I would like to share my experience as I feel it needs to be shared. I do not have a college degree and I have moved gracefully from one great job to the next great job. I currently work at a top international school in Bangkok and make 60k amonth with a housing allowance thrown in. Some teachers make around 70-100k here with the same housing allowance and other benefits. I have more of an assistant teacher role with the school and support teachers in the classroom.  Work permits and visas have never been an issue. The school simply just takes care of it. I’m tired of all this negative feedback about problems for unqualified teachers. This is Thailand. If the school likes you, they will easily find a way to make any government or immigration issues non-existent for you.

I also teach private students on Sunday for three hours at 1,000 baht an hour - so add about 12,000 per month to the 60,000 baht I get from the school.

1. My advice is to apply for the top jobs at the best schools and be professional, well-dressed, clean shaven. And always have a good attitude.
2. Always provide a reference letter from previous employers you have worked for - especially any teaching gigs.
3. Remember to do your homework on the school via the internet and make sure you have a basic understanding of the schools ideas and philosophies before an interview ie: mission statement on website, principal message or any interviews you can find from the principal online by searching his or her name, community involvement, news feeds from the school etc etc….
4. Always make a follow up call to the school or person you sent the CV too and make sure they were able to open your documents from your CV and proceed to respectfully request a time in thier schedule for an interview.
5. After the interview send a follow-up thank you email first thing next morning so you are on their mind with a polite and professional thank you to all persons that were at the interview.

I have also found that voluntary work is held in high regard so it always helps to have this in your arsenal as I have an eุxtensive service record here. Forget any salary around the 30K mark unless you just have to take something or just don’t care about money.  But you deserve more than that!

Ajarn says - you’ve done well for yourself Richard, no doubt about that. But there will always be the odd person who finds themself in the right place at the right time and takes advantage of a rare opportunity. It certainly sounds like that was the case with your ‘international school opening’. I’m not going to let one man’s good fortune change my current opinion that it’s getting much tougher here for those teachers without degrees.

richard