Are you a teacher who once taught in Thailand but decided to seek out pastures new? Has the grass been greener on the other side? Maybe you swapped Thailand for the financial lure of Japan or Korea? Read about those who have left Thailand, and their reasons for moving...
Rolando Tomasse
Q1. Where did you move to and when?
I moved to Jeddah Saudi Arabia about a month and a half ago.
Q2. How long did you work in Thailand?
I lived in Thailand for one school year (two semesters) or about eleven months.
Q3. What was your main reason for moving?
The short answer? Money. Don't get me wrong, I love Thailand very much, but unfotunately I hate 'bein' broke' even more. The whole time I lived there I realized that I was always the only teacher on campus who actually had a bachelor's degree that didn't come from Kao San Road. Insult was added to injury when I found out that those teachers where getting paid more than me; they knew the scams, they knew that they had to nail the agent down to a higher salary. I just thought she was such a nice lady, I thought I could trust her and I got screwed.
Q4. What are the advantages of working where you are now compared to Thailand?
The short answer? Money! I make about 100,000 baht a month out here, and that is actually what they pay you when they are 'ripping you off' in this country!
Q5. What do you miss about life in Thailand?
I miss my friends and the culture, the entire Thai aesthetic. I am living under strict Sharia Law now, so I definitely miss girls and beer, nightclubs and movie theaters. All of that is illegal out here.
Q6. Would you advise a new teacher to seek work in Thailand or where you are now?
I would tell any new ESL teacher to understand Thailand for what it is: If teaching English overseas were a board game (and for most of us it is at times) then Thailand would be the first square on the board - the starting point. So you should start your ESL career in Thailand, but you should never finish it there.
Q7. Any plans to return to Thailand one day?
Well I am only eight hours away and the semester here ends at the start of Ramadan (in August) so yes, I will be back in the land of smiles in just over two months. As luck would have it, I met a nice girl on my last night in Bangkok, so I am looking forward to seeing her and catching up with friends. Except this time I will be staying at the Baiyoke Tower instead of some crappy 200 baht a night guesthouse near Koa San Road.
Q8. Anything else you'd like to add?
http://rolotomasse.blogspot.com
John Dixon
Q1. Where did you move to and when?
I moved to Thailand from Australia in May of 2002 and was recruited by University of Melbourne on behalf of Joseph Upatham School in Nakhon Pathom and finished there in Feb 2012.
Q2. How long did you work in Thailand?
Ten years at the same school, but chances of promotion or doing anything other than teach English there were zero. Worked with some really great people and some complete nut jobs as well. My school was overall good and many teachers have been there for 10 years plus. But if you want something more than to cruise along for the rest of your life till your pension arrives, it is not the place for you.
Q3. What was your main reason for moving?
Two reasons, my Thai other half of six and a half years died and as stated no chance of going up or even sideways career wise. The boss, while having her good points was always inconsistent on saying one thing and wanting or expecting you to do something else. Remember you are only there to make them look good. I did get a good offer of a job in 2008 at Trinity International in Bangkok but had to turn it down because of caring for my other half. I have sons back in Australia and family as well so that was the main reason for coming back in Feb of 2012.
Q4. What are the advantages of working where you are now compared to Thailand?
I don't see any advantage of coming back to Australia. It is expensive, over-regulated, over-policed and everyone is over-worked (if they have a job) and no one really smiles and the weather at least in Melbourne is crap. Not afraid to admit I have made a mistake so will be back to Thailand one way or another ASAP.
Q5. What do you miss about life in Thailand?
I miss the warmth, my Thai and farang friends and the smiles. As a professionally trained teacher, give me teaching Thai students to teaching in a school in Australia any time.
Q6. Would you advise a new teacher to seek work in Thailand or where you are now?
Test the waters first. There are many good schools to work at in Thailand (and some not so good ones). But do your homework first and the more qualifications you have, the better the job you will get. Teaching in Thailand can be a great experience. But if you have not been sent there to work by an international company you won't make a fortune, Like the old joke goes - how do you make a small fortune in Thailand? Answer; start with a large one! Also take take the time to learn at least some basic Thai.
Q7. Any plans to return to Thailand one day?
Currently in Melbourne and having to do (more) training (Two degrees and a teaching qualification not enough) to teach refugees English. Though this is a stop gap. Turned down one job last week in Chaiyaphum as I don't really want to be working for an agency. The Thai school year is starting soon and the International School year in August so as soon as a satisfactory job comes up, I will be back in Thailand.
