Our Administration Team and Coordinators give valuable support to our Executive Leadership Team through their commitment to the school’s mission and values.

Michel Thibeault (Kru Michel)

Mindfulness Director

Kru Michel holds a Bachelor of Education from McGill University and a Master’s of Education from University of Montreal, Canada. Michel has more than 30 years of experience as an educator. He has worked with young people in different capacities – as a classroom teacher with students from nursery to Year 13 for many years and as a school principal and Outdoor Leadership CEO in Canada for 12 years before coming to Thailand. Kru Michel’s main role has been to oversee the implementation of the curriculum and to supervise and train teachers. This includes facilitating the integration of  the Buddhist approach of the school.

 

Marisa Visuthakul (Kru Tualek)

Quality Assurance Manager

Kru Tualek is one of the Panyaden Pioneer Team since 2011, she brings over 7 years’ experience of client project management in the advertising and communications sectors. As a Quality Assurance Manager, her role is to coordinate, oversee and implement plans to ensure the successful achievement of all organisational outcomes relative to accreditation and standards of educational organisation in Thailand. Kru Tualek graduated with a Bachelor degree in Mass Communication from Kasetsart University and a Master’s of Strategic Marketing Communications from the University of Greenwich, UK.

Jill Caroline McFarlane (Kru Jill)

Activities and Athletics Director

Kru Jill is from Alberta, Canada. She holds a BA in Physical Education as well as a BEd in Elementary Education. During her education, she played competitive volleyball at the intercollegiate level. Kru Jill has been teaching for five years and has spent the last three as a Physical and Health Education teacher and Athletic Director on Vancouver Island. Jill comes to Panyaden after spending a year backpacking around the world with her husband. She believes in the importance of a physically active lifestyle rooted in nature and spends her free time hiking, camping and travelling.

 

Dr. Rachael Stevens (Kru Rachael)

Vice Principal (Early Years and Year 1)

Kru Rachael holds a PGCE (Lower Primary) where she specialised in Early Years education. Her passion for Lower Primary education is rooted in her belief that providing play-based learning opportunities for our youngest students, both indoors and out, allows them to learn more about themselves, explore their own interests and achieve their next steps, setting them up develop their love of learning for life. Kru Rachael is dedicated to incorporating mindfulness and a Buddhist approach into her classrooms and holds a Doctorate in Tibetan Buddhism from the University of Oxford and a Masters in Buddhist Studies from SOAS.

Andrea Susannah Paetkau (Kru Andrea)

Primary Vice Principal (Student Life)

Kru Andrea has been a school leader for over twenty years. She holds a Master of Education in International Leadership from Charles Sturt University, Australia, and obtained her B.Ed along with a Specialist in Religious Education from the University of Toronto, Canada. In 2001, Kru Andrea established a private school for students with Learning Disabilities. She received training in the Orton-Gillingham methodology, which is aligned with the Science of Reading. During her time as the Learning Specialist at Avenues in São Paulo, Brazil, she also gained expertise in Project Based Learning. Her fervent passion lies in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Over the past three years, Kru Andrea has actively contributed to the Avon Maitland District School Board’s development of policies and procedures pertaining to EDI.

Dr. Nanthawan Watthanawara (Kru Dear)

Primary Thai Language Coordinator 

Kru Dear holds certification in Teaching Thai for foreigners and has earned her Ph.D. in Multicultural Education from Chiang Mai University. Prior to joining the Panyaden team, she taught at an international school for two years and served as a lecturer in the German department at Payap University for eight years. Additionally, she held a lecturing position at the Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai University, for five years. Over the past decade, she has worked closely with our multicultural education philosophy. She believes that each student’s differences are strengths, which create a classroom that values respect, creativity, and thinking critically. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, spending time in nature, laughing with friends and family, travelling, and eating delicious food!

