I've been teaching in Thailand for seven years and I've been an avid reader of the "ajarn.com's various articles since 2006". Like most of my fellow foreign teachers here I've been through the visa and work permit mangle and all the other bureaucratic crap that the Thai Government can throw at a human being, but here I remain. I originate from Wales and I'm proud of that fact, but as most of us know, The UK, The USA, Australia, etc have all changed for the worse. So, the million dollar question is, what keeps us in Thailand?

Let's face the facts. It's not the salaries ...they have remained the same for many years. Some will say "job satisfaction", that was true several years ago, when in my opinion, the students and the Thai-teaching staff showed respect towards the hard working foreign staff at their schools. Nowadays, some students and also the Thai teachers show us nothing but contempt and on some occasions pure hatred. I've read several articles written by teachers who have had horrific experiences regarding teaching agencies and co-teachers. And of course there is the visa and work permit saga, and believe me when I say I've experienced most of the above myself. I would be interested to read the responses to my original question. What keeps us in Thailand?

Keith Evans