Loei Rajabhat University — the province's main campus
Loei Rajabhat University is the education story of this province, and its own history page gave us more detail than most. It was founded in 1973 as Loei Teachers' College under the Ministry of Education, established on 29 September 1973 and funded through a World Bank loan programme, on about 323 rai at Thung Khum Thong roughly five kilometres from the town on Route 201 — the Loei–Chiang Khan road — on land given by the provincial administrative organisation together with adjacent villagers' land. Teaching began on 10 June 1976 with a first intake of 640 students on the certificate programme and 47 lecturers, transferred from the Udon Thani, Pibulsongkram and Nakhon Sawan teachers' colleges plus new hires. Higher-certificate teaching followed in 1977, an in-service teacher cohort of 252 across six training centres in Loei and Khon Kaen provinces in 1978–79, and the first two-year bachelor's degree in 1980. Non-teaching disciplines were added from 1985. On 25 January 1995 King Bhumibol bestowed the name Rajabhat Institute, and the Rajabhat Institute Loei Act of the same year made it a higher-education institution for local development; on 15 June 2004 the King bestowed the name Rajabhat University. It now runs five faculties — Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Technology, Engineering and Industrial Technology, and Management Science — with master's programmes from 1998 and doctorates in Regional Development Strategy and Educational Administration, an MBA from 2010–11 and a logistics management degree from 2015. Its main address is 234 Loei–Chiang Khan Road in tambon Mueang, and it also operates a Khon Kaen education centre, a Logistics and Border Trade Study Centre, a demonstration school and a business incubator. Student numbers are NOT published on its own history page — a directory puts enrolment somewhere in the 7,000 to 7,999 band, but that is a search summary and we do not publish it as fact.
A medical faculty arriving in 2028
The most consequential education development in the province is medical, and it is dated. On 28 April 2026 the Cabinet approved the establishment of a Faculty of Medicine at Nakhon Phanom University, with a budget of 2,502 million baht over ten years running from fiscal 2027 to 2036. The project explicitly includes upgrading three hospitals into clinical medical education centres — Nakhon Phanom, LOEI and Yasothon — with the first medical-student intake in the 2028 academic year and more than seventy doctors expected to have qualified by 2036, with 216 in the pipeline. For a province of 632,000 people that is a genuine structural addition, and it changes what the local education sector looks like a decade out. Note the partner, because it is not the obvious one: Nakhon Phanom, on the far side of Isaan on the Mekong, rather than Khon Kaen, which hosts the region's largest medical school and is the answer almost everyone would guess. Loei is being wired into an upper-Mekong pipeline rather than the Khon Kaen one.
International schools — a verified absence, not a research gap
There is no international-curriculum school anywhere in Loei province, and we want to be precise about the strength of that claim. We read Wikipedia's list of international schools in Thailand IN FULL, sorted by province. The provinces represented are Bangkok, Chai Nat, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chon Buri, Chumphon, Khon Kaen, Koh Lanta, Krabi, Lampang, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phitsanulok, Phuket, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Rayong, Roi Et, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Saraburi, Songkhla, Surat Thani, Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani. There is no Loei entry at all. That makes this a VERIFIED ABSENCE rather than something we simply failed to find — a distinction we care about, because in other provinces we have had to report 'could not verify' instead, and the two mean quite different things for a family making a decision. If you have children who need an international curriculum, Loei does not have one and will not surprise you with one.
The nearest verified alternative, and why we name only this one
Our rule is that we name an international school only when we have fetched its own pages and read its own statement of its own curriculum — naming an unverified school is as unhelpful as inventing one. On that basis the nearest option we will name is Udon Thani International School, at 222 Moo 2 Mittraphap Road, tambon Kut Sa, Mueang Udon Thani, telephone +66 42 110 379, about 150 kilometres east of Loei. Its own academics page states that it is an IB World School using a British-influenced curriculum taught through inquiry-based learning: the Early Years Foundation Stage for ages two to five; a Primary Years Programme for ages five to eleven across six levels, based on the National Curriculum of England and taught through the IB PYP; the IB Middle Years Programme for years seven to eleven; and the IB Diploma Programme for years twelve and thirteen. The page displays IB World School authorisation for PYP, MYP and DP, CIS accreditation, ISAT membership and ONESQA accreditation, and the site navigation lists a boarding option. Wikipedia's list also names a school in Khon Kaen and a second Udon Thani entry, but we did not fetch either school's own pages and so we do not describe their curricula. At 150 kilometres, Udon Thani is a boarding or relocation decision, not a daily commute — model it honestly before comparing Loei's rents with anywhere else.