Phatcharaphorn Kwanthong (Kru Pond)

Buddhist Education Coordinator

Kru Pond brings over twenty years of teaching experience to both Thailand and international settings, encompassing kindergarten, primary, vocational education, and university levels. She holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Chiang Mai University. Kru Pond firmly believes in nurturing the social and emotional development of children to cultivate their self-confidence, self-discipline, and their ability to care for themselves, others, and the environment. She has discovered that Buddhist Education aligns harmoniously with her personal interests in baking and painting, offering pathways to experience inner peace and relish in life.

Christine Vithayathil (Kru Christine )

Secondary School Vice Principal and Secondary Student Support Coordinator

Kru Christine originally comes from a small and beautiful village in the Austrian Alps. She holds teaching qualifications from Austria as well as the UK. In addition, she has a Master’s Degree in English Literature and various certificates in English language teaching. Kru Christine also holds a Certificate of International School Leadership from the Principal’s Training Centre. She is also an IB DP Examiner for English B. After several years of teaching in Austria and the UK, she ventured into the world of teaching in international schools. As an English language learner, Kru Christine feels very passionately about advocating for multilingual learners.

Paul Sebastian (Kru Paul)

High School and IBDP Coordinator

Kru Paul was born and raised in Saskatchewan, Canada. He has a BA in Economics (University of Regina, Saskatchewan), an MA in Curriculum; Int’l Teaching (Michigan State, USA), and a certificate in International School Leadership from the Principal’s Training Centre. He started his career in private business development and international trade with the Canadian government before beginning his teaching career at AISB (Hungary) in 1994. He has taught IBDP and IBMYP (Economics, ToK, Individuals & Societies, and various electives) and, for the past 17 years, has also been a principal and head of school.

Robert MacConnon (Kru Robert)

Middle School Coordinator

Kru Robert has been teaching Science (specialising in Chemistry) for the past 19 years. He studied Environmental Chemistry and Science education at the University of Melbourne and has taught science in countries including Singapore, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, Oman and Australia. Kru Robert has a young and energetic family. His interests include running, music, environmentalism and being outdoors.

 

Owen Haywood (Kru Owen)

Service Learning Coordinator

Kru Owen hails from Durham, England. He has a BSc in Mathematics from Leeds University and a Master’s in Education for Sustainability from London South Bank University. After gaining his university degree, he started teaching EAL in South Korea for one year, then travelled around Asia with his twin brother for a year. He settled in Bangkok for two years, teaching Mathematics, then went to Laos to build and set up a restaurant in Vang Vieng, where he stayed for five years. Keen to get back into the world of education, he moved back to England to gain his teaching certificate.

Bongkot Theppiman (Kru Ying)

Secondary Thai Language Coordinator

Kru Ying is from Kamphaeng Phet, where she describes the province as in the middle between Bangkok and Chiang Mai or next to Sukhothai. Since she graduated from Chiang Mai University, she has taught Thai language and culture at international schools in Chiang Mai for over 13 years. She has been at Panyaden since 2013 and continues to learn and grow in this warm and loving community. Kru Ying is passionate about teaching and believes that education should focus on teaching students a sense of responsibility towards themselves, their community and the environment.

Denison Lane (Kru Denny)

Buddhist Education Coordinator

Kru Denny is originally from Sonoma, California, where he taught high school English Language and Literature. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and a teaching degree from Sonoma State University, where he focused on literacy for English learners. This is Kru Denny’s seventh year teaching at Panyaden. Kru Denny values the Buddhist approach to teaching and learning – the development of not only intellectual faculties but also emotional intelligence and ethical values.

 

Panee Assawaprapa (Kru Peach)

Admissions & Parent Relations Manager

Kru Peach joined Panyaden in 2017 after over 10 years working in the marketing, customer relations and admission fields for various corporations and educational institutions. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Japan) and a Master’s in Business Administration (International Programme) from Payap University. As Panyaden’s Admissions and Parent Relations Manager, Kru Peach says that her favourite part of the day is talking with families about Panyaden’s unique approach to education and helping families join our school community.