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Someone wrote to me recently asking what to expect bringing up kids in Thailand. So, here are my impressions.

As the father of two daughters born of their Thai mother, I have had to make some unusual choices. I live here on my own wits, run my own company that does not pay me an expat company salary. My experience is different from the usual ‘pack them off to international school’ approach for most expats. However, if you do plan to stay here for more than a few years, you might like to consider the same choices I made.

My concern when my first daughter reached school age was choosing whether to send the kids to an English speaking school or to a Thai school that also taught English. My wife and I opted for a Thai school. Since the kids are Thai, we felt they should learn Thai language and culture first. Both girls speak reasonable English and I can always help them improve as they grow.

So, my wife found a very good kindergarten not far from our place. My first meeting with the young headmistress was very impressive. She was educated in the US, spoke perfect English, and she expounded a very good teaching philosophy to us.

We enrolled my eldest daughter when she was two and a half. Like all kids on their first day, she cried and screamed as we left her there. It broke my heart as I walked away. She’d never been out of our sight until that day. However, within a few days she couldn’t wait to go. She’d met new friends and was having a ball.

Her first year was spent playing and learning some basic social skills. At the end of the school year she took part in the graduation show the school puts on. It was a well-organized spectacular, with the kids wearing cute outfits for their dancing and singing shows. She came out in her pink tutu and showed off the new dance steps she’s already learned in dance class. The dance teacher was a slim, beautiful girl who ran a tight ship. She had worked wonders with my daughter.

She started life with a clumsy gait. By the end of her first year at kindergarten she was gliding along gracefully. She continues her love of dancing today at seven years old. We have enrolled her at Bangkok Dance where she is learning Jazz ballet. When she starts shakin’ and twirlin’ she’s a sight to see.

The grace and poise she learned in dance class has stood her well in the modeling world as well. She started modeling even before she started kindergarten. Since then, she has appeared in numerous print ads, done a couple of TV modeling and kids shows, plus gone to various cities to model girl’s underwear for one of the big brands. She is a favorite and gets called to model each school break. Her last foray was up to Korat.

By the time she graduated from kindergarten at six she could read, write and speak Thai and English. She also had a good grounding in maths, and her social skills were well honed. She also learned to swim and was winning races easily. So overall, we were very pleased with the results.

Our youngest daughter is just two years old and we enrolled her at the same kindergarten this year. She was one of the youngest there, but she took to it like a duck to water too. She has gained a lot of self-confidence, not that she needed it, and she is articulate and very smart. She will do at least as well as her big sister.

The value of getting a good kindergarten start was evident at the end of our first daughter’s first year at primary school. She came first in her class.

When she started 2nd grade, she was put into a new class of high achievers, so that she can grow according to her abilities.

Choosing a school

Choosing a good primary school was difficult. We took her to Kasetsart University Primary School for the big entrance test they conduct each year. They had less than 300 vacancies. Half of those were already reserved for the kids of the university employees. With over 3,500 kids taking the exam the odds of getting a place were small. I’m afraid my eldest missed out. But I was happy about that.

It was my wife’s idea to try to get her into Kasetsart. Having checked out their school, I felt it was not really the type of education I wanted for my daughter: Too much emphasis on grooming the kids for leadership positions, and not enough on rounding out their abilities and social skills. However, it would have provided a guaranteed entrée into the best social and business circles. But did my daughter need it? I don’t think so. She is going to do very well without any artificial help.

Our final choice for a school turned out to be a very good one; a private Thai school not too far from our house. I attended the open day given for parents to introduce us to the school, teachers, and activities. I was very impressed. Past students included several well-known political and business figures. It is also sponsored by Chatchai Choonhawan’s foundation. A good pedigree.

The headmistress, a gracious but formidable woman I wouldn’t care to get into an argument with, explained her philosophy for running one of the best private schools in Thailand. She also told us how she had stood up to Thaksin and refused to implement some of the more wacky ideas he was touting. She said she had been running the school since before he was born. Her reputation and her record were impeccable. Why should she listen to some crackpot ideas from a man who bought his way to power? Or words to that effect. Evidently, there was no love lost between the two. Another reason I liked her.

I noticed about 6 or 7 foreigners standing around as she talked, all teachers at the school. Some taught English, and others taught maths, science, and so on. Once again I was impressed after talking to them.

Best of all, the school fees were very reasonable, just 30,000 Baht per term. This included English lessons as well. In her second year, the school lowered the term fee, so once again I am impressed. For a further 1,500 Baht per month we send our daughter to school on the bus.

Good for you?

Are my choices going to work for you? It really depends on a few factors.

Do you plan to stay in Thailand? At the time I decided to send my kids to study at Thai schools I was planning on staying here for life. With the current political and business problems that is no longer an option. I plan to leave soon.

Despite this, I think it is good for young kids to attend a Thai school so that they are immersed in their own culture and language. When they reach high school that is the time to consider a western education for them instead; either at an international school, or overseas.

Money was a factor in our decisions. While I could afford the international school fees, I didn’t think then, and I still don’t, that they are worth the huge fees they demand. Sending kid to these schools places the kids into an alien environment at odds with their life in Thailand. If you and your wife are not Thai, then by all means send the kids to an international school. But for look-krueng kids, I think they should have the opportunity to be Thai first. They can always move into western culture easily enough later on.