Current Options For Thai Language Courses In Chiang Mai?

[wynzlo]

I'm thinking about continuing Thai language studies with a one-year course, so I've started researching options. Here's what I've gathered so far...

AUA

http://www.learnthaiinchiangmai.com

Payap University

http://ic.payap.ac.t.../thai/about.php

Pro Language

http://www.prolanguage.co.th

YMCA

http://www.ymcachiangmai.org

Walen

http://www.thaiwalen.com

There are past threads on this topic, but some schools seem like they might be gone. For example, do Cornerstone and Talk Talk still exist?

CMU has a new website for their program (http://www.cmutefl.com), but I'm quite wary after last year's fiasco. Like the last one, this new website is not hosted on a legit CMU domain. Anyone actually attending classes there?

Anything missing from this list?

[samsara]

Talk Talk exists. Went in there last week.

[eyecatcher]

Your list is very comprehensive and covers the mainstream classes.

you dont need to search anymore now...you have all the info you need.

now go and check prices and start dates and you are away.

and as you say there are several threads/topics about thai classes here with many comments from members.

good luck with the classes which ever place you decide to go.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

There is another school I am curious about. They are located in Pantip plaza and the price is good at 20k baht for a year and visa paperwork.

Anyone have any experience with them?

http://easystudythai.blogspot.com/p/one-year-thai-edvisa.html

[DowntownAl]

There is another school I am curious about. They are located in Pantip plaza and the price is good at 20k baht for a year and visa paperwork.

Anyone have any experience with them?

http://easystudythai...hai-edvisa.html

Have to admit my spidey sense is tingling here. I checked the link you supplied and found that their visa page is identical to Walen's page, word for word. Either they are too lazy to write their own and copied Walen's page, or it is Walen offering a discounted school. Either way, there are a few shenanigans going on here. I checked their "official" website http://www.easystudythai.com/index.php and found the pages for Visa, prices and locations blank. Either they have not finished their page (maybe a different company with the same name?) or, again, something fishy is going on. Just my suspicious nature maybe, but very leery at the moment.

Edited May 20, 2012 by DowntownAl

[DowntownAl]

Okay, this is driving me semi-nuts (it's a short trip) but, most of the school websites talk about 90 extensions while on a one year ED visa at a cost of 1,900 baht each. Payap U. says, on their website - quote: "Report to Immigration every 90 days (beginning the 90th day after you have arrived in Thailand) and fill out the "form for alien to notify of staying longer than 90 days". This only takes a few minutes and there is no charge."

Do holders of ED Visas pay 1,900 baht every 90 days, or do they not pay? I would like to hear from people who actually have and use their ED Visas right now and not second hand, "I heard that someone said that they knew somebody who met a guy"...etc info. Thanks.

[samsara]

There is another school I am curious about. They are located in Pantip plaza and the price is good at 20k baht for a year and visa paperwork.

Anyone have any experience with them?

http://easystudythai...hai-edvisa.html

its legit. they have a fair number of students. they are cheaper, can get the paperwork done in 1 week (as opposed to 3-5 like walen et al), and they arent super strict about attendance (though, not as lax as walen lol). definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

all foreigners must report every 90 days. doesnt matter the visa. for ed visas, the process is this:

step 1: get your initial 3 month ed visa;

step 2: extend it another 3 months. costs 1900;

step 3: extend it another 6 months (which fills out your 1st year of an ed visa). costs 1900;

after your first year you can extend for a full year.

[CMSteve]

Funny story in regards to what you are saying.

I have a friend that started school with Walen, got all the docs and then went to Vientiane for his visa. Literally days later he had some family issues that arose back home and he went back to the US. This is a couple of months ago now....

Last month and again last week I got a call from Walen school because I was listed as his emergency/secondary contact. She (in near perfect English) says she's calling because my friends visa is expiring and he needs to come in to get his extension paperwork. The first time she called I told he had been home a couple of months now and doesn't need the visa. The last time she called, I questioned why she would even consider asking about an extension if he has been to class in two months.... All of the sudden her English goes out the door and she say " I no understand"....

