Teaching English in Thailand or other jobs

I was wondering due to sudden changed circumstances in my life how feasible it would be to teach English in Bangkok or anywhere in Thailand for that matter. How many have done this and how easy is it to get a visa and a job? Do you need qualifications beyond native English speaker? And what is the pay like?

I would be able to afford accommodation myself and a few extras although sharing accommodation might be better for a bit of a social life to start off with.

I was telling someone that if I couldn't get into Australia where my family has now all gone I would like to do something like this and it got the raised eyebrow treatment. This angered me a bit cause I love Thailand and the people and working with children, not all English teachers are there for just for sex, anyway I hope not.

Any practical tips would be well received. Or indeed any other job tips a native English speaker/expat could throw themselves into easily for a few years. Im about ready to get out of Hong Kong, had enough.
Cedric

[Surfcrest]

What about "go go" Cedric, can you dance?

[lonelywombat]

this is a link to one TESL school
http://www.tesolcoursethailand.com/

I know a number of english teachers in BKK and the pay is not enough to live on. I believe a degree is now required,

Most classes are before 9AM or after 6PM. Very long days with lots of free time during normal working hours.

It takes years to build a private client base.

You need to think again.

I was wondering due to sudden changed circumstances in my life how feasible it would be to teach English in Bangkok or anywhere in Thailand for that matter. How many have done this and how easy is it to get a visa and a job? Do you need qualifications beyond native English speaker? And what is the pay like?

I would be able to afford accommodation myself and a few extras although sharing accommodation might be better for a bit of a social life to start off with.

I was telling someone that if I couldn't get into Australia where my family has now all gone I would like to do something like this and it got the raised eyebrow treatment. This angered me a bit cause I love Thailand and the people and working with children, not all English teachers are there for just for sex, anyway I hope not.

Any practical tips would be well received. Or indeed any other job tips a native English speaker/expat could throw themselves into easily for a few years. Im about ready to get out of Hong Kong, had enough.
Cedric

Go to Australia, unless you have the right qualifications and can get a job teaching in an renown International school it can be a very under paid job, and in a lot of cases you wouldn't even get the right visa with a work permit......

:hello1:

"Countries" have made it very difficult to obtain a job now. Even in England, a nursing qualification now has to include the first few years as a degree course. Thailand has its own "criteria" for jobs. My opinion is there are only so many people who will want to go through a programme of training/education, there are only so many people who will want to do a certain job and if countries including Thailand make it difficult to get "that job", then the end result is going to be a shortage of that relevant discipline. Thailand has a shortage of TEFL teachers I believe. Their problem though, other countries have similar problems.

[searcher]

I think you can get lots of information on "Thaivisa.com", there are branches for "Teaching English in Th. , working permit, TEFL courses " etc. Good luck.....you will need it

but what ever you do, dont let LMTU fill in the application form for you. you are supposed to be literate to be an english teacher.

[Surfcrest]

What about "go go" Cedric, can you dance?

SURFCAST you are a asshole why kick a guy when he is down on his luck?

Oh my goodness hereforme......guess you aren't just "here for me" afterall. Yes, I'm sure Thailand / Bangkok needs another broke farang that is quite full of himself to join the ranks of all the rest of the cheap English "teachers" in Bangkok.



In all my visits to Pattaya I have been completely unable to find either a gas mask or a decent pair of wellington boots or authentic swastika armbands!


Thank goodness J.J. has all of the above...guess I'll have to dress the part now that hereforme clarified that for me.
So sorry I stepped on your gown sweetie!

I looked into this in some depth a few years ago when I was going through a tough patch. The best forum is eslcafe.com, by a long shot. I'll warn you that the teachers there are serious and you'll get plastered if you mention fake degrees. The 'standard' is a bachelors degree and a 120 hour course that includes some evaluated time in front of classes (CELTA being the most widely recognized, it is usually taken in one grueling month). Yes, you undoubtedly can get by with less in some places but with those two items many doors are open to you.

Thailand is one of the lowest paying countries for ESL since so many people like to be there. South Korea has been the best paying destination for quite some time but a lot of people don't enjoy it...they go for the US $2k/month or whatever they are paying today. Korea will cover your airfare, visa costs, etc. In Thailand you pay for everything...

It's a tough road and ESL jobs back home generally don't pay enough to live on, so the 'work experience' will do nothing but set you back. There's a lot of considerations in making the decision. In the end I decided that if I were serious about going to Thailand then my best move would be to sell everything, live like a bum, and save every dime for a while...then I could go to Thailand as a 'language student' and have enough money in the bank to travel and not have to work. In the end I found another IT job and bought a sports car to console myself...I'll just wait until I'm old enough for a retirement visa, I guess.

