Good thai schools, are there any and where

[seajae]

Our daughter goes to the private catholic school in Surat Thani, every day after school and most weekends she goes to the out of school learning centres so that she can actually learn and get better grades as the teachers simply do not want to teach the students, she wants to be a doctor so she needs to learn and will do what ever it takes to do so. We are goilooking at enrolling her in the govt school in the city centre as it is supposed to be the best around Surat Thani but have found out that they now charge the students extra to learn, more so than the private schools and they now want to make extra money too. They have an enrolment test(they say they want only the best) but if the kids fail again you can buy their way in, we are not worried as our daughter is very intelligent and has already been offered scholarships at other schools due to her marks(not what she wants though). In Australia the teachers actually do what they are paid for, here they refuse to unless they are paid extra by the students(we also get phone calls from our daughters teachers asking for "loans"), our daughter wants to learn but under the thai system that seems like an impossible task.

I know there are a lot of teachers that come in here, can any recomend a good school that does actually teach the students to a high standard, we have rello's in Bangkok if that is the only choice but we need to find a school with good standards so that out daughter can persue her chosen career. This is not a swipe at the thai schools(well maybe it is) but simply at the standards they work to as set by the govt, my wife comments that when she went to school the standards were much higher. One of my wifes friends told her that her daughter is smart because she tells everyone she is but a ferang teacher gave her a lower mark than she wanted so she went to the headmaster and complained to get it changed, doesnt matter that her daughter was not good enough to get a high mark by herself. This is part of the problem, face means everything, doesnt matter that the students have no idea or the teachers cannot teach as long as they appear to be smart but it destroys the good ones as they cannot learn. Where are all the good schools in Thailand.

[CharlieH]

Might be better here....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/189-primary-secondary-education/

[krisb]

This is probably the best. Yinglucks kid goes there.

http://www.harrowschool.ac.th/

[bkk_mike]

I have to admit I was generally happy with the Regents in Bangkok. Although we're in the UK now.

But International schools aren't cheap...

[BudRight]

The best Thai schools are probably not in Thailand

[wym]

Top tier: Patana/NIST/ISB/Harrow/Shrewsbury

Many call themselves international schools but aren't really.

I recently posted some criteria to help you judge quality on your own if you can't afford the top ones:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/703705-half-children-encounters-with-thaisschools/?p=7427051

[farang000999]

how old is she? why not go back to Australia?

[lucjoker]

all depends if the kid is going to stay here or will go back to england (or where ever) later.

If the kid stays here ,the only place where it can learn to write and read and speak thai language is in a simple

school next to a wat ,Here they start writing thai alfabet and english alfabet from the age of 3 !

When they are 6 year old they can write quite good.(english and thai) The english speaking you have to learn them yourself ,

just speak only english in the house is fine .

In a private school they will never (never) learn to write and read thai .These schools are good to prepare them to a live in england.

Imagine your child looking for a job here and can speak thai but not read and write it ?

Later when they can write read and speak fluently thai and english (and preferbly also 2 other languages like mandarin and russian ) they

will be on the top of any business .Only english speaking will be a handicapt in a wheelchair ,you can move but no good for business .

(unless your father's name is Hilton or ......you know what i mean.)

Dont react if you dont have children in a school over here,plz.

[seajae]

how old is she? why not go back to Australia?

She is 14, wife cant leave due to her position in her company and to be honest I dont really want to live back in oz full time. Have looked at having her live with friends /family there but she doesnt want to go by herself which is understandable. We have family in Bangkok if she wants to go there but were hoping to find a school locally, probably a long shot but we were hopeful. Until you really start looking you dont realize how bad it is. There is a new international school being built just around the corner from us but until it is up and running we wont know what it is like.

[wym]

In a private school they will never (never) learn to write and read thai .These schools are good to prepare them to a live in england.

<deleted>, thousands of private schools here don't have any foreign students only Thai, and even the IP/EP sections produce graduates perfectly literate in their native language.

Whether their English is any good or not, or they're actually well educated overall or not is an entirely different subject.

[wym]

This is probably the best. Yinglucks kid goes there.

http://www.harrowschool.ac.th/

As usual, among-Thai word of mouth reputation and status doesn't correspond with objective reality.

And with the brutal travel conditions, location is often a very important factor.

