International Schools in Thailand - An Inside Look

[soihok]

What curriculum is the Krabi International School implementing?

[soihok]

British Curriculum.

Looks good.

[soihok]

I was at first a bit apprehensive about placing my daughter in a school offering IB curriculum, after the first year being involved with the school I am happy I did.

[MrJohnson]

I was at first a bit apprehensive about placing my daughter in a school offering IB curriculum, after the first year being involved with the school I am happy I did.

Glad to hear that. I am a huge fan of the IB system. Our kids have been at an IB school in BKK for the last four years and it has been fantastic.

[YankeeDog]

As a retired teacher just in the process of relocating to the Bangkok area, is there a link to an actual job fair being held here in September/October? I've got two education degrees, plus 4 years of experience in teaching at the Graduate Level in the states, so I'm thinking I wouldn't need a TEFL certificate. Are they adverse to hiring someone over 60 at a mid-tier school? SO, three questions: Job fair, Ageism, and TEFL.

[JoopJoop]

Please IntEdSource,

I'm living between Don Mueang and Chatuchak. I note that St Stephens and St Johns are not on your list. Can you advise me re your thoughts on these two schools and also St Andrews Samakee (Nonthaburi).

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

JJ.

[ExpatOilWorker]

IntEdSource,

First of all great you are back again and thanks a lot for taking your time to review and answer individual questions. In a way you will probably have a big impact on my daughters education (and my wallet), as I have raised the bar for her education through the information provided here.

My daughter is 1 year now and most kindergarten seem to accepts kids from the age of 18 months. I am living in the Chitlom area, which unfortunately is miles away from any of the International Schools in your original list, except Ruamrudee International School of course.

Do you have any experience with Mulberry House School? Would that be considered a tier 2 or 3 school and worth considering as a starting point?

http://www.mulberryhousepreschool.com

Same question for Churairatana Kindergarten? Good entry point from the age 2-4 years?

Although not an International School, is Mater Dei School at Chitlom a good school?

It seems to rate very high among the Thais as I guess some royalty and politicians have attended this school.

Lastly, are the registration fees somewhat negotiable or are you expected to drop 100,000+ baht from day one?

[ExpatOilWorker]

IntEdSource,

First of all great you are back again and thanks a lot for taking your time to review and answer individual questions. In a way you will probably have a big impact on my daughters education (and my wallet), as I have raised the bar for her education through the information provided here.

My daughter is 1 year now and most kindergarten seem to accepts kids from the age of 18 months. I am living in the Chitlom area, which unfortunately is miles away from any of the International Schools in your original list, except Ruamrudee International School of course.

Do you have any experience with Mulberry House School? Would that be considered a tier 2 or 3 school and worth considering as a starting point?

http://www.mulberryhousepreschool.com

Same question for Churairatana Kindergarten? Good entry point from the age 2-4 years?

Although not an International School, is Mater Dei School at Chitlom a good school?

It seems to rate very high among the Thais as I guess some royalty and politicians have attended this school.

Lastly, are the registration fees somewhat negotiable or are you expected to drop 100,000+ baht from day one?

I wrongly assumed that Ruamrudee International School was located at Soi Ruamrudee. My bad.

[Scott]

A post with a direct link to a commercial site has been removed.

[sarakitc]

Ramblings with only cursory insight and knowledge of the schools mentioned... This is evident by the gist of the article which offers only basic information easily obtained from the schools’ websites. To assess the quality of education on the fees charged, and the facilities provided is ludicrous; quality should be assessed on the quality of the instructors and the achievement of the students who attended the school. Our School just celebrated our 70th anniversary, so is the first school to provide English-language tuition to students in Thailand. It offers an affordable US-curricular education to the local Thai populace. The text books are those being used in their affiliated schools in the US. There is no mention of the fact that at Seventh-Day Adventist School, most of the instructors are posted from overseas from the school’s network which included a number of institutions in the US. Though they may not all be native-English speakers, we can attest, from our four collective experience of over 200 years, as against 7 years from the anonymous writer, that they had provided quality education to the students who are now or have been industry leaders or excelled in their respective field of employment. Not to mention, when we took the PSAT nearly 50 years ago, a large number of us were in the top 1% in the test for English, and likewise for the math scores. The writer, if he wishes, can meet us for an exchange of ideas, which may help to provide him with some enlightenment on his misconceptions.

[TravelerEastWest]

Sarakitc,

​Your post is a little strange - the OP took the time to help parents and has more experience as a teacher than you wrote.

