I want to be an exchange student in thailand

[LaoKittyGurl215]

Hey well i love Thailand so much.. i never been there but i feel like i have a really good connection with Thailand and i will love to live there for at least 1 yr so i wanna be an exchange student... now i live in USA and the school i go to is in a very small town so i dont think they have the exchange student program ... can u give me an advice of what to do please i really want to go to Thailand!!!

[Makiy0]

There are lots of us here who want to go to Thailand to work or study. Just so that some of us want it more than others. By "want it", I mean want it so much that they actually proceed with a course of action to make it happen...

So LaoKittyGurl215, if you really want to be an exchange student in Thailand, make it happen and I will offer my moral support 100%. You go girl!

[LaoKittyGurl215]

well i know that i can make it happen .. but how? dont u have to pay alot of money for being an exchange student.. and i also hope my parents would let me go..

LaoKittyGurl215,

Thailand is a very good place to study. The education is high quality and the price is very affordable. Since you have never been to Thailand you might consider a short term volunteer program or cultural experience tour with other US youth before you make any decisions on studying in Thailand. How old are you? You can find some good High School age programs at GoAbroad.com There is a non profit company that advises people your age based in the US called Just Go Students. Look at their web site at website

Give Alexis a call at Just Go and tell her you talked to Jason at GoAbroad. She will be very helpful to you and your parents. Make sure you discuss everything with them and include them in your excitment.

[CanuckJonny]

Quote[/b] ]now i live in USA and the school i go to is in a very small town so i dont think they have the exchange student program

There are a few true 'exchange student' programs that allow you to experience a foreign country for up to one year. However, your choice of destinations is only limited to where the people in your area are willing to send you.

For example, if you want to go to say, Italy, and the co-ordinators of the program in your area don't exchange with Italy, then you're sort of out of luck.

The organization that sent me to Thailand was Rotary International - www.rotary.org. There's usually more than a few Rotary clubs hanging around where you live, and there's a good chance that they - or a club they know - will send you to some magical overseas destination. The costs associated with this program are:
1 - Passport and Visa application
2 - Performance deposit*
3 - Anywhere from 0 to 50% of airfare
4 - (Optional) Tours that will be in your host country

*The performance deposit is to ensure that you fulfill your obligations to the program; these include filling out quarterly reports to be sent back to your sponsor club or other things they may ask you to do.

You'll stay with local families, receive an okay allowance and head to school. Plus the price was okay; all in all, including tours, the whole thing only cost about $2700 USD. For a whole year!

Another program that's popular among students is through AFS Interculture - www.afs.org - but there are some differences between the two programs. The experience is *generally* the same, though.

It's hard not to find a reference to AFS Interculture programs - they go to several countries, including Thailand, and it appears that they will send you to any country listed on their webpage, from any country listed on their webpage. Don't quote me on that, though!

The main difference appears to be merely financial. Here's the straight dope on money matters when you go abroad with AFS, ripped straight from their website.

Your parents will be expected to:
-Honour the costs of participation before the student's departure, or participate in the Friends of AFS' activities.
-Pay for passport and visa fees, if any.
-Ensure transportation to and from the orientation that takes place prior to departure (in the province of residence).
-Ensure transportation from their home to the international airport of departure.
-Provide the participant with pocket money for the duration of the program.

Now superficially this might not seem like a lot; however, I've heard of students having to pay upwards of $1000 US *monthly* during their stays overseas. That's quite a lot of dough!

I hope this helps you out and maybe next year you could find yourself on an exchange.

Jonny

[darkblue]

i wanted to go to school in thailand too! but to get into the school i wanted to go to i would have to take a test to get in... i might go to thailand in august and if i do i'll take the test at Harrow's International. It's a boarding school, but if i needed to i could have stayed with family down there, it costs a lot though... if i get in i might go for only half a year and do half a year here in new england...

off the topic... does anyone go to harrows??

[Schizm]

Hey, yea I was actually like considering of being a foreign exchange student, but I can't read or write Thai, and that's a problem because I am Thai. I'm scared people might think that I have this learning disability... but I can speak perfect english... so maybe they won't think I'm as retarded..? But it's all good... i hope..

[Kathryn]

I am from the US and I go to a university that also doesn't have a thai abroad program. I found an alternative program that i can go through and still get credit for my school. I'm not sure if you are in high school or college, but if you plan to go to a university you can most likely do this too. you can also go as a college freshman.
The name is University Studies Abroad Consortium, and the website is http://usac.unr.edu.
This program is also the most reasonable one I could find. I haven't gone yet (I will be going in the spring), but so far the people all seem very friendly and helpful.
I hope this helps.

[CanuckJonny]

Hey Schizm,

Don't worry about all that stuff! I *totally* looked like a Thai guy and had no idea about Thai culture or language. People would even try to sell me stuff on the street a'la door-to-door salespeople and I'd have to cut them off really quick because I had no idea what they were saying!

It's all good when you head abroad as an exchange student; it's easy to make friends and within a few months, Thai (or any other language for that matter) will come to you very quickly.

Jonny

[yeows]

Quote[/b] ]It's all good when you head abroad as an exchange student; it's easy to make friends and within a few months, Thai (or any other language for that matter) will come to you very quickly.

Totally agree with you, CanukJonny. Thais are very friendly and hospitable. I'm sure Schizm will be able to make new friends.

Once exposed to a stimulating Thai environment, there is no doubt that the learning process will progress real fast if one can absorb the 'bombardment' of Thai sights and sounds.