Looking from a broader economic perspective with the shutdown of the world’s tourism industry and a major reduction in global trade, it seems close to a certainty the global demand for English teachers, along with many other occupations, is not going back to normal anytime soon.

From a political perspective, with already over 7 million Thais out of work and unemployment reaching record proportions globally, those of us living in Thailand but coming from other countries might have trouble getting help from either our home or Thai government.

Even if it were possible to return home, the competition for the few open jobs would be expected to be intense, and it is likely the majority of language schools in Thailand will not return to normal, in 2020, anyway. I suspect when government and private schools do open back up it will be with far fewer English teachers.

I have no specific advice, each person is going to have to figure out a strategy to get through this crisis, much like the millions, maybe even billions, of other people around the world affected by this situation. The world’s economy is based on its productivity and a global shutdown ends nearly all production and this is going to have a lasting economic effect which is going to take a long time to recover from, even if the world comes back to normal in the coming months.

So far, the number of deaths in Thailand have been fewer than the number of fatalities from traffic accidents in a typical weekend, but it appears the economic impact is just starting to be felt.

I have always tried to have the strategy when living overseas of having multiple streams of income just in case of an emergency. I am still able to work from home from both my day job and my secondary jobs, so in the short term I am much better off than many people but there are no guarantees about the future. Although just about everyone else in my family, both here and back home, have lost their jobs.

Stay safe and sane. Easy to say, but I suspect hard to do when one is not sure where the next meal is coming from.

Scott