How admissions work at a Thai international or bilingual school
Two quite different sets of families walk through the same door. Relocating expatriate families arrive with a start date decided by an employer, often enquiring from another country and needing everything to happen quickly. Thai families frequently plan further ahead, involve grandparents and extended family in the decision, and ask detailed questions about language support and progression into later years.
Both groups are comparing several schools in Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket at once, and both form their first judgement on how the school replies. Enquiries arrive through the website, through messaging apps, through relocation contacts and through other parents, and they need to reach one place with an owner attached rather than three inboxes checked at different times.
The academic calendar is not the enquiry calendar
International schools here typically run an August start with three terms, but enquiries land in every month because postings and family moves do not respect a calendar. Holding an intended start term on every enquiry is what allows the office to see next term and next year at the same time without confusing the two.
Deposits decide whether a place is real
A place is normally confirmed by a deposit against the first term of fees, usually by bank transfer. Until it is received, an acceptance is an intention. Schools that count verbal acceptances end up with year groups that look full in June and have gaps in August, which is the worst moment to discover the difference.