Private or International School Choices in Hua Hin

1Ping1 · January 23, 2014

My beautiful educated Issan wife and I have a daughter that is seven years old. We are planning on moving to Canada at some point in the next five to ten years. But truly are not certain when. I am a young 51 and we both love living in Hua Hin and raising our daughter here. What worries me though is her level of education she is receiving now and how well it is preparing her for 10 years down the road when we may be headed back to North America and that is why this post. .................

My question is this. I want to get her out of the current public thai school she attends as I do not see it being very good. Maybe as good as it can be, with roughly 45 kids per class but not something that is going to prepare my daughter for University anywhere else in the world.

I am looking at two options, Somtawin and Yamsaard. I guess you could call Somtawin an International school and Yamsaard a private school but that is a little gray for me at this point. Please feel free and I would encourage any advice on any of my interpetations of this post. Both are a little over 100k per year. I think Somtawin is close to 120k and Yamsaard is around 110k.

I have received great help on this forum in the past and could use it now more than ever. I spent roughly four hours a day the past two days on the internet to try and get a feel for what is my best option but came up with nothing but a very frustrated wife, as most of the postings were bashing both schools and myself at a loss to feel like I gained any useful information. .............Keep in mind though I recognize that this is the nature of the beast. Most the info you find seems to be from unhappy parents and of course reading between the lines is very difficult as the kid, or parent could have been the problem in the first place.

Please, those of you that have kids attending either of these schools give me some feedback on how you think your child is doing. I sure as heck do not want to start a pissing match between thai visa memebers and the two schools, but I do want to hear what your level of satisfaction is at either school. Also, what is the difference between the two schools. Does one do a better job than the other in preparing for overseas University. Homework, discipline, respect, thai culture, true global awareness, sports, afterschool activities and clubs.

Yes, I have visited both schools with my wife. Yes, they of course both tell you what you want to hear. I put much greater value on the insight I can gain from you than either of these other scources.

Most Sincerely

Sakeopete · January 23, 2014

BTW as far as I know Somtawin is not an international school there are no accredited International schools in Hua Hin. I have a 5 y/o, 8 y/o and 13 y/o attending Yamsaard school. The kids love the school the 2 youngest are in the English Immersion program. The school is starting the Cambridge Examination program this year and will be an official testing center. They are also adding classes next year so the current students can continue until graduation. I find the teachers to be very dedicated to the students and the class sizes are limited to 20 pupils. Yamsaard has good facilities (Olympic size pool) and offers many extracurricular activities my children take Taekwondo, tennis, ballet, Thai dance and keyboard I would definitely recommend the school.

I don't know if things have changed at Somtawin but I have pasted my wife's and my observation of Somtawin when we arrived in Hua Hin a couple years ago (from another forum thread). Things may have changed since then I suggest you search more information online. There is also Halio school that is run out of a house it seems to have good reviews however I haven't visited it.

My first choice was Somtawin however my wife and I were not impressed at all when we visited the school. They only had a tiny pool, the facility was filthy especially the washrooms. We went to the 3rd floor where the older children's classes are and it was a disaster. The rooms were a mess and there was only one teacher. A boy was sitting at a desk crying saying he was hit by other boys we didn't see any other adults supervising. The one and only teacher that was there seemed at his wits end trying to control the students. Also some of the lockers had their doors torn off. It seemed very rough and undisciplined.

Honestly I don't know if this was a bad day for the school but my wife flat refused to enroll our kids there. I know facilities don't mean much when it comes to education but like the saying goes you can judge a mechanic by the condition he keeps his tools.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Sakeopete

1Ping1 · January 24, 2014

Thanks Sakeopete for the reply. I greatly appreciate it and you taking the time for your insight and observations. It truly is a big decision to make and not want to jack my daughter around as I have made the wrong one. Touring both schools this week and next.

1Ping1 · January 24, 2014

Sure as there is dust in texas there must be more than one person that has had to make this same decision. Please weigh in for me. Thanks in advance.

Wanderlust · January 29, 2014

Hi sawadeka,

I have been through the same situation as regards finding what I believe is the best school for my two daughters in Hua Hin. I have lived in the area for 10 years and my daughters are now 5 and 6. We considered all the schools in the area but some we had to rule out because of our budget, but some were ruled out based on what others had to say about them. Some very good friends had their two children at both Somtawin and Yamsaard, and of the two they far preferred the latter, and they had a very poor opinion of Somtawin, which also has a major disadvantage in being so far from Hua Hin. However despite the facilities both these schools have in comparison to others in the area, they are both private, and our gut feeling was that profit was coming way ahead of the actual education, based on all the other parent stories we had heard. Our friends now send their children to the Halio school, but this is not everyone's cup of tea, as it is a very small school based on a different type of teaching, and my wife was never keen on it, but I would recommend you to at least have a look - our friends have been delighted with the progress their children have made.

We decided in the end to send our eldest daughter to Selasian (next door to Market Village) in their English Programme (EP) - it is a Catholic school but this is not (so far, nor in any other parent reports) rammed down their throats - they have to say the Lord's Prayer in the morning and they are given some religious education but not just Catholic. The EP does require the taking of an entrance exam, but it is split into the main EP, and a mini EP, and I believe that the exam must be passed to enter the main programme, while I think those who don't pass it (it is a written and verbal exam in two parts) can go into the mini EP, and at a later stage if their abilities improve are able to step up to the main programme. It is a large school and also has a regular school programme which does not focus as much on English. Class size for our daughter is currently 29 students, but they have either 2 or 3 teachers as well as assistants; the regular school I believe has much larger class sizes. It has decent facilities but not to the level of Yamsaard, but then again it costs much less. If you were to consider it you should go and see them very quickly if you want your child there this year as they are in the process of enrolment right now. Our youngest has already taken the exam, but I am not sure how they handle children who are coming in at a higher grade.

We have been very happy with our daughter's progress there, and more importantly she loves the school; we both like the social aspect of her education as well, in that she gets to interact with a wider strata of children than she would likely get at the other schools. There are plenty of Thai/farang mixed kids there too, and there doesn't seem to be any problem with that either, something we were a little worried about. I think there are also a few farang only kids there too.

I know much of my post isn't exactly what you were looking for, but if you hadn't considered Selasian, I would recommend having a look. They also have a Christmas break which is a nice bonus, because very few Thai public or private schools do. Other than that though, the term dates are the same as other Thai schools, as far as I can tell. Good luck in your quest!