Hi all,
Glad i found this forum. My husband got an offer to move to Bangkok (same company he currently works for), we will be accompanying him. We are Americans and have three kids, all school age. We have lived as expats and visited many countries before, never been to Thailand though, so excuse my ignorance in advance 
We were told we can pick any school and the company will cover the expenses. We would like to keep them in the American System so we would like to enroll them in an American school unless the American school there is horrible in which case, we would consider a school with an IB curriculum or similar. Is there a long waiting lists for schools and when does the school starts there? Suggestions and feed back on schools are highly appreciated.
What kind of a house budget are we going to be looking at? Which areas should we consider? We would like a nice 4 bedrooms house in a decent area. Are there expat compounds there? How's the medical system there, decent doctors/hospitals? They said they will provide a car and a driver so i am assuming driving there is a bit of a challenge.
How's the expat community (events, play dates, gatherings....etc)? We have been living in Houston for 3 years and we will be leaving many beloved friends behind but are very much looking forward to making new friends and be exposed to a new wonderful culture
Anything we should bring with us we may not be able to find easily there? Company will ship our belonging so if there are things we'd need to buy and ship it won't be an issue.
All your feed back, suggestions and advise are greatly appreciated as i am a bit nervous about all of this, but very excited at the same time.
Thank you
Moving to Bangkok, many questions
Hi there,
1. If the company is paying and you are free to choose the schools then it will be very easy for you to find an appropriate school for your children, you didn't defined the age so I am not recommending one, IB is quite fine here in Thailand.
2. Accommodation-wise try to find a place near the school/work place traffic here in Bangkok is worst in rush hours, a place reachable via sky train or underground will be much more practical.
2(a). Nice areas to live in Bangkok with a family: Silom, Sathorn, Rama 9, Sukhumvit.
3. Expat community = very dull. Sorry.
Hello! How are you? Did you check the reliability of the agency??? Because there's many people coming here and being screwed over money. Check it and feel free to ask any questions. I will try to help. The best schools are NIST, Patana, Shrewsbury, if you are interested in British curriculum. There's American School of Bangkok.
Eugee, thanks for the reply, as i had stated, it's a transfer, not a new hire, my husband has been working with this company for close to 10 years now. I agree with you though, we are getting everything in writing
I would rather American curriculum just because it'll be easier for them to adjust moving there now and then moving back. It also has come a very long way, it used to be a joke honestly, but i have been very impressed lately. Is the American School of Bangkok not good?
skyaslimit wrote:Hi there,
1. If the company is paying and you are free to choose the schools then it will be very easy for you to find an appropriate school for your children, you didn't defined the age so I am not recommending one, IB is quite fine here in Thailand.
2. Accommodation-wise try to find a place near the school/work place traffic here in Bangkok is worst in rush hours, a place reachable via sky train or underground will be much more practical.
2(a). Nice areas to live in Bangkok with a family: Silom, Sathorn, Rama 9, Sukhumvit.
3. Expat community = very dull. Sorry.
Thanks for your reply!
My kids are 7 years old.
I will check the areas you've suggested. I know what you mean about the Expat communities I do think it's what the kids are used to though, it would be very similar to our neighborhood/street right now and don't want to overwhelm them.
Why? I don't know. It's just I work in one of the schools with the British Curriculum and heard nothing of American School.
Good luck guys.
Hello
you can check for housing online and get an approximate cost of it - plus where it is and whats around ie school, shops, transport etc.
Expats are all over Thailand and there is no need to be in a compound
Hospitals are 5 star.
What about work permits?
is the company arranging this?
regards
yes be very careful - get all the details sorted and be careful about where they stick you to live. try and research the area or you could be out in the middle of no where.
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