An unwanted duty
Is this Thai tradition pain or pleasure?
In many schools in Thailand, Thai teachers, as well as foreign teachers, take turns in standing at the school gate to greet parents and students. Two or more teachers are assigned, depending on the size of the school, to do this each day.
I've given up looking too
Postbox letter from Sir Heath
I made the mistake of bringing some first year students' problems to the attention of the head of the section last year. By September, after four and half year at this university, despite 'an excellent record of work' the university decided to let me go.
Why I decided to give up before I even started
Postbox letter from George
I was thinking of finding myself a teaching job in Thailand. However, after a lot of searching, interviews and demo lessons, I gave up.
Thailand is no longer a place to teach
Postbox letter from James
I do still look on Thailand as my ‘home’ and have a wife and house there, so my post is not sour grapes against the country itself but rather at the reality of what’s going on.
We all have choices
Postbox letter from Jack
Yes, ESL job wages are pretty crappy and the salaries are lower here (considering inflation) than they were 10 to 15 years ago. So what?
Absolute pile of sh*te
Are the job ads really that bad?
A disgruntled ajarn.com reader wrote in to say that he had never seen such low quality job ads on the Thailand TEFL websites. Is he right in his assumption? And if so, what are the reasons?
Arai Na?
English in Thai vocational schools
I came here 1.5 years ago and it was all planned as a 10-month experience. I had a high paid marketing job back home in Europe and everybody told me that it was crazy to leave my career and become a ‘teacher' here in Thailand.
Race and non-degree jobs
Postbox letter from Xandra Martin
I am a female teacher from South Africa. I am a person of colour (or coloured) in my country. I do not have a degree in any field - only a diploma. When doing my TEFL course and doing research on the internet, people painted a picture of how easy it would be to find a teaching job in Thailand. This however does not appear to be the case.
Working smart, not working hard
Making the most of your teaching time
By paying more attention to your teaching hours and your overall availability, it's possible to juggle teaching jobs around and watch your monthly earnings soar.
Soaked during floods
Postbox letter from Jimmy
I am not surprised some teachers are being told by Thai schools that they will not receive money for the time they didn't work during the floods. The safety net is for the Thais, not the falang. If you've been there long enough, you should know the pecking order by now.
