cost of boarding school in Thailand

[Clive]

Good evening.
I am after some advice. My son aged 12 has been living in Thailand with his mother for 3 months and their fighting like cat and dog and she's beating him up. He would really like to stay in Thailand and I was wondering if a boarding school might be an option.
I am not sure what the costs involved might be and what age children in Thailand might   go to boarding school?
If anyone can offer some advice I would really appreciate this.
Thank you so much....clive 

[MikeyIdea]

There are boarding schools starting from grade 1 onwards.

 

Prices vary hugely but doesn't have to be expensive actually. Interkids Minburi Campus IBS 3 bilingual school in the outskirts of Bangkok has boarding and total cost including boarding is less than 100,000 baht per year. The sky is the limit, there are international schools that will set you back over a million baht per year including boarding too

 

A friend of mine checked Interkids 4-5  years ago and it was clearly OK. Big nice campus, mix of Thai, western and Philippine teachers. He also commented that it was the Philippine teachers who were running the campus and not the Thai's, that is good as the Thai's get less influence

 

Mummy hitting a 12 year old boy? I have problems at home to but there are more psychological, mummy doesn't dare to hit our 12 year old daughter. I think that she would turn her back to mummy if she did and would possibly even hit back sooner or later, not a bad idea either. 

 

I don't know where in Thailand mummy and your son lives but I think it would be a good idea to bring him there when you get here and let him have a look. If your son is 12, on your side and really wants this, then you can get what your son and you want in Juvenile court if mummy doesn't agree. The judges will listen to your son and will put pressure on mummy to accept, very likely outcome. Mummy will hardly be able to resist them

 

Good Luck

Mikey

 

Edited November 18, 2016 by MikeyIdea

[Apiwan2]

There are boarding schools starting from grade 1 onwards.
 
Prices vary hugely but doesn't have to be expensive actually. Interkids Minburi Campus IBS 3 bilingual school in the outskirts of Bangkok has boarding and total cost including boarding is less than 100,000 baht per year. The sky is the limit, there are international schools that will set you back over a million baht per year including boarding too
 
A friend of mine checked Interkids 4-5  years ago and it was clearly OK. Big nice campus, mix of Thai, western and Philippine teachers. He also commented that it was the Philippine teachers who were running the campus and not the Thai's, that is good as the Thai's get less influence
 
Mummy hitting a 12 year old boy? I have problems at home to but there are more psychological, mummy doesn't dare to hit our 12 year old daughter. I think that she would turn her back to mummy if she did and would possibly even hit back sooner or later, not a bad idea either. 
 
I don't know where in Thailand mummy and your son lives but I think it would be a good idea to bring him there when you get here and let him have a look. If your son is 12, on your side and really wants this, then you can get what your son and you want in Juvenile court if mummy doesn't agree. The judges will listen to your son and will put pressure on mummy to accept, very likely outcome. Mummy will hardly be able to resist them
 
Good Luck
Mikey
 

Mikey

Are you sure about this ?

Fees & boarding under 100K.

I got an Email stating different for this school



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[bwpage3]

Are the boarding fees included in the "Other Fees"?

[MikeyIdea]

Interkids used to be a pure bilingual school = they taught approx. 50% of the Thai curriculum in English and the students got a Thai High School certificate when finishing grade 12. They offer a second "international" path now (following the trend :)). The price that I gave is for the standard 50% English teaching Thai curriculum and Thai High School diploma

 

So, tuition has gone up a bit and is for grade 1 to 6:  (29,500+5,500)*2 + 9,000 = 79,000 baht per year.

Grade 7 to 12:  (34,500+5,500)*2 + 9,500 = 89,500 baht per year.

Boarding is separate, they don't state the price but it used to be surprisingly cheap, can't remember exactly but around 15,000 per term.

Some 110,000 baht per year including boarding for Primary, 120,000 or so for secondary now. That is a very acceptable price.

