Hello. I was holding a temporary teaching license from my precious school and I worked there for only 6 months. Now I am in a new school and would like to request a new waiver to teach without a license at Krusapa. Do I really need to attach as part of the supporting documents a copy of my previous temporary teaching license? Because I don't have any copy of it now. Hope you could enlighten me with my query because even my previous school and the department of labor don't have the copy of it anymore. Thanks a lot

Angie

After teaching in English programs for 8 years in the Bangkok area, we moved (and built our own home) in Udon Thani. Teaching here is like stepping back 20+ years. The pay is at least 50% below Bangkok. Many schools offer just 20,000 baht a month for 20 hours of teaching a week! Top pay is around 30,000 baht a month.

There is not a single "true" English program here. When in Bangkok, I taught science, computer applications and public speaking at a government school: 17 hours/week for 44,000 a month. Our students received 15-16 classes/week of various subjects in English - and 90+% went on to universities. And naturally I received a work permit, annual contract and insurance.

I taught at the recognized top private school in Udon Thani: 21 hours/week, (11 different classes) reporting to a boss who could not speak a sentence of English, could not leave the campus until after 4pm - and all for 30K/month and no work permit. The school management treat English as if ASEAN will not affect their students. The universities are just as bad: 7 hospitals and not a single nursing school is teaching any classes (such as biology or anatomy) in English!

Colin

Dear Bob, thank you for your interest in the position of native English teacher at our school. Your qualifications and presentation were fine and are just what we want. We would like to have you join our team.

At the interview you indicated that the salary offered (33,000 baht a month) was not enough and you suggested that 40,000 baht was the minimum that you could work for. Unfortunately, the salary we offer is the most we are prepared to pay and, actually, it is in line with other schools like ours. We hope you understand and we wish you luck with your future as a teacher in Thailand.

In an effort to clarify our position, I'd like to explain the reasons behind this...

Firstly, if we pay you 40,000 a month then, of course, the other teachers are going to want that too - teachers who have been with us for a long time.

Next, by paying you 33,000 baht (and NOT 40,000 baht) we are saving the school 84,000 baht a year. That's a considerable chunk of change and can be better spent on a new Jacuzzi for the owner's bathroom.

Also, it's worth pointing out that it's a buyers market. We have had a lot of applicants for this position and they seem happy with the salary that we are offering. They didn't have a TEFL certificate and they were generally a bit scruffy, but they seemed more than happy with the beer money allowance.

As fine a candidate as you are, there are things we look for in an interview and this is where you tripped up. Let me explain...

Our ideal teacher is someone who is quite young and inexperienced. These candidates usually don't complain about the pointless and time consuming duties and tasks that will be added to the burden of your 25 hour teaching week.

In addition, we give precedence to people who look like they will show up on time and don't take any sick days. In your interview you seemed far more concerned about being a good teacher. That's very sweet, but it's not what we're looking for.

Also, in your interview you seemed very keen on some new teaching methods you had picked up and frankly that had us a bit worried. We're a traditional Thai school and anything that amounts to a change in the status quo should be feared and rejected outright. It's not that we don't appreciate your enthusiasm, it's just that, well, we have a way of doing things that haven't failed us now for a century and, hey, if it's not broken, why try to fix it, right?

Next, your ambitions in the classroom are laudable, but in our experience of hiring foreigners, the ones that make the most effort in the classroom tend to be the ones that quit and bugger off home. If you had said at the interview that you were prepared to coast through the syllabus and do what you were told, we'd have been a bit more enthusiastic about your application.

Going through the paperwork involved with each new hire is a pain and if you skip town after a few months because you don't like the way we do things, then, well... you can see our dilemma!

Finally, we don't really like foreigners. Hiring them is a necessary evil and we do it because we have to. That resentment carries through to the way we treat our teachers and our general attitude to them. I'm afraid that with your general level of above average competence and awareness, you'll see through this very quickly and leave.

Good luck in the future and if you change your mind and decide that, actually, you can withstand the pain of our meager salary, then we'd be happy to give you a chance. In addition, we'll act very smugly about it, knowing that we have you over a barrel and can virtually blackmail you into doing just about anything.

