kenkannif

Yeah thanks PB...basically that's my point.

Wilko,

Ajarn that used to post here was an ex-CELTA examiner with many years experience.....he said that some of the home grown courses here were better for teaching Thais than the CELTA....I know the CELTA is more famous....but you're saying it's 'better'.....how???

Which ones did you do then to be able to say that???

^ With the current demand for teachers a woman IMO will earn an okay amount (more than 30K in Bangers pretty easily).

And not sure if it works like that mate though in regards to the 120/60/30....some are pretty much worthless!

^ Can you link to the official 'line' please? As I don't think that's really correct, although it seems to be what a lot of people assume

Thanks in advance!

LoL and Int. House is the CELTA!

Yeah generally you do learn it in a month-6 weeks!

LoL!

A CELTA is a TEFL but not all TEFL's are CELTA's But they are all TESOL's although IMO a CELTA is more geared towards ESL students (and thus is more of a TESL which by the by is also a TESOL) and generally in Thailand they're EFL students.

Yeah thanks Bluff the two names was well confusing me! Appreciated!

Have a look on here mate there's a fair bit of info about TEFL courses in Bangers and elsewhere.

Make sure it offers at least 100 hours class time and at least 6 hours observed teaching practice to hit the supposed international standard!

Gotta agree with them two ^

Again without hours, class sizes, holiday pay, expected duties, sick pay etc. it's realy hard to say!

We're so so and pay around that...so while I'd not say it's good, it's not really that bad. There's worse, and obviously there is better. I think good pay is when you start hitting 500 Baht plus an hour (at least)...but then that can depend on the hours given etc.

Basically boils down to....are you happy and is it enough for you???

Well no it's not given once mate, I had to renew mine a year or so ago...which kind of gives the impression it can and does run out.

I'd say you'd have been far better off saying it can last forever (although IME it's not really true....how long have you had yours?), but it's easy and common practice to get a new one (LoL...which to an extent is what you've said anyway ).

If officially it wasn't supposed to be lost etc....I don't think it would be so easy to replace. Did you get this from the MoE in Bangkok or just in your area?

By all means link me to this 'official' law though mate??? Please?

I think it's okay as it's not a competing site...apologies Mods if it is!

http://www.teflwatch.com

Sorry URL has changed a fair bit!

Good luck mate!

LoL...no mate you need to read the posts together to get it in context.

I think I get confused with this lot and bfits??? Or am I going mad??? I know one of the Mods on the other teaching site works for one of them.

TEFL Watch might be worth checking out though??? PM me if you want linking (although I think can post that one here?).

Most do hold them and to be honest it's not a biggie as if you change jobs your new employer will need to get their half anyway....which means you'll have to put in the same paperwork anyway....so don't sweat it.

I've not seen mine in 6 years

Phew pleased that worked out okay

Come over with your eyes open and no 'definite' plans...try it....you might like it....you might not....it's certainly not for everyone!!!

Go on then mate say something positive

LoL....talk about flogging (in more ways than one) a dead horse

Okay I would say if the OP has ANY concerns about working illegally here DO NOT COME as you WILL at some point.

That's about the best you can say isn't it???

OK, Kenkannif, it may not happen bit it COULD happen. Would you risk it?

That has always been the case....it could have happened a year ago, it could have happened 5 years ago...it could happen tomorrow. I'm just saying it's not really happening now.

Well yes I suppose I would risk it to be honest......as a teacher here you often don't really have a choice....so there's really no other option.

I'm sure all of those 'boiler room' boys a few years back thought they were untouchable before the Police came down on them! (in fact, by the way they used to think they owned the place I'm sure they did!)

Kind of different to be fair mate.

If you are willing to risk someone's liberty with your advice, thats up to you, but I would think about the consequences of your advice in the future especially if the Police decide that illegal teachers are going to be the next target of their next clampdown.

I'm not advising anything mate...I'm just saying that's the way it is. Yes, things could change tomorrow....they could pretty much arrest/deport most teachers that work for agencies or private language schools as most of the time their WPs don't cover them to teach off location.

Also I'd have thought it was more of an Immigration thing than the police per se???

For sure though if the police do decide to do this it will be heard about pretty sharpish.

With an election coming up thats not beyond the realms of probability don't you think?

If you're asking me if I think it will happen....no I don't think it will....but anything is possible. They might just decide they don't want any foreigners here and turf us all out...who knows!

A two week course isn't a 'proper' course mate. It needs to be over a 100 hours class time and at least 6 hours OTP I'm afraid to be of an 'international standard'.

