Nakornpayap International School

In Brief

NIS is Chiang Mai's most established secular American-curriculum school, and for families coming from a US background who want AP courses and a non-faith environment, it's the natural comparison against CMIS. The 2024 fee increases and building concerns raised by some families are worth asking about directly at a campus visit.

At 30-plus AP courses and WASC accreditation since 1993, NIS has the longest secular track record of any international school in Chiang Mai - and it shows in the AP data it publishes annually. The US Common Core framework runs from ECC through Grade 12, and the 'education through diversity' community pitch is backed by a student body of 100+ nationalities. For families on a US curriculum looking at CMIS, NIS is the other name on the shortlist.

San Phi Sua sits north of the city centre - about 20-25 minutes from Nimman or the Old City, slightly less from the northern suburbs. The Lanna-style campus buildings make it visually distinctive, and the single-site ECC-to-Grade-12 structure means families can avoid a mid-education campus change. Longer-term families describe cross-year mentoring and an active PTSA as part of the school's rhythm.

Some families in 2024 reported fee increases substantially above what was communicated at enrolment, and separately raised questions about a newly opened high school block. These may be short-term growing pains, but they're worth raising directly: ask the admissions team about the fee-increase policy for 2026-27, and about current conditions in the new building, before committing.