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Published on February 22, 2008

Artitaya Niumpradit, 33, the youngest daughter of the Srifuengfung family, aims to make the dynasty's latest venture become a fully integrated provider of top-quality education in five years.

Heathfield International School, which opened last September on 8 rai of land on Sukhapiban 3, next to Bangkok's Eastern Outer Ring Road, has proven the potential of Artitaya in running an education business.

The school provides instruction to students aged from three months to 16 years based on the United Kingdom's education system.

"Heathfield is the oldest school in the UK with 350 years [of history]," school manager Artitaya said on Wednesday.

"It's not easy to bring in the famous brand name if we do nothing to prove ourselves."

Four years ago, she approached Heathfield about becoming her partner here. In the meantime, she decided to open her own school.

The move was supported by her mother Em-Orn, who had a vision that the education business would be a rising star.

The first year of the school's operation was full of hitches. The only staff it had were Artitaya, a headmaster and two teachers for the eight students.

A year later, Artitaya felt she had failed out of stress and fear about what should be the school's direction.

Luckily for her, she was born into one of the most reputable families in Bangkok. The Srifuengfunds own more than 1,000 rai of vacant land in the Ramkhamhaeng and Rangsit areas.

Half of the school grounds is on the family's original property. Artitaya spent about Bt200 million each on buying four more rai and constructing six school buildings.

Last year, Heathfield agreed to join with Artitaya.

When she was considering opening a school, she intended from the start to ally with a British education brand. "I like the education system there," she said.

That was because she spent more than 10 years in the UK when she was young.

Although Heathfield is small, it has plenty of quality by providing students with both academic and other knowledge such as sports and music. "A combination of what the school teaches will make students well-rounded," she said. "This is why we chose Heathfield."

She is also confident there are still many high-income earners here who want their children to be taught in a high-quality school.

When the school's buildings are completed in mid-June, they will be able to accommodate up to 1,600 students. However, to follow the conditions of Heathfield, the school will limit its enrolment to 600 students.

Now, Heathfield International School, Bangkok, has 30 teachers taking care of 200 students, both primary and secondary.

The average school fee is about Bt300,000 a year.

"Salaries account for 80 per cent of total expenses. For this business, we must be brave to invest. Then, we'll reap a profit," Artitaya said.

The school can break even in three years if its quality is good enough.

"Quality must be the first priority of management in the school business as word of mouth is the most powerful marketing strategy to attract more students," she said.

In April, the school will open a nursery for children of three months. Initially, the nursery will accept not more than 15 charges.

Half and full days are available for parents who have no time to look after their offspring.

Meanwhile, they need a quality nursery.

For now, Artitaya has great confidence in her education business. "I think that honesty and responsibility are the keys to success in this business."

She also plans to open an international university within five years on about 100 rai of her parents' land in the Rangsit area.

This will be integrated with the St Theresa Technology of Business Administration School, an institution that the Srifuengfungs took over recently.

Sasithorn Ongdee

The Nation