Schools

[jamie2009]

Is the basic education for children free in Thailand, if not what would be reasonable fees to pay for Private Education, not an International School in Pattaya or Hua Hin ?

[KhunBENQ]

In general basic education up to the 12th grade (primary and secondary) schools is free.

Depending on location the quality of free school education is between mediocre to terrible (compared to international standards).

All parents that can afford either send their children to a private school or at least additional private tutoring.

Even the smallest upcountry towns have multiple private schools, language schools, exam preparation etc.pp.

Can not help with prices in Pattaya/Hua Hin.

Can only tell what the absolute low end is.

A private kindergarten and primary school here in deep upcountry starts at 4000 Baht/semester plus some fee for pickup by school own bus if necessary/wanted.

It's the cheapest of the available schools.

Just recently saw an ad for a bilingual school. 10000 to 13000 per semester.

But really that's the absolute low end, just for replacement of public primary school.

Kids bound to public primary school in an upcountry village are doomed.

Absolutely terrible and useless. "Good morning teacher" will be the result of English language studies.

Maybe added by "hello", "good morning", "good afternoon" and "how are you" for the ambitious pupil.

You can easily add a zero to the numbers for higher end private schools in the Bangkok area.

[Deserted]

In Bangkok the better Thai private schools are between 40-80k a year (2 semesters), perhaps there are some even more than that. The best advice I can give you is do plenty of research, because its important to make the right decision, AND when you do your research speak to Thais as much, if not more than ex-pats. Many ex-pats assume that the only route is bi-lingual/international schools. And though I would agree that the very best schools in Thailand fit into that category, there are many adequate Thai private schools. The one we chose has an English program and works on all the Cambridge Young Learner Exams, the children do learn and are treated with respect, and as a teacher myself, I am more than satisfied with it.

In addition to all that, and apologies if i sound condescending, but education begins at home. If you are helping your child and encouraging your child to learn outside of school they will do well anyway. Don't buy into 'buying an education' and think that as soon as you pay for school fees you've got something in return, that's just a small step and there are no guarantees. With the right sort of encouragement and support at home you will end up with a bright and happy child at school no matter what school you send them too BUT IN GENERAL if you pay for schooling, the learning environment your child will be in will be healthier and supportive. If you send your child to a government school, they will more likely face aggressive behaviour from other children, be singled out (if they are luk-kreung), and if they are unlucky even be picked on. Private schools are much less tolerant of such behaviour. I can't speak about Pattaya or Hua Hin but certainly in Bangkok there are many Thai private schools that are better than most expats think, but again, you need to ask Thai's about these as they know which ones win yearly awards and have government sponsorship. Expats can't usually give you that information.