Your Questions Answered!

posted 19th May 2009

It varies from course to course. Some simply require that you have a decent command of the English language, others might require you to have finished at least a high school education. You need to qsk the course provider in question.

posted 20th May 2009

I suppose on-line TEFL courses are cheaper because the provider doesn't have so many overheads. Are on-line TEFL courses of less value than other TEFL courses? - it depends who you show the certificate to.

posted 23rd May 2009

Many teachers will tell you that a TEFL certificate is no longer a legal requirement when it comes to obtaining a teacher's licence and work permit, and while that may be true, you have to keep in mind that many employers still request one. If you are applying for a job and you are up against someone who has a TEFL certificate (and you don't)...... guess who the job's probably going to?

posted 15th June 2009

The 'problem' with on-line TEFL certificates is that many of them contain no actual observed teaching practice. Therefore if you are interviewed by a foreign academic director (or whoever does the hiring and firing), then there's a fair chance they will see certain brands of on-line TEFL certificate and know that you've never set foot in a classroom in your life. Other interviewers won't give a damn as long as the certificate looks nice and says 'TEFL' on it. On-line TEFL certificates are useful inasmuch as they give you an indicator of what teaching will be like and what you are expected to know.

posted 24th June 2009

With your qualifications I can't for the life of me think why you are considering Thailand when the salaries are going to be far better in other countries but possibly making money is not your main objective. You might try and set up a job with one of the proper and better paying international schools before you get here, but if you take a look at the ajarn jobs board, you'll see that a 30-40,000 baht job is exactly that - you won't get more because you have a masters degree. On another note, you'll find that quite a few farang directors and recruiters (in Bangkok especially) won't exactly drop to their knees and beg you to join the teaching staff. Very often teachers with an MA in linguistics tend to be theorists rather than good facilitators of an energetic, communicative language lesson.

posted 25th June 2009

Sorry, no. So many TEFL course providers are sponsors of the ajarn.com website that it would be totally unethical for us to favor one course over another.

posted 2nd November 2009

You mean as opposed to looking for a job without having a TEFL certificate and without having any experience? Well it certainly won't do any harm.

posted 14th January 2010

I suppose this all comes down to what's convenient for you and whether or not you plan to teach English in Thailand. In terms of being accepted by employers worldwide - certainly in the case of the CELTA - it doesn't really matter. However, many TEFL course providers in Thailand will offer job placement services and sound employment advice. You would also expect the trainers to be more familiar with how things work in a Thai classroom.

posted 26th April 2010

With a TEFL course internship, everything is organised for you. You have a support network from the moment you land (at least with the better TEFL courses you do) The courses arrange your accommodation, set you up with a job etc. However, there is no reason why you shouldn't organise things yourself if you are the more adventurous type. Internships generally pay a lower salary than if you found a TEFL job yourself. I think it's purely a matter of choice. Some new arrivals like to have their hand held from the moment they get here while others prefer to go down the DIY route and take a TEFL course - then look for employment. Much also depends on how much spending money you have because the DIY route can be more costly in the early stages. It's a swings and roundabouts situation.

posted 3rd February 2009

It's all about changing the mindset of the employers, particularly the Thais. Many Thai school owners tend to have a pre-conceived idea about what a farang teacher should look like. It's all about finding a school that will give you 'a chance'. They are out there - you just haven't found one yet. Once you get into the classroom and do your thing, and the students warm to you and recognise your qualities, you'll be fine. How does the saying go - you might need to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince.

posted 9th March 2009

I don't think you'll have any problems at all. There really is something for everyone over here in Thailand at the moment and there are many many schools or perhaps kindergartens that are just desperate to get a farang body in the classroom. Keep your eye on the ajarn.com job ads, especially the private language schools who might be looking for someone to teach a few hours 'here and there'.

posted 13th April 2009

Your best bet is to ask at the school where you are thinking of working. No reasonable employer would refuse someone the opportunity to sit at the back of a class and get a feel for how things work.

posted 13th May 2009

The best time to look for jobs as regards there being the most choice is certainly April and May with October a fairly close second. The worst months are December and January. Don't let that put you off doing a job search any time of the year though. There is always a demand for decent teachers here.

