Stephen
Q1. Where did you move to and when?
I still live in Thailand but I don't teach anymore
Q2. How long did you work in Thailand?
Four years
Q3. What was your main reason for moving?
I stopped teaching because of the agents. When I first started in 2007 you could still get good jobs for between 35,000 and 50,000 baht. The agents destroyed that. They take 50% of your salary. The only people who will work for this money are young travellers with no real teaching experience who dont mind slumming it. It's not fair on the kids, the real teachers who want to live in Thailand or the Thai teachers. I worked too hard, got paid too little and the other farang teachers were embarrassing: mainly drug addicts, sexual deviants or at least scamming at being a teacher and lying about their credentials.
Q4. What are the advantages of working where you are now compared to Thailand?
I own a cafe and a salon in Pattaya. It is like moving away from Thailand, Thailand is a different country when you are not teaching, completely different. You have more money, more time, more happiness and more self esteem.
Q5. What do you miss about life in Thailand?
I miss the kids from the schools, I loved every class I taught and I loved to see the kids grow and learn. It was heartbreaking leaving them.
Q6. Would you advise a new teacher to seek work in Thailand or where you are now?
TEFL teaching is a scam. It is run by agencies who are ripping off the Thai schools, So no do not teach in Thailand unless you can get employed directly by the schools or in an international school. The Thai government should ban many of the agencies. Agencies are destroying opportunities for good teachers and making it easy for lowlifes who wouldn't normally aproach a Thai school to get jobs, ripping of the thai kids with crap teachers and stealing money from the Thai education system.
Q7. Any plans to return to Thailand one day?
I love Thailand and I want to stay here for as long as possible.
Q8. Anything else you'd like to add?
Just watch out for those agencies.
