Compare schools
Two or three international schools side by side: curriculum, area, age range and founding year.
Try it free →The one-line version: Phrae is much better served for Thai-language education than its size suggests — four separate degree-awarding bodies teaching across five sites, plus two long-established government secondaries and a five-language programme at Nareerat — and not served at all for international curricula. If your children need IB or Cambridge, the honest answer is still Chiang Mai, under four hours away.
The institutions
| Institution | Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Maejo University — Phrae campus | University (bachelor's and above) | Maejo is Thailand's oldest agricultural institution, founded on 7 June 1934, with its main campus in Chiang Mai and two provincial campuses — one of them here in Rong Kwang district, north of the town, and the other in Chumphon. It gives northern Phrae a real student population and the small rental market that goes with it. |
| Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University — Phrae campus (มจร วิทยาเขตแพร่) | University (bachelor's and master's) | A full campus of Thailand's national Buddhist university, not an outreach centre. The MCU university council resolved to establish it on 10 January 1987 and the first intake — 50 monks and novices in the Faculty of Education — began on 1 June 1987 at Wat Phra Bat Ming Mueang in the old town. Since 2002 it has occupied its own 37-rai site at 111 Moo 5, Mae Kham Mi subdistrict, about 15 km north of the centre on Highway 101. Bachelor's degrees are taught in Buddhist Studies, Social Studies, Teaching English, Political Science and Law; master's degrees in Buddhist Studies and Political Science; and a graduate diploma in the teaching profession opened for 2026 admission. |
| Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Phrae | Bachelor of Nursing Science | A degree-awarding nursing college at 319 Moo 7, Na Chak subdistrict — the same bypass corridor as the province's hospitals. It sits under the Faculty of Nursing of the Praboromarajchanok Institute, the Ministry of Public Health's own degree-granting institute. The four-year, 124-credit Bachelor of Nursing Science is taught in Thai; its 2022 revision was endorsed by the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council on 20 June 2022. The college also runs its own nursing and midwifery clinic. |
| Phrae Technical College | Vocational — and bachelor's | At 5 Thanon Mueang Hit in Nai Wiang, the education landmark Phrae rental listings most often use to locate themselves. It is not a certificate-only school: alongside the ปวช. and ปวส. programmes it teaches four continuing Bachelor of Technology degrees — Automotive Technology, Mould & Die Technology, Electronics Technology and Information Technology — awarded through the Institute of Vocational Education, Northern Region 2. |
| Phrae Vocational College | Vocational — and bachelor's | The commercial-side counterpart to the technical college, and the fifth degree route inside the province: it teaches a continuing Bachelor of Technology in Accounting, again through the Institute of Vocational Education, Northern Region 2. |
| Phiriyalai School | Government secondary | The province's historic boys' school. It began as Thepwong School, opened on 20 July 1900 under the last ruling prince Phiriya Thepphawong, was renamed Piriyalai by royal grant, and was moved to its present site by the fourth governor, reopening for classes on 21 October 1913. Sources differ on some of these dates — 1902 is also widely quoted for the founding — so treat the 1900 date as the best-attested rather than the only one in circulation. |
| Nareerat School | Government secondary | Established in 1921 and now under the Phrae Secondary Educational Service Area Office, historically the girls' counterpart to Phiriyalai and still one of the two schools most local families aim for. Its published 2026 course register runs a dedicated special English classroom and special science-maths classrooms at lower secondary, plus excellence streams in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and French, and arts tracks in all five languages at upper secondary. The school is at 1 Thanon Khum Doem in Nai Wiang, inside the old town. |
| International-curriculum school | None identified | We could not identify an IB, Cambridge or other international-curriculum school anywhere in Phrae province. That remains true even though the province has four degree-awarding institutions and a five-language secondary programme — the gap is the curriculum, not the ambition. The nearest realistic options are in Chiang Mai. |
Your realistic options as a foreign family
| Option | Availability in Phrae | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Thai government school | The default | Free at the point of use for residents, taught in Thai. Realistic for younger children and for families settling permanently; hard on a teenager arriving without Thai. |
| Thai private / bilingual | Limited local options | Some private schools operate in the capital. Verify the actual language of instruction and hours of English rather than the label — 'bilingual' covers a very wide range in provincial Thailand. |
| Special English / language stream | Confirmed at Nareerat | Nareerat School's own published 2026 course register lists a special English classroom at lower secondary and excellence streams in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and French, with arts tracks in all five languages at upper secondary. That is a real English-medium-adjacent option, not an international curriculum — ask the school how many periods are taught in English and by whom before you rely on it. |
| International school in Chiang Mai | The realistic answer for IB/Cambridge | Chiang Mai has the north's international-school cluster and is under four hours from Phrae by bus. For most families this means relocating to Chiang Mai or boarding, not commuting. |
| Homeschool / online | Increasingly common | Used by long-stay families in provinces without international provision. Check the visa and Thai legal position for your family's situation before relying on it. |
| Degree study without leaving the province | Broader than it looks | For an older teenager or an accompanying adult, Phrae supports a bachelor's degree locally through four separate awarding bodies — Maejo University, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, the Praboromarajchanok Institute's nursing college, and the Institute of Vocational Education, Northern Region 2 — taught across five sites. All of it is in Thai. |
Where a degree actually comes from in Phrae
An earlier version of this guide named Maejo as the province's university and left it there. That was too narrow, and the error was ours rather than any source's. Counting by awarding body rather than by campus sign, four institutions confer degrees in Phrae, across five teaching sites.