posted 19th May 2009

How you cope with the first stages of life in Thailand depends on what type of character you are. Some people will make five good contacts and have three jobs lined up within 48 hours while others will be panicked into the first job that comes along.
My advice - come with enough money to tide you over for two weeks. Spend that two weeks looking for somewhere nice to stay (an apartment not a hostel), make a few friends, scour the ajarn jobs board or listen for things on the grapevine. Attend a few interviews

posted 5th June 2009

Almost anyone can set up a teacher agency and provide teachers to schools. Many schools just don't know where to turn in their quest to hire foreign staff so enter the agent who promises them the world and delivers someone who looks every inch the quintessential foreign teacher. I'm not tarring all agencies with the same brush here. Some agencies do care about the teacher's development and progress and check on things from time to time, but for too many agencies, all they seem to be interested in is taking a cut of the teacher's pay.

posted 5th June 2009

Look for anything with the name Michael Swann on it. For me, he's the grammar guru and you'll always find a well-thumbed Michael Swann reference book on my teacher's desk. He has a very neat and simple way of explaining things and his books are always well-indexed. The book I have is called Practical English Usage by Michael Swann.
Another great writer of English grammar books is Raymond Murphy. His Essential Grammar in Use series is wonderful because it has the explanation of the grammar point on the left-hand side (with lots of examples) and student exercises on the right-hand side. If you've got Mr Murphy and Mr Swann in your teacher's bag - you can't go wrong!
A series of grammar books that many teachers seem to like (and I absolutely hate) is by Betty Azar. The books are so badly organized it's not true. Steer well clear of them.

posted 15th June 2009

It could be one of several reasons but I'll give you the main two. Firstly, do you actually match the requirements? You'd be surprised how many applications schools get from teachers who clearly don't fit the position and in many cases didn't read the job ad carefully enough. The second reason is that generally - and Thai admin staff aren't going to thank me for saying this - but they suck at handling e-mail enquiries. It's got so bad that very rarely do I communicate with any Thai person by e-mail full stop. I don't know what it is about Thais and e-mail but even my wife agrees that they are extremely poor in answering e-mails in a timely manner - and my wife is Thai! When it comes to weighing up e-mail versus a phone call.......get dialling!

posted 2nd July 2009

This is always a difficult question to answer because different employers look for different types of employees. Some schools might be looking for a young, gorgeous thing in his twenties to flash his Hollywood smile at the paying parents as they drop off their kids at the school gates, while others may feel that the balding lecturer type in his late 50s suits the situation perfectly. Funnily enough, I get asked this 'perfect age' question mostly by folks in their 40s and I can never understand why. It's a terrific age to be looking for teaching work in Thailand. A guy in his 40s represents a degree of stability and worldly experience. Teachers in their twenties, particularly early-mid twenties, can be an extremely risky hire (certainly from my experience) While they are undoubtedly dedicated to the teaching, they're also often here for the cultural and travel experience (and that's perfectly understandable) The younger teacher doesn't mind the work but they'll want to mix that with a good dose of scuba-diving and weekends away. So they tend not to be the most reliable teachers when a school needs emergency cover or there's a Sports Day in the offing. At the other end of the scale, older new arrivals fret about the official / unofficial retirement age. Again, the official retirement age is another one of Thailand's many grey areas and I've heard conflicting reports and information. Officially the retirement age is 60 I think but if you are working at a particular school on your 60th birthday, you are by and large allowed to continue. Private language schools don't care. I worked with a teacher well into his 70s once.

posted 6th July 2009

Ah that old chestnut. The teachers blacklist. Who is it shared by? Who inputs the information? Does the thing even exist? I've had a few e-mails down the years from teachers who seem to think they are on some mysterious blacklist without ever having seen it. There may well be a blacklist of some sort that's shared between a specific group of schools who operate under the same umbrella, but there's nothing further reaching than that. For a network of unrelated schools to get together and compile a blacklist, it would mean designating a member of admin staff for each school to work closely together. That's just way beyond the capabilities of your average admin department I'm afraid so it isn't going to happen. You do hear of teachers being threatened with the blacklist by irate school owners, especially if the teacher has broken a contract and left the school in the shit. But they are generally very idle groundless threats

posted 12th July 2009

This is a no-brainer and yet so many people feel the need to set up a job before they leave home. Don't do it! Employers can promise you the world in an e-mail but come over and check things out first before you sign on any dotted line. Is that accommodation you were offered really as good it sounded? Are the facilities what you expected? Is your teaching load heavier than what you accepted? Things can look very very different when you're here compared to reading an e-mail in your bedroom in Ottawa.

posted 20th December 2009

This differs from person to person but I'm always inclined to say bring as much as you can. Even though you'll probably find a teaching job within a matter of weeks (even days), you could find yourself working a month until your first pay packet. Then there is the cost of your hotel or apartment (don't forget apartments will want a one or two month deposit up front)
In my view, you certainly need enough money to tide you over for a period of five weeks or so. And with the apartment deposit, I wouldn't like to do all that on less than about 150,000 baht.

