What is it like raising teenagers in Thailand, and what are the best neighborhoods and schools for expatriate families?

Cathy Scott rude boy eh?

@Cathy ******

My opinion, not that it matters, is with little more than 12 weeks to go, your priorities are all wrong. That the welfare of your children is an after thought. You are making a decision, that will seriously damage their prospects in life, based on advice from Facebook. There is a thing called Third Culture Kids, a phrase coined in the 50s. I'm one of them. These are kids who spent their formative years growing up in a culture not of a culture of their parents, but is not the same as immigrant kids. TKCs know at least 2 different cultured, but never are fully integrated into either. Often it's seen as a positive, but there are negatives. They will never be Thai. They will always be American. If they decide to go to an American college later on, they will likely find it harder to get a place and maybe even more expensive. They might find it harder to find a job. The experience of living in another country can be positive, in terms of how they view other cultures, but they will find no one else cares about it. They will find they belong to nowhere. I don't really know my own country, the UK, but neither am I German, Bahraini or a Hong Konger. Your kids won't go to a school and mix with 100% Thai kids. I can reflect that they will likely go to a school with kids mostly from Europe, and half Thai kids who mostly have old dad's. Unless they already attend private schools in the US, they will find they have little in common. As mentioned, they likely will not get a US style of education. Most of the international schools seem to conform to a British curriculum. That is quite different to a US high school. Take sports, which sounds innocuous. I was taught us and uk curriculums. Consequently, I have no idea about basketball, baseball, cricket, football, rugby and American football. Of course, at least I can swim well. Those sports can be an important part of your identity, not just about physical fitness. British schools prepare children basically for an apprenticeship or university. In British universities, straight away you are a specialist. US universities are different with a broader curriculum. Consequently, American schools have a better all round education. Your children will not be forced to consider which subjects they cannot study at 14 and 16. In a British school, your path in life starts to get mapped at age 13, when you start to choose which GCSE subjects to take. Kids will choose their favorites, worried wiser parents will try and steer them in another way.This all stems from the days, not so long ago, when some children left school at 14 or 15 without qualifications. International schools in Thailand will mostly also offer IB exams instead of British A levels. Supposedly more widely recognisef, but in reality moot. As Americans, they will find fees elsewhere to be much higher and with no financial assistance, because they will be treated as foreign students. And many US universities will not recognise these British and IB qualifications anyhow. Now I grew up when my parents really had no choice about where they had to live. Later on, they would say they regretted the moves. Heres another effect: i dont have any lifelong friends from school. Its a little thing that people growing in their own culture take for granted. It's a complex issue, different for everyone. Look up youtuber Dan from Thailand. He's British, kids are half British half Russian and they all live in Thailand. He has posted about how worried he is for their future, should he live in Thailand or move back to the UK. He talks through the issues. And finely, no snowboarding or skiing in Thailand. The roads are lethal for cyclists, so BMX is out. The forests are full of things trying to kill you, so mountain biking might be limited. The footpaths (sidewalks, going to basically a British school, their language will change) are generally in a hopeless state or just not there, do skate boarding out. So they will likely have to find new hobbies like playing cricket or badminton, with a but of netball or Danish Rounders.

@Chris ********

They say that after every election. Never happens.

@Cathy ******

Maybe YOU don't care, but it just makes it difficult for others to read