Review of NIST International School, Thailand

[PakLiam]

I worked at NIST International School in Bangkok about 10 years ago, however, I still have colleagues there who tell me it remains one of the best schools in Asia. 

NIST is a co-educational, day school that uses the IB curriculum and is accredited by WASC, NEASC and the IB, obviously. The school has something like 180 teachers and 1100 students with a very diverse background. Roughly 30% Thai, 30% Asians other than Thai and 30% mix of western expatriate children. The teaching staff is around 40 different nationalities. NIST is an equal opportunity employer. 

The package is very good, they do distinguish between local and overseas hire. You will work hard, but they look after you well, and central Bangkok is actually a great pace to live.

 

[International Expat]

Thank you for the review. I have friends that work at NIST and enjoy it. I think it is only one of the very few schools that are full IB in Thailand.  Is that right?

Bangkok is an amazing place to live and very cost effective. A little money here can go a long way and a good package should allow their teachers to save.

[PakLiam]

You're welcome. It is one of the few that are full IB in Thailand, the others would be KIS, Concordian, Prem and UWC (Used to be Phuket International Day Academy).

Bangkok is a great place to live, but to be fair, it's not really as cheap as you think to live as an expat. However, the package is good, so really it's not a problem. 

 

 

[JDK]

When did you work here, PakLiam? There are still quite a few old-timers around, including Bob and Mondira, both of whom have been at NIST almost since it opened. We also still have quite a few teachers who have hit the 10-year mark, and a handful at the 15-year mark.

The numbers you cited have grown quite a bit in the last few years. There are now just over 1,575 students enrolled, representing 56 nationalities. Thai students represent just over 27% of the total, with Americans (14.5%), Japanese (7.3%), Australians (6.8%), Indians (5.9%), British (4.8%) and Germans (4.7%) representing the other large groups.

I personally love it at NIST and have absolutely no plans to move on for the foreseeable future.

[PakLiam]

Hi JDK,

I was working there when the Twin Towers fell. I do know Bob and I also worked at NIST the same time that Brett Penny was first working there. 

Thanks for the updated and more accurate numbers, I still think fondly of my time at NIST.