Teaching in Thailand is now a complete joke. The education system is one of the worst in the world, yet this doesn’t deter the system from demanding the sky and the stars above in terms of qualifications.

There are jobs offering 28,000 baht a month, but require a master’s degree in an education related field. That’s right, half a fast-food wage! In addition, you have to put up with nonsense such as a lack of discipline in classrooms and student satisfaction surveys, that completely undermine your ability to do your job properly- along with the obligatory white monkey duties that schools usually require.

Agencies and schools have become increasingly greedy in the three years that I’ve been here, lowering wages and reducing what little benefits that were in place to begin with. 10-month contracts, health insurance that wouldn’t cover a band aid, no pension, corruption, and shrinking end of contract bonuses.

Other readers have rightly pointed out the fact that you feel, for the most part, that you’re tolerated (at best). Add to this the inability to manage things properly, the cultural sensitivities, the pride (I’m never wrong) and you get the feeling that Thailand is some kind of lord of the flies’ island that’s run by children.

The ignorance is profound; my friend informs me that his high-school students have never heard of the second world war! Next time you are met with the “I don’t know what the problem is with less than 40k a month… bla bla bla”, ask that person when the last time they visited their family was and how much did it cost them. Show them the price of a return ticket to your home country, and explain that this is why you haven’t seen your family in X amount of years.

The sense of entitlement over here is astounding. You have your future to think about; Thailand isn’t going to look after you when your chips are down or when you grow old. Of course, they’ll happily hold a passport from your country of origin, but don’t expect the same in return, no matter what you do! In fact, Thailand has some of the most bureaucratic visa laws in the world, and with the latest round of draconian penalties announced, for those who don’t posse the correct stamp, it’s becoming less desirable to stay.

Now the white knight brigade “I thought 35k was a great wage 25 years ago, what’s the problem?” are always quick to point out where the airport is, or that you need to improve on your qualifications. I am, in part, inclined to agree with them, however, for those like myself who are stuck here in university, the former isn’t an option and none of this justifies exploitation.

So what’s the solution? Simple, don’t work for (or with) these clowns anymore. You don’t have to!

Over the last 12 months, online teaching has really take off. There is literally a plethora of companies out there that are crying out for teachers. Of course, China is one of the biggest recruiters, and with the new visa laws that have come into place in China recently, making it more complicated to acquire a Z-visa (work visa) than it is in Korea or Japan, the number of teachers applying to work there in person is likely to decrease. This will likely, eventually, translate into more demand for online teachers.

Now if you are in Thailand, the Chinese are likely to require that you work evenings and/or weekends, this might be ideal for those who study. If you are to accept such a position, don’t, under any circumstances, accept a job that pays below 15 USD an hour, these are peak demand hours, especially for children. I have found, through experience, that those that offer less than this tend to mess you around the most and have the most amount of BS rules. After all, China has some awful ESL jobs just like Thailand (or anywhere else).

On the whole, when you find a good company to work for, you’ll find that you get treated far better than you would at the vast majority of schools in Thailand. I personally make around 700 baht an hour, and I don’t have to travel through the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. The materials are all provided, and I’ve never had to pay for resources out of my own pocket because a billionaire school director didn’t think it was his place to do so.

If ever I’m asked to work more, I’m paid more. Yes, I know, imagine that!

There are companies that offer day time hours, for those who bark at the idea of working in the evenings or at weekends, however, they tend to pay less. I wouldn’t recommend accepting less than 10 dollars an hour for those positions and I would avoid Taiwanese companies, as they deduct a sizable amount of your salary in Taiwanese income tax.

Overall, I find it refreshing to teach students that are well behaved and actually want to learn. I have five and six-year-old students that can speak and read English better than any M5 or M6 Thai students that I have ever taught in a government school. Additionally, Chinese staff are willing to listen to your suggestions and feedback and value your hard work and input, they are also more open to new approaches to delivering a lesson.

In conclusion, you likely come from a country that has fairly strong unions, labour laws and equality laws. Forget about it in Thailand, you have to be your own union rep by voting on your feet.

The demand to learn English across the globe is rising considerably on an annual basis, and technology is providing a way for teachers and students to connect from remote corners of the world. The game’s up for lousy Thai schools, who have become spoiled by the amount of foreigners available to teach. We no longer have to do it the “Thai way”.

Steve Bangkok