Needless to say, if you're looking for a visa, you know where to go.

they arent super strict about attendance (though, not as lax as walen lol).

Edited May 20, 2012 by CMSteve

[samsara]

Funny story in regards to what you are saying.

I have a friend that started school with Walen, got all the docs and then went to Vientiane for his visa. Literally days later, he had some family issues arose back home he went back to the US. This is a couple of months ago.....

Last month and again last week I got a call from Walen because I was listed as his emergency/secondary contact. She ( in near perfect English) says she's calling because my friends visa is expiring and he needs to come in to get his extension paperwork. The first time she called I told he had been home a couple of months now and doesn't need the visa. The last time she called, I questioned why she would even consider asking about an extension if he has been to class in two months.... All of the sudden her English goes out the door and she say " I no understand"....

Needless to say, if you're looking for a visa, you know where to go.

they arent super strict about attendance (though, not as lax as walen lol).

when i talked to them roughly 2 weeks ago they said they had 500 students, yet they only have a couple classes per day.

id say only 200 students at walen in cm actually attend class. they made it very clear that i could essentially pay, get my visa, and go travel around thailand

[DowntownAl]

There is another school I am curious about. They are located in Pantip plaza and the price is good at 20k baht for a year and visa paperwork.

Anyone have any experience with them?

http://easystudythai...hai-edvisa.html

its legit. they have a fair number of students. they are cheaper, can get the paperwork done in 1 week (as opposed to 3-5 like walen et al), and they arent super strict about attendance (though, not as lax as walen lol). definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

all foreigners must report every 90 days. doesnt matter the visa. for ed visas, the process is this:

step 1: get your initial 3 month ed visa;

step 2: extend it another 3 months. costs 1900;

step 3: extend it another 6 months (which fills out your 1st year of an ed visa). costs 1900;

after your first year you can extend for a full year.

Great info, thanks. Just to be sure I've got it right. The first year (after obtaining the ED visa) has two extensions @1,900 for a total of 3,800. Ensuing years (assuming a 3 year ED Visa), one extension each - 1,900. I live to budget...

[samsara]

Not sure of the cost for the 1 year ed visa (after finishing 1st year). Could be more. But in the big scheme of things, you're definitely saving money the 2nd year.

[binjalin]

There is another school I am curious about. They are located in Pantip plaza and the price is good at 20k baht for a year and visa paperwork.

Anyone have any experience with them?

http://easystudythai...hai-edvisa.html

I have experience of them - very friendly and nice teachers

[DowntownAl]

Not sure of the cost for the 1 year ed visa (after finishing 1st year). Could be more. But in the big scheme of things, you're definitely saving money the 2nd year.

According to Easy Study's website:

Quote

How many years can I study Thai at your school?

• You can study Thai for 3 years using the same ED visa, every year we will need to obtain for you a new letter from the Ministry of Education. We need at least 6 weeks to process it. With this letter there is no need to leave the country in order to obtain a new ED visa. You need to renew your year-course if you want to continue your study at Easy Study Thai.
  

End quote.

No new visa needed until after the 3 year period. Now, the question remains, is there a 3 month "extension" @ 1,900 baht or a one year extension with 3 month no cost check ins.

[samsara]

Not sure of the cost for the 1 year ed visa (after finishing 1st year). Could be more. But in the big scheme of things, you're definitely saving money the 2nd year.

According to Easy Study's website:

Quote

How many years can I study Thai at your school?

• You can study Thai for 3 years using the same ED visa, every year we will need to obtain for you a new letter from the Ministry of Education. We need at least 6 weeks to process it. With this letter there is no need to leave the country in order to obtain a new ED visa. You need to renew your year-course if you want to continue your study at Easy Study Thai.
  

End quote.

No new visa needed until after the 3 year period. Now, the question remains, is there a 3 month "extension" @ 1,900 baht or a one year extension with 3 month no cost check ins.

they said i needed to leave thailand to get the initial visa. in fact, every place/everyone has said that. never heard of someone getting an ed visa without leaving.

now after youve gotten your initial ed visa there may be no need to ever leave again.

and they really, truly only need 1-2 weeks to process everything since they have someone run down to bkk personally.

