200thb Left & International School Holds Paycheck Hostage

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

 the other native English speaker taught art mostly which meant that the students would draw pictures for 2 hours. That's what an education at this expensive International School offers. You guys have been immensely helpful. Thank you very much for all your help. I will go to the labor department first thing on Monday.

Edited January 5, 2019 by TeacherKenAyutthaya

[Rhys]

Well Ken,

 

I would say a few TVers have been in a similar situation, or have tried to stir clear of it.  To be specific, your options,  yes, do the Thai Thing and Jai yen it. You're at their game, trying to enlighten others and a Thai Govt Agency will only receive the nod of XXX.  Your choice is the emotional appeal, find if you can a Thai teacher or influential parent you know well, to champion your issue.   Make a claim at the labor office, bring a translator.  The school has you by the short and curlies, regarding of them hiring you with a bait and switch they are going to claim you are ultimately responsible and replaceable.

 

Need money to live? Awh,  you're going to have to suck it up and ask for a short-term loan from home...

 

Not much in the way of a promise but this situation has been dealt with before and been resolved.. All the best partner.

 

As far as your teaching, it is the qualification, as you know an ability in creativity does not match the BA or MA... that is what the Thai key on for focus, not your ability to some extent. schools and supervisors vary in acceptance.   As you have seen they will try to shift you into a somewhat related English language link. The NEST Native English Speaking Teachers and the lot are quite replaceable unless you go to the south of Thailand, the standards are more relaxed. 

 

All the best... Chin up, be humble going to the Labor Department and the Thai Officer you will unload on with your story.

Cheers Mate.

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by Rhys

[TonyClifton]

You are an American.  Like it or not, we are exceptional people all around the world.  Hold your head up high and don't go down meek or mild.  Be the squeaky wheel.  Even in this country, you have rights.  Drag the bastards through the mud if you have too.  Make them get dirty.  Don't go down without a fight.

 

You didn't mention if these people you are dealing with are Thai.  Are they?

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

3 hours ago, alien365 said:

If you had to make all these lesson plans, syllabi and exams, what were the other NES doing?

 

Regarding your position I think all you can do is report them to the labour department (as others have mentioned) but I wouldn't expect any recompense.

 not only am I dealing with a tie but the owner of the school used to be a bank manager for over 30 years. He's responsible for approving the loans for some of the biggest malls in this town. But I got the upper hand on this one because he has taken out a multi-million bot loan to save his school which he is struggling to keep open. He is 100% on dependents for loans for his International School. He's a really good business man but he doesn't know how to run a school. He's running it like a business and that's why it's failing so a hit to the school's reputation is really going to hurt hand Between the legs. But this is what he gets for trying to treat Highly Educated westerners as if they were Burmese immigrants. As foreigners, I believe that we really need to stick together and support each other to fight for these issues so that the ties know that they cannot continue to take advantage of us. They need us as much as we need them.

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

25 minutes ago, TonyClifton said:

You are an American.  Like it or not, we are exceptional people all around the world.  Hold your head up high and don't go down meek or mild.  Be the squeaky wheel.  Even in this country, you have rights.  Drag the bastards through the mud if you have too.  Make them get dirty.  Don't go down without a fight.

 

You didn't mention if these people you are dealing with are Thai.  Are they?

Well said! And as a practicing Buddhist I'm really disappointed with this sort of behavior from this school. Thailand seems to be so serious about Buddhism and yet they failed to follow the words of the Buddha. I guess as long as you can fund the construction of a temple before you die it's all good for your afterlife. And that would probably explain why every town in Thailand has over 500 temples.

Edited January 5, 2019 by TeacherKenAyutthaya

[TonyClifton]

2 minutes ago, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

Well said! And as a practicing Buddhist I'm really disappointed with this sort of behavior from this school. Thailand seems to be so serious about Buddhism and yet they failed to follow the words of the Buddha. I guess as long as you can fund the construction of a temple before you die it's all good for your afterlife. And that would probably explain why every town in Thailand has over 500 temples.

You didn't answer my question.  Are you dealing with Thais?

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

6 minutes ago, TonyClifton said:

You didn't answer my question.  Are you dealing with Thais?

Yes. The Director of the school is Thai. It's a Thai family business, his school. He's a rich and powerful business man here in Ayutthaya. I've already gone to the police and the police support him. The Thai Director's strategy is deflecting anything bad at his school blaming and complaining about me.

