Highgate School to Launch Its First International Campus in Thailand This August

One of London's oldest independent schools is about to open its first campus outside the United Kingdom. Highgate International School Thailand, a joint venture between the 460-year-old Highgate School and Thailand's Siam Motors Group, is scheduled to open near Siam Country Club in Chonburi province this August. According to the Bangkok Post, the campus will initially welcome pupils from Pre-Nursery to Year 6, aged 2 to 12, before expanding to a full secondary programme.

The partnership brings together Highgate School, ranked among London's top ten independent schools by The Sunday Times and founded in 1565, with the Phornprapha family's Siam Motors Group, one of Thailand's best-known industrial dynasties. The Chonburi campus sits within the Siam Country Club grounds on the country's eastern seaboard, placing the school within reach of the area's significant expatriate community and internationally minded Thai professional families.

Adam Pettitt, Head of Highgate School, framed the launch as a milestone the institution had considered carefully. "We are honoured to be founding our very first international school in Thailand, a nation so rich with tradition and values," he said.

The campus and the curriculum

The school will follow the English National Curriculum, with students progressing to IGCSE and A Levels. Facilities planned for the Chonburi site include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a FIFA-standard football pitch, a golf academy, a dedicated STEM centre and a state-of-the-art auditorium. The school is designed to eventually accommodate up to 1,400 students aged 2 to 18, with annual tuition set in the range of 500,000 to 1,000,000 baht. Teachers will be recruited internationally, with an emphasis on UK-trained staff who receive induction directly from the London campus.

The senior school is planned for 2027, with boarding facilities following in 2028 or 2029. The phased model mirrors the approach taken by several other premium British schools entering Southeast Asia: open early years first, establish the academic culture, then expand.

Thailand's broader moment

Highgate's arrival continues a pattern that has defined 2026 for Thailand's international school sector. The country is absorbing a wave of prestigious British-brand openings, drawn by rising domestic demand from Thai families seeking globally portable qualifications and a regulatory environment that has remained broadly welcoming. For Chonburi specifically, access to a full British curriculum school within the province rather than a long commute to Bangkok represents a meaningful change for families on the eastern seaboard, an industrial and tourism corridor that has historically been underserved by the premium international school market.