But what about the racism and ageism?

Postbox letter from Jonathan

I know excellent teachers who because of their skin colour are not allowed in a school because "the parents want a white face" so actually I will amend my previous statement and include all the racist Thai parents out there. The simple question for Thailand should be do you want to learn English or don't you?

News from up't north

Postbox letter from Geoff Richards

The good news is that because the Teacher's Council of Thailand is trying to rigorously enforce the need for all foreign English teachers to sit the tests for a TL, many schools are now finding it difficult to retain staff.

What a system!

Postbox letter from Stephanie

This year, The Ministry of Education once again added more difficulty in processing the teachers license and work permit.

I love teaching in Thailand!

Postbox letter from Duncan Scobie

I'm bored of hearing teachers bitch about this place. It's a very long way from being perfect but who wants perfect?

Thailand, the sick man of ASEAN

Postbox letter from Russell

I relocated to Vietnam to see if the grass was any greener over there. Whilst I was in Vietnam at the beginning I wrote an article saying what a breath of fresh air it was from the idiocy of Thailand. But after one year I came to realize the grass was not that green after all.

New teacher scam alert

Be on your guard for anyone asking for an interview fee

We removed a bogus job ad from the ajarn.com job listings today for an international school in Bangkok. The job ad had unfortunately been on-line for several days and was offering attractive salaries of 50k plus. The scammer had gone to considerable trouble and even included the name of the actual person responsible for hiring teachers at the school.

TOEIC and other tests

Postbox letter from Dr John Smith

There is a lot of debate regarding the TOEIC testing for non-native English speakers and in my opinion it is a double edged sword and cuts both ways.

Teacher of the week

Put yourself in Thailand's biggest TEFL shop window

Having trouble finding a teaching job? Just arrived and having no luck opening doors? Send us your photo and a resume and we'll do our best to put your name up there in lights.

Another demo lesson fiasco

Postbox letter from Lauren

I had a similar situation where I attended an interview with a reputable agency and was sent to do a demo lesson at one of their schools (not the school they needed a new teacher for). I was told to give a 40-minute demo from a book.

A lack of professionalism

Postbox letter from Tommy

I recently went for a job interview and was shocked by the lack of professionalism shown by a school with a good reputation. I was applying for a math teacher position and I have had experience teaching maths to Mattayom 1 and 2