NIST and Patana are in my not just opinion but pretty extensive experience the best of the best, between them would come down to finer level factors of curriculum, arts vs sports facilities etc.

But Harrow, along with Shrewsbury and ISB are all excellent schools, those five are all much better than most governments schools back home and even on par with many good private ones there as well.

[homsiam]

My daughter get a master degree in Kon kaen to be biologist/farmacy.But if you hawe the money get here in a school in Bangkok.I lived before near Surat and there no school near there good enouff to get a master degree

[Skytrain2hell]

My kids go to the American School of Bangkok (ASB), and the quality of teachers is very high. It's relatively expensive, but worth every baht.

[Ruin]

Ruamrudee out near the airport does a great job and sends students to universities all over the world.

[krisb]

This is probably the best. Yinglucks kid goes there.

http://www.harrowschool.ac.th/

As usual, among-Thai word of mouth reputation and status doesn't correspond with objective reality.

And with the brutal travel conditions, location is often a very important factor.

NIST and Patana are in my not just opinion but pretty extensive experience the best of the best, between them would come down to finer level factors of curriculum, arts vs sports facilities etc.

But Harrow, along with Shrewsbury and ISB are all excellent schools, those five are all much better than most governments schools back home and even on par with many good private ones there as well.

I shall pass this on to Yingluck.

Any school that has a yacht team must be elite imo.

And what brutal travel conditions? Khun Jeebes does the driving not funfon.

[Thai at Heart]

This is probably the best. Yinglucks kid goes there.

http://www.harrowschool.ac.th/

As usual, among-Thai word of mouth reputation and status doesn't correspond with objective reality.

And with the brutal travel conditions, location is often a very important factor.

NIST and Patana are in my not just opinion but pretty extensive experience the best of the best, between them would come down to finer level factors of curriculum, arts vs sports facilities etc.

But Harrow, along with Shrewsbury and ISB are all excellent schools, those five are all much better than most governments schools back home and even on par with many good private ones there as well.

I shall pass this on to Yingluck.

Any school that has a yacht team must be elite imo.

And what brutal travel conditions? Khun Jeebes does the driving not funfon.

They are good schools? Are they as good as their namesake in the UK?

How much better are they than schools of the same price in the UK or other countries?

Friends of mine have kids there. I came back to the UK.

[thailiketoo]

As usual, among-Thai word of mouth reputation and status doesn't correspond with objective reality.

And with the brutal travel conditions, location is often a very important factor.

NIST and Patana are in my not just opinion but pretty extensive experience the best of the best, between them would come down to finer level factors of curriculum, arts vs sports facilities etc.

But Harrow, along with Shrewsbury and ISB are all excellent schools, those five are all much better than most governments schools back home and even on par with many good private ones there as well.

I shall pass this on to Yingluck.

Any school that has a yacht team must be elite imo.

And what brutal travel conditions? Khun Jeebes does the driving not funfon.

They are good schools? Are they as good as their namesake in the UK?

How much better are they than schools of the same price in the UK or other countries?

Friends of mine have kids there. I came back to the UK.

Do they have a sailing team in the UK? I'd go where they sail. After all priorities are priorities.

[Thai at Heart]

As usual, among-Thai word of mouth reputation and status doesn't correspond with objective reality.

And with the brutal travel conditions, location is often a very important factor.

NIST and Patana are in my not just opinion but pretty extensive experience the best of the best, between them would come down to finer level factors of curriculum, arts vs sports facilities etc.

But Harrow, along with Shrewsbury and ISB are all excellent schools, those five are all much better than most governments schools back home and even on par with many good private ones there as well.

I shall pass this on to Yingluck.

Any school that has a yacht team must be elite imo.

And what brutal travel conditions? Khun Jeebes does the driving not funfon.

They are good schools? Are they as good as their namesake in the UK?

How much better are they than schools of the same price in the UK or other countries?

Friends of mine have kids there. I came back to the UK.

Do they have a sailing team in the UK? I'd go where they sail. After all priorities are priorities.

You don't need to sail on school in the uk.

Harrow has a rowing team, not sure about sailing. Maybe. My old place had polo and fives. So be it. My kids are in sports teams and have all their hobbies covered already in the uk.

