These are actual quotes from real telephone conversations that I have had recently with teacher placement agencies..

Agent: "we cannot tell you where the school is until after you sign the contract"
me: why?
Agent "I don't want you contacting the school without us because we would lose our commission"

Next agent.

me: "is the school in a remote location?"
Agent: "It depends on what you mean by a remote location?"
me: "is the location accessible by plane, train, bus, taxi. tuk-tuk or elephant?
Agent: "we will meet you at the bus station and take you there"
me: "about how far is it from the bus station to the town?"
Agent: "we will stop about half-way and buy you lunch"
me: "so it is not near the small town bus station?"
Agent: "they don't have a 7 eleven if that is what you want"

Next agent.

Agent: "we will hold 3,000 baht every month from your salary and give it to you at the end of your contract"
me: "why?"
Agent: "so we know you will complete your contract and not leave early because of the working conditions"

Next agent.

Contact person: You will start at 7:15am for gate duty, teach 26 hours per week, remain on campus until 4.30pm when gate duty ends. You have to do one Saturday afternoon per month, and a once a week English club after school. We will give you 24,000 baht and we help you with the paperwork for a non-immigrant B visa - and we give 50% for accident insurance.
me: Thank you, good bye.

Next agent.

me: "can you tell me the age group of the students, your job ad does not say"
Agent: "we will pay you a bonus to sign a contract"
me: "okay, but what age group would l be teaching?"
Agent: "some of the classrooms have air-con, others have fans and the school provides a western lunch"
me: "great, what age group are the students?"
Agent: "it varies"

Next agent

Contact person; "Can you come in for an interview?"
Me: "yes, I can"
Contact person: "be prepared to teach a 50-minute class to students as a demonstration. Also bring us ten lesson plans and three positive references. Please, be on time because we have many other teachers demonstrating that week"
Me: "sure, my rate is 500 baht an hour"

Well, I can continue - although not now. Personally, I have twenty years teaching experience with excellent references and credentials. It is my desire to continue to teach in Thailand for the students. I try and ignore the nonsense but it just seems to be getting sillier and sillier.

By the way, this was written for a smile, not out of bitterness or anger.

Mitch

One thing that I find very annoying is listening to teachers who no matter what is expected of them, keep failing to use their common sense and preparing things in advance. When The Thai head of the department asks why, their answer is because they haven't been told or shown, even when they state they have years of experience. Not only that but here are other teachers in the staff room willing and happy to show or help them. And then there are the so-called teachers assigned to say, teach conversation, but continue to just offer worksheets and when doing exams or tests, knowing that they may have hundreds of students, wait until the last week to offer up grades that really don't reflect the student true abilities.

Peter

Regarding Jasmine's letter (Little hope for a teacher in lockdown, 14th July 2021) It is time to move - no matter what. If your employer (the agency you mention) is looking through your social media posts and threatening you with legal action, then it really is time to move on. Think about it, they don't value you and you're not even being paid. You can always find a situation where you're at least valued a bit - and of course paid. This may well be in another country. Personally, I don't feel that Thailand has anything to offer as far as work or a future is concerned.

Korea

I have been teaching English in Thailand since 1994 and I have now been out of work for four months due to the pandemic. My elderly mother lives alone near Liverpool. Getting home to visit her and also attend an important family wedding is just not possible due to the large expense, quarantine arrangements, vaccinations, difficulties in getting back into Thailand and last but not least, leaving my wife for just how long?
I am sure Thailand will get it right eventually and even all us expats will get vaccinated. In the meantime, we all have to deal with the stress of living in the current situation just as best as we can.

Graham

I am in Phuket and I love living here. I adore the lovely school I work at and I genuinely feel blessed every day when I can work. The problem is that schools are closed again - for the 4th time - despite Phuket opening to the world with the Sandbox scheme. It is becoming impossible to survive as a teacher. I don’t want to go home but if I have to because of the lack of work, it will be the ultimate defeat and one I will not cope at all well with. I want to stay here.

Online teaching is not an option sadly. I am a kindergarten teacher and working for an agency at a government school. Many families do not have a wifi connection or a suitable laptop for this to be a possibility. The agency refuse to pay teacher salaries during lockdown, despite me having worked loyally for them for two years. This is particularly frustrating as the school is valiantly paying all their own workers, caretakers, teachers, cooks and Burmese builders - and the other agency supplying teachers to our school are also paying their teachers during this lockdown period.

I have also had my social media posts copied and sent to me by post by the agency - with a threat that anything I say is potentially libellous. This is despite never mentioning the agency by name or directly referencing them. I have simply pointed out it is a depressing time and one with little hope. I have therefore had to change my name and profile and picture on social media and even writing this post is a worry for me. I hope things will get better. It feels like a long road sometimes and one filled with much worry.

Jasmine

In my two decades of living in Thailand, I have experienced some occasional prejudice, but no openly hostile racism. This has changed, from what I can see. The Covid virus has legitimised more aggressive hating on foreigners. Society has somehow allowed this to creep into acceptable behaviour. Part of this may come from deflection of the nation's inability to get control of the pandemic effectively and looking silly on the world stage; the other part may always have been there, under the surface, waiting for an excuse!

Mark

Be cautious of Thai teaching agencies because they are notorious for not doing the correct paperwork, supporting teachers, and doing as they please just to secure the contract at client schools. If possible, look for direct hire options with a school as you will not have as many problems or face as many salary deductions. If you relocate to Nakhon Nowhere, you will be at their mercy. Thai agencies prey on new teachers and their lack of knowledge about how things work over here. Speak to as many teachers as possible at the school/agency and get a feel for whats in store.

Bear

When it comes to male teacher attire, it's gotta be a crisp shirt, smart pants and smart polished shoes. That is not a lot to ask. You see so many ajarns out and about and some look bloody disgraceful. Decent clothes are worth spending a bit extra on because they look good. Bargain supermarket brands are not the way to go. Never understood why so many teachers get this basic thing so wrong - as if it's a deliberate attempt to say "pay me shit so l dress like shit"

Pat

Looking to retire in a few years and also interested in teaching. My retirement income will be $10K USD per month. Are there any special considerations for people making substantially more than the average citizen when moving to Thailand? Any places I should avoid or places I should try to live?

Rick

My boss gave me permission to return to England while my school are currently having to work online from home. I verbally agreed to return to Thailand if the school reopened. He said it looks ‘likely’ the school will reopen 14th June (even though the situation is very serious and there’s no confirmation the school will open). I said I am happy to continue working online from the UK but do not want to confirm returning to Thailand until there is full evidence and confirmation that the school can safely return. He declined my offer of continuing to teach online (despite the fact we have at least 2 weeks left of online teaching) even though it is becoming clearer everyday that things don’t look hopeful for reopening and has instead terminated my contract. We get paid at the end of each month and I have worked up to the 21st May which means I will be owed almost a full months pay on 31st May. However, the school are not going to pay me because I wouldn’t return. Is this lawful?

Sass