Beating the teacher trap
Is teaching English really all there is?
Is it possible to escape the teacher trap? If you think that teaching is the only thing in Thailand that foreigners can do (apart from own a beer bar in Pattaya of course) - well here are ten stories to prove you wrong.
What about smalltown Isaan?
Postbox letter from James
I don't understand all this fuss about older teachers not being able to find work here. What about Isaan?
The joy and pain of teaching in Thailand
A teacher looks back over her ten years in Thailand
I'm celebrating my 10th year in Thailand as an ESL Teacher. Working in a foreign land hasn't been easy. It took me years and a lot of patience and hard work to get settled, not to mention the ocean of tears and heartbreaking homesickness.
Teacher agencies
Do they deserve such a bad press?
I first wrote about the topic of teacher placement agencies (TPAs) back in 2006. Back then, there were relatively few TPAs recruiting foreign teachers in Thailand compared with the number who operate today - but even in those early days, there were certainly a good few complaints about them.
Who does my job ad appeal to?
What can you do when filling your teacher vacancies becomes impossible?
If you've been around teacher recruitment in Thailand for as long as I have, then you'll know that by insisting on too many requirements, a school is narrowing its field down to almost non-existent
Discrimination pure and simple
Postbox letter from Jeff
When I see racist ads like the one that accidentally made its way onto the site, it only serves to open up some old wounds and scars.
I've given up looking too
Postbox letter from Sir Heath
I made the mistake of bringing some first year students' problems to the attention of the head of the section last year. By September, after four and half year at this university, despite 'an excellent record of work' the university decided to let me go.
Arai Na?
English in Thai vocational schools
I came here 1.5 years ago and it was all planned as a 10-month experience. I had a high paid marketing job back home in Europe and everybody told me that it was crazy to leave my career and become a ‘teacher' here in Thailand.
How to land that job
Tips for getting a teaching job in Thailand.
Thinking of interviewing for teaching jobs? What's the best way to go about it? What are the questions to ask at an interview and what kind of answers should you be looking for?
What a long, strange trip it's been
The downsides and the 'rewards' of living life as an independent expatriate
Becoming an "independent" expatriate requires far more self-reliance and ability to adapt than does staying in your home surrounded by family and friends or being a traditional expatriate and being supported by an organizational structure that usually spans both the home country and new location.
