Garden vs Regents.

Five questions.
Five answers.

1. Are you committed to IB Diploma only — or might you want A-Level optionality at G11?

Garden is IBDP-only at Sixth Form. Regents offers both IB Diploma and A-Level after IGCSE. Regents Years 10–11 standard tuition is ฿890,000 and Years 12–13 is ฿899,000; its 5% annual-payment option reduces those rows to ฿845,500 and ฿854,050.

2. Can you accept a Rayong daily commute for exact published fee savings?

Garden at Ban Chang, Rayong sits ~30 minutes south of central Pattaya — a daily run many families accept for lower published fees and FOBISIA sports circuits, but not walkable from Jomtien or Naklua. If you live in Rayong or Ban Chang already, Garden's location is a structural advantage. Regents at Pong, Banglamung sits on the Pattaya side — typically 15–25 minutes from central Pattaya. Test both commutes at school-run times before enrolling. The fee gap (~฿186K/yr at Year 1, ~฿329K/yr at Year 10) only makes sense if the Rayong run is sustainable for your family.

3. FOBISIA circuits + published IBDP results — or Nord Anglia global network?

Garden pairs CIS accreditation with current FOBISIA membership (the federation says it joined in 2002 or earlier) and publishes IBDP examination results — 100% Diploma pass rate in 2023 (89% in 2022, 100% in 2021 on its official results page). Verify latest cohort size and average points on tour. Garden also offers broader language exposure (Spanish + French + Mandarin vs Regents' three-language offering). Regents sits inside Nord Anglia Education — 80+ schools across 30+ countries, MIT for STEM and Juilliard for performing arts partnerships, cross-network teacher exchanges and relocation portability. Structural fit for globally mobile families who may transfer mid-course.

4. Boarding from Year 5 — or from Year 3 on the Pattaya side?

Both schools publish boarding. Garden offers weekly boarding from Year 5 at ฿297,000/year or full boarding at ฿345,000/year, plus a ฿20,000 deposit. Regents boards from Year 3 at ฿447,000 standard, or ฿424,650 with its 5% annual-payment option, plus a ฿30,000 retainer.

5. Can you budget Garden exact fees versus Regents Nord Anglia premium?

On standard published tuition, Garden runs from ฿147,000 in half-day Nursery to ฿609,800 in Years 12–13, while Regents runs from ฿464,000 in Pre-Nursery to ฿899,000 in Years 12–13. Regents’ 5% annual-payment option is shown separately. Add each school’s published entry, transport and boarding charges before comparing total cash due.

Summary verdict

• Choose Garden International if: you are committed to IB Diploma only (no A-Level switch); published fee savings (~30–40% lower at secondary) matter; FOBISIA sports/arts circuits and CIS + published IBDP results are the priority; you accept a Rayong daily commute or live in Ban Chang; and its day, weekly-boarding or full-boarding pattern fits your family structure.
• Choose Regents Pattaya if you need boarding from Year 3, IB Diploma-or-A-Level choice, Nord Anglia mobility or a Pattaya-side campus, and its standard top-end tuition of ฿899,000 is within budget.

Neither fits — if…

You want pure British A-Level without IB at premium scale — see Rugby vs Regents. You need IB Diploma at a lower fee point — see ISE Sriracha (American + IBDP at G11–12). You want Cognita forest-school IB in Rayong — see Garden vs St Andrew's. You need Established-tier British in Nongprue — see MIS vs TPIS.

Compare the same fee year and payment basis

Garden’s latest published tariff in this record is 2025/26; Regents publishes 2026/27. That makes the table useful for understanding the schools’ structures, but it is not permission to assume Garden’s older amount will remain the enrolling family’s price. Ask Garden for a dated quote for the intended start year and keep its published 2025/26 figure visible beside it. At Regents, keep the 5% annual-payment option separate from standard tuition so a discount available only with earlier cash payment is not mistaken for the base fee.

Build a first-year column and a later-year column for each school. Include application, enrolment or registration, refundable deposits, tuition, compulsory support, meals, transport, books, uniform, trips, activities, examinations and boarding where relevant. Mark every item as mandatory, optional, refundable, annual, termly or one-time. If either school has not published a price, leave it “quote required”; an empty public line is not evidence that the family will pay nothing.

Boarding changes more than the invoice

Garden’s published weekly and full-boarding options begin from Year 5, while Regents publishes boarding from Year 3. Parents should compare the actual residential pattern, not only the annual charge. Ask which nights are included, how weekends and holidays work, what transport is provided, how medical care and guardianship are handled, which activities carry extra charges, and what happens when a pupil wants to move between weekly and full boarding. Request the current boarding handbook and a dated invoice alongside the day-school offer.

Visit the boarding house during an ordinary school week if residence is part of the decision. Ask to see the age-appropriate sleeping, study and recreation areas; understand phone rules, prep supervision and contact with families; and meet the adult responsible for the relevant age group. A published minimum year does not tell parents whether the daily routine suits this particular child.

Test pathway optionality before you pay for it

Regents’ IB Diploma-or-A-Level choice is valuable to a family that genuinely wants to preserve both routes. Ask when pupils choose, which subjects run for the expected cohort, minimum entry requirements, timetable constraints and what happens when a low-demand subject cannot open. Garden’s IB-only Sixth Form is simpler but still requires subject-level checking: request the intended IB subjects, prerequisites, counselling timetable, examination charges and recent cohort context. Published pass rates should be read with cohort size and average points, not as a guarantee for an individual pupil.

For a younger child, compare what leads into those senior options. Ask both schools how the English curriculum is assessed, which IGCSE subjects are compulsory or elective, how pupils are advised before Year 10, and how learning or English-language support affects subject access. Network names, accreditation and facilities are meaningful context, but the decisive evidence is the child’s written route through the years they are likely to attend.

Make the commute part of the offer

Run both routes at morning drop-off and afternoon collection, then ask for a bus quote to the exact address. Garden’s Ban Chang location can be logical for a Rayong-based family and exhausting for a household on the other side of Pattaya; Regents’ Pong location reverses some of that geography. Confirm pickup windows, ride duration, after-activity returns and whether a boarding pattern would reduce or complicate travel. Add the route to the weekly timetable before deciding that a tuition saving compensates for distance.

The final shortlist should contain two child-specific documents: proposed year group, curriculum and later qualification route, required support, complete first-year total, recurring annual estimate, transport or boarding arrangement and payment conditions. The better school is the one whose whole package remains workable, not the one with the strongest single headline.