[DowntownAl]

Not sure of the cost for the 1 year ed visa (after finishing 1st year). Could be more. But in the big scheme of things, you're definitely saving money the 2nd year.

According to Easy Study's website:

Quote

How many years can I study Thai at your school?

• You can study Thai for 3 years using the same ED visa, every year we will need to obtain for you a new letter from the Ministry of Education. We need at least 6 weeks to process it. With this letter there is no need to leave the country in order to obtain a new ED visa. You need to renew your year-course if you want to continue your study at Easy Study Thai.
  

End quote.

No new visa needed until after the 3 year period. Now, the question remains, is there a 3 month "extension" @ 1,900 baht or a one year extension with 3 month no cost check ins.

they said i needed to leave thailand to get the initial visa. in fact, every place/everyone has said that. never heard of someone getting an ed visa without leaving.

now after youve gotten your initial ed visa there may be no need to ever leave again.

and they really, truly only need 1-2 weeks to process everything since they have someone run down to bkk personally.

Thanks, I realize you do need to leave the country to get the original ED visa. The quoted paragraph from Easy Study concerns the 2nd and 3rd years. I am just curious about the other costs ie: extensions @1,900 baht as opposed to check ins @ no cost. It's almost nickle and diming but 4 extensions is 7,600 baht ($250 CND/US) a year. That will buy a lot of Beer Lao

[MacWalen]

Interesting posts. There are certainly a lot of cheaper schools than Walen in Chiang Mai so if money is the main factor you have more choices. We have a lot of students enrolling so we cannot complain about the lack of business. Also we are the only school where students can actually be partners and build an international educational business.

CMSteve thanks for sharing. Do you have anything else negative to say about Walen? That usually works just the opposite to your intended purpose. As far as an ED visa support nobody does it better and telling that some other school can get paperwork faster than us is simply nonsense but good try.

For those who are not just interested in getting an ED visa but also want to really learn Thai I invite you for a demo lesson to our school. We are using a very special method and I believe you will like it. With Walen you will be learning Thai much faster and without any transliteration. We certainly take good care of our students. Now we have about 3,400 students and have processed over the years close to 8,000 ED visas in all of our branches. There are not many schools that are even close to that number so we certainly know what we do when any of our students need an ED visa assistance.

Another piece of good news is that we are already working on opening a new Walen school in Chiang Rai! So, no, sorry to disappoint those who do not like Walen so much, but Walen is not going anywhere, just the opposite, new schools will be built.

Walen School - knowledge is power - learn and earn!

Edited May 20, 2012 by MacWalen

[DowntownAl]

Interesting posts. There are certainly a lot of cheaper schools than Walen in Chiang Mai. We have a lot of students enrolling so we cannot complain about the lack of business. Also we are the only school where students can actually be partners and build an international educational business.

CMSteve thanks for sharing. Do you have anything else negative to say about Walen?

For those who are not just interested in getting an ED visa but also learning Thai I invite you for a demo lesson to our school. We are using direct method and you will like it. Learning Thai much faster without any transliteration.

Walen School - knowledge is power

Geez Mac, it's the low season right now, shouldn't you have a select limited time offer of...oh...say 25% off, like the hotels/Guest Houses around town I mean... just asking BTW - personally, I think the idea of paying for a service such as language instruction, and not using it would be just plain silly - ngii-ngao. I only need 2 more TVs to reach my full pension, they are a whack cheaper and I can look at a retirement visa then. I would much prefer being able to at least stumble through a conversation and be able to read a menu. I am not a fan of illiteracy.

Edited May 20, 2012 by DowntownAl

[MacWalen]

DowntownAl, I have even a better offer, you can become my partner and do Walen educational business with me. What about that? I don't think anybody can offer you a better deal. Not only learning but also earning.

[binjalin]

Interesting posts. There are certainly a lot of cheaper schools than Walen in Chiang Mai so if money is the main factor you have more choices. We have a lot of students enrolling so we cannot complain about the lack of business. Also we are the only school where students can actually be partners and build an international educational business.