Good luck, whatever you choose!

but what ever you do, dont let LMTU fill in the application form for you. you are supposed to be literate to be an english teacher.

And don't forget LMTU/Bottoms Up/hereforme was the top of his class. Either he was the only one in it or the others in it were, well I'll let you all figure that out!

:hello1:

[TrongpaiExpat]

but what ever you do, dont let LMTU fill in the application form for you. you are supposed to be literate to be an english teacher.

And, have a legitimate college degree for the better jobs. BS stands for Bachelor of Science, not Bull Shit.

[Shuee]

i was under the assumption that the good old days of bieng able to teach english in los without any formal qualifiactions were a thing of the past, after reading such articles, i now think you have to be properly qualified, this entails a degree i believe
good luck though

i now think you have to be properly qualified, this entails a degree i believe good luck though

For a long time 'degrees' could be purchased on Khao san road. Most governments are not very thorough about vetting the degrees. Perhaps they've improved, but even then that'd only prevent legit teachers (with work permits) from teaching. There are plenty of people on other visas that are teaching even though it isn't legal to do so. It limits you to side work or disreputable schools, of course.

[Surfcrest]

So sorry I stepped on your gown sweetie!

Cedric wrote nothing to imply that he is "full of himself" if anything he appeared to be humbled by his situation, something a self centered buffoon such as yourself could not have noted! :8(

As Dickhead correctly suggests in his post, some of us have been around a little longer than you and so there just might be, by chance, some dialogue that pre-dates you that would fill in the missing pieces for you. The search engine works just fine or you can continue talking out your arse on Cedric's behalf.

Cedric wrote nothing to imply that he is "full of himself"

well, not recently anyway

Wow thanks for all the information, I will look into it in greater depth after Xmas as Im going to Australia to be consoled and nurtured by family for a bit. My family has only recently moved to Australia literally a few months ago so we can do some thinking planning and discovering together.

Yep its not going to be easy, I thought the go go dancer idea was quite humorous, but i think Im a bit passed it already given what I saw clinging to those bars. LOL. Wot I need is a nice Australian to take me over to Aussie as their partner then I could get PR maybe and get a job :idea: :rolling: . I see gay union is still holding on In the capital by a thread. Here's hoping. If you want to promote join the face book group, add your vote.

Thanks again for the help, LMTU I aint lazy, maybe a bit overwhelmed looks like I've got some chances there at least thanks, maybe I can do a teaching English course here in HK first. Anyway a lot to think about and very suddenly.

Thanks Cedric

[Smiles]

" ... Wot ... but i think Im a bit passed it already ... "
You wont to teach English?

" ... Wot ... but i think Im a bit passed it already ... "
You wont to teach English?

If LMTU was top of the class after his TFL Course then anyone, from any corner of the earth can do it, especially if their grasp of english grammer is as good as his is...........

:hello1:

" ... Wot ... but i think Im a bit passed it already ... "
You wont to teach English?

Wot is perfectly acceptable on this forum as is i as is the odd spelling mistake, maybe spoken English lessons might be better hey Smiles?

What, no more five-star meals at the Sukhothai for Ceddie? What is a boy to do?

Well this is a good question, one I am still pondering. I assume however i will continue eating as well as i want or staying in good hotels, Im just not sure if i still have the appetite. When I saw that i had spent 600HK $ on a few measly items in the supermarket for dinner tonight i felt a bit scared to be honest, things are expensive. I might have to start adjusting, not sure, its the not sure that is a bit scary.

What, no more five-star meals at the Sukhothai for Ceddie? What is a boy to do?

Well this is a good question, one I am still pondering. I assume however i will continue eating as well as i want or staying in good hotels, Im just not sure if i still have the appetite. When I saw that i had spent 600HK $ on a few measly items in the supermarket for dinner tonight i felt a bit scared to be honest, things are expensive. I might have to start adjusting, not sure, its the not sure that is a bit scary.

thats more like the condescending snob we are used to

[Surfcrest]

Im just not sure if i still have the appetite. When I saw that i had spent 600HK $ on a few measly items in the supermarket for dinner tonight i felt a bit scared to be honest, things are expensive. I might have to start adjusting, not sure, its the not sure that is a bit scary.

Cedric, try the Cafe De Coral chainтАж.their food is quite inexpensive with quite a lot of valueтАжespecially the hot pot deal early in the evening. I especially like the one at Tsim Sha Tsui. My point, it doesnтАЩt have to be expensive to be goodтАжespecially in Hong Kong. You may have to avoid dining in Soho until you solve this challenge.