From your post it appears that you have no teaching experience and English is not your first language - although I could be wrong maybe you and your friends are native speakers of English and have 200 years of teaching experience?

Thanks again to the OP for taking the time to help parents (I have two kids in an IB school).

[fletchsmile]

Yes I thought OP's posts have been very useful. He's presented facts as well as opinions. Both are welcome. Clearly, coherently and intelligently written.

Maybe the info is available on websites etc, but my thanks to someone who's took the time to bring quite a bit of it in one place in an effort to help other people.

Sarakitc

in contrast to OP's posts I'm struggling with what you've written. Still not sure of which school you're talking about. There seems a dozen or so such schools:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Seventh-day_Adventist_secondary_schools

It seems that a way that the school presents itself, a key selling point is number of years/ history.

It also seems that it is aimed at providing an "affordable US-curricular education to the local Thai populace" which for me at least is not really what I'd consider international?

Cheers

Fletch

[Teacher in Thailand]

Thank you for this information, it is very useful.

Please can I ask what salary you would expect to get in Thailand as a teaching staff member with 8 years experience? How would this increase if they had a responsibility and were a member of the leadership team of the school?

My partner is moving to Thailand and I would like to check what salary to expect so that we know whether we can afford this move. It would be a high mid-tier or high-tier international school I imagine.

Thank you for your help!

[missapa]

Thanks for your very interesting contribution.

I noticed you didn't mention the NSIS (New Sathorn International School). Have you heard anything about it ? Do you think it would be worth considering (for 2 teenagers)

Is it 1st, 2nd or 3rd tier ? A school for high achievers or just a "business" ?

(Convenient location for me)

[fletchsmile]

Thanks for your very interesting contribution.

I noticed you didn't mention the NSIS (New Sathorn International School). Have you heard anything about it ? Do you think it would be worth considering (for 2 teenagers)

Is it 1st, 2nd or 3rd tier ? A school for high achievers or just a "business" ?

(Convenient location for me)

We sent our 2 daughters there a few years back, and it was their first school. Convenient location was also important to us. Convenience and location can make a big difference to quality of life.

We found it to be a very friendly school with a pleasant environment. Small enough also for a friendly atmosphere which you felt you could just go direct and talk to whoever you wanted. They would also cater well to your kids personal needs and treat you more like individuals/ individual families. So we never really felt it was being run like a business.

It's facilities are more limited than the top tier International schools. No doubt that's why Harrow moved on once they grew bigger. NSIS is where the old Harrow used to be. But they have the basics of playground, swimming pool, gym etc just not as big. The classroom facilities are fine though.

After sending our kids there for a while we were happy with it. So the plan was to send the kids there at primary school and then move them to a 1st/ 2nd tier school at secondary school / 11/12 years onwards. It was fine as a primary school.

Then we left Thailand for a year, and on return I made the mistake of switching to one of the "top" schools - in hindsight I'd classify it's a 2nd tier school. I didn't want to keep moving the kids, and to put them back at NSIS for a couple of years and then move at secondary school level again. So we went straight for the switch on returning. In hindsight that was a mistake. NSIS would have been adequate and probably better for our family than where they are now. Now is indeed very business orientated, where they don't really listen to your own children's needs, just fit them into their systems and making money from you.

So although maybe 3rd Tier, I'd say worth considering. It's mainly an American curriculum though.

Cheers

Fletch

[Kailung]

On 2/15/2015 at 8:13 AM, StefanBBK said:

I wish we could afford this. We have two children and simply can't spend that much.

Given that the kids are half Thai, I also see great benefit in bilingual schools, as there is more focus on Thai culture and language. How many of the international schools teach Thai reading and writing? Any thoughts on Sarasas?

I think most of them will teach Thai and if I am international schools have to teach Thai citizens Thai language as if not it would be against Thai law.

There are cheaper international schools, but my experience is cheaper ones are really bad.

If your children are really into studying and can also perform well in exams they should be able to obtain full scholarships, which are given in most of the top end international schools in thailand. if nothing suits u you could home school them while they attend a thai school.

[MikeyIdea]

On 9/15/2015 at 11:56 AM, JoopJoop said:

Please IntEdSource,

I'm living between Don Mueang and Chatuchak. I note that St Stephens and St Johns are not on your list. Can you advise me re your thoughts on these two schools and also St Andrews Samakee (Nonthaburi).

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

JJ.