 

 

Maybe the best strategy is to go to the parents and apologize to them for being unqualified. I can tell them I was forced to teach classes that I didn't know how to teach and to tell them to support me so that the school will only hire qualified teachers in the future. What do you think?

Edited January 5, 2019 by TeacherKenAyutthaya

[alien365]

Just now, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

 But this is what he gets for trying to treat Highly Educated westerners as if they were Burmese immigrants. As foreigners, I believe that we really need to stick together and support each other to fight for these issues so that the ties know that they cannot continue to take advantage of us. They need us as much as we need them.

They do, but the bad apples will never stop doing so from a position if impunity. As your school was private, it is more likely that the labour department will action on what you report than governmental.

 

Your line regarding sticking together would be good if we all had the same standards. Unfortunately, I've seen plenty of NES do runners and not fulfill their duties who let the side down.

 

For information I would never work for a school here teaching more than 4 courses per semester. Preparation, assessment, evaluation and feedback just doesn't allow for any more.

 

Anyway, best of luck with the labour department and your future career.

[alien365]

15 minutes ago, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

Maybe the best strategy is to go to the parents and apologize to them for being unqualified. I can tell them I was forced to teach classes that I didn't know how to teach and to tell them to support me so that the school will only hire qualified teachers in the future. What do you think?

For the sake of a couple of thousand baht, I wouldn't go round admitting I was under qualified. You were qualified for the initial  job offer but ended up  with completely different duties. If you have any job offer in email, text, Line, then you could use this to show what your initial job offer was. Ultimately though it comes down to the contract that you signed. Read the contract and highlight the relevant points. Regarding your performance you have all of your course materials and assessments that you could provide if required.

[direction BANGKOK]

I read part of your story and it just sounds like the type of stuff that happens to everyone when teaching here.

 

Here is all there is and all you need to know:

 

There is what you want. 

 

There is what they want. 

 

You will do what they want if you want to work there. If you do anything else it is going to be a nigntmare. Enjoy teaching all you want, but if you do not listen to that you are doomed. 

[TonyClifton]

1 hour ago, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

Yes. The Director of the school is Thai

What about the people under him?

[Sydebolle]

Stay with the facts. 

Provided you worked based on a written contract with work permit et al and you resigned in writing then you are entitled to the pay up to End December 2018. If not, and you were not reprimanded with warning letters for not fulfilling your duties, then see the Department of Labour and file your case; latter has to be water tight. 

Then you see the principal, tell him that you expect full payment including the 10% they illegally withheld, immediately; otherwise you would not withdraw your filed complaint which would make him look like a <deleted> and his job would be on the line. 

All about face and who is stronger than who. Hope you learnt your lesson and suggest you go back to the US; Thailand is not a countriy for the fainthearted sensibles and Father Christmas is not landing here either. 

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

10 hours ago, TonyClifton said:

What about the people under him?

Director - Thai

Administration - Thai

Head Teacher - Thai and daughter of Director

Teachers - mix of Thai, non-native and 1 NES

 

Why do you ask?

 

I think only two students there have farang parents, Holland and India.

 

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

12 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Stay with the facts. 

Provided you worked based on a written contract with work permit et al and you resigned in writing then you are entitled to the pay up to End December 2018. If not, and you were not reprimanded with warning letters for not fulfilling your duties, then see the Department of Labour and file your case; latter has to be water tight. 

Then you see the principal, tell him that you expect full payment including the 10% they illegally withheld, immediately; otherwise you would not withdraw your filed complaint which would make him look like a <deleted> and his job would be on the line. 

All about face and who is stronger than who. Hope you learnt your lesson and suggest you go back to the US; Thailand is not a countriy for the fainthearted sensibles and Father Christmas is not landing here either. 

I didn't have a work permit, teaching certification or nonb.  the school was processing my documents for that but I resigned before they could be fully processed.

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

6 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

All about face and who is stronger than who. Hope you learnt your lesson and suggest you go back to the US; Thailand is not a countriy for the fainthearted sensibles and Father Christmas is not landing here either.  

Thank you but I am not a quitter. I'm in Thailand to start an environmental consulting business and I see this problem as a painful learning opportunity gaining wisdom about how to deal with Thais. Thailand has a huge pollution crisis and its negative affecting the world. Pollution has no boarders. But thank you for your advice, Man!

[puukao]

I don't want to read all of this....but let me get this right:  This guy seems like he really cares about teaching, is an American, works hard, and only has 200 baht to his name?  