CMSteve thanks for sharing. Do you have anything else negative to say about Walen? That usually works just the opposite to your intended purpose. As far as an ED visa support nobody does it better and telling that some other school can get paperwork faster than us is simply nonsense but good try.

For those who are not just interested in getting an ED visa but also want to really learn Thai I invite you for a demo lesson to our school. We are using a very special method and I believe you will like it. With Walen you will be learning Thai much faster and without any transliteration. We certainly take good care of our students. Now we have about 3,400 students and have processed over the years close to 8,000 ED visas in all of our branches. There are not many schools that are even close to that number so we certainly know what we do when any of our students need an ED visa assistance.

Another piece of good news is that we are already working on opening a new Walen school in Chiang Rai! So, no, sorry to disappoint those who do not like Walen so much, but Walen is not going anywhere, just the opposite, new schools will be built.

Walen School - knowledge is power - learn and earn!

sounds impressive! what about that posters other concerns about attendance? after registration for an Ed visa? what's the stats? I'm only asking as the other poster raised it and it surprised me as your company certainely comes across as professional etc. but the other poster did raised a legitimate concern if most of your students don't attend (I'm not suggesting this but just reflecting what the other poster said).

[MacWalen]

Binjalin, attendance at Walen is very good. Teachers are smart, intelligent and very pleasing looking and learning at the Walen school is real joy. Some posters just try to discredit us. There can be many reasons for that. Some foreigners do not like if other foreigners do well in Thailand or they just like another school and just heard something they have never verified etc. You can read Thai visa, for years and years the market is divided into those who like Walen very much and the rest of the schools, that is pretty much it, Walen vs other schools. We probably get as much business as other schools combined or close to That.

Walen School - the most popular Thai school in the world.

[MacWalen]

Interesting posts. There are certainly a lot of cheaper schools than Walen in Chiang Mai. We have a lot of students enrolling so we cannot complain about the lack of business. Also we are the only school where students can actually be partners and build an international educational business.

CMSteve thanks for sharing. Do you have anything else negative to say about Walen?

For those who are not just interested in getting an ED visa but also learning Thai I invite you for a demo lesson to our school. We are using direct method and you will like it. Learning Thai much faster without any transliteration.

Walen School - knowledge is power

Geez Mac, it's the low season right now, shouldn't you have a select limited time offer of...oh...say 25% off, like the hotels/Guest Houses around town I mean... just asking BTW - personally, I think the idea of paying for a service such as language instruction, and not using it would be just plain silly - ngii-ngao. I only need 2 more TVs to reach my full pension, they are a whack cheaper and I can look at a retirement visa then. I would much prefer being able to at least stumble through a conversation and be able to read a menu. I am not a fan of illiteracy.

So come to learn at Walen, you will not be disappointed. We actually teach Thai and it is true that we are the most expensive school. The reason is that all other schools price their courses below our price in order to compete based on price. 138.8 Baht per lesson is not expensive and you will get very good value for your money.

Walen School - not the cheapest but the best value.

[samsara]

Binjalin, attendance at Walen is very good. Teachers are smart, intelligent and very pleasing looking and learning at the Walen school is real joy. Some posters just try to discredit us. There can be many reasons for that. Some foreigners do not like if other foreigners do well in Thailand or they just like another school and just heard something they have never verified etc. You can read Thai visa, for years and years the market is divided into those who like Walen very much and the rest of the schools, that is pretty much it, Walen vs other schools. We probably get as much business as other schools combined or close to That.

Walen School - the most popular Thai school in the world.

Nothing against the business model (since most foreigners who get an ed visa to learn thai have no intention of learning thai) but can't help and notice how quickly the vague generalities start once people ask questions looking for facts/figures about Walen. I specifically asked the staff if I could travel extensively without attending class...the answer was, yes, as long as you come back in time to do an extension. That's a quote from the staff no more than 2 weeks ago.

Realize you must play the cat/mouse game to preserve the company's "face" but there comes a point when the less ignorant among us become annoyed by the excessive posturing.

