Teach English Abroad - Teaching English in Thailand

We consistently get asked about what kind of teaching jobs are available in Thailand. The truth is that although there is quite a variety of work, there are only two main categories that make up the bulk of the available teaching jobs in Thailand.

It's not uncommon for a new TEFL graduates to get chatty with a hotel receptionist and end up teaching the backroom admin staff 2-4 hours per week! Teaching opportunities are everywhere in Thailand but most people usually end up in a Government or Private language school.

Government Schools:
In these schools you are directly working for a Thai Government school. With the exception of those that run English programs, you can expect to be teaching very large class sizes (40-60 students). This can prove very daunting for new teachers because most Thai Government schools do not have any Western management and many teachers can often feel under supported. This can vary from school to school.

The teaching hours are often quite ideal. They are your typical 40 hour work week, with the day starting with a flag raising ceremony at 8:00 and your day ending at 4:00. The holidays are quite good as the students are no t in school for approx. 3 months of the year.

The age range of the students varies depending if you are working in a High School (Mathyom) or an Elementary School (Prathom) or a Kindergarten (Anuban).

The average pay for Government Schools (variable depending on location) is approx. 30,000 – 40,000 Baht. You can expect higher pay if you have more experience.

Summary:
Pros: Many holidays,  good pay,  good hours.
Cons: Communication with senior staff can be an issue, rarely support with housing (allowance generally given), general lack of support, too many students in class.

Private Language Schools:
These Language Schools are addressing the continually growing desire of Thai parents to have their children speak fluent English. Language schools hold classes after school classes and at the weekend. They often have a wide variety of clients ranging from kindergarten to adults, basically giving extra lessons to anyone who is interested in learning more English.

These schools have much smaller class sizes than most government schools. where the class sizes are  4 to 12 depending on how many turn up. You will also have your fair number of 1 on 1 lessons. This can result in a real feeling of accomplishment for a teacher as you have the opportunity to see dramatic improvement in your students.

Some private language schools also serve as feeder schools for government schools and the teachers are contracted out. This can result in a split shift, with teachers working both morning and evening classes. The hours can be less than ideal.

The average wage for private language school teachers in Bangkok is 30,000-45,000, depending on hours worked, and less in other parts if Thailand.

Language schools tend to have Western, English speaking management and offer a lot of support. Many times they will provide you with housing and generally provide a ‘staff team’ atmosphere. For first time teachers this can prove to be the best option for your first year.

Summary:
Pros: Lots of support, wide variety of students, housing, smaller class sizes, western management,
Cons: Split shifts, Evening and Weekend work.

This is a basic overview of the most common jobs available in Thailand. Hopefully it can help you decide which kinds of jobs you would prefer to apply for!!

We noticed a few posts appearing online recently by a rogue blogger who claims we are a scam outfit and our TEFL certificates are not accredited!

We were very concerned because we have no outstanding complaints with any customers and we have no record of anyone by the name of Mr Cole attending our course.

We have been running TEFL courses in Thailand since 2003 and have never had any negative posts written about us since! It is our company policy to compensate anyone who is unhappy with our services.

Every now and again it happens! Someone doesn't get picked up from the airport, has a bad time, hates the food, cockroach in the bathroom etc, but they ALWAYS let us know and we can deal with any complaints amicably. We make sure every student walks away happy regardless!

We suspected the post was made by a competitor in a bid to defame and injure our reputation. The post is completely false, misleading and distorted in every detail. Thankfully the Complaints Board agreed with our findings and they removed the post.

Such is the TEFL business in Thailand. How sad!

We have just wrapped up an amazing course on a beautiful island with nine wonderful teachers in training (now Teach Abroad Thailand TEFL certified teachers!!). The weather co-operated, only raining on ‘in the classroom’ days, staying beautifully sunny for the weekends and offering up that precious bit of cloud cover for the sporting activity days on site at the Thai schools.

