Moving to Phuket with children: what to decide first
Half the decisions get made before you fly, and they are expensive to reverse afterwards. This is a note on what to settle, and in what order.
The district matters more than the villa
The commonest mistake is renting somewhere lovely first, then looking for a kindergarten and discovering it is forty minutes away in the heat. Distances on the island are small, but the roads are narrow and a rush-hour drive with a child wears you down more than the map suggests.
The right order: choose the kindergarten or school first, then housing within fifteen minutes of it. Not the other way round.
Briefly, the districts from a family’s point of view:
- Rawai and Nai Harn — the south. Quieter, plenty of families with children, calm bays, short hops between children’s venues. Less tourist noise, and less choice of things for adults.
- Chalong and Kathu — the middle. Convenient for logistics, lots of schools and kindergartens, but residential rather than resort.
- Bang Tao and Laguna — west and north. Expensive, many international schools, infrastructure built around expats.
- Patong — with children this is somewhere you visit for a day, not somewhere you live.
Before signing a long lease, drive the “home to kindergarten” route at eight in the morning on a weekday. It is the only way to know how long it really takes.
Kindergarten or school: how the choice works
Up to six or seven the question is between a Russian-speaking kindergarten, an international one and a Thai one. After that schools come into it, and the cost multiplies.
A Russian-speaking setting is gentler for settling in and usually cheaper. An international one gives the language and a route into international school. Thai is the most affordable but suits few expat families, because of the language and a different approach to early years.
There is a separate category people rarely write about — kindergartens that take children short-term. If you are here for a season, or haven’t decided whether to stay, that is how you avoid paying for a year up front. Ask directly: do you take children by the week, by the month, without an annual contract.
The school year on the island generally runs August to June. Places in popular settings go in spring; by August the choice is noticeably thinner.
Healthcare and insurance
Healthcare in Phuket is good and private. A paediatric consultation in a private clinic is a real sum, and with children in the first year you go more often than usual: acclimatisation, unfamiliar food, water, bites.
Buy insurance before you fly and read two clauses carefully: whether outpatient visits are covered as well as hospital stays, and whether there are age limits for a child. Cheap travel insurance usually covers only serious cases — for living here, rather than visiting, that is not enough.
Worth doing in the first week: find the nearest 24-hour clinic and write down the address, find the nearest pharmacy, put together a home first-aid kit. Separately — something for bites and something for an upset stomach: those are the two most common reasons families end up at a clinic.
The wet season is not what you were warned about
May to October gets written up as though the island spends half the year underwater. In practice the rain usually comes as a short heavy downpour — half an hour to two hours — and then the sun is back.
What genuinely changes: the sea on the west coast gets rough, and children cannot swim there. That part is serious — the red flags are not decorative. The south, with its bays, handles the season more easily.
Plan a day in the wet season with a covered fallback. We have a separate piece on that.
What to budget per child, per month
Benchmarks for 2026, from families on the south of the island. Orders of magnitude rather than a price list — the numbers move a lot by district and format.
| Item | Per month | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten, full day | 18,000–35,000 THB | Russian-speaking near the bottom, international near the top |
| Kindergarten, half day | 12,000–20,000 THB | Often enough if one parent is at home |
| International school | from 40,000 THB | Plus joining fees and uniform |
| Clubs and sport | 3,000–8,000 THB | Swimming, football, art |
| Healthcare | 2,000–5,000 THB | On top of insurance, for small things |
| Outings | 3,000–6,000 THB | Parks, waterparks, weekends |
First-month one-offs get underestimated: a housing deposit, a bike or car, children’s furniture, fans, kitchen things. Set aside a separate “settling in” sum — it is always larger than expected.
What to bring and what to buy here
Bring: the medicines you know, with the active ingredients you trust; your child’s favourite book and toy — they anchor the first weeks; shoes, if your child’s feet are an awkward size; a high-factor sunscreen if you are loyal to a brand.
Buy here: clothes — local ones suit the climate better and cost less; everything for the beach; insect repellent — the local ones work better; household bits.
Don’t bring: warm clothes beyond one jumper, winter shoes, bulk supplies of nappies or formula — the shops have all of it.
A plan for the first month
- Week 1. Temporary housing, a SIM card, the nearest clinic and pharmacy. Don’t sign a long lease yet — see the district on a weekday morning first.
- Week 2. Visit two or three kindergartens. On weekdays, during working hours. Compare against the checklist, not against a feeling.
- Week 3. A trial day at the one you chose. In parallel, a long lease near it.
- Week 4. Start settling in on the short-day plan. Transport, clubs and everything else can wait.
The rule for the first month: one big change at a time. A child cannot absorb a move, a new kindergarten and a new language in the same week — and honestly, neither can you.
We are in Rawai
Limpopo kindergarten takes children aged 1–7, including short stays with no annual contract. KO FUN adventure park is nearby, for children aged 4–12.
