Thais Crack Down On Fake Foreign Teachers

[sriracha john]

Thais crack down on fake foreign teachers

Thailand has begun reviewing the backgrounds of foreign teachers and enforcing new visa rules.

A review of registered companies and work permits issued for their employees is also on the cards.

This month in Phuket, the immigration chief, police General Suwat Tumrongsiskul, said his department agreed with the Ministry of Education that a crackdown was necessary to prevent crime and protect students from unqualified foreign teachers.

The review was partly prompted by the John Mark Karr case last year.

Karr, a former suspect in the 1996 murder of six-year-old Jon Benet Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado, in the United States, was a confessed paedophile - and falsely confessed to the Ramsey murder.

He was found teaching at a school in Bangkok and deported to the US.

This month, another teacher was arrested in Nan province in the north.

American Brian Michael Jones had been teaching at an elementary school for nine months after arriving in Bangkok in March 2006.

The Thai News Agency reported that America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had issued an arrest warrant for Jones in 1999 for allegedly having raped women and sexually harassed children in the state of Nevada.

He will also be deported.

Gen Suwat told reporters in Phuket that random checks of 1,000 foreign teachers had turned up 65 with forged credentials.

"This convinced us of the need to be more strict. We do not want unqualified teachers or sexual deviants teaching Thai children", he said.

"This crackdown will help us to better screen the backgrounds of people coming here to teach", he was quoted as saying in the local Phuket Gazette.

New visa rules, introduced last year during the tenure of the Thaksin Shinawatra-led administration, are also now being enforced.

Thousands of foreigners employed as consultants or in the service sector, or freelancing as professionals in their fields, live in Thailand on 90-day tourist visas.

They exit briefly on "visa runs" to renew their visas in neighbouring countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar, and enter Thailand again on another 90-day visa.

That practice will become a thing of the past as Thailand tries to tighten its usual laissez faire attitude to immigration.

Immigration officers are now supposed to scan entry stamps on passports, add up the total number of days already spent in Thailand in a 180-day period, and issue a visa for only the balance left in the 90-day limit.

Gen Suwat said the new measure would have little impact on long-stay tourists, but was an effective way to prevent foreigners from staying and working illegally in the country.

He said nationals of China, India and Pakistan were among the biggest offenders.

Also, according to well-informed sources, a new, informal policy in Thailand's Labour Ministry will see officials re-examining work permits with the objective of reducing their numbers.

When contacted officially, the Labour Ministry said there was no such policy.

But sources said officials will review registered companies employing foreigners.

If any are found to be inactive or unprofitable, work permits issued to their employees may be withdrawn.

"This is a guideline, not a law", one of the sources told The Straits Times.

According to the ministry, more than 150,000 foreigners held work permits as of the end of last year and around 5,400 new work permits are issued every month.

Concern over national security may be a factor in the new measures.

Soon after the Dec 31 blasts in Bangkok which killed three and injured 42, Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command said it would coordinate efforts to tighten national security and improve intelligence-gathering.

- The Strait Times

++++++++++++++

Inaccuracies noted in description of tourist visa vs. VOA and length of validity for them.

++++++++++++++

Edited February 24, 2007 by sriracha john

[garro]

Nothing new here

[Sing_Sling]

Amazing how these @#%$&*@s can so easily slip through the net . . . if there is a net.

[richard10365]

I know some people probably think they are just going after English teachers but they are also arresting bad Thai teachers as well. We just don't read about it because these stories are mostly in the Thai newspapers.

I wouldn't call what they are doing a witch hunt but rather an attempt to cover all angles when it comes to protecting their children.

[cdnvic]

John Mark Karr or not this is long overdue. There's alot of good teachers out there, but no shortage of unqualified wannabes either.

[astral]

I hate this mis-use of the word Fake.

If they mean "unqualified" then say so.

[COBBER]

The whole thing is a big dog and pony show.

Schools with connections are not being touched.

[kmart]

The whole thing is a big dog and pony show.

Schools with connections are not being touched.

I believe so. Most of the time it is the schools that are at fault for hiring unqualified teachers on the cheap.

A lot of people here know the price of everything, and the value of nothing at all.

[garro]

John Mark Karr or not this is long overdue. There's alot of good teachers out there, but no shortage of unqualified wannabes either.

It would be intresting to know who you consider to be 'unqualified wanabes'

Without degree?

Without a degree in education?

Without TEFL?

[wintermute]

The whole thing is a big dog and pony show.

Schools with connections are not being touched.

There are also quite a few schools who have foreign teachers off the books completely. These will never be caught under the net because they aren't in the system to begin with. They also know when and where the raids will happen because they are well connected as you said. The entire thing is a joke and it will probably only penalize those smaller schools who have tried to make their teachers legal.