Thai schools, and what we did not publish
Loei's Thai school system covers 14 districts, 89 subdistricts and 839 villages, under the usual Ministry of Education structure. We have deliberately not named individual Thai schools or asserted that any of them runs an English Programme, because we did not verify any individual school's curriculum, intake policy or language of instruction, and a list of names without those details would give a false impression of choice. One institution we can note as existing is Princess Chulabhorn's Science High School Loei, part of the national network of specialist science schools — it has its own encyclopedia entry, but we did not fetch it and so we describe it no further. At tertiary level, a Mahamakut Buddhist University campus appears in Loei on a rental portal's school facet, though we did not confirm which district it sits in. Beyond Loei Rajabhat we verified no other university campus in the province. If schooling is central to your move, the practical approach here is the same as in any thin province: shortlist by visiting, ask each school directly about language of instruction and about how transfers in and out are handled, and do not rely on a directory listing as evidence that a programme exists.
Loei schools FAQ
Are there international schools in Loei?
No — and this is a verified absence rather than a gap in our research, which is a distinction worth making. We read Wikipedia's province-by-province list of international schools in Thailand in full. Twenty-five provinces appear on it, including Khon Kaen, Roi Et, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani in the Northeast. Loei has no entry at all. The nearest school whose curriculum we verified by reading its own pages is Udon Thani International School, at 222 Moo 2 Mittraphap Road in tambon Kut Sa, Mueang Udon Thani, about 150 kilometres east — an IB World School running the Early Years Foundation Stage, a Primary Years Programme based on the National Curriculum of England taught through the IB PYP, the IB Middle Years Programme and the IB Diploma Programme, with CIS accreditation, ISAT membership and a boarding option. At that distance it is a boarding or relocation decision rather than a commute. Wikipedia's list also names a school in Khon Kaen and a second Udon Thani entry; we did not fetch their own pages and so we do not describe their curricula, on principle.
What is Loei Rajabhat University like?
It is the province's main campus and its history is unusually well documented on its own site. Founded on 29 September 1973 as Loei Teachers' College under a World Bank loan programme, it sits on about 323 rai at Thung Khum Thong, roughly five kilometres from the town on Route 201 — the Loei–Chiang Khan road — on land donated by the provincial administrative organisation and neighbouring villagers. Teaching began on 10 June 1976 with 640 students and 47 lecturers transferred from three other teachers' colleges. It became a Rajabhat Institute when King Bhumibol bestowed the name on 25 January 1995, and a full university on 15 June 2004. It now runs five faculties — Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Technology, Engineering and Industrial Technology, and Management Science — with master's programmes dating from 1998, doctorates in Regional Development Strategy and Educational Administration, an MBA and a logistics management degree, plus a Khon Kaen education centre, a Logistics and Border Trade Study Centre, a demonstration school and a business incubator. Its student numbers are not published on its own history page, so we publish none; a directory suggests the 7,000 to 7,999 band, but that is a search summary and we treat it as unverified.
Will there be a medical school in Loei?
Not a medical school, but a clinical medical education centre — and yes, from 2028, under a dated Cabinet decision. On 28 April 2026 the Cabinet approved a Faculty of Medicine at Nakhon Phanom University with a budget of 2,502 million baht over ten years from fiscal 2027 to 2036, and the project explicitly includes upgrading Nakhon Phanom, Loei and Yasothon hospitals into clinical medical education centres. The first medical-student intake is set for the 2028 academic year, with more than seventy doctors expected to have qualified by 2036 and 216 in the pipeline. So Loei Hospital does not host such a centre today and is scheduled to. The partner university is Nakhon Phanom, not Khon Kaen — worth flagging because Khon Kaen hosts the region's largest medical school and is the answer nearly everyone assumes. Across six adjacent provinces this teaching link has now given five different answers and Khon Kaen has been wrong every time. Timetables for programmes like this do slip, so treat 2028 as a plan rather than a certainty.
Can my children go to a Thai school in Loei?
Yes, as anywhere in Thailand — the province has a full state school system across its 14 districts, 89 subdistricts and 839 villages, and Princess Chulabhorn's Science High School Loei is part of the national specialist science school network, though we did not fetch its pages and describe it no further. What we have deliberately NOT done is name individual Thai schools or claim that any of them runs an English Programme, because we did not verify any individual school's curriculum, language of instruction or intake policy, and a list of names without that detail would suggest a choice we cannot evidence. The practical approach is the one that works in any thin province: shortlist by visiting in person, ask each school directly about language of instruction and about how a foreign child transfers in and later transfers out, and be realistic about what a return to an international system later would require. If an international curriculum is essential rather than preferred, the nearest verified option is 150 kilometres away in Udon Thani and that fact should drive the decision, not the school-by-school detail.
Sources & References
- Loei Rajabhat University — university history
- List of international schools in Thailand — Wikipedia
- Udon Thani International School — curriculum
- Cabinet approves a Faculty of Medicine at Nakhon Phanom University — The Coverage
- Loei province — Wikipedia
- Tourism Authority of Thailand
BAANLYY names an international school only where we have read that school's own statement of its own curriculum on its own pages. Schools named on third-party lists but not individually verified are acknowledged as existing and left undescribed.
Related Loei guides
Moving to Loei with children?
Talk to us about the schooling trade-offs before you commit to an area.
Hero photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels. General information, not educational or immigration advice. Curricula, fees, accreditations and programme timetables change — confirm current details with each institution directly.