I am not convinced they are that much better than the schools equivalently priced schools in the uk,oz and nz and they aren't cheap. It has suited business to create these schools, but in comparison with their namesakes in the uk they are a poor imitation.

[thailiketoo]

I shall pass this on to Yingluck.

Any school that has a yacht team must be elite imo.

And what brutal travel conditions? Khun Jeebes does the driving not funfon.

They are good schools? Are they as good as their namesake in the UK?

How much better are they than schools of the same price in the UK or other countries?

Friends of mine have kids there. I came back to the UK.

Do they have a sailing team in the UK? I'd go where they sail. After all priorities are priorities.

You don't need to sail on school in the uk.

Harrow has a rowing team, not sure about sailing. Maybe. My old place had polo and fives. So be it. My kids are in sports teams and have all their hobbies covered already in the uk.

I am not convinced they are that much better than the schools equivalently priced schools in the uk,oz and nz and they aren't cheap. It has suited business to create these schools, but in comparison with their namesakes in the uk they are a poor imitation.

Rowing is better for the kids in the UK. Sailing requires a lot of critical skills. Rowing only one guy has to think and shout, "stroke, stroke, stroke."

[smileydude]

The best Thai schools are probably not in Thailand

Jokes aside this is not necessarily true.

Bangkok Patana, a UK curriculum school in Bangkok prides itself on its students achieving much higher IGCSE and IB scores then the average student in the UK. Almost all of their staff are from either the UK, Australia, Canada and several other commonwealth nations and many have degrees from Oxford, Cambridge and other top schools in the UK. They are also highly paid which reflects in the arm and leg/kidney-sacrificing tuition costs.

For international schools in Thailand references can be checked out here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/expateducation/7763989/Expat-guide-to-Thailand-schools.html

For thai schools its pretty well-known that the best is:

Triam Udom Suksa School

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triam_Udom_Suksa_School

100,000 student take tests vying for just 1000 placements each year.

Mahidol Anusorn comes a close second with Suan Kularb on its heels at third.

Unfortunately most of the best schools both thai and international are located in Bangkok so in your case that might not be feasible unless you consider boarding school options.

[wym]

And what brutal travel conditions? Khun Jeebes does the driving not funfon.

Think of the kids - many with a bad commute have to leave by 5am and don't get back until 2-3 hours after school's done, with ECAs competitions or performances can mean 8-9pm.

Lots of parents at school's I've taught at buy a condo in the affiliated condo next door, don't live in it themselves full-time, just use it for the kids and their caretakers' convenience.

Many many international schools are actually founded for that purpose, foundation of strategies to sell real estate.

They are good schools? Are they as good as their namesake in the UK?

How much better are they than schools of the same price in the UK or other countries?

Yes those top few are excellent. For sure better than most free government schools back home, and light years better than the lesser schools here.

But not as good as the schools in the UK they franchise the name from, after all they can't afford to be quite as selective of their student population, and that's always a huge factor.

Much better to bring the kids home IMO unless the 800K per student is chump change to you AND you want them to have the international culture.

Can't discount the awful youth popular culture back there too, if you're opposed to shallow sex drugs rock 'n roll, disregard for elders' opinions etc.

Pro's and con's. . .

[djhotsox]

They are good schools? Are they as good as their namesake in the UK?

How much better are they than schools of the same price in the UK or other countries?

Yes those top few are excellent. For sure better than most free government schools back home, and light years better than the lesser schools here.

But not as good as the schools in the UK they franchise the name from, after all they can't afford to be quite as selective of their student population, and that's always a huge factor.

Much better to bring the kids home IMO unless the 800K per student is chump change to you AND you want them to have the international culture.

Can't discount the awful youth popular culture back there too, if you're opposed to shallow sex drugs rock 'n roll, disregard for elders' opinions etc.

Pro's and con's. . .

From personal experience:

My son is in his 3rd year at Harrow in Bangkok. I am impressed by the school and don't have a single complaint. I would easily recommend this school to anyone.

We originally chose Harrow because the first year my son attended he was a full time boarding student as I was not yet living in Bangkok and there are not many quality international schools that offer full time boarding as well. Now that I live in Bangkok (single parent) my son lives with me and is home every day after school via the door to door bus service (Montri).

