The Ajarn Postbox

This is the place to air your views on TEFL issues in Thailand. Most topics are welcome but please use common sense at all times. Please note that not all submissions will be used, particularly if the post is just a one or two sentence comment about a previous entry.

Latest Letter Received: "User-friendly?" (sent in by Randy White)

Hot Seat

Loads of hot seat interviews for you to peruse, and the full list includes academic directors, teacher trainers, happy teachers, disillusioned teachers, and a whole plethora of characters that play their part in the exciting world of Thailand TEFL. If you've got a story to tell - why not put yourself in the ajarn.com hot seat?

Recent Hot Seat interviewees include Jason Alavi, Jono Blaze, Glenn Van Der Heyden and Mark Reynolds

Ajarn Competitions

We've got two ajarn competitions running at the moment. You can either win a sporty white ajarn.com polo shirt or enter our Macmillan Education competition and take home some EFL textbook goodies. Or why not enter both and try your luck?

Bangkok Phil’s Memory Lane

A light-hearted look at some of the things Bangkokians once took for granted but are now nothing more than a distant memory. Your contributions welcome.

Is it doom or gloom?

Job vacancies seem to be down on this time last year and we're hearing stories of some government schools slashing budgets and not being able to take on foreign teachers next term. In addition the corporate job market seems to have hit rock bottom. What do you teachers think?

Dave’s Journey

(updated 15th January 2010)

Inspired by our story about Julia, we’re also tracking the progress of Dave Montgomery as he prepared for life in Thailand as a teacher. Dave’s situation is slightly different to Julia’s. He’s married to a Thai lady already and he intends to teach in the city of Udon Thani - up in the North East of Thailand. And his father-in-law is also a teacher!

Julia’s Journey

(updated 14th January 2010)

Ajarn.com is documenting the story of one female teacher as she prepared to give up life in her homeland and head out to Thailand to teach English. Hopefully her journal will give inspiration and information to those about to embark on a similar journey. Let’s begin at the beginning and let Julia introduce herself.

The Great Escape

Are you a teacher who once taught in Thailand but decided to seek out pastures new? Has the grass been greener on the other side? Maybe you swapped Thailand for the financial lure of Japan or Korea? Read about those who have left Thailand, and their reasons for moving...

The latest escapee was Johnny

People without formal teaching qualifications

Some would say controversial words from 'Oooh that hurts'. What is it about untrained teachers that really gets his goat?

The 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.

Phil's Front Page Comment

February 8th - We've just added a great hot seat interview with Jason Alavi. Find out the difficulties and problems behind running a teacher agency. Don't forget the invitation to become an ajarn blogger if you fancy. Our most recent blogs (featured on the homepage especially) are getting a considerable amount of traffic since we organised things better. If you don't want to commit to a monthly blog, then think about putting yourself forward for a hot seat interview on Thailand's biggest TEFL website.

The Ajarn Guide for Newbies

New to Thailand? If you've just arrived in Thailand or you're sitting at home thinking about coming to Thailand -- then the newbie FAQ is a good place to start.

The Cost of Living

Find out how different people survive on their teacher salaries. Is it possible to burn through a fortune on entertainment alone? Will 40,000 baht a month get you a much better standard of living than 30,000 a month? Phil has the answers. You decide how much you need to survive either in the rurals or in big bad Bangers.

Our latest interviews break down Barry's 50,000/month income and Harry's 65,000/month income

The Work Permit and Visa FAQ

Thailand has quite possibly the most complex visa system on the planet. Ask ten different people about a certain visa and you'll probably get eleven different answers. We'll do our best to give you the most accurate information possible with the help of the FAQ and our 'visa guru'

Not long ago we answered the question How can I make sure that leaving a job goes smoothly in terms of handing back the work permit?

Health Insurance

Be prepared for the worst - with Thai health insurance options. So many teachers live and work in Thailand without any kind of health cover whatsoever. What are your insurance options if you suddenly find that youth is passing you by and you still see your long-term future here? And are schools that offer you 'free health insurance' really offering you something worthwhile? Read Phil's article on Thai health insurance.

Region Guides

Only the ajarn.com region guides are written by teachers... for teachers. If you are thinking of teaching out in the boonies, then find out about various towns and cities around Thailand by reading our unique guides. Is there a supermarket? And will it have Jaffa Cakes? The Lonely Planet books can't always be trusted you know.

Recently information on the Phang Nga and Ayutthaya regions was brought up to date.

Your Questions Answered

We've totally re-organized the 'question' section so hopefully it should be easier to find what you're looking for. We have eight sections including visa issues, legal issues, worriers, working and surviving in rural Thailand, etc. Take a look.