Ajarn Street | Teaching English in Thailand

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Catholic schoolteacher caught caning students

Donald Patnaude - 31st August 2010

How far should teachers be allowed to go when dishoing out corporal punishment to students?

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I’m quick because I am only 49

Donald Patnaude - 5th August 2010

Age does matter as well as experience!

Donald Patnaude - 5th August 2010

What a treat it was to get an e-mail from David Fahey. Dave was one of our very first hot seat candidates over six years ago. Since then he has returned to the UK along with his Thai wife and built a whole new life for himself. It’s surely time to put him back in the spotlight.

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Phil Dunne

5th July 2010

Jorge Jo

3rd July 2010

Andre Park

30th April 2010

More Hot Seat Interviews »

Ajarn Competitions

Why not try your luck in one of our ajarn competitions? Answer easy questions and win polo shirts, text books, and free nights out courtesy of local restaurants. Anyone can sponsor an ajarn competition if there are nice prizes for teachers.

Ajarn.com’s book of the month

'Teaching English Grammar' by Jim Scrivener

This is a little gem of a book for those teachers who need to prepare and deliver effective grammar lessons. Ideal for both old hands and the inexperienced, the book also includes activities that will make any grammar lesson enjoyable.

Only non-smokers need apply

Are we witnessing the start of a new trend?

In the 90’s, there was no shame attached to being a male teacher who smoked. You were part of the fashionable majority. But times have changed. As more and more teaching jobs are asking for 'non-smokers' only, is it time to say goodbye to the foul weed?

It’s goodbye to teaching

Stories from folks that have found things they would much rather do

Here are stories from a dozen folks who resigned themselves to teaching because they mistakenly thought it was the only job they could get in Thailand. Then lo and behold, Lady Luck came a-knocking.

An English teacher and proud

Do those who don't teach English in Thailand look down on those that do?

What do expats who work in Thailand but don't teach English think of us teachers? Are we ridiculed when out of earshot or do even the high-flyers afford us maximum respect. An invitation to a business networking evening. A chance to really find out.

Back in the groove again

Stepping back into a Thai training room after three years away

A two-day seminar on the topic of ‘Executive E-mail Writing' for fifteen participants at one of the world's largest auditing companies. That's what I had been asked to deliver. Despite having plenty of experience, it was still a daunting challenge given the fact I hadn't walked into a training room to conduct a workshop or seminar in almost three years. It was time to put my trainer hat on and get back into the groove.

Where do you stand on gate duty?

Do you approach those extra responsiblities with commendable gusto?

For those readers who have spent their teaching career cooped up in private language schools, gate duty is when a foreign teacher at say a government or Thai secondary school is told to stand in front of the school building – usually in the morning or at the end of the school day - and look like an asset to the institution.

I work for the school from hell

Why the Thailand TEFL watchdog site is doomed to failure

Where can a teacher go to on the internet if they want to warn other teachers about a particular school and tell others how they have to work with an insane farang-hating nun, an alcoholic academic director who spends most of the day flirting with the Thai staff and a cross-dressing senior teacher who stands up in the middle of observations and shouts "you dare to call this an English lesson"?

Bangkok or up-country? Which is best?

Are you a city boy or a country bumpkin?

Ajarn.com attempts to answer that burning question - is it better to live and work as a teacher in Bangkok or out in the boonies? We've decided to divide Thailand into two sections - Bangkok and everywhere else. Even the Thais refer to every city, town and village outside the capital as 'up-country' so who are we to argue?

In the thick of it

How are you coping with the troubles?

Calling all teachers. How has all this civil unrest in Thailand affected you? Has it made you afraid to live here? What about those of you planning to come and work here? Have recent events put you off?

Phil’s Memory Lane

Now you see it, now you don't.

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?

Is Thailand's TEFL market going to hell in a handbasket?

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?

Scam warning

Here's a well-used teacher scam that's doing the rounds.

Be careful. The world is full of teacher scams like this one. If you hear of any more then please let us know about them.

Four times the salary of a local Thai?

What a load of bullshit!

Nothing irks me more than reading that statement and you see it all over the web wherever the topic of teaching in Thailand is discussed or promoted. It’s a statement that’s both grossly misleading and wildly inaccurate.

Those crazy interviewees

A tongue-in-cheek look at some rather eccentric teachers

I’ve always been wary of religious types. Let me be the last man to begrudge anyone the right to have a faith but there’s a time and a place. Sunday morning in church springs instantly to mind. But if I ever saw the name ‘Jesus’ written on a lesson plan I would subconsciously file the teacher under ‘one to keep an eye on’.

