Raffles American School Bangkok

Key facts

Overview

Raffles American School sits on the Bang Na-Trat frontage road in Bang Kaeo, Samut Prakan, close enough to the Bangkok line that directory listings routinely file it under Bang Na or Prawet, Bangkok. It is not: those are the 10260 and 10250 postcodes, and Raffles is 10540. It teaches from Nursery through Grade 12, in English throughout, and holds a full six-year WASC accreditation granted in 2021. Its published class size is 22, with staffing front-loaded into the early years — three staff per classroom in Nursery to K2, two through Elementary, one homeroom teacher from Grade 5. BAANLYY is not affiliated with Raffles American School and takes no paid placement in this guide.

What changed — and why most listings are wrong

Raffles has moved its senior years from Advanced Placement to the IB Diploma. The school’s own High School page states that the AP programme “is no longer a primary focus”, that it currently offers “one or two AP courses”, and that “the IB Diploma Programme now serves as the main academic pathway for Grades 11–12”. Every major directory — and this page, until August 2026 — still described Raffles as an American-curriculum school leading to a U.S. high school diploma with AP. A family choosing Raffles specifically to secure an American diploma pathway would be choosing on a description the school has retired. This is the clearest example in Samut Prakan of why a school’s own pages beat any listing: the change is plainly stated by the school and has propagated almost nowhere else.

One caution in the other direction. Raffles runs the Diploma Programme and displays the IB logo, but never publishes an IB status word anywhere on its site — not “authorised”, not “IB World School”, not “candidate”. We report what the school says it teaches and decline to assert an authorisation it does not claim. Confirm it with the school or on the IB’s own register before you enrol on the strength of it.

What we could not verify

• The IB authorisation status word, as above.
• The founding year. Directories say 2012; the school does not date itself before its 2021 WASC accreditation.
• Whether the school awards a U.S. high school diploma alongside the IB Diploma. It does not say so.
• Roll size, teacher-student ratio and nationality counts — none are published. The “12 campuses in 9 countries” figure in search results is Raffles Education group-wide, not this school.
• Bus routes. A transportation policy exists in the parents’ handbook, but no routes, zones, pick-up points or fees are published, so the bus cannot be used as a where-to-live input.
• Air quality provision beyond hardware. The facilities pages state each classroom has an air purifier; the school’s on-site air-quality page renders empty and carries a leftover test slug, and no PM2.5 threshold or heat policy is published.
• Which fee band K3 falls into. The site navigation places K3 in Elementary while the fee table prices it as its own kindergarten band — and the bands differ. Confirm before budgeting.

Highlights

• The IB Diploma Programme is now the school’s main academic pathway for Grades 11-12, in its own words
• Full six-year WASC accreditation granted 2021, mid-cycle review passed 2024
• Published class size of 22, with three staff per classroom in the youngest year groups
• A through-school: a child can enter at two and leave at eighteen without changing school
• Minutes inside the Samut Prakan line, so compare drive times from Bang Na and On Nut on the Bangkok side as well as from within the province

FAQ

Sources & References

• Ministry of Education, Thailand
• Raffles American School Bangkok — official site

School facts are drawn from the school's own official website plus independent cross-checks. BAANLYY is a data-and-tools platform, not a school, agent or admissions consultant; never takes paid placement in this content, and does not guarantee current tuition, admissions or accreditation status -- always confirm directly with the school before relying on any figure here.