I notice a lot of schools have gone from paying monthly salaries to only offering hourly wages with no benefits other than a canteen lunch. Over the past year, I’ve seen at least two schools go from paying 35k-45k per month to only offering 500-600 baht per hour - and that’s what they were paying teachers well over 15 years ago! The salaries and conditions keep getting worse with every year. I know African teachers from Kenya and Sudan teaching English legally in Cambodia who make more money than this - without a degree or any formal qualifications such as a TEFL certificate. And they can have nice, large apartments with beautiful views for $125 a month.

Lisa

It seems the only thing required in most schools right now is to be a young “fresh face”. Experience is not appreciated (or paid for) in most cases. With the ASEAN economic community just around the corner, this is an interesting development. It is just what the country needs to help it develop for ASEAN - a fresh crop of inexperienced teachers. Fantastic. Thailand is about to be knocked out of the Asean ball park. With countries like Vietnam - which seems to be far more serious about education and English language acquistion, and the 300 Baht a day fee (which means a lot of manufacturers want to move to neighbouring countries) it is interesting to see Thaland still does not take this reality very seriously.

Marvin

Just got a reply from one of the regular school posters saying that due to MOE (Ministry of Education) rules, that they can not employ anyone over the age of 60. This is news to me; is it news to others or have I just not researched the MOE rules? I feel like I've been spinning my wheels here for weeks sending CVs and emails and not getting any results. Could it be my age and no one has had the time to tell me this except one school? What does anyone know about MOE rules? Is there an English website to verify this rule?

Phil / ajarn.com says - Richard, your letter is a bit confusing to be honest, even though I get the gist.'Regular school posters' where? Who are 'they' in the first sentence? - a school that employs you, a school that wants to employ you - or the Ministry of Education? The lack of response to you e-mailing out your resume could simply be down to the schools looking for younger teachers couldn't it? It's not necessarily anything to do with MOE rules.

Richard

Although it still states on the Thai Immigration website that the issue of re-entry permits is at the discretion of the immigration officer, a "new" service is now being offered prior to passport control. I had to make use of this service when my local immigration office was closed on 10th of April for a special holiday. In a panic I phoned the 1111 number to ask if it was possible, given the special circumstances, to get the permit at the airport. I was told it was, and to arrive very early, have my TM 8 filled out, a 2 inch photo and copies of my passport and work permit.

I arrived with all the required documents and checked in for my flight about four hours before its departure. then I went to look for the place to do the permit. As it was it couldn't have been easier. There is a special desk at passport control 2 - and I didnt need any documents either. The man waved away my completed TM8 and filled it in for me on computer, then took my photo - all I had to do was sign. He then took it to the immigration officer and got my permit stamp, all in about 10 minutes.

This service is offered for a fee of 200 Baht plus the 1000 for the permit, and is available at passport control 2 from 06.00 - 24.00, and you have to have already checked in for your flight. You can then either go through passport control or head back outside!

Del

With regards to last months article in the Bangkok Post about government schools receiving a 10,000 baht subsidy for employing a native English speaker. I read one letter in the Ajarn postbox which stated that government schools were already receiving 50,000 baht per month for employing a native English speaker. I was wondering if anyone can confirm this statement as true? It seems that ALL native English speakers have heard about this new 10,000 baht per month, but no-one seems to know anything about this 50,000 baht already allocated to government schools. Might be interesting to confirm this and see what reaction this is going to cause amongst the native English speakers employed in government schools.

Dennis

Regarding 'so many hurdles' (ajarn postbox 28th March) Where is the surprise? The addition of the proof of English speaking ability (TOEIC/TOFEL/IELTS scores) by non native speakers was added to the list of basic requirements last October (and posted about on various teacher forums). The requirement of 20 hours per year of ongoing professional development (certificates of self improvement) is also nothing new for those who continue to be employed as teachers. Five years in and pretty soon you can expect them to start looking at/for your TCT teacher's tests / license as well. The criminal background check has always been on the list - even though it is hardly every asked for. Ignorance is not an excuse. Time for everyone to get up to speed.

Ttompatz

I am a non-native English speaker from Europe but I've been teaching here in Thailand for five years now and never had a problem with documents and being employed as a legal teacher. But now my school have told me that according to The Ministry of Education website (which I cannot check because the info in question is only available in Thai apparently) - I need to satisfy all of the following requirements.

Firstly I need to show the school a TOEIC score of 600 or a TOEFL score of 550 or an IELTS score of 5.5. I also need to show them a 'self-improvement certificate' from the last academic year (something I have never heard of) and finally, my school have told me that I need to obtain a criminal clearance report from my country of origin. They won't accept a CCR that's been obtained from a police station in Bangkok.

