Why teach in Thailand?
Postbox letter from James
Let’s be honest and say that professionally qualified or not, we are/were here because it’s a great place to live and let’s not pretend that altruism in helping children, or to improve the Thai education system is why we came here.
The chalkies need a real change
Postbox letter from Mr Grumpy
Nothing can prepare the foreign teacher for the employee-to-management-to-admin staff life. Dealing with these matters can drive the most experienced teachers up the wall and can turn a normally friendly teacher into a paranoid wreck!
Far away
Postbox letter from James
OK Thai school directors, bridging teachers, managers and let's include the various shady hiring companies, you won and I now find myself in China.
Thailand, you have lost more than just another good teacher
Postbox letter from Mr Grumpy
People and cultures are judged on the way they treat outsiders and animals. Unfortunately, animals are often treated a bit better than foreign teachers. I am quite surprised to notice that after a long time, it is now starting to backfire.
Thailand, you have lost another good teacher
Postbox letter from Mr. Russell Park
It strikes me that Thais wont be happy until the last "farang" as they call us leave this country. Thailand you have just lost a very good teacher and maybe another one very soon.
What keeps us in Thailand?
Postbox letter from Keith Evans
I've been teaching in Thailand for seven years. Like most of my fellow foreign teachers here I've been through the visa and work permit mangle and all the other bureaucratic crap that the Thai Government can throw at a human being, but here I remain.
He sleeps in a storm
Disorganization, discipline, and decisiveness in the overseas TEFL industry
I really dislike job interviews. Not because of anything I do. I show up on time; I wear the right clothes; I'm polite; I listen and I ask the right questions. But when it comes to the interview and meeting other people in this industry, whether fellow teachers, administrators, principals, or directors, the ‘niceties' stop at my cover-letter.
Is it the teachers fault?
Postbox letter from James
We face an impossible task. You can’t force someone to learn and I flatly refuse to accept that it is all the teacher’s fault. The schools and managers would certainly have you believe that and it is in their own interests to do so.
The dreaded letter grade
The anguish of having to evaluate progress with a single letter
I teach Pre-School, Kindergarten and Prathom 1, 2 and 3 and while I find it easier to dole out letter grades to my Prathom students, giving A,B,C's to my Pre-School and K's is much more difficult.
The infamous teacher fire drill
Postbox letter from Happy Jack
Foreign teachers need to be careful about choosing to work at a private school anywhere in Asia, because private schools are businesses first and educational institutions second. Many are unscrupulous and some are actually criminal.
