Picture a student at the kitchen table late at night, laptop open, far too many tabs. A few years ago, almost every one of those tabs would have been a school in the US, the UK, Canada or Australia. These days, a few of them are in Tokyo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
When our founder, Pat Chaisang, left Thailand to study in Canada in 2013, those four countries were where almost everyone looked. Plenty of students still look there first. But more and more, they’re also looking a little closer to home. Have you noticed it too?
The numbers
We’ll be honest, the change is bigger than we expected.
Canada welcomed 82% fewer new international students in the first half of 2026 than in the same months of 2024. [1] The US has seen fewer students arrive too. [2] So where are they going? More and more of them are going to Asia.
Four countries, four different stories
We’ve been watching four countries closely: Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. All of them are growing, but each one is at a different point.
Japan wanted 400,000 international students by 2033. It got there in 2025, eight years early. [3] Now comes the part nobody puts on a poster: helping all of those students actually settle in. The government is adding more language support, and universities are being encouraged to raise international tuition to pay for more student services.
South Korea passed its goal early too, and the government has already moved on to a harder question. Are students really doing well once they arrive? Jobs are a big part of the answer, and there’s work to do. In 2024, only around one in three eligible international graduates found work in Korea. [4]
Malaysia is aiming even higher. Its new plan wants 500,000 international students by 2035, which is a lot more than it has today. [5] Getting there will take much more than good marketing.
Thailand is earlier on the road. It wants to become the education hub of Southeast Asia, and it has approved new economic zones across the country where top foreign universities can set up. [6] Pat is from Thailand, so we’ll admit we’re watching this one with a little extra excitement. Which country do you think will move the fastest?
What students need once they arrive
Getting to Seoul or Bangkok is a big step. A student picks a country they may never have visited, works out a new visa system, says goodbye to their family and gets on a plane. Then they land, and the real questions start. Where will I live? Will I make friends here? Will this lead to a job?
When a school has a few hundred international students, staff can usually answer those questions one by one. When it has a few thousand, they can’t. That’s when students start to slip through the gaps, and it’s often exactly when they’re deciding whether to stay. How many times has your team answered the same question this term?
For schools across Asia, the goal is shifting from bringing students in to helping them thrive once they’re here.
The best time to build is before the rush
It’s easy to put off better support until there are more students to support. The trouble is, by the time they arrive, the team is already stretched.
For Japan and South Korea, the big growth push is done and the focus is turning to quality. For Malaysia and Thailand, most of the growth is still to come. That makes right now the moment to set things up well, while there’s still time to think it through. If your international student numbers doubled next year, would your team be ready?
Growing with Asia’s schools
Wayble didn’t start as a platform. It started as a community group in Vancouver, where international students could meet and talk through the challenges they were facing. Our founder, Pat, had been an international student herself, and that idea of students not having to figure it all out alone is still at the heart of what we build.
Today, we bring that same idea to schools. Before students arrive, our Co-pilot walks them through each step, from visas and money to housing and their first week. Once they’re on campus, they can find mentors, community and mental health support in one place. And when they start thinking about what comes next, they can find jobs and career help, without your team having to answer every question one by one. [7]
For a school in Osaka or Kuala Lumpur that’s welcoming more students every year, that can be the difference between a team that’s always catching up and a team that’s ready.
Before you close this page, take a minute with these.
If a new student emailed you today, how long would they wait for a real answer?
What do your students ask about most in their first month, and can they find the answer without waiting for someone on your team?
When do your students first hear about jobs? In their first semester, or their last?
If your international student numbers doubled next year, what would break first?
If a few of those were hard to answer, that’s a good place to start. And if you’d like a hand, you can find us at joinwayble.com.