@ Deville, where on earth did you find a decent apartment in Krung Thep for 3k?
Excellent article. However allow me to add a 22nd Teacher Trap: Working with a tourist visa and without a work permit. This is a very serious offense in Thailand with harsh legal consequences and should never be neglected.
Just to add to the points made; if you have problems with some students, it’s best you don’t bring them to the attention of the Head of the Section the students come under. Because, in almost all cases, you will be seen: a) as a nuisance and a knit-picker, b)you will be seen as inefficient, c) you have problems with Thai students, Thai attitudes and Thai ways, d) you will never be told that the real reason is that the Head simply wants to enjoy the nice bits of his/her status and never wants to stick her fingers in the mud.
The best way, if you want to survive and not be ‘a trouble-maker’ is somehow deal with the problems yourself. This way you can hope to prolong your tenure.
“Re payment in advance: Another disappointing over-generalization that again will often not apply. Many Thais are understandably wary of paying 10,000 baht in advance to farang when it would be so easy for dare-I-say most farang to runoff with the money”
I think you’re 100% wrong but it all depends on the set-up you have. When I used to teach at home, I would invite potential students into a nice air-conditioned study room and have a friendly chat and perhaps give them a 30-minute demo lesson. Nine times out of ten, they couldn’t get their advance money out quick enough. And personally, I never ran off with anyone’s money. Everyone got what they paid for.
Read “Culture Shock thailand” one . It will give you great insight into thai culture and save you a lot of problems. Nobody is immune from culture shock. Educate yourself on the subject and be able to recognize the symptoms of culture shock so you can better deal with it. I have seen a great number of farangs here in Thailand who seem to never resolve these issues and have to live with culture shock indefinately it seems. Of course they may just be winging little snotheads, sometimes it is hard to tell…..........
By leelepper, bangkok on 2011-11-24