moving to Thailand

[philippaanderson]

Hi. My husband, 2 boys (4yrs and 6yrs) are thinking of moving to Thailand to open a branch of my husbands Tech company and to move away from our very small island of Jersey. We are looking at Bangkok at the moment although we wouldn't rule out Chiang Mai. We are visiting in March for a month. I have had a look at schools in Bangkok. Both Pantana and NIST seem to be impressive. Has anyone got any opinions on these schools? I'm not sure we want to live too far out of the city which is why i'm leaning towards NIST. But I would very much value anyone's opinions. We are hoping to make a commitment to our relocation for about 5-7years to allow our children to complete Primary school.Many thanks
Also, if anyone has any opinion on Chiang Mai. We have visited a couple of times but before children. Is it a little sleepy?
Thanks again

[Chillaxalready]

Hi, from extensive investigations I think it is safe to say that Patana and NIST are two of the top Bangkok schools. Another rated highly by US expats is ISB.
Bangkok Prep and St Andrews (71 - not the other!) also have growing reputation.
All of this is hearsay, of course. Harrow considered quite academic and has high proportion of non-ex-pat kids but is obviously quite far out of the city...

[Laptopwieldingharpy]

I would opt for phuket ( british school) rather then chiang mai.
Incredible campus,. Uk curriculû/IGCSE/IB diploma.

[BeanMachine]

St Andrews in Sathorn is a great primary school and is very much a community school, unlike some of the bigger schools. Patana is fantastic but most kids are bused in every day; at St Andrews Sathorn, many children walk or travel a short distance. Patana and NIST are huge and some feel are too big for little kids. St Andrews has around 2-3 classes per year. Depends what you want, but personally, I loved St Andrews Sathorn. We left not long ago and I was very sad to say goodbye. We really enjoyed life in Sathorn area of Bangkok too.

Good luck!

[Laptopwieldingharpy]

Agree, sathorn is a great area in bkk

[BringMeTea]

Shrewsbury another possibility in BKK. Agree that BISP (Phuket) is a very nice school too. And Phuket a beautiful and fairly cosmopolitan island. Bit more expensive than BKK though to live. I think Chiang Mai might be a little sleepy, yes.

[vanoukl]

BeanMachine: Hello, Is St Andrews Sathorn ok for children aged 8 and 9, I understand that it is great for little kids but what about for year 3 and year 4 kids ( coming from British schooling system)?
How long is the distance from Sathorn to NIST or to Patana and ST Andrews 71 with school bus do you reckon?