Thank you for your interest,

Sincerely,

Every public school in Thailand

Marko

I have recently arrived in Thailand and am busy interviewing for jobs at the moment. I am a fairly experienced teacher and have both a degree and a TEFL certificate. Even though this probably isn't the best time of year to apply for teaching positions in Thailand, I'm certainly not short of offers. I've attended five interviews so far and been offered the job at all of them. Is there a shortage of decent teachers?

I am just curious as to how many teachers attend interviews and ask for more money in terms of salary? I decided within a week of getting to Bangkok that I needed to earn at least 40,000 baht a month but the best offer I've had so far is 35,000 and the school wasn't going to pay a penny more. A couple of the other schools I interviewed at said they would consider a better salary, but never came back with an improved offer. Have any teachers out there been successful in negotiating a better wage during the interview process?

Bob

The British vs. American English argument is so 1990s. The vast majority of the time an adult Thai today speaks English, they aren't talking to an American or UK national. They're speaking to a Korean or Japanese or a Chinese national.

Consider Spanish and English. Both have a similar number of native speakers. But English has an additional 2 billion people that speak it as a second language - in addition to its 400 million or so native speakers. It’s the only language where the number of non-native speakers dwarf the number of native speakers. And it’s why English is far more important than Mandarin even though that Chinese language has a least twice the number of native speakers.

Ready or not, English is the language of global business.

Consider the example of Rakuten – Japan’s largest online retailer. In 2010, CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, mandated that English would be the company’s official language – a change that effected some 7,100 Japanese employees. His goal was to make Rakuten a top internet services company. And that meant that expansion had to come from outside Japan.

Overnight, the Japanese language cafeteria menus were replaced, as were elevator directories and all other “official” company communications. He stated the employees would have to demonstrate competence in an English scoring system within two years – or risk demotion or even dismissal.

So what happened? Today the “English mandate” has allowed Rakuten to create a much more powerful organization. Three out of the six senior executives in the engineering organization in Tokyo aren’t Japanese as the company aggressively seeks the best talent from around the globe.

Kevin

The American community in Bangkok will once again celebrate Independence Day with a traditional July 4th picnic hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AMCHAM) at KIS International School.

The event will feature the customary burgers, hot dogs, and pie, complemented by bites and sips from Roadhouse Barbecue, Beervana, Dairy Queen, Sunrise Tacos, Jack Daniel’s, Anantara, Absolute Fit Food, Coca-Cola, Singha, More Than a Sandbox, and Bangkok Beer and Beverage.

The event will also provide live music entertainment by Bangkok’s best American blues and folk bands, family fun games such as egg toss, gunny sack races, and tug of war, the Big Chilli Cook-off and a pie eating contest. Best of all, attendees will have a chance to participate in the Charity Raffle to win flights to New York, hotel stays, meal vouchers, and more. All proceeds from the Raffle go toward AMCHAM Thailand Charitable Foundation’s programs.

Uber will be offering free rides (up to Baht 250) to and from the event to first-time Uber users.

More information can be found at www.amchamthailand.com/iday2015 and AMCHAM’S Facebook page.

When: July 4, 12 noon to 8 pm

Where: KIS International School. There will be free shuttles running from Huai Khwang MRT, Exit 1.

Cost: Advance purchase from AMCHAM office and events – Baht 200

Tickets at gate: Baht 300

Children under 12 free!

Was this the best and most honest job ad to appear on the ajarn jobs page? I think it could well be. Here goes.

Far too many better jobs to make this one sound exciting! Lampang wilderness calling

First, this perhaps will not be the first job posting that you have read.

Second, this job offers you just 30 000 baht a month for 20 hours of work.

Third, I'm just not that good at writing job vacancies.

The school is looking for a teacher who cares. Perhaps this teacher will be a young graduate, perhaps a middle aged professional bored with the constant humdrum of western life.

This school really is in the back end of nowhere! It offers you the chance to see the real Thailand - warts and all. The location is remote. The students need real skills to improve not only there own lives, but the lives of their families.