Clearly though, many of us know you well enough to know you are either well educated or have some abilities. The тАЬgo goтАЭ jab was not only meant to give you a chuckle but to impress upon you to set your sights higher than just an English Teacher. If you were to have any Six Sigma training, that might get you farther in ThailandтАж.and who knows, possibly Hong Kong a well. I see no shortage of well to do looking Caucasians in both Bangkok and Hong Kong to know they surly arenтАЩt English Teachers.

You and I have had our differences in the past, but that is not to say I donтАЩt wish you well. I donтАЩt know what your country of origin is and it really doesnтАЩt matter, but sometimes being without a home country can be turned into an opportunity when you look at global opportunities as a blank sketch pad. IтАЩm not sure what impact the global economic slow down has on every country out there, but I can tell you that here in Vancouver it appears to be behind us as we steam toward the Winter Olympics in February.

Surely there is opportunity. Some of us have realized our fortunes, by meeting misfortune somewhere in our livesтАжa fork in the roadтАжwhatever metaphor you want to throw on it. I was heartbroken at a young age when I lost my job in a renowned art gallery; I loved art so much and was certain that was my calling. Had that not happened, I might still be thereтАж.and I certainly wouldnтАЩt have profited as I have on the price of gold in the past year on those wages. Now my passion for art is hanging from the walls in the homes that I ownтАж..rather than selling art that IтАЩll never see again.

Anything is possible out thereтАж..set your sights highтАж.not your nose!

Chok Dee Cedric

maybe spoken English lessons might be better hey Smiles?

The foreign English teachers are generally hired to talk, smile, and entertain. In most countries they have a local teach grammar, vocab, and everything else. Your primary job is to keep the students happy to ensure that they or their sponsors continue to pay for the classes...a business reality that disenchants the more academic EFL types. It is also what makes some uneducated backpackers quite good at the job...they are extroverted, funny, and relate well to kids (because they are immature themselves).

The foreign English teachers are generally hired to talk, smile, and entertain..... It is also what makes some uneducated backpackers quite good at the job...they are extroverted, funny, and relate well to kids.

I had not realised you had looked at this area during your recent visit here - I had though that the days of "uneducated backpackers" making a living here teaching English were long gone, but obviously I do not have your particular insight into it.

I had though that the days of "uneducated backpackers" making a living here teaching English

If you consider the typical backpacker lifestyle 'a living' then I suppose so. I also didn't spend time on that during my visit. I spent a couple of years web surfing and hanging out on forums. I was burnt out on IT work and looked into TEFL, MAT programs (becoming certified in the States), and weighing the merits of a few different countries (China/Taiwan was more interesting than Thailand to me at the time...spent a year studying Mandarin in the evenings. Still haven't been to China yet. lol).

If the situation has drastically changed for backpackers in the last year then my info is dated. That's why I suggested that Cedric hang out on that forum for a while...it's a great source of information, surely more-so than here.

I know a bit about degree accreditation since I did my bachelors through distance education (Excelsior College), before it became mainstream to do so. This led to me having to explain to some people how my degree isn't from a diploma mill.

[Aunty]

Hey Cedric,

Sorry to hear about your change in fortune, hopefully it will just be a temporary setback. Although I have never been to Australia I would be surprised if you did not receive PR there on family repatriation grounds. However as I am not familiar with the immigration laws there, I stand to be corrected.

Anyway if you really want to go to Australia, there is another way. Immigrate to New Zealand first and once you have PR in New Zealand (takes about 3 years) you can then move to Australia as of right as individuals who hold NZ citizenship or PR in New Zealand are entitled, under Aussie law, to move to Australia permanently and work there. Many foreigners do that after having first been rejected by Australian immigration, they use this loop hole of obtaining NZ PR to eventually settle there. So far the Australians have not closed this off and I don't see them doing so any time soon due to the long standing cultural and historical ties that bind NZ and Aus.

So as a back up, might I suggest that you also apply to immigrate to NZ. You may find this link helpful.

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/

Good luck!

I know a bit about degree accreditation since I did my bachelors through distance education (Excelsior College), before it became mainstream to do so. This led to me having to explain to some people how my degree isn't from a diploma mill.

Aah ..... now I understand the fixation with degrees and education - its a bit like listening to a born again Christian, or a reformed smoker!


(and you're right - the requirements and checks have changed quite dramatically in Thailand for legit English language teachers in the last couple of years)

I know a bit about degree accreditation since I did my bachelors through distance education (Excelsior College)I was educated at Cardiff Polytechnic so I do sympathise.