Suddenly, life here has just got ridiculous. I have a degree in architecture. I've done the Thai culture course and obtained the certificate. I have a non-B visa. And I'm registered with the Teachers Council of Thailand and have had a valid work permit for the past five years. Why is teaching here now so problematic?

Ajarn says: Yes, it's a lot of hoops to jump through but have you thought that there is just a slight chance that the school doesn't want to employ you anymore. And rather than tell you to your face, they are just putting these obstacles in the way in an effort to force you to quit. It may not be because they are unhappy with your performance. Perhaps they simply can't afford to employ you anymore or they are looking for a cheaper option and this is their way of saving face. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened.

Fozzie

I finally decided that I wanted to get my Thai teacher's license after teaching here for quite a few years. To this end I enrolled in the next "culture course " in Bangkok, paid 5,000 baht and steeled my resolve to get it over with. But not to be. I received an e-mail from the course provider informing me that the course had been postponed indefinitely due to a meeting of the Teachers's Council which was looking at changes to the whole program. I will be informed if and when there is to be a course and what the new requirements will be (No mention of a refund of my 5,000 baht however). Ah well, at least The Ministry of Education gave me another two-year waiver on the basis of my having good intentions as to progressing down the ever lengthening path to registration.

Robert

I retired from my job in the States last year and decided to spend my retirement here in Thailand, teaching Thai people to speak better English among other things. I knew beforehand it would be an uphill battle. I have spent 4 years of my life here, plus another 11 working at a Thai church near my home in the San Diego area, so I was well aware of the difficulties Thai people have with our language. In fact, most of the few Thai people I know who speak it fluently have a very heavy Thai accent.

This is in large measure because the two languages, Thai and English, come from two entirely different language families. A glance at the Wikipedia map of language families tells the story. English is a member of the Indo-European language family. Thai is a member of the Tai-Kadai family. I further like to point out to those interested that there are 100 million speakers of Tai-Kadai family, with probably 70 million of those speaking Thai. That may seem like a lot, but considering that there are now 7 billion people in the world, it means that only 1% of the world’s population speaks Thai. I therefore try to impress on my students (or whoever wants to listen) that they are fine as long as they stay here. But if they ever entertain any thoughts of traveling abroad, they need to expand their horizons and become at least semi-proficient in English.

Because the two languages are from different families, the sounds they make are different, the vocabulary is very different, the grammar is different and the way we say things are different. In my life I have studied three other Indo-European languages and Thai, and by far the hardest for me to learn is Thai. But I am convinced that English must be even harder for Thai people to learn than Thai is for me.

I have come to the conclusion that there are only four possible ways for Thai people to become proficient at English (if you can think of any others, please enlighten):
1. They have the privilege of studying abroad in an English-speaking nation.
2. They have close, regular contact with English-speaking foreigners for an extended period of time.
3. They have a very high aptitude for learning languages.
4. Through sheer determination and willpower, they decide they are going to learn English, no matter what blood, sweat and tears it requires of them.

Since those in category 3 are a rare breed indeed, and in Thailand those in category 4 may be even rarer, we are left with 1 and 2. Category 1 is largely reserved with those that have sufficient financial resources. That leaves only category 2 as the only one we can really remedy in the short term.

With this in mind, I want to address the recent article in the Bangkok Post concerning a 10,000 Baht per month subsidy that the Thai government will pay out per head for foreign NES teachers at the Thai schools. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/284237/schools-get-foreigner-subsidy While this is definitely a positive development, there are three scenarios as I see it that it can play out:

1. It will result in an increase in teacher salaries, designed to retain quality teachers here, vice having them go elsewhere abroad. While Thailand is a wonderful place to visit/live, the cold, hard fact is that nobody is going to get rich over here teaching English. My oldest son has been teaching English in Japan for five years now and he probably pulls in three times the salary I get here. In checking TEFL salaries in other countries I have found that Korea and Taiwan are not far behind Japan. Thailand is way behind, maybe in the caboose of the TEFL train or at least close to it here in the Far East. Nevertheless, an increase in teacher salaries is the least likely way I see the subsidy being used.

There are also things in this country that make it less attractive to TEFL teachers. Most notably is the tremendous amount of red tape that you have to go through to stay in the country. Between the visas, work permits, teaching licenses, Thai cultural lessons, etc. it’s enough to put the best of us off. If Thailand really wants to retain good, quality teachers, relaxing those restrictions would go a long way. I understand the reasoning for checking teachers’ credentials to make sure they are qualified, but once this is done, why is it still so difficult, costly and time-consuming?

Finally, increasing the salaries of foreign teachers is sure to correspondingly increase resentment between the Thai and foreign staff of schools. While I don’t see this at the university I work at, from what I understand it can be a real problem at other schools, particularly when the foreign teachers don’t take the time to learn Thai and thus there is the communication barrier as well.