Freelance teaching

Ever thought about going it alone?

How easy is it to go the freelance route in Bangkok and make money charging students upwards of 500 baht an hour? Well, here are some of the perils and pitfalls of teaching from your home, the student's home or perhaps even in the nearest McDonalds.

How employable are you?

Take our fun quiz

Find out if you're the kind of teacher who any school would be proud to have as part of their team.......or perhaps why no one ever sends you a reply to your e-mail application?

A time of change

How does teaching in Thailand now compare to twenty years ago?

For those of you pissing and moaning about visa runs, the immigration department, the work permit process, the unpredictability of the consulates in neighboring countries - let me tell you this - it was no better in the early 90s. In fact I'd say marginally worse.

Teacher licensing regulations 2009

What you will need to do or have in order to become a legal teacher

With the help of one of Bangkok's top teacher recruiters and a few contacts at the Thailand Ministry of Education and The Teacher's Council of Thailand, ajarn.com has come up with the following information regarding what will be involved if you want to teach legally in Thailand as of mid-May 2009 (the start of the next academic year)

What do Thai students think of us?

Straight from the horses's mouth

I wondered if our Thai students really had a true picture of the salaries we earn, the hardships we face, and the hoops we have to jump through? I put ten questions to a range of Thai corporate staff - male, female, single, married with kids. What do they really know? And is there any respect left for the 'ajarn farang'?

Quotes from the discussion board

These are the hilights

Here are some of the top quotes from members of the Ajarn.com discussion board taken from over the past twelve months or so. Let's call it the best of the teacher's room

Who do you work with?

Recognize any of your colleagues from this list?

Nothing more than a playful poke at some of the teaching characters we've all worked with down the years. Maybe you can even recognise yourself in there somewhere?

The A to Z of teaching TEFL in Thailand

A playful look at this sometimes crazy industry

Thanks to the combined efforts of the ajarn.com discussion board members, we've come up with the ultimate A to Z of teaching TEFL in Thailand.

When illness strikes

Are you prepared for the unhealthier times?

As the old saying goes - don't leave home without it! Not your health insurance card anyway. Bangkok Phil explores the options open to you if you want to take out health insurance in Thailand and why you shouldn't get too excited if schools offer 'free health cover'

Black teachers in Thailand

Are Thai employers just a little bit racist?

Over the years, ajarn.com has always asked the question 'do black teachers have a harder time finding work in Thailand. Racism? Xenophobia? Fear of the unfamiliar? These have been some of the responses from various teachers.

The ajarn.com teacher survey

We asked the questions and you gave us the answers

We asked the teachers of Thailand to fill in a simple questionnaire about their jobs and their lifestyle. You answered the call in your thousands.....well, 98 of you to be exact.

The anatomy of a teachers room

What goes on in that cramped, airless little room?

For all those who have ever taught in Asia - laugh along at 'the anatomy of a teacher's room' from the water-kettle that's never full to the pot-plant that always needs watering.

Thai teaching assistants

Angels from the planet Xerox or Satan's snitch?

They are as much a part of a teaching package as subsidized health insurance, the occasional sports day and possible unpaid test-marking. We want to hear about yours. When asked to make photocopies does she say "coming right up oh great white-skinned one" or does she beat a path to the dean's door to remind him that slavery has been abolished?

Problems at your school

There are always problems where you work

So there are 25 things wrong with your teaching job? Actually there are 25 things wrong with every teaching job - you just pray they don't all happen on the same day. As Phil explains, it's the way you handle these often 'minor inconveniences' that will make or break your time in Thailand.

The teacher fashion guide

Dress for success!

If you're thinking of coming to teach in Thailand then don't leave home without reading our indispensable guide to cutting a dash in the classroom. How many neckties do I need? Will the pony-tail have to go? From the moment you walk in the room, you'll be turning heads and not stomachs. On no, not all five Spice Girls please!!!!

Ten of the best

Give us your top ten of any Thailand TEFL-related topic

Nothing more than a bit of fun. Send us your 'list of ten' on any topic you like as long as they are in someway associated with the wonderful world of TEFL.

Go on, give us a job!

No degree? No teaching certificate? No experience?

All you've got is the language you learned as a baby. Is it still possible to get a job teaching English in Thailand? Ajarn.com picked eight random phone numbers from the jobs offered board and called them up. Dangerous things happen when ajarn.com's got time on its hands. (Names have been changed to avoid causing embarrassment. And there's certainly plenty of that)

Nonthaburi Oh Nonthaburi

Is it truly 'the teacher's graveyard'?