You'll easily get work without a degree, but it will be harder for them to get you a work permit. It's not impossible to get one without though and it does seem to be happening more frequently.

^ I've heard of one that I'm 100% sure of in 6 years here.

IME it hasn't really changed at all and quite often it's the school that actually 'pays' (in more ways than one) the price for not getting them a WP.

Saying that even those with WPs often work outside of what they're allowed to.

If Immigration wanted to weed these out, it would be everso easy to do so....they don't really as we're not taking away from the Thais and it's a service that is wanted and needed (there is a pretty big shortage of teachers currently).

^ To be honest I'd disagree. While it's good to be legal I'd personally make sure it's a school I'm going to be happy with first (as they often will do to us) before getting a WP (Non-imm B is kind of a moot point really other than you need it for a WP (or a Non-imm O) still illegal to work on it) as if you then decide to disappear they CAN and possibly WILL make your life difficult.

I know the rules here where we have to say you must have a WP etc. but I'd say in 90% of schools here this will not happen right away (if at all). ...and even when you do have a WP it often doesn't cover you for the location/job duties etc.

Also the MoE's crazy requirements for private language schools (which I'd guess this is) makes it IMPOSSIBLE for them to issue WPs to ALL OF THEIR TEACHERS...this applies to ALL schools from your crap acronym ones....to the BEST language schools there are.

This is the reality of teaching here....get used to it.

I'd say the pay is pretty good for teaching at the high school level. I started out at 17,000 B/month at the college level about three years ago.

Where was that as that's a pretty poor wage???

On the Non-B visa: It's much easier to get in your home country at the Thai embassy. Get the necessary letter from your prospective employer as documentation and present it with other required documents to the Thai embassy in your home country. The fee is usually cheaper there than here, too.

Erm other than for some nationalities this isn't entirely true to be honest, although I'd agree most places in the West are easier than a lot of places in Asia (but for example Singapore is easier than NZ etc.) but it really (other than for not wanted nationalities) makes no difference. It would be just as easy for me as a Brit to apply in America or Australia as it would in the UK. Also generally Embassies aren't the best place to apply at.

The fee should be almost the same worldwide....although with currenct fluctuations this isn't always the case....so it again depends on where you're from as to whether it will be cheaper or not (for multiple it's 90 Pounds in the UK, $125 USD in the States and $225 AUSD in Oz).

Also as most people are given the job IN Thailand it seems a bit OTT to fly all the way home when you can go to Singapore or Hong Kong with minimal paperwork, or even Penang or Vientienne (but with a lot, lot more paperwork). Although in this case as it seems he's in the West (would help to know your nationality OP???) probably not a bad idea. Although as his friend says it's possible to convert a proper tourist Visa into a Non-imm B (and I've been pretty reliably informed that it's also doable with a 30 day VOA....although I'd need to confirm this 100%!).

On the Work Permit: It's up to the whim of the local labor dept. Some of them won't issue a permit until you are legally employed and have that actual contract from the employer to present to them. You may have to arrive here and play it by ear to find out what the local office will require of you.

You HAVE to have a contract to get a work permit and you can't be legally employed until you have a work permit so what you're saying doesn't really make any sense mate......generally the delay is caused by the MoE issuing the TL or in the case of Gov. schools giving the thumbs up for you to teach...that leads to the WP....which leads to the Visa extension (generally) which again in turn extends the WP

28,000 is so so.....but it's hard to say what you're 'worth' without knowing your quals or experience etc.???

Also how many hours a day will you be teaching? Days a week? Class sizes? Weeks off a year? Will you have to hang around school even when you're not teaching? Holiday pay??? Who pays for your WP and Visa run etc.? Contract details??? Will you be forced to do summer camps? Work weekends? Do meet and greet the parents? Sports days? Come in even over your holidays to prepare for next term? So much to consider really.

I mean if you're doing 100 hours a week it's pretty terrible, if it's only 10 hours a week it's good.....just quoting a figure isn't really helpful without knowing what you need to put in to actually earn it.

Toursit Visa Help!

james_goku Posted on: Today, 2006-05-25 10:07:21

i just got my toursit visa back and at the end of the visa it says employment porhibited. my friend that is geting me the job teaching back in thailand says that they can chnage it.

Regardless of salary, I would strongly encourage you to make sure you have your Non-B visa AND work permit PRIOR to commencing the job...

Well if we all did that the only teachers here would be those at the top international schools and a few other schools. This rarely if ever happens in the real world of teaching here I'm afraid.