posted 31st January 2010

We certainly don't see many jobs on ajarn.com that specifically ask for Indian teachers if that's what you mean? But that doesn't mean there aren't Indian teachers working here. I would guess that quite a few work in universities teaching specialized subjects. If you are of Indian nationality and a well-qualified teacher, I would apply directly to the universities and try and get a teaching position that way. 

posted 23rd February 2010

I would be lying if I said age wasn't against you. You've reached the official retirement age so it's going to be quite difficult to find teaching work at a Thai school, college or university. Although they do employ teachers well into their 60's and beyond, teachers tend to be staff that have been there a number of years and already worked there at the time of their 'official' retirement. Your best bet is to approach schools in the private language sector. They tend to be less choosy when it comes to a teachers age and if you're only looking for a few hours here and there - private language schools can be a good choice anyway.

posted 13th April 2010

There is no definitive answer to this question. Some universities and schools will hire only native English speakers and others won't be so choosy. Each university, school and college in Thailand has their own recruitment criteria.

posted 13th May 2010

A number of schools prefer to hire females only, especially if the teaching is at kindergarten level. I don't think we need to go into the reasons why. Seeing 'females only' in a job ad shouldn't be cause for alarm but it's always wise to exercise a certain degree of common sense. There have certainly been incidents in the past when a bogus school has advertised for female teachers and had a sinister ulterior motive. This was one reason why we stopped allowing free access to the ajarn.com resume database. We got far too many complaints from female teachers trying to fend off marriage proposals and job offers that sounded rather too good to be true. Not everyone who scours your personal details on-line is looking for a teacher.   

posted 9th July 2010

The Thai culture course requirement came in several years ago as part of the new teacher licencing laws. It's mostly taught over one weekend and the majority of teachers who have had to take it, viewed it as something of an annoying inconvenience. But once it's done it's done. Many teachers still haven't taken the culture course at all and their employers have not forced them to. I don't think having to take the course should put you off coming to look for work in Thailand. If you make your life living and working in Thailand, you'll have far bigger hurdles to jump over than a solitary weekend Thai culture course.   

posted 7th August 2010

As is mentioned elsewhere on this FAQ section, there are teaching jobs for everyone in Thailand regardless of color of skin, race, ability, etc, etc - but some will find getting a job more difficult than others. Will some schools and employers be reluctant to employ someone who is a native English speaker but looks Chinese? Yes, definitely. So it's a simple case of finding the ones that will give you a chance. It's nigh on impossible to say how difficult or easy it will be for a person to find a teaching job without actually meeting and 'interviewing' them. That's something you also have to appreciate. 

posted 3rd May 2009

With your qualifications I can't for the life of me think why you are considering Thailand when the salaries are going to be far better in other countries but possibly making money is not your main objective. You might try and set up a job with one of the proper and better paying international schools before you get here, but if you take a look at the ajarn jobs board, you'll see that a 30-40,000 baht job is exactly that - you won't get more because you have a masters degree. On another note, you'll find that quite a few farang directors and recruiters (in Bangkok especially) won't exactly drop to their knees and beg you to join the teaching staff. Very often teachers with an MA in linguistics tend to be theorists rather than good facilitators of an energetic, communicative language lesson.

posted 4th May 2009

The straightforward answer is yes, you do need to bring the original certificates. The Ministry of Education in Bangkok not to mention countless employers, will certainly want to see the originals. You may (and I stress the word may) get away with photocopies in some places, but it's not really worth the risk. Bring your originals. The frame as well if you have to.

posted 20th May 2009

You would certainly be taking a gamble, especially if you came up against a farang recruiter who knows exactly what those life degrees are about. You may get lucky and the person interviewing you could be so desperate for teachers that he/she doesn't care how you obtained the degree, but I think you can forget it for the better jobs. These life degrees are not difficult to check up on. You just bang the name of the university into a search engine and viola! Not worth the risk in my opinion....and they're quite expensive as well aren't they?

posted 9th June 2009

It's true that things have got a lot tighter in Thailand over the past twelve months or so and many employers are now insisting on a degree certificate because it's become by and large a legal requirement. There are still options open to you though if you don't have a degree. Quite a number of colleges and universities don't require a degree and it might be said that a number of private language schools will overlook the lack of a formal qualification. Shop around and see what's out there.

posted 2nd July 2009

I think we have to look at things in black and white here. With no degree and no experience, you're certainly at the bottom of the pile. You will find work for sure. There are jobs for almost everyone in Thailand. But it's not quite the teachers' market it once was here and you can probably forget securing the better paying jobs as things stand

posted 23rd November 2009

By this you mean if you're for example an American and you studied for the degree in England, is that acceptable? Yes, no problem at all but I guess you need to be prepared to give your reasons to any potential interviewer.