The school is run by Thai people since this is Thailand and any problems that the successful applicant has will be chalked up to experience of cultural learning. You will experience many - but learning about another culture is perhaps one of the reasons you want to come/came to Thailand.

Materials will most probably not be provided and the teacher will have to use the "suck and see" method.

You will be on your own. Why come to somewhere which is run by westerners? Why come to somewhere which is used to foreigners? If you want an experience, then choose this job.

The school will hire a native English speaker. I'm not going to tell you if you can or cannot apply - but the school with hire a native speaker.

If you want to experience real life, then apply and adventure won't be far behind. If you are looking for a safer option, don't come to Thailand. Stay home and go out on Friday night with your crew.

You may wish to choose a more professional job advertised but then again you just might want to try this one.

I await your exciting email, telling me how you would love to experience the real Thailand! (Which I will keep on file and show you when the water doesn't work and you have to go to the local river to take a wash)

Academic Director, Lampang

The 'ideal' school:

1) Pays above 3000 dollars per month.
2) Has a good pension plan.
3) Provides at least two hours training per week to all teachers.
4) No more than 12 class hours per week. A teacher should spend at least an hour preparing for each class and an hour checking students work per class.
5) Provides good serviced apartments to all teachers.
6) Provides a pick up service for all teachers to take them to class (as most foreigners cannot drive in Thailand), I see many teachers taking motorcycle taxis. Do the schools not care about the safety of their teachers?
7) Free healthcare.
8) Experienced teachers to oversee classes and give constructive advice, no criticism.
9) A good disciplinary system, visiting the headmaster for a chat, then written warnings, then suspension, then expulsion.
10) Extra training for teachers that are struggling.
11) Bonuses for teachers who are doing well.
12) Listen to all advice and complaints from teachers and make adjustments to the school based on their advice.
13) Provide teacher only facilities, offices and smoking room.
14) Understand that teachers are humans too and will make mistakes. For example, although punctuality is important, in a city such as Bangkok with terrible traffic, it's not always possible to be on-time every class for a whole year.
15) Be realistic, even the best teachers earning 70000 dollars per year in the West are not always perfect.
16) Respect the fact that the teachers are from a different culture and may have different ways of doing things and seeing things. Never say 'This is Thailand'.
17) Pay teachers double for any overtime, or filling in for any other teacher.
18) Stay calm and respectful when dealing with teachers, especially if they are angry. You are the management, good management never involves shouting.
19) Great school resources, including bespoke computer based teaching, books, and lots of additional resources. Tasks that previous teachers used should be available to help new teachers create a good class.
20) Motivating. If the teachers aren't motivated it is the fault of the management and the school.

Actually most of the requirements for an 'ideal' teacher also apply to the management of the school. If the teacher is not motivated, creative, happy, calm, realistic, reliable, patient, resourceful, pragmatic, disciplined, then it is the fault of the school and the way it is run. Most western companies now understand this - one day soon, perhaps Thailand will!

It's crazy to put all these requirements onto teachers. Most people will respond well if you treat them well and give them adequate support. Putting a wish list like this on teachers and then setting them off in classes with no training, support and little pay is never going to work!

Tom

Thailand is as Thailand does. After almost 19 years on and off in this country, it seems clearly entrenched in its ways and proud of it, arrogantly so and to its own detriment.

Teaching in Thailand remains a pedagogical wasteland of primarily unqualified people - not all but far too many - who simply have no business standing in classrooms in any country in the world; a short TEFL course does not a teacher make and neither does standing in a classroom allow one to be entitled to the title "teacher".

That being said, there is a pool of talented dedicated teaching professionals in Thailand, so what future lays on the horizon for teachers of all ilk?

Will Thailand attract pedagogically knowledgeable professional teachers over the next few years? Perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Highly educated, experienced and professional Filipino educators are available and coming in droves to lift Thailand out its quagmire of Anglophone linguistic incompetency, and thank God they are doing so because Thailand needs a pool of talented qualified pedagogically trained teachers standing in its classrooms, not the rabble that currently dominates too much of the field.

