UK’s King’s School arrives in Bangkok
King’s College School Wimbledon, one of the top-ranked schools in the UK, is to open a campus in Thailand, with the aim of offering world-class education in the country.
The Bangkok campus will be known as King’s College International School Bangkok or “King’s Bangkok”. This is the third King’s branch in Asia, following two already operating in China.
“Thai parents want the best for their children and want to open as many doors for them as possible,” Thomas Banyard, founding head of King’s Bangkok, said yesterday at an event presided over by British Ambassador Brian Davidson to introduce the school.
Mr Banyard said King’s Bangkok will give students the best opportunity to get into universities in Thailand.
“But a lot of parents are thinking internationally and want their children to go to the best universities in the world.”
According to Mr Banyard, over 90% of the students at King’s College School Wimbledon are accepted into their universities of first choice in the UK and the US, including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and Yale. About 25% of King’s students attend Oxford or Cambridge each year.
The school curriculum is delivered in English and also offers courses in Thai and Mandarin. The emphasis is on a “co-curricular” style of learning, with a variety of extra-curricula clubs, and a pastoral system which gives children the support and guidance to become calm and happy adults.
King’s Bangkok boasts more than 42,000 square metres of state-of-theart facilities including a sport complex with an indoor Olympic-size swimming pool, a 600-seat auditorium as well as specialist science, music and art classrooms. There is also an Early Years Centre for young students, with plenty of outdoor and indoor learning spaces.
“Seeing the positive development my own son received from a British education, I want to make a school here that is one of the best and not too businessfocused,” said Prof Dr Sakorn Suksriwong, chairman of the Founding Team of King’s Bangkok.
He said the school has invested more than 1 billion baht on construction, teaching equipment and human resources.
The school is already taking applications and will open for classes in September 2020. King’s Bangkok can
accommodate 1,500 students. The second year will see the school expand entry to Years 7-9. The school aims to
offer education from pre-nursery level to Year 13, or from age two to 18, in the next seven years, said Prof Sakorn.