Maejo University at Rong Kwang and Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University at Mae Kham Mi are the two universities. MCU's presence is a full witthayakhet — a campus, not a study centre — resolved by its university council on 10 January 1987, opened to its first fifty monks and novices that June at Wat Phra Bat Ming Mueang in the old town, and moved in 2002 to its own 37-rai site about fifteen kilometres north on Highway 101. It teaches bachelor's degrees in Buddhist Studies, Social Studies, Teaching English, Political Science and Law, master's degrees in Buddhist Studies and Political Science, and from 2026 a graduate diploma in the teaching profession.
The other two awarding bodies are easy to miss because neither has “university” in its name. The Praboromarajchanok Institute — the Ministry of Public Health's own degree-granting institute — awards the four-year Bachelor of Nursing Science taught at Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Phrae, on the Na Chak bypass beside the hospitals. And the Institute of Vocational Education, Northern Region 2 awards continuing Bachelor of Technology degrees taught inside the province's two vocational colleges: Automotive Technology, Mould & Die Technology, Electronics Technology and Information Technology at Phrae Technical College, and Accounting at Phrae Vocational College. A Thai technical college is routinely described as a certificate-only institution; in Phrae that description is simply wrong.
All of this teaching is in Thai. It changes what the province offers an adult or an older teenager who can study in Thai; it does not change the answer for a family that needs an English-medium curriculum, which is still Chiang Mai.
A note on Phiriyalai's founding date
Phrae's leading boys' school is one of those institutions whose founding date depends on which source you ask. The best-attested account has Chao Luang Phiriya Thepphawong opening Thepwong School on 20 July 1900, with the name changed to Piriyalai by royal grant, and the school moving to its present site and reopening for classes on 21 October 1913 after princely rule ended in 1902. The year 1902 is also widely quoted as the founding date. We publish 1900 because that is the date the fullest account supports, and we flag the disagreement rather than quietly picking a number — if the exact year matters to you, ask the school.
Frequently asked
Is there an international school in Phrae?We could not identify one. No IB, Cambridge or other international-curriculum school surfaced anywhere in Phrae province in our checks. The north's international-school cluster is in Chiang Mai, which is under four hours from Phrae by bus — close enough for a weekend, not close enough for a school run. If your children need an international curriculum, Phrae is not the province to base a family in, and we would rather say that plainly than imply otherwise.
Does Phrae have a university?It has two, and four degree-awarding bodies in total. Maejo University runs its Phrae campus in Rong Kwang district — Maejo, founded on 7 June 1934, is Thailand's oldest agricultural institution, with its main campus in Chiang Mai and provincial campuses in Phrae and Chumphon. Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, the national Buddhist university, has run a full campus here since 1987 and has occupied its own site at Mae Kham Mi, 15 km north of the centre, since 2002; it teaches five bachelor's degrees and two master's degrees. Beyond those two universities, the Praboromarajchanok Institute awards a Bachelor of Nursing Science at Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Phrae, and the Institute of Vocational Education, Northern Region 2 awards five continuing Bachelor of Technology degrees taught at Phrae Technical College and Phrae Vocational College. For a province of Phrae's size that is a genuinely deep tertiary sector — and it is why Rong Kwang and Mae Kham Mi both carry student rental demand, not just the capital.
What are the main schools in Phrae town?Phiriyalai School and Nareerat School are the two the province is known for. Phiriyalai traces itself to Thepwong School, opened on 20 July 1900 under Phrae's last ruling prince and renamed Piriyalai by royal grant, later moved and reopened on its current site in 1913. Nareerat dates from 1921, and its published 2026 register runs a special English classroom plus excellence streams in four more languages. Phrae Technical College is the main vocational institution and appears constantly as a landmark in local rental listings — and it teaches four bachelor's degrees as well as certificates.
Can my child learn in English in Phrae?Not through an international curriculum — but the answer is no longer simply no. Nareerat School publishes a 2026 course register that includes a dedicated special English classroom at lower secondary and language-excellence streams in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and French, with arts tracks in all five languages at upper secondary. That is a real, verifiable English-and-languages option inside a Thai state school, and it is more than most provinces of this size offer. It is still not IB or Cambridge, the surrounding subjects are taught in Thai, and we would ask the school directly how many periods are delivered in English and by whom. The other routes are a private or bilingual school in the capital, or an online/home programme.
Is Phrae a good place to raise a family?It depends entirely on schooling. On everything else it is a strong candidate: a walkable, safe old town, three hospitals within a couple of kilometres, low costs, national parks within an hour, a genuine craft and heritage culture on the doorstep, and a deeper tertiary sector than the province's size suggests — two universities, a nursing college and five vocational bachelor's programmes. The gap is one specific classroom: there is no international curriculum, and the provincial Thai system will work well for a young child and be hard on an arriving teenager. Families needing IB or Cambridge should look at Chiang Mai.
Moving with school-age children?
Tell BAANLYY what curriculum you need and we will tell you honestly which northern province fits.
Sources & References
- Maejo University — official site
- MCU Phrae campus — the campus's own history and programme list
- Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Phrae — Bachelor of Nursing Science curriculum
- Institute of Vocational Education, Northern Region 2 — bachelor's programmes by college
- Phrae Technical College — official site
- Nareerat School — published course register, 2026 intake
- Phiriya Theppawong — Wikipedia
- Phrae province — Wikipedia
- Ministry of Education, Thailand
- Tourism Authority of Thailand
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.
School provision, programmes and fees change — confirm directly with the institution before making a decision. General information, not educational or legal advice. Hero photograph via Pexels.
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Last updated 6 September 2026 · Last reviewed 6 September 2026