    The teaching days were a great success. Some of the students were even crying as they said good bye to the our teachers in training. It was moving to see our group in training having such a wonderful impact in such a short period of time.  Lamai school even gave each of our teachers a sea shell mobile as a thank you gift, and one Thai student took the time to hand make a thank you card for each of them. (“When you no here, I miss you!” Direct adorable quote.)

    The teachers made good use of their weekends, they took part in cabaret shows (Spicy!), did motorbike tours of the island, had interesting sing alongs, rode on elephants, visited waterfalls and even made it to a Full Moon Party (I heard something about a flaming skipping rope! ). A few of them even managed to hold a short conversation in Thai after having their Thai lessons!  Most importantly they also spent the time making excellent production activities for the students which were very well received.

    The course was very enjoyable and it was great to have such excited, dedicated, creative and enthusiastic people!! Your future students will be very happy to have you, and that is really what Teach Abroad Thailand is about!

Victoria Biggs - Program Manager

Most people never leave home for any more than a few weeks in their entire life. But when you do leave for 6 months or more, you break through a massive psychological barrier. You hit the BIG reset button!

You truly detach yourself from everything that's been holding you back in your life. You become more confident, self assured. You gain a new perspective on life and suddenly, you really believe anything is possible!

Those who never travel will, sadly, never understand this.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Why not take this first step towards a bright new future? Discover the land of amazing grace and beauty and experience a whole new way of life.
 
Take this opportunity NOW before you end up stuck in a boring 9-5 rat race...... ...because once that happens, your dream will be lost forever!
www.teachabroadthailand.com/dates--fees.html

To your adventure!

If you ask this question to 10 different people you will get ten different answers.

The official line is that you cannot get a work permit if you don't have a BA degree however there are plenty of schools and agencies who seem to have no problem getting their teachers legal, whether they have a BA degree or not!

The truth is that it depends on your schools relationship with the MoE. Some schools have no problem getting work permits for their teachers and for others it's a nightmare.

If you’re looking for some hard, fast rule to this whole process then forget it. This is Thailand. If you're the type who wants everything to be 100% above board, then you're better going to another country.

Contrary to popular belief, the MoE do NOT check the validity of degrees as they simply don’t have the manpower. The responsibility of checking all certificates falls on the shoulders of the employer. You do however need to show original copies to the MoE.

If you come with a BA degree, it will certainly make things much easier.

If you plan to teach in a private language school, Sometimes it's better to go for a part time job instead of a full time one.

(Government schools tend to offer full time positions only)

In many cases you can still earn as much money for less work. Going part time makes it much easier for employers who feel they are taking a lesser risk in giving you a chance.

OK you may not get a contract at the beginning,but it does mean you can easily walk away if
things don't work out as planned.

If you do well, you'll get more hours but you'll be in a much better position to turn down work if you don't fancy the extra hours. Full time staff are generally obliged to take on all the hours thrown at them!

Over the past 7 years or so we've put a lot of energy into sourcing and booking decent accommodation for our students.

It not quite as easy as you would imagine because the price v quality ratio in Thailand never quite matches up. Good places become bad and bad places become good, some bad joints are overpriced and some good ones are under priced.

I remember we would travel to Samui and Phuket and try to strike good deals with hotel owners. Then in high season, they would bump up the prices without notice!....even though we served them well throughout low season :-/

One thing we noticed recently is all these new accommodation booking websites springing up (such as www.agoda.com) who can somehow now offer better rates than we can! By the way we never made a penny from the accommodation bookings as we always gave the discounts back to our students.

So if you're looking to save a few pounds/dollars you may want to consider joining our Accredited TEFL package and then booking your accommodation direct. You may find a better deal on www.agoda.com and it gives you much more flexibility.

We are not affiliated with Agoda in anyway and we do not receive any kickback or favours. The site contains good honest customer reviews so you can get a good feel for what to expect.

In most cases, their deals include breakfast, which is something we've never been able to negotiate!