posted 15th December 2009

My guess would be that it would not be universally recognized, though it would ultimately depend on the person doing the hiring. It would be unrealistic of the applicant to expect the employer to verify that the CA or CPA designation is equivalent to a Master's degree, so they should be prepared to back up this claim from an independent authority i.e. not the professional association that issued the qualification. For instance, the Education Department for the jurisdiction where the qualification is held. (thanks to forum member Asper for this answer)

posted 29th January 2010

Full question and background

I have a BA, but my diploma is in storage in the US. If I want a new original, my University can get me one for $25, but this will take 6 weeks plus. They can, however, send me a letter of "verification of degree received" with any and all official University stamps and signatures - this can be emailed or faxed to me in days. If I submit this with a copy of my transcripts, resume, letters of reference from schools I have worked at in the US, will it satisfy school administrators? I have studied on exchange at Thammasat and am currently completing research to complete my Masters Degree in Education at a US University, so Thammasat could verify my degree also (since I had to have one to be accepted into the International college there. My main reason for not wanting to wait 2 months for my new diploma is I need to start working soon, or the money will run out. What do you think my best options are?

Answer - I think this simply comes down to a matter of employer preference, which admittedly you have no control over. Some employers might be happy with the letter of verification whilst others may insist on seeing the original degree. There's little or nothing I could add to that. Why not go ahead and obtain a copy of the original degree and at least you'll eliminate this worry in future.  

posted 27th April 2010

It carries the same weight as a B.A when applying for a teachers licence from the Ministry of Education. The work permit is issued by the Ministry of Labor on the strength of having that teachers licence (in most cases)

posted 27th May 2010

To be honest, both of these questions are answered seperately in the ajarn questions section and combining them into one question doesn't really make a difference. Not having a degree makes it a lot more difficult to find teaching work in Thailand at the moment, although certainly not impossiible. And being a good or fluent Thai speaker may carry some weight with some employers but spoken Thai is generally not required in the classroom. It may even be frowned upon by some interviewers who worry that you might constantly be using Thai in front of your students. When asked at an interview if you can speak Thai, I always think it's best to answer with "yes, some" - and leave it at that.   

posted 6th June 2009

Thailand's visa laws are unbelievably complex. Everyone moans about it. We've prepared a visa / work permit FAQ page which will hopefully go some way to providing answers.

posted 28th June 2009

You need a non-immigrant visa to secure a work permit or rather to start the work permit process. A tourist visa is no good I'm afraid. Look at the ajarn jobs board - many employers state that they will provide the paperwork for the teacher to get a non-immigrant visa - because that's the visa you need.

posted 30th June 2009

Yes. The one-year visa that comes with the work permit is inextricably linked to your job. Once you quit that job the visa and work permit are null and void. In most cases, immigration then give you seven days to leave the kingdom and sort yourself out with another visa from a neighboring country (or wherever you choose to go)

posted 7th July 2009

I've never heard of a school reimbursing a teacher for the cost of a visa run but there might be one or two out there. You might get the cost of the actual visa back but you'd be working for the greatest employer in Thailand if you got reimbursed for train tickets, beer and that nice little dark-skinned companion you found in Vientiane.

posted 15th December 2009

Chula bookshop in Siam Square is probably as good as it gets without using Amazon. Also check out DK books. (thanks to forum members Mr Pants and Hong Kong Phooey for the suggestions)

posted 5th January 2010

Yes, you can. As of April 2009, you are allowed two extensions - the first for an extra month and then the second and final extension will be for a week. Both extensions cost 1,900 baht. Available at your friendly Thai immigration office.

posted 8th January 2010

In September 2009, the main Bangkok immigration moved from its long-established home in Soi Suan Phlu, off Sathorn Road, to a completely new location at Government Centre,
Chaengwattana Road Soi 7 (close to the Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chaengwattana Road. For more information, call 02-141-9889 or 1178.
Unfortunately Chaengwattana Road is a hell of a jaunt from Central Bangkok.

posted 25th January 2010

This seems to be something of a grey area. Technically I would say that even a volunteer teacher would need a work permit, but having looked at several volunteer program websites, no mention is made of a work permit at all. But that's not to say you absolutely don't need one. Perhaps some programs have a special waiver if it's for a duration of say two or three months. I think the work permit question needs to be aimed specifically at the company you intend to volunteer for.

posted 7th March 2010

Just to clarify the situation, this is a question from a teacher who applied for and accepted a teaching position whilst still in their home country (rarely a good idea) and now the teacher has arrived in Thailand, the job isn't what the teacher had been promised. Oh what a surprise!

