PanyaDee, The British International School of Samui — branded PBISS — has offered a British-style education since 2005, from a campus at 6/5 Moo 3, Bo Phut. It follows the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Cambridge International curriculum combined with a STEM+ approach, running Cambridge Progression and Checkpoint assessments through the middle years and IGCSEs at the end of Year 11. Its STEM+ Innovation Centre houses 3D printers, a laser cutter, an engineering corner for electronics and robotics, and a green-screen multifunction room; co-curricular provision includes robotics, coding, product design and Mandarin taught by native speakers. The school also runs counselling, individual education plans and a career and university guidance programme. Uniquely among Samui's international schools, PanyaDee makes a daily Thai lesson compulsory for every student across the primary and secondary years.
Where the campus actually is
6/5 Moo 3, Bo Phut, Ko Samui, Surat Thani 84320
No rail exists anywhere on Samui. The campus sits in Bo Phut on the island's north-east side, within the same broad Chaweng–Bophut–Bang Rak belt as ISS and the airport — not, as is sometimes written, in the south-east near Lamai. Check bus provision and pick-up times before you sign a lease.
Area guides families use for this school run: Bophut · Bang Rak · Maenam · Chaweng · Choeng Mon
The curriculum pathway, stage by stage
- Early Years Foundation Stage — play-based (ages 2–5)
- Primary School — Cambridge with STEM+ project and multimodal learning (ages 5–11)
- Secondary — Key Stages 3–5 (ages 11–18), with Cambridge Progression and Checkpoint tests
- Cambridge IGCSE, examined at the end of Year 11
- Cambridge Advanced — the school's signature A-Level programme (see post-16 note)
What happens after 16
PBISS does take students to 18, which many summaries of Samui schooling get wrong — but read how. The school's own secondary page describes its Cambridge Advanced A-Level route as blended: “a blend of virtual learning and classroom learning”, with students “studying online from our facilities” alongside mentoring and an extended library. It is a real and deliberately flexible model that widens subject choice on a small island, and the school is open about it. It is also structurally different from a conventional sixth form, so ask precisely which A-Level subjects are taught face-to-face by subject specialists, which are delivered online, and how study periods are supervised.
Accreditations & authorisations
- Cambridge International — the only accreditation mark published on the school's own site
Scale & provision
The school does not publish a roll figure on its own site, so we do not quote one. Its stated admissions range is ages 2–17 at application.
No boarding is advertised on the school's own website — treat PBISS as a day school and confirm directly if you need residential provision.
Who it suits
Families wanting a Cambridge pathway with a strong applied-technology emphasis, and families who need information in Russian or Chinese — PBISS publishes its site in English, Thai, Russian and Chinese, which is unusual on the island.
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 Cambridge Advanced (A-Level) route is described by the school itself as blended and partly online — see the post-16 note above and ask for the subject-by-subject detail.
- Beyond the Cambridge International mark, the school publishes no whole-school accreditation on its own site, and we do not assert one.
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 PanyaDee, The British International School of Samui (PBISS)'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 PanyaDee, The British International School of Samui (PBISS) 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
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