One of the first things you’ll realize when you land a TEFL job in Thailand is that "teaching hours" and "working hours" are two very different beasts. 

Sure, the job ad said 20 hours a week. That’s about 4 hours a day, right? Easy peasy. But nobody mentioned the gate duty, the endless morning assemblies, the last-minute “English Camp” you’re expected to run on your day off. Welcome to the show.

In most proper setups - government schools, private schools, language centers - you’ll be teaching somewhere between 18 and 24 hours a week. Break that down, and you’re looking at three to five actual teaching hours a day. On paper, it’s dreamy. In reality, you’ll likely be stuck on campus from 7:30 AM till 4:00 PM, smiling through the heat and smiling even harder through the admin paperwork you didn’t know was part of the gig.

Four is the magic number

From my experience (and swapping plenty of horror stories with fellow TEFLers over Chang beers), the magic number is no more than four teaching hours a day. That’s the sweet spot. Enough to earn your keep and still have the energy to enjoy your life outside the classroom. Because trust me, when you’re standing in front of 45 sweaty, restless kids trying to teach the past continuous tense, four hours feels a lot longer than it sounds.

Less teaching time isn’t about being lazy, it’s about teaching smarter. Good lessons take prep, and good teachers need stamina. If you’re grinding through six hours of classes every day, you’ll either end up half-assing your lessons or half-assing your life. Neither is the reason you moved to Thailand.

Heed the warning signs

Now, a little warning: be wary of job ads that slyly slip in "light administrative duties" or "occasional extracurricular activities." That can be code for “we’ll have you doing everything from cleaning classrooms to hosting the school sports day.” Always, always ask for a full breakdown of duties before you sign anything. And if they get cagey about it, run.

If you're freelancing at language centers, things are a little different. You might only teach a couple of hours a day, usually evenings or weekends, and you’ll get paid per hour. Great for flexibility, but don’t expect to be rolling in baht unless you hustle for a lot of hours.

Remember why you're here

Bottom line? Aim for around 20 teaching hours a week. Fight for that number if you have to. It’s enough to live comfortably, travel when you want, and still have time to soak up why you came here — the street food, the sunsets, the easy pace of life. Burn yourself out chasing overtime pay and you’ll just end up back home, bitter and broke, telling people how Thailand “wasn’t what you expected.”

Keep it light. Keep it smart. Keep your teaching hours in check.