So the school sent the teacher a letter of employment or 'letter of intent to employ' and the teacher used that letter to obtain a rather nice multiple-entry visa.

Yes, you can carry on using the visa. If it's a genuine case, then it's not your fault that you've been misled by an employer. These things do happen.  

posted 16th August 2010

An ED visa is obtained by someone who is 'studying' the Thai language for a minimum number of hours at a school or college in Thailand. You are certainly not supposed to be working on such a visa, although I guess many people are. If you are going to work legally, then you need to have a non-immigrant B category visa in order to start the work permit process.

posted 10th February 2009

Usually the notice period is one month and that seems to be a Thailand standard. I have heard of some teachers being asked to notify the school three months in advance but that's just plain daft.

posted 22nd March 2009

This is a question we've had come up a few times on the ajarn discussion forum. Having never worked in the Thai school system, I can't offer a personal observation but it seems from reading other teachers points of view that it's a case of one rule for Thai teachers and one rule for the farangs - that is to say the Thai chalkies can smack the hell out of their own kind but foreign teachers must leave well alone unless they fancy getting hauled up in front of some teacher/parent committee.

posted 12th May 2009

For sure they are. And I always went through contracts with a toothcomb with extra fine teeth. You should be given time to look over the contract carefully and to raise any points that you are not sure about. OK you don't want to earn the reputation of a troublemaker before you've even set foot in a classroom but it's important to let your employer know that you don't take contracts lightly. I've seen teachers whip out a biro and sign their name before you can say "what do you mean I'm not entitled to the annual bonus". Take your time reading a contract. It can save you a lot of headaches further down the line.

posted 22nd May 2009

In my opinion every school should pay for the costs of the work permit, visa and teaching licence but sadly many still don't. We're not talking about a great deal of money here and making the teacher pay for this stuff themselves always smacks of penny-pinching.

posted 22nd May 2009

Part of the teacher's licence paperwork might certainly be kept by the employer or even the employee, but the question is 'do I need to start the whole teacher's licence / work permit process again when I start a new job and unfortunately the answer is yes.

posted 4th June 2009

The standard blue work permit book only covers you to work at the location stated in the book. Many language schools who send teachers out to do corporate work, are (or were) blissfully ignorant of this law and although they were very isolated incidents. I have heard of one or two teachers getting into trouble for working 'off-site'. However, about a year ago I got an e-mail from an ajarn reader who told me that if an employer goes to the Ministry of Labor and fills in a WP.7 form and hands over a few hundred baht, they can effectively turn an ordinary work permit into a roaming one. I've not personally heard of anyone doing it but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

posted 7th June 2009

Thailand is not Korea or Japan. Very very few employers pay for air-fare regardless of how long you sign up for.

posted 15th June 2009

The 11-month contract is often the bane of the English teacher in Thailand. It's a way for schools to get rid of you for a month, unpaid of course, when the students are on school holidays. So you lie on a beach or stay holed up in your apartment without any wonga going in your back pocket. Look for the 12-month contracts that pay a nice bonus upon completion. They're the contracts to go for.

posted 16th June 2009

It depends on the definition of part-time. There are more and more 'part-time' positions becoming available in deals that invariably include a work permit - mostly at Thai government and secondary schools etc. If you are working a few hours a week at a private language school, I would say it's highly unlikely you would secure a work permit. Most private schools want a teacher to commit to full-time work before they go to the hassle of obtaining your little blue book. As usually the key expression is 'in general'

posted 24th June 2009

The straightforward answer is yes, you do need to bring the original certificates. The Ministry of Education in Bangkok not to mention countless employers, will certainly want to see the originals. You may (and I stress the word may) get away with photocopies in some places, but it's not really worth the risk. Bring your originals. The frame as well if you have to.

posted 24th June 2009

It's true that things have got a lot tighter in Thailand over the past twelve months or so and many employers are now insisting on a degree certificate because it's become by and large a legal requirement. There are still options open to you though if you don't have a degree. Quite a number of colleges and universities don't require a degree and it might be said that a number of private language schools will overlook the lack of a formal qualification. Shop around and see what's out there.

posted 16th July 2009

It depends on the relationship you have with the school. Yes, you do hear rumors of schools threatening teachers with deportation and immigration blacklists if they break contracts, but in truth it very rarely happens. It's usually the school owner losing a bit of face so he reacts by throwing his toys out of the pram. I couldn't tell you the name of one single teacher who's been fitted up with concrete boots either. If you have to break the contract, then you'll have to go ahead and break it but do so as a last resort. Of course, if you're a very average teacher or known as a person who upsets the harmony of the teacher's room, the school will probably be happy to see you go anyway.