Someone said to me the other day that if you're too old, too unqualified, and you're sick of constant interview rejection.....there is always Nonthaburi.

The mass transit factor

Where do they go and what do they know?

Ajarn takes a look at the Bangkok underground and sky-train systems. How has the average Bangkok teacher's life improved since the systems started operating?

More power to us

I lay myself prostrate at the threshold of your venerable institute

The Filipino teaching community is huge here in Thailand. But as many of them bombard recruiters inboxes with over-formal cover letters and speculative applications for jobs they are sometimes not qualified to do, ajarn.com asks the question 'can Filipinos make it easier for themselves to find jobs?'

Will I need a degree to teach in Thailand?

A question that will rage forever and a day.

Ajarn.com asks just how many teachers are teaching with fake credentials. Will schools employ teachers without a degree? And does a degree even make you a better teacher? Ajarn.com also braves the sticky, sweaty Khao San Road and comes face to face with not only foreign women that have let themselves go, but the degree makers themselves. Graduate for 600 baht? Surely not.

The ajarn.com job survey

Some brilliant answers to some frankly daft and predictable questions

We surveyed twenty-five schools and institutes that advertise regularly on the ajarn.com jobs board. Here is a selection of their answers. We fed the answers into the bat-computer and came up with an interesting combination of academic analysis and bullshit that does nothing else if not just fill up web-pages.

First lesson memories

Do you remember the moment?

The ink is still wet on your brand new teacher training certificate and you're suddenly faced with the prospect of standing in front of your first ever class and dishing up hearty portions of education and entertainment. We asked for your first lesson in Thailand memories. Were you as cool as a cucumber....or absolutely bricking it?

Beating the teacher trap

Is teaching English really all there is?

Is it possible to escape the teacher trap? If you think that teaching is the only thing in Thailand that foreigners can do (apart from own a beer bar in Pattaya of course) - well here are ten stories to prove you wrong.

Book review

Bangkok Exit

As a refreshing change from someone writing about their ten years of hell in a Thai prison, you might want to take a look at Bangkok Exit written by Ryan Humphreys. Ryan gives readers a humorous warts 'n' all account of his first year teaching in Thailand at Sathit Wittaya School.

25K a month? You must be joking

Surely you can't live on such a pitiful salary.

Numerous jobs in Thailand still pay around 25,000 baht a month. Is it really enough to live on? The fur really flies in our heated ajarn debate. So how much do you really need to earn in order to survive? A selection of teachers have their say on the whole issue of pay scales.

Teacher agencies

Are they the devil in disguise?

If you're looking for a definition of a teacher agency, I guess it's someone who benefits financially from the teacher's employment. The money can be got in several ways with the most common being the monthly deduction method. The school will pay the agency let's say 40,000 baht a month, and the agency will pass on 32,000 baht to the teacher. Sometimes more, very often less.

The evil expatriates

What the hell do you think you're looking at?

Ever had a farang teacher look you up and down on the sky-train? It could be that they want to share lesson plans or maybe they're simply wondering what you've got to be so happy about. Either way - what's happened to the expat community spirit?

Oldies….....but goldies?

Are those teachers over 45 suddenly too long in the tooth?

With one or two positions on the jobs board asking for teachers no older than 45, ajarn.com asks if this is the start of a terrifying trend and whether our middle-aged days are numbered? Is the TEFL industry about to be over-run with lantern-jawed buck studs who've barely started shaving? Your e-mails came in by the truckload but strangely no one under 45 years old had an opinion (well, only a couple). As someone who turns 42 next month, I'm already finding out the locations of reputable nursing homes. Enough of all this - I need to go again.

Corporate training

Is the end really nigh?

We'll send a teacher to your company two nights a week and after forty hours your employees will be gassing to each other like natives. Yeah, right. Why are so many Bangkok-based companies saying 'enough is enough' where English language training is concerned?

The negative interview mindset

Is it sometimes too easy to get a teaching job in Thailand?

A growing number of foreign teachers (particularly male) think that it's so easy to get an English teaching job in Thailand that all you have to do on interview day is turn up. Ajarn.com looks at a common mindset behind interviewing for TEFL jobs

Where are all the teachers?

Is there a severe shortage of warm TEFL bodies?

Is there really a chronic teacher shortage in Thailand? As 40,000 baht a month jobs go begging, Ajarn.com asked ten teacher recruiters their opinions on why there seems to be an acute shortage of quality teachers at present. Is it really a case of accepting the first farang that sticks his or her head around the door? No individual people or specific schools are mentioned.