Hello Phil. Thanks for interviewing me. Well first of all I was born in Chicago, Illinois U.S.A. way back in 1961. Yes, I do use the term 'way back' because I am 47 years old now and I know about this thing that some employers have against hiring foreigners as English teachers if you are over 45. I still can't figure this one out! Anyway, I grew up in a surburb of Chicago for most of my life. I went to university in 1978-1982 and then graduated with my B.A. in Business Management and then joined the U.S. Army in 1982. I am the oldest of 6 children. After the army I had a few part-time jobs here and there for about two years but found it quite hard to take orders from bosses. So then I started a promotional advertisement business. I stopped my business in 1999 and that was the year I made my first visit to Thailand for a vacation.

You pretty much said it all Phil. I think private language centers are a pretty good place to start out especially if you are like I was with no experience but plenty of desire. I didn't like giving up most weekends and coming home late at night was not my cup of tea either.

I decided that in October 2003 it was time to get out of the shopping malls. Working late hours and weekends just wasn't for me anymore and got out.

I went to work for an agency which put me into a government school in Chumpon. The school was great and the students and people were great when compared to students and Thai teachers in Bangkok schools. I only stayed for one semester because being too far away from Bangkok (and my wife) was not an ideal situation.

I would not necessarily say that teaching large classes of M/1-M/6 students was better for me but definitely not working late hours or weekends was the biggest benefit also not to mention all the generous holiday time you get from government schools........ with full pay.

Langsuan, Chumpon is a very friendly place but there's really not much to do so it's quite boring on weekends. No big shopping malls or entertainment of any kind. It would be a beautiful place to retire to because of its peacefulness and nature.

I started my business back in March 2007 on a part-time basis. I planned everything out for about 2 years before doing so. Well I got a great location and I started the business during the student summer break. I got many students to study in something akin to a summer school course and also there were weekend classes. Timing and location is everything!

Actually I live in a private village with a mix of very expensive single family homes and cheaper townhouses (trust me I am not in an expensive single family house). There are no apartment buildings or businesses for that matter except for those who have a home-based business like what I have in my townhouse. There was actually a private English center next to 7-11 as you are entering my village. The owner was not a native English speaker and therefore it was about 6 weeks after I had opened that he decided to close up shop.

I would say the biggest challenge is trying to keep everyone happy while at the same time trying to hold prices down and trying to make a decent profit. This is why I've just recently added many new services to my business now that I am doing it on a full-time basis. I am able to provide total English services to students, teachers and schools.

Having a Thai wife is a must especially for translation purposes.

Well, to be frankly honest my Thai isn't as good as it should be. Wait, actually it is not good because I am just too lazy to learn.

I do believe that teachers must teach a certain amount of discipline but there should be a limit to this.

I don't have any students calling me at 3:00 a.m. asking about their homework. I figured out how to solve that problem. I just don't give out homework. However I do have two private students studying together 6:00-8:00 Sunday mornings and this is what I was hoping to achieve; to get people to study during non prime-time hours. I am an early riser myself and have been for the past 30 odd years.

I am not sure if I said about money being a driving force. Having enough money is important but I do not need to become rich to be happy teaching in English in Thailand. I think for anyone who needs to become rich by teaching English then Thailand is for sure not the place for you.

I would advise new teachers to come to Thailand and teach because their safety wouldn't be jeopardized but the continuing political problem is what people must monitor closely. Thanks again for the interview!