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Phil's Comment December 2009

House of Horrors
Some long-term teachers make one of the biggest decisions of their life and decide to have a house built in Thailand. But what happens when it all goes wrong? Read Ralph Sasser's nightmare story of bent lawyers, jail threats and the construction company from Hell.

Steve's back!
Regular ajarn writer, Steve Schertzer, is back with a new blog for December. He turned down a lucrative teaching gig in Saudi. He's decided he will never come back to teach in Thailand. And he's feeling the pressure otherwise known as family responsibility. Read blog. View the writers index for a complete list of Steve's articles.

"There are teaching jobs out there"
In our latest postbox entry, Ben Richards says that it took him four weeks of job-hunting to finally find a decent  teaching position but perseverance eventually paid off. As Richard says, sometimes it's a change of attitude that makes all the difference.

Worth reading!
Tom Tuohy has written an excellent article for the EL gazette on the current state of the education system in Thailand. You can access the article by going to Tom's blog and then clicking on the market report link in the top right hand corner.

The Cost of Living
Teacher Harry in Bangkok is the latest entry in the ajarn cost of living feature. Harry's a single guy and he's not ashamed to say that a good portion of his 65,000 baht salary goes on cooking fine meals at his very own condo in Phra Kanong and a few nights out with the laydeeez.

Phil Roeland
Phil has decided this month to answer the questions in our popular Great Escape feature - for teachers who have left Thailand and moved to pastures new. How does your new home shape up? Read Phil's article / View the blog index

Scott Hipsher combining TEFL and culture
"Western teachers often become dissatisfied with having a limited role at a school, which can lead to poor performance, high turnover, and often unpleasant working conditions for others. Often the teacher feels he or she is not respected as the unsolicited advice given often goes unheeded. Part of the problem may be the subconscious expectations Western teachers may bring with them when coming into Asian educational systems to teach. Read article / View blog index

John Wilson - playing to the gallery
We are all familiar with the fact that every class has its own special chemistry. For obscure reasons some classes are friendly, others not; some bright and perky, others lackluster and heavy going. Each class has its own particular atmosphere – but how is this created?. Read article / View the blog index

Geoff Richards - the paddling pool of critical thinking
"What I’m presenting here are the essential basics of a 6-step process to help your students expand the English that you’re teaching them so that they can use it in more and different ways. All or some of which may help them to retain more of it and actively use it" Read article / View blog index

Tom Tuohy
"Take a look around you, and you’ll soon discover that there are signs not only of a maturing of the education sector in Thailand as a whole, but also the language teaching industry as well" Read the article / View the blog index

Money Matters
Financial advisor, Richard Malpass gives some financial advice aimed specifically at teachers, iincluding moving a UK pension off-shore and tips on saving plans.

If you're looking to rent an apartment or house in Thailand, then check out our guides in the teacher info section

"There's someone in the house!
Imagine waking up one night to find two intruders in your home - dressed in black and rifling through your drawers. Thankfully no one was hurt in the Steve Crawford household and the raiders fled. Now imagine the excitement when the police call you four days later and tell you to get down to the station pronto. There have been some developments. Read the article / View the blog index

Julia's Journey
For those of you who avidly follow our Julia's Journey feature, you'll be surprised to hear that Julia has returned to the UK after two years teaching in Thailand. No, she hasn't given up on Thailand completely but with one or two medical problems to deal with and the opportunity to spend some quality time with friends and family, she's in no great hurry to come back. Thanks for the update Julia! There are also some interesting comments from James Philips regarding the true cost of moving back home.
Read Dave's Journey for a male perspective

Dave's Journey
Dave sends us an update on life in deepest Isaan. It's a tale of school competitions, loud shirts, good and bad education seminars and missing family and friends back home....at least in some ways. But the general message is clear - Dave never regrets his decision to come and teach in Thailand.

The Tony Dabbs Column
This month Tony gives us a reality check on health insurance in Thailand. "One of the things that the insurance companies watch for during the first two years is whether the condition currently being treated existed at the time of application and wasn’t mentioned on the application" Read article / View blog index for more of Tony's health insurance articles.

You're moving to where?
Leigh-Anne Hunter has found out that people fall into three distinct groups when you let them know of your ridiculous plans to move to Thailand. How do you know you'll like it if you've never been? Isn't that where the tsunami was? I guess these people mean well. Read article.