(You will likely never run into, come across or even see from a distance Yingluck, her child or any Thaksin for that matter unless you are hanging around the elementary classrooms. As far as I know her child is treated exactly the same as any other child at that school. The ONLY times I have even heard of the connection between Thaksin and Harrow is twice on TV, one posters comment on this forum and the other a posting on a forum about the whistle blowing incident? So pay no attention to rubbish like that.)

Now that I have a better idea regarding schools and education in Bangkok having lived it for the past 3 years, the other top schools that come to mind are (and in no particular order), NIST, ISB, Bangkok Patana and Shrewsbury. Those would be the top 5 IMO.

Things to consider when making your choice would be travel time to/from, is boarding required, full-time or part-time, and extra curricular activities or other programs of interest that each school may offer.

Are they as good as their UK counterparts? Well, Harrow UK is an all boys school as far as I know, so that creates some immediate and obvious differences good and/or bad but as far as the "education" side of it goes, for any of these schools, well, no. But then again, Thailand isn't the UK is it? Nor is it the USA, Canada, Australia or any other first world country where a proper education (capable of getting you into a proper College afterwards) is free for all children. Those private institutions have to bring something "extra" to the table or why would you send your child there as opposed to the public school?

That being said, if I were to rank all schools, I would put those top 5 international schools here in between the public school system and the private school system of places like the UK. So Harrow BKK not as good as Harrow UK but better than UK public schools. IMO

Hope this helps.

[Thai at Heart]

And what brutal travel conditions? Khun Jeebes does the driving not funfon.

Think of the kids - many with a bad commute have to leave by 5am and don't get back until 2-3 hours after school's done, with ECAs competitions or performances can mean 8-9pm.

Lots of parents at school's I've taught at buy a condo in the affiliated condo next door, don't live in it themselves full-time, just use it for the kids and their caretakers' convenience.

Many many international schools are actually founded for that purpose, foundation of strategies to sell real estate.

They are good schools? Are they as good as their namesake in the UK?

How much better are they than schools of the same price in the UK or other countries?

Yes those top few are excellent. For sure better than most free government schools back home, and light years better than the lesser schools here.

But not as good as the schools in the UK they franchise the name from, after all they can't afford to be quite as selective of their student population, and that's always a huge factor.

Much better to bring the kids home IMO unless the 800K per student is chump change to you AND you want them to have the international culture.

Can't discount the awful youth popular culture back there too, if you're opposed to shallow sex drugs rock 'n roll, disregard for elders' opinions etc.

Pro's and con's. . .

Better than most. Well compare that with the fact that state schools in the uk are free and there are dozens of private schools that are less expensive.

I have been told that essentially only ISB replicates the excellence of British public school because it has a very tough entry exam.

I think they are grossly overrated and aside from anything the fact that they have barely any competitive sport is disappointing. They are pricey and exclusive, that is it. The international culture is excellent, but state school in the uk provides on many ways a better attitude, the private and public school system in the uk betters international overseas by a long way.

To make spoilt kid to make their own beds and sweep the floor was very character forming I believe. Not too much of that going on at harrow in bangkok.

Orando Laborando

[wym]

Yes go along in full with both the last two posts, very accurate.

But Patana and NIST are certainly not inferior to ISB in any way academically, getting to pretty fine distinctions within those top five, e.g. sport and expertise in music/art/drama.

And let's not forget that no matter how fine the school, whether or not that will actually lead to extraordinary results is in the end up to the student. All we're doing as parents is improving the odds, in some cases all money down the drain and in others (very few) they would be superstars no matter where they went to school.

[seajae]

thanks everyone, at least now we have something to work with, appreciate the help.

[Scott]

Some posts with political commentary have been removed along with replies. Also posts with messed up quotes.

[djhotsox]

And what brutal travel conditions? Khun Jeebes does the driving not funfon.

Think of the kids - many with a bad commute have to leave by 5am and don't get back until 2-3 hours after school's done, with ECAs competitions or performances can mean 8-9pm.

Lots of parents at school's I've taught at buy a condo in the affiliated condo next door, don't live in it themselves full-time, just use it for the kids and their caretakers' convenience.

Many many international schools are actually founded for that purpose, foundation of strategies to sell real estate.

They are good schools? Are they as good as their namesake in the UK?