 

OK, so here is the next step.  Go to the smallest city in Thailand that is hiring a foreigner and live cheap for a year.  save 5000 a month, or more, of course.  

 

if you are really broke, you need to be strong minded and play the game BUT get your money.  Get as much as possible, be nice and complain to the labor department.  but get that money.  

 

i know what you mean about grammar, but others might have interpreted your message differently.  You can teach grammar, but not effectively.   Don't worry about that.  How do I explain when to use ;however,  to a group of 50 kids staring out the window.  Stick with the super easy stuff.  

 

here to fight pollution?  OK, now I'm thinking maybe you are lost.  Study Chicago back in 1895?  China five years ago?  India?  What exactly are you going to do about pollution?  LOLOLOLOLOL

 

now go tell those trucks to get off the road, plastic to stop being handed out, and then go to Pattaya and really try to save those people!!!

 

Maybe go back to America and fight pollution first.  Like the pig farms or plastic companies or forest fires......  seems like an excuse in a country where you don't speak the language well enough.  

 

Too bad..... i felt bad for you until i realized you are kidding yourself here.  Tell us how you have helped pollution since you have been here.  

[Andrew108]

Just to chime in here. Teaching is not about inspiring or motivating kids. That’s definitely not the focus. I often hear bad teachers saying that the kids like them and so on, when in reality the teacher is just acting the clown and the kids are happy to let the teacher perform. 

Getting proper teacher training is much more important than you realise. Online marketing cert? Why? What?

Walk away and take a trip back to your home country. 

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

19 minutes ago, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

suggest you go back to the US; Thailand is not a countriy for the fainthearted

Unfortunately, the USA isn't any greener. Over half of Americans live in poverty, but you wouldn't know it by looking at them thanks to the invention of credit cards. And in my city of San Diego, the only jobs that will earn a decent income are those in biotechnology or installing solar panels. My life in Thailand has been pretty good up until working at this school. I see it as a learning experience and I am very grateful for the wisdom you all have given me. I hope to make Thailand my home and I realize that it isn't going to be easy. But anything is better than US culture, politics or cost of living. Thai corruption is cute and fluffy next to American corruption. Corruption is okay in the USA too, we call it lobbying. Lol. Sorry for the rant.

[Andrew108]

So you don’t like your home country and you have chosen Thailand as a place to live and work. And yet.... you don’t have money; you don’t have fluency in the Thai language; you don’t understand the culture (just have a rosey fantasty about Thailand being buddhist); you don’t have a long-term visa; you are not qualified to teach. 

I lived in Thailand for 5 years and met a suprising number of foreigners who kind of talked like you do. They all left Thailand within a year or two. And all of them became bitter about Thailand and Thai people. And importantly ALL of them wanted to be loved. Yep. They were all looking to have their souls mended. To be loved and to make a difference in the world they felt alienated from. 

But it doesn’t work. So you have to mend yourself. You can’t rely on other people. 

Look at the root cause of your situation and get yourself back to the U.S. Love yourself. Get properly qualified. Then you can make a difference. Right now you lack authenticity. 

Edited January 6, 2019 by Andrew108

[puukao]

It's like the vegans who come here to save something, but end up really doing less than nothing and supporting activities and giving their money to things that actually do less good to animals.

 

sitting around and talking about how to save the world!!!  LOL.  then getting broke and ripped off and you realize you can't do anything and didn't think this one through.  then you get even more mad that nobody cares and you want to teach; however, you can't teach yourself.  

 

First you make money.  America.  Don't even begin to try to tell me you can make more in Thailand.  America.  Period.  End of story.  Then save 1 million baht.  If you can't work and make money there, why do you think you can go to a tourist country and save everyone???  LOL

 

Admit massive defeat, go home, and try.  If here, you are afraid.  Scared.  Afraid to fail......and nobody cares.  Only you.  So go home and work.  

 

Are you really lying to friends back home about what you are doing?  Be honest with them, and then maybe you can move on.  

 

You need someone to set you straight.   Sorry.  

 

If you were much, much older.... then I would show much more empathy.  But you have energy to work smart.  Use it.

[otherstuff1957]

Talking to the parents or talking to the police or taking your case to social media all sound like really bad ideas to me, and I have been teaching in Thailand for almost 16 years.

 

Just get your contract and any other paperwork you have that relates to your job, get a trustworthy Thai friend to help translate and go to your local labor office to file a complaint. 