Q8. Anything else you'd like to add?
Give me Thailand to Australia any day.
Lin
Q1. Where did you move to and when?
Guangdong, China; August 2011
Q2. How long did you work in Thailand?
Seven years in Bangkok.
Q3. What was your main reason for moving?
I hit the top of the pay scale for international school teachers hired in-country. I was tired of school owners with no education background that run schools too much like a corporation. Also, too long in Thailand does not look good on a CV for international schools.
Q4. What are the advantages of working where you are now compared to Thailand?
Better pay, lower cost of living in a secondary city, more professional colleagues. My school now knows that the amount of good foreign teachers here is not abundant and genuinely tries to retain its faculty.
Q5. What do you miss about life in Thailand?
Beaches, the calm and slow pace of daily life and the food. Fewer squat toilets versus where I am now!
Q6. Would you advise a new teacher to seek work in Thailand or where you are now?
I think that Thailand is an easier country for someone starting out to find their feet. The language and the people are easier to deal with than the Chinese.
Q7. Any plans to return to Thailand one day?
I can't say for sure. People I know call me with 'job leads' thinking I'll come back but I'm under contract and trying to add to my CV. I'd really have to hear high praise from someone I trust about a school to go back. I think timing will also be a big part of whether or not I come back permanently but I do visit often.
Q8. Anything else you'd like to add?
I'm not sure what the future holds for teachers in Thailand, but that's been said a lot. I really thought that my last job in Thailand would keep me settled there. Turned out that the last 'next big, new school' was a huge disappointment and I realised that I was constantly seeing the same problems in Bangkok. Many people that I know that lived there and left say that Thailand is a good place for a holiday but a bad place to work.
Brendan
Q1. Where did you move to and when?
I moved back to England in late 2011.
Q2. How long did you work in Thailand?
I worked in Thailand for about five years. Prior to that, I did a one-year stint in Japan. That was a total disaster but I'll save the details for another time.
Q3. What was your main reason for moving?
This is a strange one to explain but I got up one morning and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of 'homesickness'. You wouldn't expect to have such emotions after being away from home for six years, but my mother had suddenly become very ill, my nieces and nephews were all growing up. I just felt like I didn't want to be away from 'home' any longer. I carried on through the day think that perhaps the homesickness would go away - but it didn't. If anything, the urge to get on the next flight home just got stronger and stronger.
Q4. What are the advantages of working where you are now compared to Thailand?
I was very lucky inasmuch as a relative had passed away and been very generous to me in her will. Add to that a bit of money I had stashed away during my time as a teacher, and I returned to the Uk with a fairly nice financial buffer. I was able to use that cash to set up my own small software business and it's now doing quite well in just a few short months. I would have hated the thought of returning to the UK with no money and a five-year gap in my CV and kipping on someone's sofa until I get myself sorted out. Fortunately that was never going to be the case so I was lucky in that respect.
Q5. What do you miss about life in Thailand?
Thailand was a great adventure. There is so much I miss about the place but mainly the warm weather I suppose. Standing at bus stops in February with an icy wind howling around your eyes brought me sharply down to earth I can tell you. I go out for a couple of Thai meals every month at various Thai restaurants and I suppose I'm trying to recapture some of the old Land of Smiles magic or at least keep some kind of connection. Alas, the Thais who run these places are all very westernized. They never want to chat about home. It's surprising how quickly Thais turn their backs on Thailand once they are settled in a new land. It's quite comical in a way.
Q6. Would you advise a new teacher to seek work in Thailand or where you are now?
Oh, absolutely! You'll have the time of your life. But I would give serious thought to doing it for more than one or two years. I never met that many people who had made a career out of teaching in Thailand but I did meet many folks in their 40s and 50s who just seemed to survive from paycheck to paycheck. I didn't want to end up like that.
Q7. Any plans to return to Thailand one day?
Hopefully I'll come back for holidays. In fact I've already pencilled in a trip for January 2013.
Q8. Anything else you'd like to add?
Thailand has its downsides for the foreign teacher (and we all know what they are by now) but it's very easy to get complacent and stuck in a rut. Looking back - and hindsight is a wonderful thing - I would have liked to have done two or possibly three years and left it at that. Five years was a bit too long. I'm glad I pushed myself and got on the plane home. If I hadn't made the effort on the day that homesickness kicked in. who knows how long I would have stayed.
Rebecca
Q1. Where did you move to and when?
