was allowed in Thai schools and that the teacher only had 3 years to go for retirement so I shouldn't take it to seriously.

I responded by making them an offer they better didn't refuse,and it clearly made some impression on them.

Since that day,the teacher is still using the whip on the kids and swatting them on the hands except my boy.

[Ghengisthai]

Summary of schools from my investigations over the last 18 months

International

Regents - very expensive, money motivated, good standard

St Andrews - excellent reputation and expensive

Garden - good standard and less expensive than the above

English Programme

BEST - not impressive

Satit - looked good but only been running program for 3/4 years and staff turnover high

REPS ban chang - my favourite, and the one i chose for my son, many foreign teachers, same company as Garden and next door

Montisori - now shut

Hastings, no track record, expensive, starting new classes from 2012 for 7 up? No history, did not feel right

Assumption - when i called, fully booked, no rooms at the inn

Thai

Maryvit - Excellent, but no foreign teachers, i was unsure of the standard of english at this school for my son who is half thai, half english

My son went to montesori for a term, garden for a year and is now at REPS.

Reps is about 1 third of the price of garden

One problem is the commute from Pattaya. 50 minutes, without mini bus detours for door to door.

I have solved this problem by moving to ban chang. Great decision, loads of kids for my son to play with half british, slower pace of life, property cheaper to buy and rent. Only a shot commute to Pattaya when you want it.

[PattayaParent]

Montessori has not shut, it has moved to a new location and increased the classes offered to include Primary years.

[Rickhkesq]

A quick update on Satit.

I put my boys in there in May this year - this week I removed them and put them into MIS.

Do not waste your money on the Satit English program.

I wont start running the school down on here because there are some good teachers doing the best they can but the Thai system is flawed and if your looking for the equivalent of a UK education don't even think about these Bi-lingual schools - you have to go International and pay the money or you will be very disapointed.

[guzzi850m2]

A quick update on Satit.

I put my boys in there in May this year - this week I removed them and put them into MIS.

Do not waste your money on the Satit English program.

I wont start running the school down on here because there are some good teachers doing the best they can but the Thai system is flawed and if your looking for the equivalent of a UK education don't even think about these Bi-lingual schools - you have to go International and pay the money or you will be very disapointed.

I say Marywitt again, okay they don't have a dedicated bi-lingual program but they have Filipinos teachers together with the Thais and my 3 year old son in pre-kindergarten is already singing -a-b-c-d-e-f and so on. He have homework every day and we been told that if he can't write/draw strong enough he can't move up to kinder garden class next year. The teachers says he is not very interested in Chinese yet, he-he.

A very very demanding school, + 90% of the students ends up on university. If you want to move your kids to Marywitt from say Satit in 1st grade, the kid will have to pass an examination and if they don't pass they can't attend.

I keep my fingers crossed that he is smart enough to keep up, I was not very good in school myself but somehow managed to get a marine engineers degree.

[Phil Conners]

Our daughter went to Satit all through primary school (standard/Thai program) and came out ok. She is now attending IB in Denmark. It is hard, but she is smart and prepared to work for it, and doing ok even compared to kids who came from European primary schools.

Satit isn't the worst school here, but I agree that the Thai school system still has a long way to go. If I had to do it again I would almost certainly have put her in Marywitt. Learning Chinese isn't a bad thing these days, it's even offered in Danish high schools now!

Of course if you have a million baht sloshing around in your pocket every year, the best option is probably one of the International schools, but not everybody have that kind of disposable income.

[Storekeeper]

Update ... My 100 % Thai daughter attended BEST for two years and has now attended international schools for two years in Japan and one year of public school here in the states ... Consistently on the Honor Roll with a GPA in the 3.5 range ... She is kicking ass in both Maths and Science ... Ready for Honors Biology ...

Big thanks to her Filipina Maths teacher and PGCE qualified science Brit teacher ... At BEST.

And thanks to all the the Thai teachers at BEST who put up with my demanding arse.