Saturday is not part of the weekend but rather another busy day spent furthering their children's education for many families in Bangkok.
One such family is the Sutthipaks, who spend most of a typical Saturday at Wannasorn Tower on Phaya Thai Road, where their children attend special courses with the aim of one day attending one of the country's best universities.
"We have to leave our house in Rangsit as early as 6am so we can grab the best seats for our children, who will be in class until 6pm," said 41-year-old Nattakan Sutthipak, mother of three daughters aged 15, 13 and 12.
The three girls attend different institutes in the building, with subjects including physics, chemistry, biology, English and mathematics.
Mrs Nattakan said her middle daughter, Siripat, is a Mathayom 1 student at Saipanya Rangsit 3 School, where she is enrolled in an intensive course for talented students. Although her grade last year was an impressive 3.91 GPA, it was not enough to top the class, with the highest score being 3.96 GPA.
"She was quite upset with the grade result. She asked me many things about her subjects, which I couldn't explain," said Mrs Nattakan.
"That's why I decided to enrol her at the Chem-Ou Tutoring Institute [in Wannasorn Tower] last October.
"Now my daughter is very satisfied with her results as she has improved her grades."
Siripat said she eventually wanted to attend Mahidol University's faculty of medicine, but learning at school alone might not be enough to realise her dream.
"[Attending the tutorial institute] gives me more necessary knowledge than just learning at school," she said.
"In my school, there are many old teachers and many are going to retire soon. If I don't come [to the tutorial institute], I can't be a doctor. Everybody is in competition."
Mrs Nattakan admitted the cost of extra tutoring was quite expensive - as much as 3,000 baht for a course. But she said the expense would be worthwhile if it helped launch her children on successful careers.
Puchita Wangdan, a 16-year-old Matthayom 5 student at Satriwitthaya 2 School in Lat Phrao who spent two years at Chem-Ou, said reading textbooks only was not enough for her to gain a sufficient understanding of complicated science subjects.
The additional lessons at the tutorial school helped her improve her knowledge thanks to the different methods employed there.
The Education Ministry said more than 300,000 students countrywide attended tutorial schools in 2007, generating revenue of more than 6billion baht. The number is now estimated at 400,000.
The average price for one course is about 3,000 baht.
With such a huge demand generating such high revenues, the government is considering taxing tutorial schools, which so far have been tax-exempt despite being private businesses as they are classified as educational institutes.
"If the government taxes tutorial schools, the burden will eventually be passed on to parents," said Anusorn Sivakul, the owner of Chem-Ou Tutoring Institute.
He said tutorial institutes would not be needed if schools fulfilled all their pupils' learning needs, but often the students want something more than their normal schools can offer.
"We are the additional option for them. Our strength is the weakness of ordinary schools, which is that we have excellent human resources," he said.
Mr Anusorn said it was very challenging for the government to guarantee well-qualified teachers at all schools because this would require a huge investment.
A qualified teacher's salary should be similar to that of a doctor or other white-collar professionals, he said.
"I conducted a survey among my students and none of them said they would like to be a teacher because of the very low salary. If this situation continues, it will become very hard to find decent teachers in this country."
One such family is the Sutthipaks, who spend most of a typical Saturday at Wannasorn Tower on Phaya Thai Road, where their children attend special courses with the aim of one day attending one of the country's best universities.
"We have to leave our house in Rangsit as early as 6am so we can grab the best seats for our children, who will be in class until 6pm," said 41-year-old Nattakan Sutthipak, mother of three daughters aged 15, 13 and 12.
The three girls attend different institutes in the building, with subjects including physics, chemistry, biology, English and mathematics.
Mrs Nattakan said her middle daughter, Siripat, is a Mathayom 1 student at Saipanya Rangsit 3 School, where she is enrolled in an intensive course for talented students. Although her grade last year was an impressive 3.91 GPA, it was not enough to top the class, with the highest score being 3.96 GPA.
"She was quite upset with the grade result. She asked me many things about her subjects, which I couldn't explain," said Mrs Nattakan.
"That's why I decided to enrol her at the Chem-Ou Tutoring Institute [in Wannasorn Tower] last October.
"Now my daughter is very satisfied with her results as she has improved her grades."
Siripat said she eventually wanted to attend Mahidol University's faculty of medicine, but learning at school alone might not be enough to realise her dream.
"[Attending the tutorial institute] gives me more necessary knowledge than just learning at school," she said.
"In my school, there are many old teachers and many are going to retire soon. If I don't come [to the tutorial institute], I can't be a doctor. Everybody is in competition."
Mrs Nattakan admitted the cost of extra tutoring was quite expensive - as much as 3,000 baht for a course. But she said the expense would be worthwhile if it helped launch her children on successful careers.
Puchita Wangdan, a 16-year-old Matthayom 5 student at Satriwitthaya 2 School in Lat Phrao who spent two years at Chem-Ou, said reading textbooks only was not enough for her to gain a sufficient understanding of complicated science subjects.
The additional lessons at the tutorial school helped her improve her knowledge thanks to the different methods employed there.
The Education Ministry said more than 300,000 students countrywide attended tutorial schools in 2007, generating revenue of more than 6billion baht. The number is now estimated at 400,000.
The average price for one course is about 3,000 baht.
With such a huge demand generating such high revenues, the government is considering taxing tutorial schools, which so far have been tax-exempt despite being private businesses as they are classified as educational institutes.
"If the government taxes tutorial schools, the burden will eventually be passed on to parents," said Anusorn Sivakul, the owner of Chem-Ou Tutoring Institute.
He said tutorial institutes would not be needed if schools fulfilled all their pupils' learning needs, but often the students want something more than their normal schools can offer.
"We are the additional option for them. Our strength is the weakness of ordinary schools, which is that we have excellent human resources," he said.
Mr Anusorn said it was very challenging for the government to guarantee well-qualified teachers at all schools because this would require a huge investment.
A qualified teacher's salary should be similar to that of a doctor or other white-collar professionals, he said.
"I conducted a survey among my students and none of them said they would like to be a teacher because of the very low salary. If this situation continues, it will become very hard to find decent teachers in this country."
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