Coming to Thailand for a year so my son can learn Thai , presently he's in kindergarten so we will be looking at first grade , will he need to go to an international school or bilingual school ? After he finishes the year in Thailand will we be able to transfer to his school back in America without having to drop back a year?

I would actually prefere my son went to a thai private school so he can get full benefit of learning thai in the year is this an option?

Thanks

If you want him to learn Thai and still keep up with his English, then a bilingual school is probably the best option.

thanks for the reply will the year be transferable back to an American school?

Remember that Thai kids in first grade have already been learning Thai for 2 or 3 years in kindergarten. So by grade one, many an already read and write basic Thai. So you may find you will need to supplement with extra lessons after school to get him up to speed. Agree with Scott, try a bilingual or english program in a Thai school. In an EP, they learn Thai language, buddhism, social, in Thai. Many other subjects are taught in english, such as maths and science. Not sure about the 'transferable' back to the US though. They should not have fallen behind in maths or science though.

I only know of one child who moved from the US to Thailand and then moved back...well, actually two. The one boy did the 3rd grade here and returned and was put in the 4th grade in the States. I don't know about the girl. Her father is a teacher and he is from the US, so I am sure he kept her learning on track, but I will try and contact him and see what happened.

There are some deficiencies in the Thai education system, but many of the mundane thing associated with school they do quite well. They teach children their multiplication tables, etc. They tend to do it early and they do it rather well. They just don't do a good job of teaching any critical thinking or practical application of skills etc.