From the U.S. to Thailand and back to U.S.
Q2. How long did you work in Thailand?
One year.
Q3. What was your main reason for moving?
Initially, I was taking a new teaching position in Taiwan. However, an expat Taiwanese living in the U.S. who helped me with the contract the Taiwanese university forwarded to me (which was in Chinese for an English teaching position!?), recommended that I not take the Taiwan job because he did not believe the contract would be honored. Well, that was enough to scare me away from that teaching position. So I went back to the U.S in hopes of establishing myself at a University in the U.S. Well, that was seven years ago and I'm still only teaching part-time, am low-income, have no benefits and no retirement plan!
Q4. What are the advantages of working where you are now compared to Thailand?
None. I'm a teacher by profession and the education sector in the U.S. is quickly collapsing. Yeah, there is the private sector in the U.S. and it is growing -- but at the expense of the public sector of education, which I just can't abide by.
In addition, my partner and the father of my two children is Thai, grew up in Bangkok, where we met, and has not been able to make it here in the U.S. The problem with the U.S. is that if you come here with work experience and a college degree from Asia, good luck finding a job here outside of waiting tables. My Thai partner comes from a good family and had an exceptional education in Thailand, but none of that counts for anything in the U.S. He was a manager for his mother's company in Thailand (a multi-million baht company), has a university degree, but today is serving tables at restaurants because his experience and education from Asia means nothing to the U.S job market, and he makes more waiting tables part-time than he would working in the translation or international trade markets. It is so ridiculous! The U.S. is myopic.
Q5. What do you miss about life in Thailand?
The dedication and respect for the institutes of learning and the work that they do to keep a society above a 3rd world status. You can't beat the fact that your students in Thailand, and all over Asia, fundamentally respect their teachers, what they do, and what they stand for. The majority of students in Thailand do the work you ask, read the texts you ask them to read and do not take naps in your classroom.
It is quite the opposite in the U.S. In the U.S., a teacher has to compete with facebook, itunes, and angry birds for the attention of her students. Many U.S. students do not do the work you ask, are not prepared for class, often never even buy the books that are required for the class, and are not even apologetic about it. They actually seem quite proud of themselves!
Q6. Would you advise a new teacher to seek work in Thailand or where you are now?
Go teach in Thailand if what you want to do is teach. In Thailand, you will teach in an environment where it will be rewarded for what it is -- a profession that helps to raise the standards of living for families, whole communities and a nation. Yeah, Thailand has its problems. But so does every other nation on this planet.
A teacher's salary in Thailand may not amount to very much in $$'s or euross. However, it amounts to a very comfortable middle-class life-style in baht. 30,000 baht is a good income in Thailand, but it only comes to about 800 or 900 in U.S. dollars, which is well below the poverty range. You can travel to most places throughout Asia and experience all the same joys that we do in the U.S. on that income. You would have a hard time traveling on it in the U.S. or in Europe though.
On the other hand, in the U.S., not only does a teacher make a low middle-class income, but she will always be suspected of not doing her job, and being in education for the paycheck, or because she is incompetent. Your income will only be enough to pay for your necessities--car, house, gas, food, and clothes and insurance for car, medical and home. Your "free time" will be consumed with paper grading, meetings, etc. Even going on a weekend camping trip is a major ordeal--forget about going to Disneyland or skiing! If your not making over $75,000 with benefits in many parts of the U.S., then you are low-income and only just getting by.
Q7. Any plans to return to Thailand one day?
Absolutely! I'm so disillusioned with the whole profession of teaching here in the U.S. Teachers in the U.S. do not make a good living, receive no respect from society, and are not consulted about curriculum decisions. The politicians only pay lip service to what the teachers in the classroom tell them needs to be done. Then, the same politicians go around complaining about how teachers are getting all these benefits and are not teaching our kids--like teachers are a bunch of bloodsuckers who are in it just for the paycheck. Seriously?!! Teachers in the U.S are horribly mistreated right now.
Q8. Anything else you'd like to add?
Do not go to the U.S. thinking that you will find a nice job teaching. As a teacher, you are better off in Asia. Maybe things will change in the U.S., but I predict that it won't happen in our life times. I'm starting to hear similar problems in Europe now, too. So, Asia seems to be the one part of the world where education is still a top funding priority. So be it, Asian nations will rise up as the next global powers.
Go where what you do is rewarded and not just in economic terms, but also in terms of being respected for the service you provide the community.
My partner and I have both come to realize that the grass is not always greener.
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