How much better are they than schools of the same price in the UK or other countries?

Yes those top few are excellent. For sure better than most free government schools back home, and light years better than the lesser schools here.

But not as good as the schools in the UK they franchise the name from, after all they can't afford to be quite as selective of their student population, and that's always a huge factor.

Much better to bring the kids home IMO unless the 800K per student is chump change to you AND you want them to have the international culture.

Can't discount the awful youth popular culture back there too, if you're opposed to shallow sex drugs rock 'n roll, disregard for elders' opinions etc.

Pro's and con's. . .

Better than most. Well compare that with the fact that state schools in the uk are free and there are dozens of private schools that are less expensive.

I have been told that essentially only ISB replicates the excellence of British public school because it has a very tough entry exam.

I think they are grossly overrated and aside from anything the fact that they have barely any competitive sport is disappointing. They are pricey and exclusive, that is it. The international culture is excellent, but state school in the uk provides on many ways a better attitude, the private and public school system in the uk betters international overseas by a long way.

To make spoilt kid to make their own beds and sweep the floor was very character forming I believe. Not too much of that going on at harrow in bangkok.

Orando Laborando

I didn't realise that it was the school's responsibility (any school for that matter) to ensure that students "make their own beds and sweep the floors"?!

Do you relinquish all of your parental responsibilities to to the school/education system and expect them to churn out a good little citizen at the end of it all? If your child makes his bed at home daily it is more than likely he will do so when living away from home. How well have you taught him/her?

I'm curious, you say "to make spoilt kid..." , apart from being grammatically incorrect, I get the feeling that you are implying that every kid who goes to Harrow is spoiled? How many children do you know at Harrow? And how do you know how many make their beds and how many do not?

When my son was a boarding student at Harrow he made his own bed. Now living at home he still makes his own bed and get this.....he even presses his own dress shirts/uniform! (He does a better job at pressing than I do.)

I am Canadian and went through that education system. My mother taught high school Calculus and Trig until she retired. My grandfather was director of the public school board when he was around. So perhaps I can not speak for the UK but without a doubt the education that my son receives from Harrow BKK is definitely better than what he would receive in Canada. As I agreed to previously, not as good as Harrow UK.

And finally, my son plays on two rugby teams in BKK, one school team, one club team.

So, I know you've "been told", but perhaps maybe you should not believe everything you hear?

I am curious to hear what you are basing your opinion on?

[djhotsox]

Yes go along in full with both the last two posts, very accurate.

But Patana and NIST are certainly not inferior to ISB in any way academically, getting to pretty fine distinctions within those top five, e.g. sport and expertise in music/art/drama.

And let's not forget that no matter how fine the school, whether or not that will actually lead to extraordinary results is in the end up to the student. All we're doing as parents is improving the odds, in some cases all money down the drain and in others (very few) they would be superstars no matter where they went to school.

Agreed. Well said.

[culicine]

how old is she? why not go back to Australia?

She is 14, wife cant leave due to her position in her company and to be honest I dont really want to live back in oz full time. Have looked at having her live with friends /family there but she doesnt want to go by herself which is understandable. We have family in Bangkok if she wants to go there but were hoping to find a school locally, probably a long shot but we were hopeful. Until you really start looking you dont realize how bad it is. There is a new international school being built just around the corner from us but until it is up and running we wont know what it is like.

There's no point studying in an International school here if she wants to be a doctor in Thailand. I know of no medical schools who offer medical degrees here in english. I work in an EP, and we have had about 6 or 7 students get accepted into medicine in the last couple of years. There are students with a GPA of 4 or very close to it, and also studied math/science outside school hours (in Thai). A few other excellent students left my school and went to schools such as Triam Udom Suksa - they also got into medicine (though they complained about that school as it was basically entrance exam practice for 3 years). If she wants to study medicine back in the West, then she will definitely need to be in a good international school.

[wym]

There's no point studying in an International school here if she wants to be a doctor in Thailand.

------------

If she wants to study medicine back in the West, then she will definitely need to be in a good international school.

Note that she may study back in the west and then return to practice in Thailand.

Many very successful doctors here have done just that.

Note also it's entirely possible to attend an International School and also keep your Thai up to speed well enough to attend tertiary here, especially in a field where so much of the source material will be in English anyway.