Bangkok · History
From a 1979 kindergarten to a 24-acre British school in Nonthaburi
Denla British School opened in August 2017, built on nearly four decades of Thai education heritage. It now enrolls around 900 students from age two through Sixth Form.
The Pandejpong family started in education with a single kindergarten on the outskirts of Bangkok in 1979. That school, Denla Kindergarten, grew steadily enough to justify a second site, Denla Rama V, which opened in May 2006. By the mid-2010s the group was running nursery and kindergarten provision for roughly 3,000 children and had built a reputation on leadership, staff loyalty, and consistent student outcomes, including scholarship placements at competitive secondary schools.
The decision to extend into British secondary education was a significant step. Denla British School opened for its first full academic year on 28 August 2017, initially taking children from Early Years 1 through Year 6. The school expanded to Year 8 in 2018 and continued adding year groups until the full pre-nursery to Year 13 range was in place. At opening, roll stood at under 200 students; the stated capacity at build-out was around 1,600.
Campus
DBS sits on Ratchapruek Road in Nonthaburi, roughly 45 minutes north-west of central Bangkok. The campus covers 60 rai, or approximately 24 acres, making it one of the largest international school sites in Thailand. Usable learning space exceeds 100,000 square metres and students from more than 20 nationalities are on roll.
Curriculum and identity
The school follows the English National Curriculum, enhanced with specialist subject teaching from primary level. IGCSE sits in Years 10 and 11; A Levels run through Sixth Form. The school is an authorised Cambridge International centre and an approved Pearson Edexcel and Oxford AQA centre, giving students a choice of examination board at both IGCSE and A Level. Thai curriculum components run alongside the British programme throughout, embedding local values and language within the international framework. The school's motto, "Semper Ad Maiora," translates as "Always to Greater Things."
DBS describes its programme through five pillars: an enhanced British curriculum, academic excellence for all, entrepreneurship and creative thinking, Thai values in a global context, and wellbeing and sustainability. The extended school day is part of the model, and the school runs more than 500 extracurricular activities. The Sixth Form's Global Leaders Programme was shortlisted for the TES Awards 2024 Curriculum Initiative of the Year. DBS also holds a Duke of Edinburgh's International Award centre licence.
Accreditation
DBS holds accreditation from the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), and is locally accredited by Thailand's Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA). The school joined the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA) in 2021 and is a member of the International Schools Association of Thailand (ISAT) and the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand.
Present day
Current roll sits at approximately 900 students. Headmaster Jonny Liddell, a Cambridge graduate holding the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), leads the school. The Denla Group, chaired by Arn Pandejpong with board directors Toryos and Temyos Pandejpong, retains ownership. All A Level leavers have gone on to university places.