2. A second method that the subsidy could be paid out is an increase in the number of foreign staff per school. This is really the one that makes the most sense, and the one by which the kids at the schools will win the most. More foreign teachers means more teacher –student contact and thus smaller class size. It also means less of a workload for teachers. Also, the more foreign warm bodies that occupy a school during learning hours means that much more money from the subsidy they collect.

3. The final way the subsidy money may be spent is the school merely pockets the money and uses it for other purposes, such as on administrative salaries. Nothing really gets passed on to the kids or foreign teachers. Regrettably, knowing Thailand as I do, this seems to be the most likely scenario.

How the actual money is spent is probably will not be all in one of the ways, but a combination of all three. I would think that out of each 10,000 Baht subsidy paid out, it might average out this way:

2000 – Increased Teacher Salaries
3000 – Increase in Foreign Staff
5000 – Other School Expenses/Payouts

Much as I would like to see it split evenly, 5000-5000 for the first two, it probably won’t. That’s how I see it coming down. Again, if you see it differently or can think of other ways the subsidy will be spent, I would be interested in hearing.

Cliff

For years, I have literally trusted this site when it comes to"teaching jobs". When I arrived in Thailand in 2005, this was the very first thing my friends recommended to me in order to find a teaching job. It wasn't easy at all because the competition between Filipinos and Caucasians is tough. I still believe it up to now. Fortunately, I was hired by a private school after a month of searching but not through Ajarn though. It was nice and cool during my early years. Most of us stayed. Some (farangs) have quit and moved to other schools or gone home. I have learned to speak a bit of basic Thai language, learned to deal with their customs and traditions, etc.

I recently decided to find a school in Bangkok for a change of scenery but most available teaching jobs start at a salary of fifteen thousand. I cannot accept that. I am a certified teacher with valid qualifications in teaching English but I am teaching science at Mattayom level. I am now receiving a healthy salary. But if in case I would be hired by another school, I would appreciate a twenty thousand baht starting salary.

So what is this all about trusting Ajarn?

I received a message from a Mrs. Mary Lee, who emailed me four days ago. She was hiring me as a nanny in the UK with the promise of a brilliant salary. We exchanged emails but I asked her questions like "how did she knew my email and where did she find me? Her reply was that she found me in Ajarn. After five days of emailing each other confirming me that she wanted to hire me, I provided her my name and mobile number. It was a horror to receive the promised contract who then changed her name to "Janet". I did not reply or did not even bother to confront her. I simply called her a bastard.

My question to Ajarn is this - how can outsiders like this scam artist email me if its true she found me here? Are emails of your featured teachers safe? Or was she only using this name knowing there are lots of Asian looking for a teaching job? It is so frustrating that some people can have time to fool others like spreading emails to every single individual just to make money perhaps, or may I call it a new style of scamming. She mentioned I should pay 30% of my expenses. If you feel that my message to you would not alert people of this kind of scamming then ignore this. But I suggest that you take precautions in keeping us all safe as job seekers and be at least guarded on being scammed using Ajarn as their information board of knowing people.

Thank you for your time and may this also help Ajarn.

Philip / ajarn.com replies
Dear Anna, I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience using the ajarn.com resume database. I know exactly when you were contacted by the mysterious Mary Lee. In fact, you were not alone. Mary Lee contacted exactly 100 people who were displaying their resumes on ajarn.com and the scammer was able to look at resumes and teacher contact details by using a stolen credit card. Unfortunately the mysterious Mary Lee logged into the ajarn.com system at about 11.30pm on the night in question and looked at resumes throughout the night. There is absolutely nothing we can do in this situation because not to put a finer point on things - the ajarn.com webmasters are in bed. When I logged on to the ajarn.com system at about 6.00am the following morning, the damage had already done and I could see that the scammer had been looking at resumes and seemed to be targeting both Filipino and African teachers.

Unfortunately stolen credit cards, which are then used to buy online services, represent the dark side of the internet. We have on average about six instances a year when someone tries to use a stolen credit card on ajarn.com and it is always for the purposes you describe in your letter - the offer of a lucrative but bogus job abroad. Nannying in the UK is a prime example of a job title that the scammers use. Usually, the scammers try these tricks during Thailand business hours (Malaysia seems to be a hotbed of stolen credit card fraud for some strange reason) and because either myself or my ajarn.com partner is tracking things on the site, we can close the person's account and inform the bank immediately. But not at 11.30pm we can't. I'm sorry.

In ajarn.com's defence, we do already have at least one article on the website describing this particular teacher scam in detail. In fact, google anything associated with 'nannying in the UK scam' and good information is never far away. And it's often Filipinos that are targeted. Actually, I'm quite surprised that you even contemplated such a job offer, moreover, that you entered into a period of communication with what was clearly a scammer. Remember the old adage - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Thank you for bringing the matter to our attention.

Anna