Teaching English in Thailand

[Teacher68]

Hello fellow teachers,

(New to Thailand)
Can anyone give me advise on where to find teaching jobs. I will be coming over to Thailand in a few weeks. I was thinking of starting in Bangkok although if there is work elsewhere I am prepared to live anywhere. I am TEFL qualified, have a B.A. and have 10 years experience teaching Business English. If anyone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it very much. Thanks guys.

[BaaBaa.]

Teacher in Thai is "Ajarn", Google "Ajarn" and you'll find more info.

[chopsticks]

Teacher is "Khrū" in Thai ??

Ajarn is a more senior teacher (translates as 'head instructor' )but is often used instead.

[Spitfire]

Doing as BaaBaa suggested will lead you to some of the best known info sites here which give new teachers a good 'heads-up'. In your situation, as a real teacher from the west, then you won't have much trouble finding an OK job. You'll probably get more money in Bangkok but it's a grinding place to live. Teaching here under the Thai education system is an experience like no other, sense is not to be expected. If you land a job at a decent place in BBK like an internationl school then you can pull in up to 100k baht a month, out in the provinces then maybe 40k a month. Don't bother with the agencies, they just get you crap jobs and rip people off. Just go round to schools etc and drop off your CV at the admin offices with a conntact number. If somewhere gives you a job, chances are that there are other foreign teachers there alrdady who can point you in the right direction. School should sort out the work permit for you. Try not to have high lofty expectations of anything work wise here, like job satisfaction etc, could be disapointing compared to what went before in the west, go in with an open mind and see what's what.

[BaaBaa.]

Teacher is "Khrū" in Thai ??

Ajarn is a more senior teacher (translates as 'head instructor' )but is often used instead.

So Ajarn is Teacher and Khru wouldn't have lead the OP to the required website.

Thanks for the help.

[Vital Spark]

Teacher68: It really depends on which kind of job you're looking for.

If you work at a school, you'll probably have to do at least 22 contact hours a week, and either put up with early teens or little ones. Schools tend to be rather strict on being there from 8.00-4.00, passing students regardless, and having to attend parents evenings, etc. And you'll be a 'kru'. However, you could earn 40K per month plus.

If you prefer to teach 18+ students, have contact hours of around 16 hours p/week, and be treated like an adult, then a university job is your best bet. You've got a TEFL, BA and some experience (albeit in the UK?), so getting a job at a uni shouldn't be too difficult. Try Silpakorn at Hua Hin (Faculty of Management Sciences), Silpakorn Nakhon Pathom Faculty of Education or Faculty of Arts. The pay is a bit lower, but the quality of life is much better. And you'll be an 'Ajarn'.

Good advice from BaaBaa - Ajarn.com is by far the best website to find a job, or post your resume. Ignore the forum...

Good luck in your search. If you're a half-decent, well-mannered, adaptable person, then you should have no problem finding a job.

VS

[poosmate]

Why would anyone want to work as a skilled person for 500 Baht or less per hour?

[Roel]

Earning 40,000 Baht and a happy life in Thailand vs. a 200,000 Baht commuter job in an office in Slough, mmmmmmm........

[nevets]

Hello fellow teachers,

(New to Thailand)
Can anyone give me advise on where to find teaching jobs. I will be coming over to Thailand in a few weeks. I was thinking of starting in Bangkok although if there is work elsewhere I am prepared to live anywhere. I am TEFL qualified, have a B.A. and have 10 years experience teaching Business English. If anyone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it very much. Thanks guys.

At least the kids will be getting a person with the skills to teach in this Kingdom , unlike half the ones doing it at the moment.
Most of the kids i speak to don't have a clue about English when spoken to and i have a neutral accent ( so i am told ) and so can be understood by most . I am articulate and speak my mother tongue well, but would never presume i could teach it properly.

[caducus]

I would be interested to see the data on which the previous poster bases the claim that half of those teaching English in the Kingdom of Thailand are not qualified to do so. The current level of enforcement of the relevant regulations by the Ministry of Education and the Department of Labour makes it very difficult for any un-qualified teacher to find employment at any type of school or university.

This strict enforcement really does seem to be having an effect.

I am employed by a medium sized Thai company. Each year we take on a number of summer trainees during the long university summer break (March - May). There are always many more applicants than places available, and it used to be possible to to weed out a large proportion of applicants by giving then a written English test. Over the past few years the English proficiency of all applicants has improved notably, and this year they were all subjected to an English interview similar to the type of interview that they would have to undergo in an English speaking country.

The days of the traveller stopping over for a few months and teaching English in Thailand are gone for ever. Not that all of those teachers were toally incompetent. I was one, but that was over thirty years ago.

[nevets]

Then why is it the kids are having English taught them and can not speak it.

[caducus]

Maybe because these kids are not being taught or encouraged to 'speak'.
This is possibly an indictment of the education system - but not of those whose job is to teach.

[Spitfire]

Agree to a certain extent Caducus about back packer teachers and their time being up, what you say is about right for the big places like Bangkok or resort destinations like Hua Hin. Once you go to the sleepy provincial cities like Buri Ram/Roi-Et/Yasothon etc, any one of a hundred small to mid sized places then they are still around and clinging on to existance. However, the places to hide for them are slowly being wittled down. The only real reason they can still work is because it's very hard to attract teachers of any discription to these place and the schools etc don't have the budgets for the genuine article. Time is, as you eloquently put it, slowly running out for them.

[nevets]

I do not think the student is at fault , the student is not tout English properly in the school. The children that are having English lessons where i live can not talk English to me when asked a simple question.
And its not because they are shy they just do not know or understand .

[Spitfire]

One of the many problems they (students) have Nevets is simply that of exposure to the language. Most kids might get 40-50 minutes a week with a foreign teacher, as soon as they leave the lesson then they don't even think about it (English) again until 5 minutes before the next lesson. This is why so many schools have started these EP (English Program) courses as an optional extra, needless to say cost more, but the students get a foreign and Thai teacher together all day. It's also a problem with the system, they make class sizes in the fifties, teaching material is often wrongly graded and the main priority of many schools is figures/profit etc, education often comes a poor 3rd or 4th. Not always the fault of the teachers, they are only allowed to do only what the Thai running the department lets them do. Yes, there are some substandard teachers but, in general, there are much deeper problems.