Thailand's Boston Bright hopes to speak the language of |success with 3rd branch

Boston Bright Language School, an American franchise, is looking to expand its business by opening its third branch next year.

Managing director Giknarongpol Hathamontol said that though there were many language schools in Thailand, Boston Bright was still in great demand. The company still has to decide if the new branch should be located in Rangsit, Pinklao or Bang Na.

"Though we already have a branch on Silom Road and another at Chamchuri Square, we have received many requests for another branch," he said.

Last year, the company's revenue was Bt70 million, which accounts for about 1 per cent of the total market value, worth between Bt6 billion and Bt8 billion.

However, Giknarongpol said the language centre's revenue this year had dropped a bit due to the political turmoil.

The Silom branch opened days before government forces cracked down on the red-shirt protesters in May, while the Chamchuri Square branch, which was opened two years ago, had to stay closed for months.

Yet Giknarongpol is optimistic that once the new branch, which requires an investment of Bt20 million, opens the money will start coming in. The company is aiming for a 10-per-cent increase in revenue per year.

The cost of packages on offer at Boston Bright, ranging from levels one to 15, start from Bt30,000. Students can either pay on a monthly basis or pay the entire amount in a lump sum. Boston Bright offers more than 1,000 classes each month, the highest number compared to other language schools. Students have the freedom to drop out at any time and pick up where they left off.

Apart from keeping its classes very small - one to four students per teacher - activities are another selling point of the language centre.

Giknarongpol said all sorts of people, ranging from lawyers and doctors to university and high-school students - with the oldest being a 71-year-old lawyer - join Boston Bright to learn the English language. Apart from the small classes, these students preferred Boston Bright because every month there is a workshop where people from different professions come in to teach students their professional jargon.

In addition, there is also an overnight field trip as well as special events held on Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day to help the students learn about Western culture. The school also follows up on students who don't turn up in class. Giknarongpol said the target was for at least 200 students to enrol every month.

At present, there are 19 teachers - seven in the Silom branch and 12 in Chamchuri Square - ranging in nationality from British, American, Canadian and Australian to South African and Irish.

The Chamchuri Square branch also offers courses for youngsters between the age of five and 14 as part of its Boston Bright Kids package.