Bangkok floods push international schools online: week in international schools (28 September – 2 October 2026)

Each week we draw together the week’s most useful international-school news for families in Bangkok and on the Eastern Seaboard — openings, operational disruption, programme news and dates worth putting in the diary. This instalment covers Monday 28 September to Friday 2 October 2026.

One story dominated the week. Severe monsoon flooding across Bangkok and neighbouring provinces forced state, private and international schools to suspend in-person classes, then left many campuses deciding day by day whether they could reopen. British Schools Asia reported that Bangkok’s international schools had shifted to remote learning, noting the pressure on new British campuses such as Dulwich College Bangkok, Wycombe Abbey International School Bangkok and SPGS International School Bangkok, as well as established schools including Bangkok Patana School.

Bangkok floods: closures, remote learning and an uncertain return

Heavy rain from late September triggered a cascade of official decisions. The Cabinet declared 28 and 29 September special government holidays in flood-hit areas. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration closed city-run schools on Monday 28 September. Thailand’s Education Ministry then directed private and international schools in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan to suspend in-person classes on Tuesday 29 September, with school directors free to extend where flooding continued.

The disruption outlasted those two days. By 29 September the Education Minister had confirmed that 155 Bangkok schools — across the wider school system — could not reopen for the rest of that week because floodwater remained in buildings. Public reports do not break that figure down by international campuses alone; treat it as a city-wide education impact, not a British-curriculum headcount.

International schools sit outside the BMA’s direct jurisdiction but received a parallel ministry instruction to pause on-site teaching. Most issued same-day parent messages and moved lessons online, with reopening framed as day-by-day reviews after campus inspections. For established schools, flood protocols are familiar. For founding cohorts admitted only weeks earlier — including the new British campuses that opened this August — the forced shift online is an early test of communication, online delivery and parent confidence.

As of Friday 2 October there is still no single confirmed reopening date for every international campus. Families should follow their own school’s parent messages rather than assume a city-wide “all clear.”

Why it matters for British Learning Centre families

Flood weeks are stressful for working parents, especially where siblings attend different campuses or home workspace is uneven. The practical questions are familiar: How long will remote learning last? Will missed hours be recovered? When is it safe to travel again? Additionally, we even had to close our own Lasalle's branch last weekend due to severe weather and flooding.

Eastern Seaboard: open campuses and language programmes

East of Bangkok the picture was more mixed. Chonburi was widely reported as the worst-hit eastern province, while Rayong was described as largely normal. Importantly for Pattaya and Rayong families, no international school closures on the Eastern Seaboard appeared in the public sources we checked.

Programme news still moved forward. MIS International School Pattaya announced an expanded World Languages offering: Spanish and Japanese now sit alongside English, Thai and Chinese, with French and Russian planned later. The school cites more than 1,000 pupils and over thirty nationalities. Regents International School Pattaya published a note on its English as an Additional Language provision, emphasising academic English across subjects rather than conversational fluency alone — a theme many multilingual relocating families ask about on tours.

Catch-up: Wycombe Abbey Bangkok and Sansiri

A quieter item for families shortlisting Bangna–Trad corridor options: Wycombe Abbey International School Bangkok’s memorandum of understanding with Sansiri (announced 16 September) ties the campus to the SANSIRI 10 East community. Public school pages describe resident scholarships and benefits worth up to THB 3.5 million and a Global Real Estate Immersion Programme into live development projects — partnership packaging that now sits alongside the same new-campus cohort proving remote-learning systems under pressure.

Looking ahead (check with organisers before travelling)

October’s open-day calendar is still useful — but given residual flooding and day-by-day campus decisions, please confirm each visit with the school or fair organiser before you travel. Where an event has a British Learning Centre page, you can book a place there:

• Wednesday 7 October — St Andrews International School, Dusit: Early Years and Primary open house (08:30–11:00; ages 2–11).
• Thursday 8 October — Brighton College Bangkok (Krungthep Kreetha) open house.
• Saturday 10 October — Bangkok International School Gateway Fair at the InterContinental Bangkok (Ploenchit). Free entry; multi-school fair. British Learning Centre will be at booth 74 for independent conversations about shortlists, assessments and IGCSE support. (Fair details)
• 12–16 October — Regents International School Pattaya: Little Explorers Holiday Camp (ages 1–6; THB 15,000 per week; open to non-Regents families).
• Friday 16 October — Wycombe Abbey International School Bangkok: open classroom visit.
• Friday 30 October — St Andrew’s International School, Green Valley open day.

Highgate open-day dates for early October have not yet been confirmed; we will share them once the school publishes details.

Closing

Flood disruption will ease unevenly across Bangkok districts, and catch-up teaching will matter as much as the first day back on campus. Whether you need steady UK-curriculum support while school is online, or a calm conversation about October visits once travel is sensible again, British Learning Centre is glad to help — in Pattaya, at Lasalle’s Avenue in Bangkok, and online.