posted 21st December 2009

You would expect somewhere between seven and ten weeks, plus of course the public holidays (of which Thailand has many) This should be paid holiday. If it isn't then you haven't negotiated the contract very well.

posted 25th February 2010

I would say no, this is not legal. Any 'fine' in place for a teacher being late for school should be clearly stated in the signed contract. Teachers constantly arriving late for lessons is actually quite a common occurence but the school or employer should still follow a system of at least a written warning.

posted 1st March 2010

Yes. Tax for a foreign teachers starts from day one and will be at the rate of about 15% until a work permit is issued. Once you have the work permit, the tax rate drops to the regular 7% as prescribed by the revenue and tax office.

posted 10th May 2010

Firstly, there is no such thing as a 'work visa' in Thailand. Any amount of time that you are allowed to stay in Thailand over and above the non-immigrant visa in your passport is an 'extension of stay'. It's not a work visa. The degree is required by the Ministry of Education in order to issue you with a teacher's licence. This then starts the process of you being able to get your extension of stay and work permit.

To answer your question, yes it's possible to get a work permit without a degree. This has certainly happened in a number of government schools and on teaching projects where large numbers of teachers were required for short term contracts. It's certainly getting more and more difficult though for teachers without degrees. 

posted 10th May 2010

I think we should point out also that your employer has told you that the Ministry of Education wants your passport and other documents for two weeks. You can't be without your passport for two weeks. That's just insane. I would accompany your employer to the MOE with your passport and photocopies of the important pages. By all means show the officer at the MOE your genuine passport but only leave them with photocopies. To be without your passport for two weeks is an absolute no-no.  

posted 13th May 2010

You just go down to the local Revenue Office branch, get a form called a "por ngor dor 91" and fill it in. It's in Thai, so take someone bilingual along. Fill in as many "Claim for Exemption" slots as possible and hope for the best!

You must try to claim exemptions before the end of each year, i.e December 31st.

posted 29th June 2009

I don't know about easy to find but the vacancies are certainly there. We do get hotel positions crop up on the jobs page now and again so it's worth keeping your eyes peeled. Hotel work never seems to pay that well but when you work ten meters from the beach and you dine on hotel leftovers (piquant lobster and baked alaska) then it's something of a trade-off I guess. If you fancy this kind of work, the direct approach method might serve you well.

posted 1st July 2009

Despite being officially Thailand's 'second city' the salaries and earning potential are generally way below what you can make in the capital. The piss-poor salaries on offer there have never failed to amaze me. Of course there's that perpetual argument that the cost of living in Chiang Mai is significantly lower than it is in Bangkok. I've been taken to task over this many times down the years but personally I think that that statement or comparison is complete bollocks. I've sometimes found CM to be even more expensive than the big mango.

posted 7th July 2009

Yes, voluntary work is easy enough to come by in Thailand and you certainly shouldn't have to pay for the privilege. Get tapping into Google and you should come up with some decent names. If you're looking for a good cause in Bangkok then you could do a lot worse than the Goodwill Foundation, who help underprivileged women get a chance in life.

posted 5th January 2010

If you are just looking for evening work in a place like Krabi, then you're pretty much reliant on private language schools. I don't know Krabi at all but I'm guessing it isn't a hotbed of students all studying English in the evening. You would probably pick up a few hours here and there but I would be extremely surprised if you managed to get enough hours to survive financially.

posted 3rd July 2010

The question of how easy is it to find a job without a degree is answered in the 'degree' section. The fact that you are targeting Pattaya specifically for your job hunt doesn't really make a difference. The same rules apply. At this current time, not having a degree doesn't make finding a job impossible, but it does put you somewhat down the pecking order. To throw one more obstacle in the way if I may - Pattaya is hardly a hotbed of TEFL jobs at the best of times. Go to our region guide section on Pattaya to find out exactly what pickings are like for an English teacher.  

posted 18th March 2009

Yes, Bangkok has the most TEFL positions on offer and it certainly offers the best salaries, but there are plenty of options outside Bangkok for people who can't stand life in the big city (and there are plenty of folks in that group)

posted 8th June 2009

Your earning potential is whatever you want it to be. You can certainly pull in 40,000 baht in Bangkok. How hard are you willing to work? You could do an 8-4 Monday to Friday gig for 35,000. A couple of private students twice a week maybe giving you another 8-10,000 baht a month. Much time off for yourself? no. Will you burn out in six months? possibly. Your earning potential is directly linked to how hard you're willing to work or rather how many hours you're willing to do.