Mark Reynolds in the ajarn hot seat
I enjoyed doing this interview with Mark because it's a brave man who experiences almost every possible negative aspect of teaching in Thailand and is then willing to share his thoughts. From the language center that overloaded him with work because he was the guy who never said no to Thai bosses who would come into the classroom unannounced and ridicule him in front of students - it's all here. Now back in the UK taking care of an elderly mother, Mark's planning a second assault on Thailand's teaching business but one thing's for sure - he'll come back a much wiser man. Read interview / view hot seat index.

The 'Ask us a Question' section
Teaching English in Thailand? Is there part-time work available? What's the best way to get started? Where can I work once I have the work permit book? Which visa is the best one to get? Should I fix up a job before I arrive? Is it possible to approach schools directly? What should female teachers wear in the classroom? Do couples make good teaching colleagues? And lots, lots more.

If not Thailand then where?
What happens when you turn your back on Thailand for pastures new? Perhaps the hogwans of Korea or the private language schools of Japan? Do you lie awake at night dreaming of street-food and foot massages or do you honestly wonder how you stuck the place for so long?

Ajarn World
Sitting at Bangkok airport waiting for a flight to Europe, the Bangkok Mouth ponders which aspects of air travel annoy him the most and decides it's almost everything.

Don't forget that if you need personal answers to work permit problems, red tape issues and visa questions, you can always ask the ajarn.com visa guru.

Quashing the rumors
There have been a few rumors circulating lately that the requirements to get a teaching licence have changed. Well, Steve Crawford, ajarn.com's man in the know, has been talking to a few people down at the ministry of education. Read the article / View the blog index

Latest Immigration News and Changes
The main Thai immigration office on Soi Suan Phlu has now closed. The new office has moved to Building B, Bangkok Government Center, Chaengwattana Road (close to the Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chaengwattana Road.) Although it's a fair old hike from central Bangkok, I've heard from many people that going to do visa business is now a far better experience.
Visa / work Permit FAQ / Ask us a question section / Visa Guru

Oh, one more thing - you're fired
When you are told by the school management that you have done a great job and that the majority of kids love you, being told that you're also being fired is difficult to swallow. It's even worse when you're 61 and handicapped. Ralph Sasser finds out what it's like to discover your face doesn't fit.

Region guide to Chiang Mai updated!
Brett, a teacher in Chiang Mai, has very kindly added some comments to the region guide to CM. It's still 300 baht an hour for part-time work up there folks (just like it was six years ago) But in those days teachers generally made more than the hill-tribe people. Now? Hmmmmm.....possibly maybe. Thanks a million Brett. If anyone else would like to update a region guide, you're more than welcome.
CM region guide / region guide index 

Bangkok on 30K a month?
Teachers are often told that 30,000 baht a month is more than enough to live on in Bangkok. For many schools and employers, 30K seems to be the magic number. Let's put things to the test. Ajarn forum member Hollow has volunteered to document every single baht and satang he spends for a whole month. After you've read that. you may want to look at ajarn's cost of living survey to get even more facts and figures.

Glenn Van Der Heyden in the ajarn hot seat
Full-time teacher and part-time coach of Thailand's national ice hockey team. What's that? you never knew Thailand had a national ice hockey team? Well that makes two of us. Read interview. Have a look at the ajarn hot seat index and decide if you could be ajarn's next hot seat candidate.

Ajarn tax
Tax expert Chang has submitted this terrific article to dispel the myths and the scare stories and the mumbo-jumbo that surround teacher taxation in Thailand. If you've a case to stake a claim - then Chang's on the case.

Those crazy interviewees
In this fun article, Phil takes a look at some of those rather eccentric individuals who you're bound to meet if your job involves hiring teachers. Meet the interviewees who arrive with bags of supermarket shopping, the lady who was disappointed the salary on offer didn't match what she'd earn in New York and those interviewees who rather unwisely choose to bring a 'partner' along. 
Articles Index

Teacher's crib
Take a look at what teacher Steve Salyer has done to his studio apartment in Sukhumwit 71. Let Steve be your inspiration. Now isn't it about time you paid more attention to your living environment and stopped your mother worrying so much?

For a complete index of all the articles, features and sh...stuff on ajarn.com, then please click here