 

There will always be additional costs: First time registration 10,000 is cheap by the way, uniforms will be extra of course, Chinese may cost extra but still be obligatory :) my guess would be 2-3,000 baht per term, if any extra cost at all. They may charge a 2,000 baht or so re-test fee if student fail an exam. The standard summer camp for new students for 7,000 baht, good to take. All external tests cost extra!

 

Their "International" option: Thai teachers teaching Thai social studies, Thai history, housework, and scouting? That's obligatory subjects in the Thai curriculum so the students still get a Thai High School diploma and the iGCSE is just "on top". iGCSE on top? Ehhh, iGCSE is not easy. They do call it "intensive"!! :) It's easy to pass the Thai exams but iGCSE require minimum C in 5 scholastic subjects. That's only for high achievers who easily gets Bs in scholastic subjects for sure. They do not have Cambridge or EdExcel accreditation so their teaching practices are not audited, they use another accredited centre for the iGCSE exams, quite normal but should be considered. The last page is just a Thai adapted special package for grades 8 and 9 iGCSE preparation costing more, should be because Thai's need more English and have more to catch up to pass iGCSEs I suppose

 

You need to contact IBS 3 for exact boarding costs, I'd recommend a visit and you'll probably be quite impressed. Total cost is a bit above 100,000 baht per year nowadays but it's still very good. I am really hesitant to their "international option", it is not international! It's Thai with international put on top and that's tough, very tough. I'd like to discuss openly with the school about not joining some Thai classes at all, just go to the library and study Maths, Science - They must refuse of course because they're obligatory subjects, iGCSE is not. Boarding limits extra tutoring choices of course, the "in-house" Philippine tutoring will be good but should be at least 500-600 baht per hour, group prices less. InterKids have 3 campuses, do they have "international" at IBS 3 where boarding is?

 

Still a good option 

Michael

[MikeyIdea]

Just checked. Boarding at IBS3 has gone up quite a bit, it's up to 29,500 baht per term now

 

Grade 1 to 6:  (29,500+5,500)*2 + 9,000 + (29,500*2) = 138,000 baht per year

Grade 7 to 12:  (34,500+5,500)*2 + 9,500 + (29,500*2) = 148,500 baht per year

[Apiwan2]

Thanks mikey

To add Minburi is the secondary school,Ramkhamhaeng is junior,
Only Minburi has boarding which 2 weeks ago I asked for por 5 and M3 would be about 130K per anum each kid.
If boarding only mon to fri it’s cheaper than all time boarding.

Which for Bangkok is bloody good, there are other costs to get in the school which are minimal .

Although affordable and a good part of English taught, anyone who knows Thailand will tell you where you went to school makes a huge difference in the job market.

I will go in April to have a look round and report back.


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[MikeyIdea]

I work for a big American multi-national in Bangkok since 1997. I feel that multi-nationals really do change. HR still likes Satit and TriUdom Suksa of course but it doesn't really matter, they're high schools and University is much more important. HR likes Thammasat, Jula and Sukhothai and a few more and don't weigh Ramkhamhaeng and the Rajabhat's that much but we do have quite a few graduating from there too. It's more difficult to get selected for the interviews but interview results clearly rules over university name. And then comes work experience on top of that. The right interview results and work experience and we choose Ramkhamhaeng and Rajabhat over Thammasat any day 

 

Thai companies won't change as fast of course but I feel that EQ is becoming more and more important in the Thai world too (at the expense of tradition, a very slow process of course).