posted 8th June 2009

Corporate teaching is now paying as much as 600-800 baht an hour at some places so it can sound very attractive, however; very few teachers succeed at becoming 'full-time corporate teachers'. The very nature of the beast dictates that most companies want their staff to study a couple of times a week in the evening so corporate teaching is often the icing on the cake to supplement your full-time salary from elsewhere. Exceptions to the rule would be hotel teaching and those opportunities where a company will employ someone as a full-time 'in-house' teacher. This kind of position can realise a salary of up to 70,000 baht a month for a bit of teaching, proofreading, editing, etc. These in-house jobs aren't that easy to find though and often get filled through word-of-mouth.

posted 15th June 2009

I've worked with a number of husband and wife / boyfriend and girlfriend couples down the years and they are usually an employer's dream because they represent stability. Couples will help each other out with lesson plans and generally look out for one another. Schools know that couples make good employees! As long as you don't try to suck out each other's tonsils in the playground or 'have a domestic' in full view of the parent's association treasurer, you'll be hot property!

posted 2nd December 2009

There is no real answer to this question. You talk to teachers from any private language school and some will be happy and others won't. It depends what you want out of the work. Some schools will offer a better hourly rate but won't be able to give you many hours. Other schools will have more hours but a lower rate. You'll need to shop around for a private language school that suits your needs.

posted 17th January 2010

Presumably you are talking about 'true' international schools rather than a school that has the word 'international' in its name purely because it looks good? Well, I knew a teacher about three years ago who was earning well in excess of 120,000 baht a month plus a benefits package that included a nice two-bedroom apartment, paid flights home and free international school education for his kids. I do know of international school teachers earning less than this amount but never by that much.

Note that international school positions are quite difficult to pick up locally. The schools - certainly the better ones - tend to recruit directly from abroad through events such as education and job fairs, etc. Some schools here in Bangkok have a strict policy not to hire locally. Oh, and you will certainly need to be well-qualified. 

posted 26th April 2010

It's a very good question. I think that anyone coming to teach in Thailand and at the same time finding themselves saddled with student loan debts or any debts for that matter, is playing a risky game. Obviously much depends on the size of the debt itself but you need to realize that there are probably better options than Thailand in terms of salary amount. No one ever came to teach in Thailand to get rich. Any decent, qualified teacher should be aiming at 40-50,000 baht a month. So deduct the amount of money you owe on the debt and then consider whether you could survive on that amount. Check out the ajarn.com cost of living sections to give you more idea.

posted 24th May 2010

Although the base salary at universities can seem on the low side - in many cases as low as 20-25,000 baht a month, there are often numerous opportunities to earn more with hourly paid overtime, weekend work and private students, etc. Many university teachers double their base salary with extra work and because a university teaching schedule is often not that punishing, there is plenty of spare time to take advantage of. Rarely do university teachers have to survive on a university base salary and if they are well-qualified, universities can sometimes reward them with extra higher-paying classes.  

posted 1st June 2010

We get quite a lot of questions of this nature - asking us if such and such a school is worth working for or how credible are they or how do they treat their teachers. The straight answer is we have no idea. You have to bear in mind that over 8,000 employers use the services of ajarn.com or have used the services of ajarn.com at some stage in the past. It would be impossible to keep tabs on even a small fraction of those schools, colleges and universities, etc. In addition, ajarn.com is not an employer watchdog site. Advertisers and employers send job ads to us - and the rest is up to the teacher or employee to find out I'm afraid.

posted 27th July 2010

I think you firstly need to ask yourself three questions. Where do I want to work? It's no good applying for jobs in a rural town if you're a city person. Secondly, what kind of students do I want to teach? It's pointless applying at kindergartens if you prefer teaching adults. Finally, how much money do I need to make? Why apply at schools paying 25,000 baht a month if you need to make far more than that and in reverse, why work full-time at a school if all you are looking for is a few hours here and there? Answering those three questions honestly will narrow things down and give you a better focus.

I would then scour all the Thailand-related job sites and spend a day or two on the phone. Set up quality appointments and by quality appointments, I mean those phone calls where you got a good vibe from the person on the other end of the phone. Don't go to interviews for the sake of it, especially if when you called, the school sounded desperate for the first teacher to walk through the door.

A lot of teachers advise just turning up at a school unannounced, and while it is a strategy that sometimes works, it can be very time-consuming. I would make this strategy your plan B.

