CrunchWrapSupreme

You know, when I was in Spain... ????

Aren't these the QUALITY, big spending tourists they want? On MDMA, of which "Molly" is some variety, if pure and unadulterated it's shown promise in clinical trials to treat PTSD in the US, and may soon become prescription medication. It's a positive, happy, social drug. It's biggest issues are being cut with other, harmful substances, and dehydration from too much dancing. It's hardly most of the stuff found in the LOS that sends people into violent rages. If controlled and regulated, more of it could definitely be used here. About 20 years ago I was shy, lonely, and depressed, and along with friends I made in the electronic music scene, it got me through some difficult times.

BKK is where everyone arrives, everyone tries, and everyone wants to be near the action. You'll have the most difficult time there. If you have high level degrees, certs, references, you could try a private or international school for a higher salary, but also be prepared to deal with insufferable, arrogant attitudes, which I wouldn't do again. People are probably tired of me saying this here, but your best luck is out in the Issan provinces to the Northeast. Korat, Khon Kaen, Sisaket, Ubon. Show up at some schools, ask to see the head of the English or Foreign Language Dept. You'll be surprised how easy it might be. Many teachers are likely to have gone home due to Covid and haven't been back. These schools have had a hard time filling these positions as everyone wants to be in BKK. My boss just said the other day she won't know what to do once I go. Heh. You could go through an agency who'll arrange everything for you, visa and work permit, but for this they do take a cut of your salary. If you go through the school directly, this is yours. You should be able to negotiate a salary of around 40k baht. Sell yourself, talk up your experiences, about how you've connected with students and their interests, and how you want to get them involved in activities that immediately have them making use of the language, this is what they most want to see. Most importantly, ignore all the negativity you're likely to hear from other foreigners. Haha. Good luck.

This mostly applies to Americans, but could for other countries as well. Some of you have probably realized you can't stay and teach in the LOS forever. There's the waiver thing, but even without it, there's the stagnant wages and no retirement plans here. For the rest of your teaching career, your best option would be to go home. Getting your home country license has two advantages: 1. A teaching career when you return home, 2. An online teaching career you could start on the side, with an online public school teaching company as you stay in the LOS. The latter is what I was interested in, at least initially. It's a booming industry in the US now, with much talk of virtual or remote K-12 due to their continued, massive teacher shortage, and most American schools continuing to be battlefields. Look up Elevate K-12, Stride, Fusion, Proximity. So, I got the ball rolling on my state teaching license. I found they'll accept a license from another country. I then had to take the Praxis exam for my subject, ESL, which I registered for and took at Kasem Bundit University in Romklao, BKK. I studied my rear end off and got a high score. The final hurdle is the background check. Most states should be able to mail you the standard FBI fingerprint card. They then give you the option of taking it to any police station to have done. I first took it to the big police station here in my Issan changwat capital. They were pretty helpful, but then got on the phone to the big boss who then said no, all foreign police stuff must go through police HQ in BKK. Bah. So I finally waited until the October holiday now to do it. Wife and I took BTS to Siam station and the police HQ. We went back to the criminal records division where I've had fingerprints done before for Thai schools. They then sent us to another office for the foreign card. Here a cop took one look at it and went "Ah, FBI". Good, we're getting somewhere. He had his pad all inked up. He knew just how to roll em. Then he signed the top and gave it the RTP stamp. Then, a brick wall. My state has an additional form for him to sign. A stupid checklist to go down and initial, "Did you verify their ID? Did they fill out the card correctly?" He absolutely refused. He said all he'll do is the fingerprint card. But my state says they won't take the card without the form. So I guess that's that. Now back to looking for other online jobs that don't need the license, or a license from another state that'll just take the FBI card. Or, wait for a trip back home to do it. But like all the Chinese I teach online who keep asking me "How often do you visit home?", hah, I tell them I haven't done so in 10 years, as I'm certainly not one of those tools at Robin Hood or Buddy's Bar who JUST CAN'T SPEAK LOUDLY ENOUGH about their cushy finance or O&G gigs, and taking their Patana or Harrow kids back home every Christmas. Nah, just another lowly Issan govt school teacher here. Heh. Cheers all.