We just want fair treatment

Postbox letter from Vick Mackey

The fact of the matter is that the wages the teachers are being paid (i.e. teachers that look for jobs on ajarn) are barely enough to survive on. And please spare us the “you can live in a 5k a month room” speech. Foreigners who are serious about living and teaching in Thailand are not interested in living like Thais.

China is no different

Postbox letter from Kelvin

Do you think you can come here with 1,000 baht straight off the plane, never have a problem and just live the good life? I sympathize, but if you intend to live from pay day to pay day, (and just concentrate on having a good time in between) then surely the financial position you’re in is yours and not anyone else’s?

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.

The demise of our socialist dreams!

Postbox letter from James

I would suggest that we remove our European (and U.S) socialist blinkers and learn to accept that the world, or the schools in this instance, do not owe you anything except a wage for teaching. The schools did not force teachers out of Bangkok, the floods did.

Food for thought?

Postbox letter from James

I do understand the financial position that some are in regarding the recent floods, but stop short of agreement. Firstly, doesn’t your contract state that you won’t be paid for ‘Acts of God’ and those involving specifically floods, civil unrest, etc.?

Seven months and still illegal

Postbox letter from Mel

My school failed to convert the work permit and the non immigrant B visa into a "work visa". Now, I'm back on a tourist visa and they won't even pretend to feel any urgency

Better the devil you know

Postbox letter from Mr. Russell Park

At this moment in time, I find myself teaching in a small town close to Nakhonsawan. I've been teaching here for four months and at first I thought I wouldn't last because the town is small and very rural.

Why teach in Thailand?

Postbox letter from James

Let’s be honest and say that professionally qualified or not, we are/were here because it’s a great place to live and let’s not pretend that altruism in helping children, or to improve the Thai education system is why we came here.

The chalkies need a real change

Postbox letter from Mr Grumpy

Nothing can prepare the foreign teacher for the employee-to-management-to-admin staff life. Dealing with these matters can drive the most experienced teachers up the wall and can turn a normally friendly teacher into a paranoid wreck!