Dear community,
First post here and wondering if anyone can please help me to narrow down a list of British curriculum all-through schools in Bangkok for us to consider.
We are a family of 4 with our 2 daughters being 7 and 3. We are currently living in the UK since 2022, but now looking to move to Bangkok this summer.
We have permanent residency in Hong Kong and lived there for 12 years from 2010-2022, and I can apply for Thailand DTV visa for all of us as my company is based in HK, so I would be working remotely in Bangkok.
Our 7 year old girl is in Y3 of a small primary school here in the UK full of good kids/parents/teachers - and she is very happy there - she loves her teachers and classmates, it’s 5 mins walk from where we live, plus our 3 year old goes to Nursery at the same school and is also very happy there - so choosing a through school for them that’s close to where we will live, where they will be happy and feel comfortable at, and without much travel time to/from the school each day feels like the highest priority with the move.
I’m thinking that 1) choose a school/be accepted for an interview/placement, and then 2) choose an apartment/area to live close to the school - with a good expat community/local supermarkets, things to do, restaurants close by, not crazy busy with traffic - with easy and short travel access to the school/local supermarkets and restaurants, + central areas of Bangkok is the order we will plan the move.
I’ve read a bit online via Mum’s Net and Reddit yesterday - but there’s a lot of school names mentioned and varying comments, so I’m hoping that based on our individual circumstances, some of you may be able to narrow down a list for me - as I am aiming to go to Bangkok on my own for maybe a week at the end of Jan to tour maybe 5 schools/arrange meetings with them to discuss availability etc, and see which ones feel best for our girls.
The 3 that seem to be considered the best reputation appear to be Patana, ISB, NIST, but after looking at the average annual costs - they are mostly close to around GBP 2k a month/THB 1m a year (PER CHILD - by the time they reach Y13) - and I’m sure prices will likely increase slightly each year also…
I am thinking after looking at the costs of those schools + some others mentioned, that in order to secure a good school with good teacher retention and highly qualified teachers/a good reputation for learning/happy pupils etc, the minimum we will have to pay per month on average throughout the school years is around GBP 1,500/THB 800k per year.
If it was just 1 kid then would be ok - but with 2 it will be difficult… I know the cost of living with other expenses is much lower than HK/UK - but this would be the first time we have to budget for GBP 3k+ per month for school fees - once our 3 year old also starts school…
The other schools I saw mentioned are Bangkok Prep, St Andrews, Shrewsbury, Brighton College, Wellington College, Harrow, Denla, Kings, KIS - but they all seem equally expensive, and I’m not sure of living areas in Bangkok outside of Sukhumvit - this is the only area we have stayed in when on holiday in Bangkok, but I wouldn’t want to live in the middle of Sukhumvit as it’s just too busy/too much traffic on the main road all day.
The cheapest of all above options based on the overall/average annual fees up to Y13 seem to be (in order of cheapest) St Andrews, Bangkok Prep, Patana.
Are there any other schools that I’ve not mentioned above that could be a good choice for us - and with lower fees than St Andrews, Bangkok Prep, Patana - and can anyone advise on these 3 schools please + others - based on having had any children there?
Thank you in advance, and apologies for the lengthy post, but it’s such a huge decision for us to have to make, cost wise and also for our girl’s education and happiness.
Chris