Lamai International School (LIS) opened in January 2016 at 206/36 Moo 4, Maret, on Koh Samui's east coast near Lamai. It teaches the Cambridge curriculum in English, with the youngest children following a Montessori approach, and runs classes from Foundation through Year 6. Its Education for Sustainable Development programme is built on the UN 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals with a socio-emotional learning component. The everyday provision is notably generous for a small school: lunch is included every day along with a morning-break and after-school snack, with meat, vegetarian and salad-bar options; extra-curricular activities run free of charge Monday to Thursday from 15:10 to 16:00, covering dance, sport, art, drama, science club and homework club; and children who need English support receive one-to-one ESL sessions during the day plus free additional English classes after school.
Where the campus actually is
206/36 Moo 4, Maret, Ko Samui, Surat Thani 84310
No rail exists anywhere on Samui. LIS sits inland of Lamai on the east coast, convenient for the Lamai, Hua Thanon and Ban Tai stretch and a meaningful drive from the Chaweng–Bophut belt.
Area guides families use for this school run: Lamai · Hua Thanon · Ban Tai
The curriculum pathway, stage by stage
- Foundation / Early Years — Cambridge with a Montessori approach
- Years 1–6 — Cambridge Primary
- Education for Sustainable Development runs across the school, based on the UN 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with a socio-emotional learning strand
What happens after 16
Not applicable, and this is the most important thing to know about LIS: the school's own About page states that it runs classes from Foundation to Year 6. It is a primary school. Every LIS family changes school at around age 11 — so choose LIS for the primary years with the secondary school already in mind. Some third-party directories list LIS as running to Year 9 or age 14; the school's own site does not support that, and we follow the school.
Accreditations & authorisations
- The school publishes no accreditation or exam-board authorisation on its own website, and we do not assert one on its behalf.
Scale & provision
The school emphasises small class sizes but publishes no verifiable roll figure — see the flag below before trusting any number attributed to LIS.
A day school. No boarding is advertised.
Who it suits
Families on the Lamai and Maret side of the island who want a small, warm primary school with an unusually generous everyday offer — and who are comfortable planning a move at the end of Year 6.
What we could not verify — and where sources disagree
We publish these openly rather than smoothing them over. A school guide that hides its uncertainty is not much use to a family making a decision this big.
- The LIS website runs on an unedited commercial WordPress template, and several blocks on it are demo content rather than facts about the school — the counters reading “2586 teacher & staff”, “1286 student”, “286 classes” and “29 labs”, a milestone timeline dated 2006–2016 ending in a “Best Agency Award”, and leftover shop, cart and newsletter pages. Any third-party profile quoting a roll figure for LIS is very likely quoting that placeholder text. We quote none of it.
- The school also appears under a second domain, lamaiinternationalschool.com, with overlapping content.
Ask every Koh Samui school this
- Ask whether the sixth form is taught on campus or online. On Samui this is the single highest-stakes question: of the three schools running A-levels, two describe their post-16 route as blended or hybrid learning on their own websites. Ask exactly which subjects are taught by on-site specialist staff, which are delivered remotely, and who supervises the student during study periods.
- Ask whether the year group your child needs actually runs this year. Island cohorts are small, and a stage can appear on a website while the class itself is not staffed or not filled. Ask how many children are currently in that specific year group.
- Drive the school run at 07:30, not at midday. Samui is a ring island served by one main road; the Chaweng and Lamai stretches back up badly at school and commuting times, and straight-line distance on a map is close to meaningless.
- Ask what the school bus actually covers. Provision varies enormously here -- one school advertises transport across the island, another describes its service as limited, and some run none at all. The bus catchment quietly decides which neighbourhoods are realistic for you.
- Ask which exam board each subject sits with, and where the examinations are physically taken. Several Samui schools hold authorisations from more than one board, and island logistics matter for exam sessions.
- Request the school's own current fee schedule in writing, including registration, deposit, uniform, bus, lunch and trips. We do not publish per-school fees because they change annually.
BAANLYY does not rank, endorse or accept payment from schools. Facts on this page are compiled from Lamai International School (LIS)'s own official website and independent cross-checks, and we deliberately publish no per-school fee figures — they change annually and a stale number is worse than none. Always confirm current admissions, fees, year groups and campus details directly with the school. Visit the official Lamai International School (LIS) website →
Sources & References
Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
Find a home for this school run
Samui has no rail — the neighbourhood you choose is the commute. Browse homes near Maret, or compare all the island's schools first.