Don't overlook the possibility of working for an agency. Although there are bad points to working for an agency, they do allow you to get a foot in the door and find out how things work here. Once you have a year of teaching under your belt, you'll be a much wiser person and in far better shape to go it alone.  

posted 16th March 2009

If you haven't already done so, then check out our Julia's journey article, where we tracked the progress of a British female teacher as she prepared for life in Thailand. This article has a fairly large section devoted to what women should wear in the classroom

posted 11th May 2009

Long hair on male teachers is generally a no-no. Check out the ajarn.com fashion guide for the full skinny on how to present yourself in the classroom.

posted 2nd June 2009

We've prepared two fairly extensive guides to renting a house or an apartment. Please read the ajarn guide to renting an apartment and the guide to renting a house.

posted 5th June 2009

Keep it simple. Employers are interested in your qualifications and what experience you have in the TEFL-related arena. That's all they want to know. I recently read a three-page resume where the applicant had listed (in detail) TEN jobs he'd held in the aeronautical industry. In my opinion, a complete waste of time when you're applying for the job of a teacher. Keep it simple and that means just one A4 size page with a nice photo at the top.

posted 24th June 2009

Although most of the jobs on the ajarn jobs page are for native-speakers, there are many positions there for non-native speakers as well. Often what the schools want and what the schools are prepared to accept are two entirely different things. many schools are aiming high when they request a native speaker. many schools lower their sights when it dawns on them that no native speaker wants to work in the sticks for 20,000 baht a month.

posted 2nd July 2009

Schools usually offer only the most basic of health insurance packages. If you want something a little better, then you might be better paying your own way. Ajarn.com has plenty of information on health insurance and even an ajarn.com group policy under the expert supervision of our very own Tony Dabbs.

posted 6th July 2009

It's not necessary to know any Thai language at all to secure a teaching job. That said, it can come in bloody handy when you're disciplining a class of 30 rowdy teenagers or asking why a single soul hasn't done their homework.

posted 15th December 2009

My wife works as a translator. The internet is no substitute for legwork. Go to places that may need translation work done and pin up / pass round your details, try to talk to someone in a position of influence. Push anyone you work for to pass your details around. Universities, the big hospitals and publishers are good places. The pay rates probably won't interest many foreigners though (thanks to forum member Cyrille for helping out with this answer)

posted 17th January 2010

There isn't one that I'm currently aware of. There have been numerous attempts to run that kind of website or forum over the past few years but none of them have succeeded. I think all the bloggers and webmasters who have tried would agree with me that running a 'schoolwatch' website is far too much hassle. Apart from the obvious pressures you might get from rich and powerful school owners, there are far too many teachers with axes to grind. Some teachers do have cause for complaint; many do not. And much of the information you end up reading is garbage.

If you do feel that you need to speak out against the school that has wronged you - there's no reason why you can't start your own blog on one of the numerous blogging sites.

posted 20th January 2010

I have been applying in few hotels, resorts, travel/tour agencies & airport receptionist. Some have contacted me but then once they learn that i dont have a work permit they automatically turn me down. Predicament is, how can i ever have the work permit they are asking for when no one wants to sponsor my working visa.

Two things here. Firstly there is no such thing as a work visa in Thailand. Visas granted for an extension of stay (usually one year) are connected to your work permit and issued by the immigration department, but it is inaccurate to call it a 'work visa'. Secondly, the positions you mention such as those in travel agencies and on airport receptions, etc are filled by Thais. Thailand has very strict labor laws regarding jobs that foreigners can and cannot do. In fact I've only ever seen one foreigner working on a hotel reception desk in the twenty odd years I've been here.   

posted 31st January 2010

No. Foreign teachers are classed as 'temporary staff' regardless of how long they work at a particular government school. In fact, even young Thai graduates who will sometimes help out with teaching duties are lumped in the same category. As a foreign teacher it's up to you to organise your own private pension plan.

posted 19th February 2010

Native speakers of English are people whose first language is English. They learned English when they were children. They think in English. They use it naturally. Usually native speakers of English are people from English-speaking countries like the USA, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Ireland, etc.

posted 24th February 2010

Ask a policeman!

posted 30th June 2010

Years ago I would have said Thailand, but having travelled around Asia a bit and seen the bargains you can get in Hong Kong and even in Japan, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that Thailand is now more expensive than many other countries for quality clothes. When I say quality, I'm not talking designer labels and I'm not talking cheap market tat either - just good quality, off-the-peg, department store clothing. Even the UK is cheaper than Thailand, as I found on a recent trip home. Buying gear in your home country could well be the way to go. And for those of you who take a larger shoe size (especially women) - my wife has great difficulty finding her shoe size here.