Edited May 20, 2012 by samsara

[MacWalen]

Binjalin, attendance at Walen is very good. Teachers are smart, intelligent and very pleasing looking and learning at the Walen school is real joy. Some posters just try to discredit us. There can be many reasons for that. Some foreigners do not like if other foreigners do well in Thailand or they just like another school and just heard something they have never verified etc. You can read Thai visa, for years and years the market is divided into those who like Walen very much and the rest of the schools, that is pretty much it, Walen vs other schools. We probably get as much business as other schools combined or close to That.

Walen School - the most popular Thai school in the world.

Nothing against the business model (since most foreigners who get an ed visa to learn thai have no intention of learning thai) but can't help but notice how quickly the generalities start once people ask questions looking for facts/figures about Walen. I specifically asked the staff if I could travel extensively without attending class...the answer was, yes, as long as you come back in time to do an extension. That's a quote from the staff no more than 2 weeks ago.

Sure, why not? You have your lessons spread over the period of one year. We allow students to take breaks. Usually it is one break every 60 lessons but we can be flexible. We require students to attend classes but we will not be forcing anybody of course. With Walen you can also attend lessons at other branches.

[MacWalen]

There is another school I am curious about. They are located in Pantip plaza and the price is good at 20k baht for a year and visa paperwork.

Anyone have any experience with them?

http://easystudythai...hai-edvisa.html

Have to admit my spidey sense is tingling here. I checked the link you supplied and found that their visa page is identical to Walen's page, word for word. Either they are too lazy to write their own and copied Walen's page, or it is Walen offering a discounted school. Either way, there are a few shenanigans going on here. I checked their "official" website http://www.easystudythai.com/index.php and found the pages for Visa, prices and locations blank. Either they have not finished their page (maybe a different company with the same name?) or, again, something fishy is going on. Just my suspicious nature maybe, but very leery at the moment.

Good observation DowntownAl, you can pay but if the school will not be there in 6 months time you will lose your money. Happened before. You are safe with Walen. We have too much business to afford doing stupid things. Also copying or modifying the Walen website is a standard procedure for many schools. Clever, they copy what they know works. That is a good position for Walen to be in. Even better, people can these days become Walen partners and we pay very well.

Walen School - instead of copying us join us!

Edited May 20, 2012 by MacWalen

[eyecatcher]

I dont really see why you are all so put out by so called "students" not attending class.

You all know to get an ED visa is a very convenient way to extend your stay, for 20-25k bht plus the 1900bt extensions, it sure is cheaper than say getting back on a plane to Europe or USA for the same price, every 3 months.

Every school offers this service and in fairness, what an easy income, they do nothing but some photocopying- I say its good business and making an opportunity from the visa rules. If i knew i was going to have to teach every visa applicant, i would then need to be thinking about paying more staff and maybe bigger premises.

If you want to pay the 25k for your own convenience, then its no fault of any school.

[MacWalen]

I dont really see why you are all so put out by so called "students" not attending class.

You all know to get an ED visa is a very convenient way to extend your stay, for 20-25k bht plus the 1900bt extensions, it sure is cheaper than say getting back on a plane to Europe or USA for the same price, every 3 months.

Every school offers this service and in fairness, what an easy income, they do nothing but some photocopying- I say its good business and making an opportunity from the visa rules. If i knew i was going to have to teach every visa applicant, i would then need to be thinking about paying more staff and maybe bigger premises.

If you want to pay the 25k for your own convenience, then its no fault of any school.

Eyecatcher this is a good point. Schools that have small premisses and do not really teach can obviously offer cheaper prices. In any case, Walen is taking good care of our students.

[eyecatcher]

Khop Khun Krap Khun Mac!!

but my school of choice is YMCA, always was and always will be

[DowntownAl]

Mac, since you seem to be paying attention to this thread: you will notice I have asked the same question many times and have not yet gotten an actual answer to it. Maybe it's my phrasing so I'll try again.