 

If you confront your employer in any of the ways I mentioned above, they will have lost face and will be unlikely to settle the case quietly.  If you just take your case to the labor department, the school will probably just give you your severance pay to make you quietly go away.

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

2 hours ago, puukao said:

I don't want to read all of this....but let me get this right:  This guy seems like he really cares about teaching, is an American, works hard, and only has 200 baht to his name?  

 

OK, so here is the next step.  Go to the smallest city in Thailand that is hiring a foreigner and live cheap for a year.  save 5000 a month, or more, of course.  

 

if you are really broke, you need to be strong minded and play the game BUT get your money.  Get as much as possible, be nice and complain to the labor department.  but get that money.  

 

i know what you mean about grammar, but others might have interpreted your message differently.  You can teach grammar, but not effectively.   Don't worry about that.  How do I explain when to use ;however,  to a group of 50 kids staring out the window.  Stick with the super easy stuff.  

 

here to fight pollution?  OK, now I'm thinking maybe you are lost.  Study Chicago back in 1895?  China five years ago?  India?  What exactly are you going to do about pollution?  LOLOLOLOLOL

 

now go tell those trucks to get off the road, plastic to stop being handed out, and then go to Pattaya and really try to save those people!!!

 

Maybe go back to America and fight pollution first.  Like the pig farms or plastic companies or forest fires......  seems like an excuse in a country where you don't speak the language well enough.  

 

Too bad..... i felt bad for you until i realized you are kidding yourself here.  Tell us how you have helped pollution since you have been here.  

Great question!  change isn't easy but luckily I have professional entry-level campaigning experience from the USA with various non-profits and a bachelor's degree in nonprofit campaigning. In 2015 I led a viral student campaign in Ayutthaya (#noburnayw) that was  successful. We pressured the administration of a royal-funded High School, the biggest in this town, to stop burning trash. That was a seven-month campaign. A year after that in 2016 I worked in cooperation with the director of a technical school about establishing a waste management system. I had help from a local Thai teacher and even though that campaign wasn't successful in setting up a waste management system, what was really exciting is that faculty and students I've been taking trash out of the campus and to the curbside for it to be properly disposed of instead of burning it. Wry inspired locals to care about pollution. I'm focusing purely on trash burning issues because according to a recent study by Greenpeace, 57% of air pollution in Thailand is from burning trash. I also had an internship on trash burning issues in Bangkok during 2013 which I why I know about it.

 

I already have support from the local Thai government in my town about my plan for Waste Management but the problem is I have not been able to follow up with them due to my limited Thai speaking ability. I'm currently searching for a tie business partner about this issue and it's difficult because everyone is busy. Even if I could speak Thai fluently, that would be completely worthless because I'm a foreigner. I have to be behind the scenes on this campaign and initiative. And I'm also taking online University classes in project management to make sure that the planning and the execution of this big project goes as smooth as possible. And planning is something that the government does not do well in Thailand. And that's why there is a job market for me. I already have a western friend with a Thai wife who has his own Consultation business and he's doing quite well for himself in Bangkok. We can create a lot of change in Thailand but we need to share our vision with the local people who agree with it and to organize those local people to form together. And you probably didn't know this but about 1 million more people die a year from breathing the air than those who smoke cigarettes. The scary thing about trash smoke is that it function similar to the AIDS virus in that it disables your immune system. And this doesn't happen immediately it happens over time. At the same time this is happening in your body it is preventing your DNA from functioning properly and that causes cancer tumors. Nobody knows about this because it's really scary stuff and there are no quick solutions to it. But I have a solution and it starts with incentivizing enforcement of a ban on littering and trash burning in addition to setting up Benz around town for proper waste removal. And more important than that, charging people for plastic bags and plastic straws so that they don't use them while encouraging a Marketplace for reusable bags and reusable straws. What I love about Thailand is that Thai people are very creative. If anybody can create beautiful Replacements to single-use Plastics, the Thai people definitely can and I firmly believe that as a teacher who has witnessed amazing creativity in his students. If you live in Pati why you should not go swimming in the ocean. I also had an internship as a researcher with the Thailand Department of marine and Coastal resources. According to water samples, the water off the coast is the dirtiest in Thailand. The other area with the dirtiest water in Thailand is the big lake in songkla.

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

1 hour ago, otherstuff1957 said:

Talking to the parents or talking to the police or taking your case to social media all sound like really bad ideas to me, and I have been teaching in Thailand for almost 16 years.

