Chinese students spread their wings in Asia

Growing potential

In addition to Singapore, Thailand is attracting more Chinese students for further education. According to Reuters, 8,455 Chinese students were enrolled at Thai colleges and universities in 2017, a rise of 100 percent compared with 2012.

However, in the past five years more students have studied at Thai primary schools or kindergartens in local international schools.

Song Yuwei, 36, the founder of Taylor Education, a service agency based in Thailand specializing in overseas studies, said, "In the past five years, we have received inquiries from more than 3,000 families annually. Over 300 of them eventually decided to enroll their kids, aged from 4 to 17, at international schools in Thailand."

Graduating in 2017 from York University in the UK with a master's in global marketing, Song arrived in Thailand to explore the property market. She worked at a property developer in China before going to the UK, but saw growing potential for the Thai market after receiving inquiries from homebuyers about educating their children in Thailand.

In the past five years, she has visited nearly all the major international schools in Thailand. Song found that the education offered is better developed than elsewhere, with more experienced teachers who are native English speakers, and tuition that is cheaper than at international schools of the same level in China.

Song plans to send her 6-year-old son to an international school in Bangkok next year.

A Taylor Education marketing and consulting team is visiting China to help clients prepare their children for overseas studies, while the company's staff members in Thailand are responsible for local life services, including translation and renting accommodations.

Most of Song's clients are parents of children in the 4 to 10 age group, who are studying at kindergarten or primary school.

"In deciding for your child to receive an international education, it is always a case of the earlier the better, to allow the child to acquire a second or even a third language more easily," Song said.

She added that 95 percent of her clients use Thailand as a "springboard" before sending their children to the US, the UK, Canada and other Western countries for higher education.

"With more members of the post-90s generation becoming parents, students may start studying abroad at a younger age and at more diversified destinations, as their highly educated parents want them to develop independent personalities and fulfill their dreams, instead of gaining success solely through exam scores," Song said.