I have been told that, after entering Thailand with and ED Visa in hand an extension from immigration is needed every 90 days at a cost of 1,900 baht each. That's 3 - 90 day extensions for a total of 5,700 baht, not including the original visa. That completes year one.

I have also been told that after the first 90 days pass, I would need to obtain one 90 extension for 1,900 baht followed by a 180 day “ staying longer than 90 days” form at no cost. That too completes year one but for 1,900 baht., cheaper and entirely different from the first example.

I have been told that years 2 and 3 have renewals at a one year intervals for 1,900 baht with ninety day reports at no cost. Your website say every 90 days at a cost of 1,900 baht, period.

Then there is this:

From Payap University - http://ic.payap.ac.t...information.php

"Report to Immigration every 90 days (beginning the 90th day after you have arrived in Thailand) and fill out the "form for alien to notify of staying longer than 90 days". This only takes a few minutes and there is no charge. If you fail to do this, you can be fined severely or incarcerated."

Your website disagrees:

“with a paperwork provided by our school you will be able to extend your stay every 90 days at the local immigration office for the duration of the course. At present extensions cost 1,900 Baht.”

That is a big discrepancy. There is an awful lot of conflicting info about this. It would be way cool if you could clear it up for me.Thank you for your time.

Edited May 20, 2012 by DowntownAl

[NancyL]

There really are two questions in play with this thread:

1. What are the current options for actually learning the Thai language in Chiang Mai?

-----and-------

2. What is the best language school for obtaining an Ed-visa with a pleasant, no-hassle experience?

So, what is the OP's real question?

Edited May 20, 2012 by NancyL

[MacWalen]

Mac, since you seem to be paying attention to this thread: you will notice I have asked the same question many times and have not yet gotten an actual answer to it. Maybe it's my phrasing so I'll try again.

I have been told that, after entering Thailand with and ED Visa in hand an extension from immigration is needed every 90 days at a cost of 1,900 baht each. That's 3 - 90 day extensions for a total of 5,700 baht, not including the original visa. That completes year one.

I have also been told that after the first 90 days pass, I would need to obtain one 90 extension for 1,900 baht followed by a 180 day “ staying longer than 90 days” form at no cost. That too completes year one but for 1,900 baht., cheaper and entirely different from the first example.

I have been told that years 2 and 3 have renewals at a one year intervals for 1,900 baht with ninety day reports at no cost. Your website say every 90 days at a cost of 1,900 baht, period.

Then there is this:

From Payap University - http://ic.payap.ac.t...information.php

"Report to Immigration every 90 days (beginning the 90th day after you have arrived in Thailand) and fill out the "form for alien to notify of staying longer than 90 days". This only takes a few minutes and there is no charge. If you fail to do this, you can be fined severely or incarcerated."

Your website disagrees:

“with a paperwork provided by our school you will be able to extend your stay every 90 days at the local immigration office for the duration of the course. At present extensions cost 1,900 Baht.”

That is a big discrepancy. There is an awful lot of conflicting info about this. It would be way cool if you could clear it up for me.Thank you for your time.

Chiang Mai is more liberal in some ways and more strict in others. For example Chiang Mai immigration now does not like now to give students above 50 years old extensions, it was not the case earlier. The laws change form time to time or their interpretation. We can process those applications also as we have a network of schools and everything works very well but other schools in Chiang Mai who do not have a network of schools in other locations may not be able to do it. On the other hand extensions can be longer than 90 days. Sometimes 6 months or for second and third year etc even 12 months straight. Our website is not explaining it in detail as there is not need for that. Now we will have a new school in Samui and Chiang Rai and the immigration there may also have different interpretation of general laws governing the extensions of ED visas. Even between Bangkok and Pattaya it is not the same. We treat every student on an individual basis and working our best arrangements for them so they can enjoy learning at Walen visa worry free.

We are regularly updated with what is going on and students who come to us are getting most recent information. The visa issues are not so straight forward as some may think. One thing is certain, we will take good care of you if you device to use our service. I honestly do not believe there is any other school that can do a better job when it comes to your ED visa assistance.

Edited May 20, 2012 by MacWalen