 

Just get your contract and any other paperwork you have that relates to your job, get a trustworthy Thai friend to help translate and go to your local labor office to file a complaint. 

 

If you confront your employer in any of the ways I mentioned above, they will have lost face and will be unlikely to settle the case quietly.  If you just take your case to the labor department, the school will probably just give you your severance pay to make you quietly go away.

 That's very sound advice and that is what I should have done. Instead, I went to the police to only file a complaint. The problem is at the police wanted to hear both sides of the story so they called over a tourist police to translate English to Thai and then they called my school over to. My school said that due to my unsatisfactory work on the exams and course syllabus they would only pay me 20,000. Instead of my. Salary of 35000. And my money for special classes in November and December.

 

 I told the police that I worked hard everyday in December and I even sacrificed my weekends, my Christmas and everything to do the work for the school as good as I could. I told them that I deserve to my full salary but the police sided with the school. So I had no choice but to announce to the police that I would be taking the school to Labour Court.

 

  the good news is that I got a new job. The bad news  is that I used up the last of my money today for food and I've been hearing rumors that the International School is going to talk to my new employer at my new school to either get me fired or do force me to redo the work again. If they do that then I'm going to go to the Department of corruption and suggest an investigation.

 

Many people have said, "why don't you just redo the work?" My answer to them is that it would take me 36 hours to redo all of the 18 different course syllabus and 6 exams. even if I were to do it again the school has not told me they're standard for how they want the work done. This school is very unorganized. They snap their fingers and tell teachers to do stuff to their satisfaction but they don't give examples, templates or guidelines about how they want the work done. And because I teach 18 different classes, it is too much of an abusive amount of work for me to do again.  but none of that matters because I created all of the documents according to what the administration and I are agreed upon behind closed doors. They said to make a quick one page College style course syllabus that mentions what I've taught so the next teacher will know where to pick up on the lesson for each of my classes. I did that. And the school won't give me my money because the head teacher wants to have a mini lesson plan for each of the 18 core syllabuses which would take a very very long time.  and the frustrating part is that the director from a different school who is the son-in-law of the director of the international school that I talk to her, he suggested that the new teacher should adjust them but the head teacher was very stubborn about making me do it. And I have no idea why she has a vendetta out for me. I've done everything she's told me during the chair and I haven't challenged her or complained.

Edited January 6, 2019 by TeacherKenAyutthaya

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

Just now, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

2 hours ago, puukao said:

It's like the vegans who come here to save something, but end up really doing less than nothing and supporting activities and giving their money to things that actually do less good to animals.

 

sitting around and talking about how to save the world!!!  LOL.  then getting broke and ripped off and you realize you can't do anything and didn't think this one through.  then you get even more mad that nobody cares and you want to teach; however, you can't teach yourself.  

 

First you make money.  America.  Don't even begin to try to tell me you can make more in Thailand.  America.  Period.  End of story.  Then save 1 million baht.  If you can't work and make money there, why do you think you can go to a tourist country and save everyone???  LOL

 

Admit massive defeat, go home, and try.  If here, you are afraid.  Scared.  Afraid to fail......and nobody cares.  Only you.  So go home and work.  

 

Are you really lying to friends back home about what you are doing?  Be honest with them, and then maybe you can move on.  

 

You need someone to set you straight.   Sorry.  

 

If you were much, much older.... then I would show much more empathy.  But you have energy to work smart.  Use it..

1. How to earn 1 million baht in the USA while affording the high cost of living? What's your estimated time frame? What jobs are you thinking about?  I was a lifeguard and swim instructor for 5 years in San Diego before moving to Thailand with my American girlfriend and I was never able to save in the USA despite my minimalist lifestyle. I don't drink, smoke or engage in nightlife. In Thailand, I still have a monk-like lifestyle and I'm able to save about 800 USD a month. If the USA was so profitable for you, perhaps you should move back? Or maybe your too ugly or boring to get an American girlfriend like me, so you had to come to Thailand to buy a wife? Your definitely ugly and negative. How much do you pay for girls to listen to your poisonous words everyday?

 

2. When has lecturing people who aren't your students ever helped you change lives? You should understand people before you solicit advice.

 

3. I've done a lot environmentally for Thailand. It's a drop in the bucket but at least I'm spending my free time trying to make positive environmental change in this country while the only change your making is from seven-eleven Hong Thong purchases and I'm sure that change goes to the sex industry.

