Dom77 - disagree with you and I've yet to meet a single parent who has a bad word to say about Yamsaard. I've had kids in both Somtawin and Yamsaard and the quality of Yamsaard is much superior.
My daughter is bilingual and admittedly has lost some of her English in favour of ThaiEnglish, but her best friends at Yamsaard are kids from US and Europe so they speak English in the playground.
Yamsaard management really care about the school and the kids, this is evident in the fabulous end of year show the school puts on.
Somtawin on the other hand, are 25% in to their timetable on mathematics, have a terrible school facility with little air-con, have put up their fees and have a management that do not really care about what happens so long as they get their money.
International Schools
Re: International Schools
I have 3 children attending Yaamsard. The two youngest are in the English Immersion program, all the classes except Thai language are taught in English. My son who is in grade one loves the school and his English is excellent. They use I-pads (mandatory) for classes and progress can be monitored by parents through Moodle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle).
My daughter is in K1 and really enjoys her classes she gets homework every night. She liked the learning programs the school installed on my son's I-pad so we bought one for her too. She loves the learning games.
The oldest is in the English program half his classes are taught in English the rest in Thai. His English has also improved dramatically since starting at the school. His teacher is Filipino however he speaks clear English (easier to understand than most Brits LOL).
The school has excellent facilities including an Olympic size pool. The playground could use better maintenance though.
The school also offers many after class activities such as dance, art, swimming, music and taekwondo.
As other posters mentioned the road is full of pot holes and they currently only go to grade ten. However the English Immersion program started last year my son's teacher says the school may add additional classes to carry the English Immersion program to grade 12.
My first choice was Somtawin however my wife and I were not impressed at all when we visited the school. They only had a tiny pool, the facility was filthy especially the washrooms. We went to the 3rd floor where the older children's classes are and it was a disaster. The rooms were a mess and there was only one teacher. A boy was sitting at a desk crying saying he was hit by other boys we didn't see any other adults supervising. The one and only teacher that was there seemed at his wits end trying to control the students. Also some of the lockers had their doors torn off. It seemed very rough and undisciplined.
Honestly I don't know if this was a bad day for the school but my wife flat refused to enroll our kids there. I know facilities don't mean much when it comes to education but like the saying goes you can judge a mechanic by the condition he keeps his tools.
I hope it has improved, for now we enrolled our kids again in Yamsaard. I will give Somtawin another look next year.
My daughter is in K1 and really enjoys her classes she gets homework every night. She liked the learning programs the school installed on my son's I-pad so we bought one for her too. She loves the learning games.
The oldest is in the English program half his classes are taught in English the rest in Thai. His English has also improved dramatically since starting at the school. His teacher is Filipino however he speaks clear English (easier to understand than most Brits LOL).
The school has excellent facilities including an Olympic size pool. The playground could use better maintenance though.
The school also offers many after class activities such as dance, art, swimming, music and taekwondo.
As other posters mentioned the road is full of pot holes and they currently only go to grade ten. However the English Immersion program started last year my son's teacher says the school may add additional classes to carry the English Immersion program to grade 12.
My first choice was Somtawin however my wife and I were not impressed at all when we visited the school. They only had a tiny pool, the facility was filthy especially the washrooms. We went to the 3rd floor where the older children's classes are and it was a disaster. The rooms were a mess and there was only one teacher. A boy was sitting at a desk crying saying he was hit by other boys we didn't see any other adults supervising. The one and only teacher that was there seemed at his wits end trying to control the students. Also some of the lockers had their doors torn off. It seemed very rough and undisciplined.
Honestly I don't know if this was a bad day for the school but my wife flat refused to enroll our kids there. I know facilities don't mean much when it comes to education but like the saying goes you can judge a mechanic by the condition he keeps his tools.
I hope it has improved, for now we enrolled our kids again in Yamsaard. I will give Somtawin another look next year.