 

St. John's is still good I think, and it is cheap too now

 

St John's International school was founded in 1991. It's part of the St. John's group of school which has been in education since 1961. They know what they are doing

 

I remember when the buildings were brand new and the school was one of the most expensive in Thailand right up there with Bangkok Patana and UN School on Sukhumvit Soi 15. The St. John's schools had a very good reputation really. St. John's International school had an excellent reputation, very good indeed but I remember frowning a bit on it because it was new in 1991  

 

Then came the Polytechnic problems in the mid to end 90's I think it was and reputation dropped but that is rubbish in my opinion. St. John's Polytechnic has always been a totally separate school and it moved away from the campus over 15 years ago I think it was. I am amazed that some Thai's still think it affects St. John's International school reputation today

 

The campus was originally built when St. John's was top class and it was beautiful back then, complete with 25 meter swimming pool and all. The buildings are and look old now, the school shows its age a bit but I can't see that it matters much in my opinion

 

Something happened in 2011-2012 when the old head master left, I don't exactly know, I heard that several teachers also left at the same time.

 

Prices have dropped a lot. Used to be close to 500K per year in 2010 2011, it is down to 300K now if pay the year up front for the 10% discount. Not only foreign teachers for that price of course but I am OK with that, the school has a long tradition as a good school and I believe they are doing what they can to keep it up also when they no longer only have western teachers employed. The school has grade 1 to grade 12 of course and what I really like with it is that there are only approx 10 students in each class now. They follow the Cambridge curriculum with GCSE exams possible

 

I just checked them up - I will move my daughter there for grade 7 next year. And I damn myself for paying up front for the whole year in a not so good bilingual school now when I can afford St. John's

 

I'll try to find more info over the next few months, I am grateful for feedback from others about St. John's International school

 

 

[MikeyIdea]

On 10/11/2015 at 3:27 PM, ExpatOilWorker said:

I wrongly assumed that Ruamrudee International School was located at Soi Ruamrudee. My bad.

 

It was until 25 years ago, a friend of mine who was teaching there at that time couldn't stop ranting about how it messed up his life when they moved  

[MikeyIdea]

Thank you IntEdSource for an excellent series of posts. You have spent a lot of time compiling this information and you take your time when you answer. Much appreciated

 

I think you are spot on with your selection of top-tier and mid-tier schools

 

IntEdSource, I broaden the scope of the thread a bit if you don't mind and post my experience of Bilingual schools

I have mixed feelings about bilingual schools. Yes, good quality bilingual schools do employ good teachers who generally have more teaching experience and teach better than teachers teaching at low end international schools but there is a big but.

 

A Thai bilingual school must follow the Thai curriculum. My daughter studies at a "good" bilingual school in Bangkok and yes, the teachers are experienced, professional and good, they really are, but I have seen my daughter first study Thai history, Thai social studies, Thai this and Thai that in Thai and then a couple of weeks later study a shorter version of exactly the same Thai history, Thai social studies, Thai this and Thai that in English for 6 years now and it bores me. It doesn't make sense

 

I suppose I still agree with one member who posted that in his opinion, it's better to choose a good bilingual school than a lower end international school but frankly, some aspects of Thai bilingual schools really bore me though. They really are Thai schools teaching Thai content

 

 

[A Lurker]

On 21/08/2016 at 9:24 AM, MikeyIdea said:

They really are Thai schools teaching Thai content

 

 

Agree. This was the main reason I took my son out and now send him to an International school. There were too many unnecessary fluff subjects and did not want to learn Chinese (hands full with two languages without putting a third in the mix).  I also found that the Thai teachers bought with them some bad habits acquired from the Thai teaching system. It was also Thai run which initially I didn't see as a problem but became quickly clear was riddled with the type of problems/attitudes you find at regular Thai schools sorry to say.

 

I also feel that bilingual schools, by their nature, are trying to do too much by incorporating two languages and two systems making it hard to master anything. So even though the school we tried was crappy all round I think you would run into this same problem at other bilingual schools also.

 

It's a difficult decision. I felt we had to choose one dominant language and one secondary language. I chose English at an International school because I can get help at home and because I understand how Western school systems work.

 

[TrueScot]

Very informative thread. Thanks IntEdSource.

 

The information presented for the International Schools is great. But I also see many references to "good bilingual schools ", which schools are these? no one seems to mention them by name.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.  

[edgarfriendly]

St johns shut down permanently June 2017

 

next best / updates for '18?

 

 

[MikeyIdea]

On ‎4‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 5:34 PM, edgarfriendly said:

St johns shut down permanently June 2017

 

next best / updates for '18?