 

Just because you have given up on life and Thailand, that doesn't mean you should drag every one down with you. Nothing great comes easy or quick. Hard work and persistence can achieve any realistic goal. I advise that you find something that you are passionate about and fight for it. Human rights? Environment? Animal rights? Farang rights? Don't make your life a waste. You only have one.

[TeacherKenAyutthaya]

3 hours ago, Andrew108 said:

Just to chime in here. Teaching is not about inspiring or motivating kids. That’s definitely not the focus. I often hear bad teachers saying that the kids like them and so on, when in reality the teacher is just acting the clown and the kids are happy to let the teacher perform. 

Getting proper teacher training is much more important than you realise. Online marketing cert? Why? What?

Walk away and take a trip back to your home country. 

 thank you for thank you for mentioning this. The reason why I said the teaching is about inspiring and motivating is because if Learners don't want to learn then they will not learn.  it's impossible to force people to remember things that they don't want to remember. And psychological Studies have supported this. Think about when you were super excited about something like how to skateboard, playing a game or how to travel to a foreign country. When you're interested in something your brain is engaged and information is being stored into your long-term memory. In contrast, traditional teaching methods get students to store information in their short-term memory which becomes forgotten. I'm not a perfect teacher but when students see me around town, years after I taught them, they Wai to me and greet me. Caring about the education of students and caring that they learn the material is what I have found in my experience to be the most important aspect of teaching. If people are not interested to learn then they will not learn. They will only cram for your exams they can get a high score and then they're going to forget most of all of what you said during your classes. When we look at 21st century teaching skills, the Oxford University press has also advocated this type of approach to teaching where students are at the center of their education rather than the teacher. Those games and activities and being a clown teacher, that is what Young Learners need to want to learn. If you were a primary or secondary school student who has being forced to take Chinese because your parents said it will give you a better future, you're not going to care about that class. You're going to do the minimum amount of work just so you can pass the class and get it over with. But the teachers who are fun are the ones who can motivate those unwilling students to want to learn. I think teachers like you would be perfect for students who already have a willingness to learn and are probably at an intermediate or advanced level. My specialty is with students who don't want to learn English and with students who have little to no speaking ability. What do you think?

[Sydebolle]

5 hours ago, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

I didn't have a work permit, teaching certification or nonb.  the school was processing my documents for that but I resigned before they could be fully processed.

Based on what do you want to sue then? 

 

[Sydebolle]

5 hours ago, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

Thank you but I am not a quitter. I'm in Thailand to start an environmental consulting business and I see this problem as a painful learning opportunity gaining wisdom about how to deal with Thais. Thailand has a huge pollution crisis and its negative affecting the world. Pollution has no boarders. But thank you for your advice, Man!

Dont want to be sarcastic but with a remaining start-up capital of THB 200 it might be slightly challenging. Environmental issues are affordable only if the country is rich (which applies to Thais but not to Thailand) and pollution has no borders (boarders means something slightly different, if I - as a non-native English speaker - my add. 

You worked illegally for a long time, did not pay taxes and now got creamed - welcome to the club. Write all this off as experience and start new again; environmental consulting might not be the easiest way though. 

[stubuzz]

2 hours ago, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

In Thailand, I still have a monk-like lifestyle and I'm able to save about 800 USD a month.

So why do you now claim to have 200bt? Your story is so full of holes.

[Andrew108]

2 hours ago, TeacherKenAyutthaya said:

 thank you for thank you for mentioning this. ......................................... What do you think?

I think you said you couldn't teach a grammar course. Why do you think you know about teaching? 

Remember that you are a guest in Thailand. It isn't your country. Do we westerners have a superiority complex where we over estimate our actual worth and potential? Perhaps.

My advice is to get properly qualified. Make a change in your own country. Expect that 'for profit' educational establishments will want their pound of flesh and need you to deliver.

 

[Andrew108]

Hold on.....

#1 So your salary was 35,000 baht per month working for an 'International' school?

#2 You have 18 classes a week and you had to design a different syllabus for each of your classes? Why? This makes no sense.

#3 You were asked for brief lesson plans. Why couldn't you provide them?

#4 What do you mean when you say "And the school won't give me my money because the head teacher wants to have a mini lesson plan for each of the 18 core syllabuses.." What 18 core syllabuses? What is this? 

 

I mean lets say you were teaching grades 1 through 6 (which is a tough ask) and you were teaching 18 lessons a week this means you would need to develop 6 different courses. Each lesson would have some reading and some listening and some speaking etc.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Andrew108