 

Personality will always rule at the end of the day, that's why I believe in bilingual schools over Thai Thai schools even though they are supposed to teach the same thing just using a different language. It's more than that. Diversity develops and is good, Philippine teachers in the good expensive bilingual schools have full Ed degrees so they have been taught to teach (unlike a native English speaker with a BA in English Literature) and they are good, it can take a couple of minutes on the phone before we realise that we're talking to a Filipina and not an American :) That's more than just good enough

 

I like the more expensive combination of qualified good Asian teachers, some western native speakers, some Thai, prepares a half Thai kid well for the world without costing over half a million baht per year. Of course a Cambridge and EdExcel accredited international school will do better on the educational front but I wouldn't want only western native English speakers for sure. That's not how the world will look when the kids finish university

Michael

[HSIKen]

Dear All, 

may i ask for your suggestion?  if my kids cannot read thai, is it still possible to be enrolled by interkids?

 

thank you

 

ken

[MikeyIdea]

Yes, should be no problem, it's a private school :) They may request that they take the support class in Thai language. Need to make sure that they get one of the high school diploma equivalents. If they don't take the iGCSE exams then they will be stuck with nothing because they won't pass the Thai high school exam

 

Michael

[HSIKen]

22 minutes ago, HSIKen said:

Dear All, 

may i ask for your suggestion?  if my kids cannot read thai, is it still possible to be enrolled by interkids?

 

thank you

 

ken

Thanks for your quick response.

 

I am thinking their final goals is taking the International Program on the Secondary Level and sit for the IGSCE exams

 

do you know any aptitude tests needed before they accepted my applications? or just a interview with kids?

 

Regards

 

Ken

[MikeyIdea]

8 minutes ago, HSIKen said:

Thanks for your quick response.

 

I am thinking their final goals is taking the International Program on the Secondary Level and sit for the IGSCE exams

 

do you know any aptitude tests needed before they accepted my applications? or just a interview with kids?

 

Regards

 

Ken

I haven't been there for several years, they used to have one of the English assessment tests (not full TOEFL of course, can't remember which one), a smaller one, they probably still do. It is not difficult for a half western kid to pass at all, the test is more to confirm if the Thai kids coming there can benefit from the education or if not, use the test results as the evidence to get the Thai parents to accept their internal support classes.

 

Michael

Edited May 2, 2018 by MikeyIdea

[Apiwan2]

Thanks for your quick response.
 
I am thinking their final goals is taking the International Program on the Secondary Level and sit for the IGSCE exams
 
do you know any aptitude tests needed before they accepted my applications? or just a interview with kids?
 
Regards
 
Ken

There is a test to see where the kid is at.
Should be no problem to pass though

Are you looking at boarding or non boarding ?

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[HSIKen]

2 hours ago, Apiwan2 said:

Are you looking at boarding or non boarding ?
 

Hello, Apiwan2

 

looking for non boarding, as they don't have much experience of communicating with foreign students, i am afraid they face too much pressure if choosing boarding school

[Apiwan2]

Hello, Apiwan2
 
looking for non boarding, as they don't have much experience of communicating with foreign students, i am afraid they face too much pressure if choosing boarding school

Then hope you live close to one of their schools.

For secondary students I believe it's only Min Buri where they can go, and traffic is always a nightmare round there.



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[HSIKen]

Hello, am i correct, after the kids completed the IGCSE, they still need to go through the AICE or AS& Alevel before going to university?

 

And they need to find another school to further the study on that? 

 

thanks

 

 

[MikeyIdea]

Either another school or distance learning. There are quite good distance learning options available if the student is suitable for that. AS level exams are not mandatory any longer, the A level exam will include all anyway. British Counsel in Bangkok arrange A level exams a few times a year so it's quite possible to do the A-levels without any formal school actually - not saying it's easy though :) 

[Apiwan2]

Yes, should be no problem, it's a private school :) They may request that they take the support class in Thai language. Need to make sure that they get one of the high school diploma equivalents. If they don't take the iGCSE exams then they will be stuck with nothing because they won't pass the Thai high school exam
 
Michael

Had to read this a few times to understand , Doh

So they do get the leaving certificate if they pass all tests, including Thai

And maybe IGCSE on top.

Your quote was specific to kids who don't read and write Thai, they would have to learn further.

Hope you understand





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