So as Filipinos move in to become a significant part, possibly the dominant force, of the teaching community in Thailand, how will Thailand respond over the next few years with regards to fair and reasonable compensation packages for those with serious teaching qualifications coming from their ASEAN community neighborhood?

It seems abundantly clear that Thailand's leaders and the business community are extremely motivated to integrate the country into the ASEAN community, mainly as a result of perceived economic benefits that Thailand will achieve as industrial leaders within the region.

The question thus seems obvious - why are Thai government officials, business leaders, and the citizenry so unwilling to compensate foreign teachers, especially Filipinos, for the professional work they are doing to ensure that Thailand itself can succeed economically with the ASEAN framework?

And will this unfair and unreasonable attitude of indentured servitude change over the next five years? I think not. Thais remained committed to one thing and one thing only, Thailand. Foreigners are to be used for the benefit of the development of Thailand and Thai people, not for the gain and development of the external "others".

Foreign teachers in Thailand need to face reality and understand that expectations of change, in my opinion, are simply unrealistic. For the foreseeable future it seems we will still see salaries sitting at an average of 22,000 baht per month for arriving Filipino teachers and 30,000 baht per month for "falangs" when working for Thai government schools and teacher placement agencies.

But here is the kicker folks, there is a ton of money available in the Thai education fund to compensate foreign teachers fairly but it is being skimmed off the top at every level and at every opportunity; a symptom of Thailand is for Thais.

One significant cold sore contributing to low teacher salaries in Thailand is the rise of the teacher placement agencies (TPAs). Will this change in the next five years, not in my opinion.

In fact, the next five years seems set to see a continued rise in the TPAs as the dominant recruitment force in landscape of Thailand teaching. Forget the reasons. It is what it is. The important issue here is this is one of the fundamental factors as to why teacher salaries will remain low in Thailand for years to come.

The Thais have yet again seen where money can be made at the expense of the foreign "others" and there is little hope that now the pot of gold has been discovered, that Thais will let go of the honey pot. Rest assured this situation will get worse before it gets better.

Note that up until a few years ago when TPAs became a huge factor in the Thailand teaching market, teachers received 12-month contracts with several reasonable benefits. So how is that we have all taken a step back towards the middle ages in salaries, contract stipulations, and the cutting of benefits while being tagged with expenses that were traditional born by Thai employers? Likely this is a direct result of the rise of TPAs and their desire to profit in every possible way.

Thailand continues to face many challenges in its drive towards ASEAN integration and linguistic development over the next few years.

The country's failed efforts to bilingualize its citizenry seems to lay in its xenophobia and fear of colonialism; Anglicization of the nation may just touch too many raw nerves in a nation that perceives itself as above so many others in the region and beyond, a sort of "Pum jai or die" attitude seems to prevail.

With this dominant attitude within the populous, is it ever likely that foreign English teachers will be sincerely welcomed into Thailand and compensated not only in a manner commensurate with our qualifications and expertise, but also in a context relative to the significant contributions we bring to Thailand and its people and the massive economic benefits that the country receives as it bilingualizes its citizenry? I'll leave that up to you to predict, but my hopes are not high.

David

Sunday 5th July 2015 in Lumpini Park (Start and finish near the library)

Start Times: 10.0km Run 6am (400 baht entry), 5.0km Run 6.10am (300 baht entry), 2.5km run / walk: 6.20am (300 baht entry)

We encourage participants to wear school, college or university "Fancy Dress" Students can wear their current school uniform

Safe, traffic free route (all inside the park - 1, 2 or 4 laps)

Prizes for best fancy dress

Trophies for Places 1-5 male and female for 10km distance
All entrants receive a medal, T-shirt and food and drink pack at the finish line

A portion of our proceeds will go to support our "School in a Bag' project which provides educational materials in a school bag to children in Thailand who do not have adequate access to basic materials to support their studies(examples of contents of the bag include stationery, uniforms, bilingual educational teaching and learning resources, basic medications, etc)

Simple to register - just go to: educationthailand.org and fill in the online registration form, then pay the appropriate fee by bank transfer (details on website)