  Yes,

 

I moved my daughter to MISB, Indian British curriculum Cambridge and EDExcel certified (silver rating) school on Petchburi Soi 38. She's been there for a year now and I can confirm good education indeed. 80% of the students are Indian / Pakistanis, many of the Indians are born in Thailand. We must accept that this is an Indian school, anyone prone to complaining about Indian pronunciation / grammar or disregarding the normal Asian rules, stay away please

 

Price is less than 250,000 baht per year and the school is always full so it's probably a bit late to get a seat for August 2018. I like the school a lot, my daughter is happy there and thriving, I like the teachers (mostly Indians, some Filipinos and Thai), the parents are nice, the kids are nice. The school feels like a family. All is obviously Asian which I like after 27 years here. I may have had a different opinion 20 years ago but certainly not now, I feel lucky

 

Michael

[OldSiamHand]

3 hours ago, MikeyIdea said:

  Yes,

 

I moved my daughter to MISB, Indian British curriculum Cambridge and EDExcel certified (silver rating) school on Petchburi Soi 38. She's been there for a year now and I can confirm good education indeed. 80% of the students are Indian / Pakistanis, many of the Indians are born in Thailand. We must accept that this is an Indian school, anyone prone to complaining about Indian pronunciation / grammar or disregarding the normal Asian rules, stay away please

 

Price is less than 250,000 baht per year and the school is always full so it's probably a bit late to get a seat for August 2018. I like the school a lot, my daughter is happy there and thriving, I like the teachers (mostly Indians, some Filipinos and Thai), the parents are nice, the kids are nice. The school feels like a family. All is obviously Asian which I like after 27 years here. I may have had a different opinion 20 years ago but certainly not now, I feel lucky

 

Michael

That is so cheap.  Do they teach the Thai or UK curriculum?  It appears to have some religious origins/backing, do you notice this in the teaching?  How about the facilities?  My kid is at Patana and it's way more expensive but the facilities are excellent as are the teachers.  I like the fact that it is run as a foundation.  Is MISB run as a foundation or for-profit?

[MikeyIdea]

MISB is different in every aspect but also because every grade, every class of the school is always full before the new academic year starts so only chance to get in is to come earlier in the year and have a bit of luck => reserve the seat of a student that is leaving

 

Compare with Bangkok Patana? It really is impossible to compare the two. Bangkok Patana is a traditional western style International school while MISB doesn't even want to be one. MISB wants to be an Indian/Asian school providing good education for a decent price, mainly for the many Thai-born Indians but it is also clear that everybody are sincerely welcome. Facilities: Bangkok Patana cost how much? Totally 800,000 bt per year? MISB cost less than 250,000 bt per year. How can we compare that? Bangkok Patana has excellent facilities all over, MISB's facilities are a bit old and it feels a bit small because every class is full and they are not fancy but they are adequate, it's IMO good enough and they're right on Petchburi 38/Sukhumvit 39 while most other international schools are much further out where land is much cheaper. I'll put it like this: I think that MISB is doing such a good job at delivering good education for a very good price that anyone who complains on their facilities should happily shut up or leave and pay 3 times as much somewhere else

 

I don't see it as they have religious backing as such, the word "backing" feels wrong. The school exist because of the initiative of His Holiness Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji (spiritual leader of the Namdhari fold) to support the Namdhari in Bangkok. It's an Asian school so respect and religion is important but I hesitate to put the word religion in because westerners would probably misunderstand. It's not religion the Christian way but rather the Mahatma Gandhi way with absolute respect for other religions. There are prayers, pray for what you believe in or not at all if you don't want to but respect the moment. No religion has been taught the 14 months my daughter has been there. It's very different from for instance Grace International school, their vision statement from their website gives me goose pimples - "VISION: Bangkok Grace International School seeks to guide students to faith in Jesus Christ. We envision to be an active prime mover in the delivery of quality education to prepare and develop students of genuine faith and integrity to serve God in different capacities". MISB is not like that at all but religion/whatever you believe in/respect/morality is still important. Respect/morality is more important in MISB than in most western schools

 

I have no idea if MISB is formally run as a foundation or for-profit, probably foundation. There can be no profit for that price

 

