Hi fellow ajarn followers. I moved to Thailand in October 2007. I had “tested the water”, so to speak, by spending 2x3-month vacations here.  I remember my first six months in Thailand very well and indeed will never forget them.

The first six months is spent re-adjusting. Thai culture, lifestyle, climate, food and working environment are alien to most. Some days I found myself getting annoyed and frustrated at the smallest issues. I spoke about this to a friend. I was quickly reminded of life back home - the pressures, weather, cost of living, attitude, food and climate.

It has been said that the first year in Thailand is make or break for most. I agree. When you come to Thailand, ask yourself the question why am I doing this? You must have genuine reasons.

So many people come to Thailand with the wrong attitude. Thais are never going to change for you; it is you who must make the adjustments. Coming here playing the big ‘I AM’ is going to cause you nothing but misery. Coming here bringing an ‘I am going to modernize the Thais’ attitude will also cause you nothing but pain. There are many more observations but I think these are the main two attitudes that cause so much frustration amongst fellow teachers.

You need an open mind and allow yourself to accept Thailand 100%, faults and all. Then you can achieve a level of happiness that you yearn for, that you felt on those previous visits. Letting go of your western values is the key to success here. 

Having spent nearly three years in Thailand, I decided to try my luck in China. The boom in the TEFL industry is most apparent there. You are head-hunted. The selection of jobs, pay, conditions, contracts, free flights and housing is incredible and it is you who is in demand. This is not arrogance but an absolute fact. 

I have now worked in China for 18 months. It has been a rewarding experience. I left Thailand not because I was unhappy but to widen my experience and knowledge. The experience in Thailand helped me adjust very quickly to life in China.

However, I have missed Thailand with a passion. This does not take anything away from my experience in China. Both experiences have enhanced and endeared me to life in this part of Asia.

Is the grass greener on the other side? If you have the desire to change, adapt, accept and learn then you can achieve a level of happiness I never had in my home country.

Christian Brookes

In response to Hippolyte (Foreigners have to take care of themselves’ Postbox 29th November) No one is asking for a hand out or a free ride, but just fair play.  I bet you that during the floods the Thai teaching staff still got paid. Yes, that’s right, double standards!  For the record any Thai citizen can pay into the social security fund, and not just the civil servants. I have Thai friends who are farmers and factory workers and they pay into it. Hippolyte, you really need to do your research first. One more point - you wrote about the exploitation of Burmese workers. Well who are exploiting them, the foreigners or the Thais? Yes, you got it, the Thais are. Have you ever had a conversation with one of the Burmese workers? No, of course you haven’t. Guess what? I have and they feel a damn sight safer here and they have money to buy food and to support their families.

Keith

Being a former teacher in China on their way to Bangkok any day now, I think it is important to shed some light on this topic. China has just as many problems if not more than Thailand.

Do most schools care about their foreign teachers? No! Can you get work without a degree? Yes! Will you get deported if caught? Yes! Can you return afterwards? No! Do you get free accommodation? Sometimes! Are you respected? Rarely! Can you work legally over 60? No!. If there is a natural disaster like a flood in China will you paid? No! Is your teaching contract enforceable by you? No! Are the students any better? No, the same. Are the girls more beautiful? No! At the end of the day where you decide to live and work is your choice. As foreigners living in another country these are the challenges we must face. I was in the same position as many of you here in Thailand while I was working in China.

I learned a valuable lesson. While working in another country it is our choice to make a positive experience out of our time there. A few suggestions to my fellow ferangs. If you think the salary is too low, don’t accept the job! Save money just like you should do in your own country. Why should you be any different because you are living in Asia? Try to adjust to that countries ideals and culture.

I tried to fight the Chinese government on many things and it was like running into a brick wall every time. I expect it is the same here in Thailand. I hate to say it but at the end of the day when working in a foreign country you must be a follower and not a leader. I a convinced of this, which is why I am going to give it a second shot here in Thailand.  I learned from my past mistakes and plan to use the information I learned to make my new life in Bangkok as much of a rewarding experience as possible. It is what we make of our time teaching here. Good luck to you all who have decided to work in China. Please remember that famous proverb. The grass is always greener on the other side. Cheers!

Anthony

I have been reading with interest the tennis match of letters that seem to be flying around. I by no means wish to ruffle feathers but will purely speak from my own point of view. I too have just gone from Sept 30th - Nov 27th without pay because I currently work for an agency and work for them in a private school, semester to semester. I read with curiosity about those that were not managing on their wage or weren’t able to save anything.

My basic salary is 33,000 baht per calendar month and out of that I pay for my accommodation - a modest 4500 baht for a nice newly refurbished air conditioned room (40 sqm) with all the trimmings bed wardrobe work unit tv unit. I have a nice TV fridge, microwave and mini cooker. It costs me less than 8000baht to live a good life and that allows for eating out at weekends.

I suspect that the majority of the problems for those that cannot manage is that they like to really live (party) and I would expect that they get through a fair amount of baht doing that, or they have a larger accommodation bill than me. Life really is what you make it.

I said that I had gone through from Sept 30 - Nov 27 without pay and so I have, However I have embraced the school where I work and I try my best to embrace the culture and actively take part where ever possible in school activities even if they are not directly part of the English programme. To that end I have been embraced by the Thai teachers, the children and the parents, but also the director and his son who run the school. I feel sorry for those in a position where they are just a farang teacher doing his job and probably that is the extent of what they do.  Maybe their bosses are really rich and mean I don’t know. From my point of view, the Thais are caring and do show concern. In my case I had a back-up fund which coped with the long holiday but I also had two fantastic bosses who despite not having a contract or any obligation to pay when I was not at school, were aware of the extreme circumstances and I was given a generous gift of 20,000 baht from their pockets not the school.

I have been really lucky. I have found a great school with great kids, great teachers and great bosses. I have found great rooms and don’t pay the earth for them. I have found private work which boosts my monthly wage to over 53,000 for a few hours extra a week after school and with that I finish well before 7pm on three nights and I do nothing school related between 3.30pm Friday until 7.30am Monday.

Life is what you make it here. If you need to party and live a lavish life style then you need a big wage. I think you can live very well on 30,000 a month and you don’t need to splash out on western food. It really is not that expensive if you shop sensibly. If you need to buy beers every day, then its going to cost.
Make the most of it here and if you’re not happy then move on. In my experience I have no problems with work or Thai people. Be happy.

Jonathan

I think James has hit a sore spot with many readers here. These whiners and crybabies can’t or won’t save any of their (meager) salary and expect to be taken care of as if they were in their home country (usually a welfare state that is now on the verge of bankruptcy).James is right though; foreigners in Thailand have to learn to plan and take care of themselves. Just one thing said here that I don’t agree with: do readers here really think Thais ‘are taken care of’ by their social welfare system? Maybe the civil servants, but definitely not the millions of factory workers and farmers (and don’t even get me started about the exploitation of foreign laborers such as the Burmese). These poor devils have the worst of both worlds and can’t even complain about it. Foreigners in Thailand should save for a rainy day - or a flood in this case.

Hippolyte