More in no particular order: Teacher parent communication is easy, I have the email of nearly all my daughters teachers, 3 scheduled teacher parent days per year and no problem to see teachers more often when I want that, nothing of the Thai "keep parents away from the school" style what-so-ever, British curriculum and clearly more of a British style with formal homework that must be handed in and points are counted toward the final grade, don't hand in and you will get zero points and the school is audited so this rule is strictly followed, homework mostly given several days in advance (not much get today for tomorrow), serious about preparing students for the iGCSE, A levels and university and they are doing a good job with it too, University of Cambridge International Examinations, EDExcel approved centre, Education Development Trust (EDT, formerly CfBT) International Schools Quality Award at Silver Level, kindergarten to A levels, the school is more strict than a Thai school of course but still the Asian way (can ask for a week's break mid term for a holiday to the Canary Islands but education should not suffer, unlike Northern European where you'd get "the bad parent stamp" and a lecture about the duty to make sure your children go to school), standard Asian values must be followed and the school would not accept repeated breaches, no holding hands or obvious shows of affection like hugging or kissing, school uniform rules more strict than in Thai schools but not overly so, school communication is a bit slow at times (get today answer tomorrow) and admin is bad at answering emails sometimes (they seem a bit overstretched), strictly vegetarian school, no meat allowed on the premises although the majority of the students seem to prefer meat and don't like the rule, teachers do have an Indian accent of course and parents and students who can't happily accept that without complaining should choose another school, teachers are generally experienced and good, school acts promptly on complaints (new ICT teacher received several complaints and he was gone the next term, well done MISB), must teach Thai language 5 hours a week I think it is as it is a Thai International school (MoE rule), only Chinese, Hindi, Urdu foreign language to choose from, PE swimming classes gender segregated of course, Indians are not the best at sports, even the parent activity during the sports day gender separated :), the school is quite a bit like a big family actually, quite a few of the admin staff went there themselves, the principal Dominic Sir is cool :)

 

It's definitely a predominantly Indian school and I suppose it is not for westerners coming straight out of Europe, parents and students must accept the rules of the school or leave at the end of the academic year and you won't get the admission fee back. Accept this and that facilitates are not fancy but adequate and it is a bl**dy good school with a family feel for less than half of what the competitors charge. My half-Thai daughter is happy there and Daddy is clearly happy with her academic progress

 

Wow, that was a long post

Michael

 

[George Bowman]

This has been an interesting and informative thread. Here is my input. After many years in Thailand, I retired from teaching at a large international school in Bangkok. When I started there were just a handful of international schools. They were established to provide for expat children and it wasn’t unusual to see a classroom full of brown and blonde hair students.

 

Typically it was British and American expats wanting these schools. Parents wanted a learning environment for their children much like what was in their respective countries. Additionally, licensed teachers that came to work at these schools, expected to receive a salary comparable to what they received back home. Fees were expensive. But the companies the expats were employed by were paying the bill.

 

Now in 2018 there are 100s of international schools with their finger in the consumer pie. A lot of these new schools are grandiose and feature sport facilities, swimming pools, modern playgrounds and a large canteen. Most of the classrooms are now filled with black haired children. Unfortunately, the market is not big enough to pay for all the qualified teachers needed but since the parents have paid the school fees  a teacher of some sort is required. 

 

However, it is easy to spot the better international schools whether they are old or new. Just ask for the salary scale for the teachers. The better schools will gladly provide this information and for good reason. It shows that they employee accredited teachers. While there are exceptions, most certified Western teachers are paid at least B100,000 per month. Plus benefits. Anything much less and the teacher is often just a baby sitter.

 

The naysayers will often say a teaching degree does not guarantee success for the students. This is true, but it does help. And keep in mind that not everyone can teach high school physics or 5-year olds how to read and write. Personally, I prefer a pilot that has been trained to fly an airplane, not someone learning on the fly.

[OldSiamHand]

On 4/18/2018 at 11:02 AM, MikeyIdea said:

 

Wow, that was a long post

Michael

 

Thank you for taking the time to give such a thorough reply.  I'd love to be able to read an insider's account of each of the international schools that is as detailed as yours. 

[BobbyL]

Great thread. 

[Amberd]

Hi All,

 

I am an Australian teacher with 5 years experience teaching here in Australia and a further 5 years experience as an Education Support Officer - working with students who have behaviour issues, intellectual and physical disabilities. I am looking at moving to Thailand next year to hopefully teach in an International School. 

My question is what are the best schools (in Bangkok) to apply to (including pay rates, perks etc)? I would need tuition for my son who will be 16 at the time of moving. 

Also, what would I need to apply? Here we need to address certain selection criteria (usually 5 at about one page each) and a resume with referees included. 

Is it best to sign up to Search Associates or ISS in order to be offered a position? Or, is it easy to apply directly?

I look forward to your responses.

Thanks.