[cdnvic]

John Mark Karr or not this is long overdue. There's alot of good teachers out there, but no shortage of unqualified wannabes either.

It would be intresting to know who you consider to be 'unqualified wanabes'

Without degree?

Without a degree in education?

Without TEFL?

People who aren't qualified to teach. People with no permit to do so.

[tijnebijn]

There is nothing new in the writing,but what I can say that it is not strange that they do not want unqualified teachers teaching.........

I mean why in hel_l if you are not qualified do you want to teach anyway???

I am not qualified and thats why I am not even thinking to teach,what can i give these children,if i do not even know how to teach them technically so they can keep this knowledge and use it for there further education.....

It is a good thing in this instance they do this,on the other hand the qualifications they ask to be an teacher is a too high standard,even the West do not ask such a high degree too teach .And cause in Thailand they have a shortage ,thats why all these schools are jumping to have anybody who only can speak and write it in understandable english,what is rediculous.They should turn it in a common degree, with Tefl skills ,and welcome these farang to teach and there will be no problem,but fake papers is a bad thing and make it hard for people who do have these and make them look suspicious which again is rediculous.

[PeaceBlondie]

Nothing new here

Exactly; the report mentions nothing that wasn't mentioned twice before in February, or before that. This repeated publicity, however, makes me wonder if the crackdowns will increase in frequency, intensity, and scope.

John Mark Karr had a fake resume, but a real degree (but he wasn't a fuly qualified teacher, ever). I think Brian Jones was both Canadian and American, and his teaching credentials haven't been publicized.

Fake degrees are phony pieces of paper bought at diploma mills or print shops, without studying even over the internet. People teaching with fake degrees - and other aliens working elsewhere, falsely - should be deprived of their work permit, and treated according to the immigration laws (if that includes deportation of dive shop operators, guest house owners, bartenders and brothel managers, so be it).

Note, too, that these crackdowns include illegal aliens of Asian nationalities. Some Filipino teachers have fake degrees. Maybe even some Thai teachers do!

[garro]

John Mark Karr or not this is long overdue. There's alot of good teachers out there, but no shortage of unqualified wannabes either.

It would be intresting to know who you consider to be 'unqualified wanabes'

Without degree?

Without a degree in education?

Without TEFL?

People who aren't qualified to teach. People with no permit to do so.

Sorry cdnvic

I thought the one of the points of this thread was that there are teachers who have work permits but also have fake qualifications and thus are considered unqualified to teach.

Edited February 24, 2007 by garro

[steves_the_1]

with the school holidays on the way i cant see much of a crackdown happening

[tijnebijn]

with the school holidays on the way i cant see much of a crackdown happening

That is a smart one

[qwertz]

I hate this mis-use of the word Fake.

If they mean "unqualified" then say so.

I prefer "Fake". Certainly if they were "teaching" any kid of mine

[TerryLH]

"It is a good thing in this instance they do this,on the other hand the qualifications they ask to be an teacher is a too high standard,even the West do not ask such a high degree too teach."

What West are you talking about? Most of the teachers I know working here legally, with qualifications acceptable to the Thai government, would not be able to teach in their home countries.

[TAWP]

Um...really? In scandinavia we have (too many) unqualified teachers too...usually temp-teachers that get hired due to shortage.

[Khun ?]

Many went from the 30 day to 90 day, so how do they know which ones work and which do not unless

they actually do not give but one 90 day visa every 180 days.

( Quote)

Thousands of foreigners employed as consultants or in the service sector, or freelancing as professionals in their fields, live in Thailand on 90-day tourist visas.

They exit briefly on "visa runs" to renew their visas in neighbouring countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar, and enter Thailand again on another 90-day visa.

That practice will become a thing of the past as Thailand tries to tighten its usual laissez faire attitude to immigration.

Immigration officers are now supposed to scan entry stamps on passports, add up the total number of days already spent in Thailand in a 180-day period, and issue a visa for only the balance left in the 90-day limit.

Gen Suwat said the new measure would have little impact on long-stay tourists, but was an effective way to prevent foreigners from staying and working illegally in the country.

He said nationals of China, India and Pakistan were among the biggest offenders.

[bino]

with the school holidays on the way i cant see much of a crackdown happening

Actually, the school holiday is a good time, when you consider that lots of parents will be sending their kids to "language centers" during the holidays, where the teachers serve as glorified babysitters.

[cdnvic]

I hate this mis-use of the word Fake.

If they mean "unqualified" then say so.

I prefer "Fake". Certainly if they were "teaching" any kid of mine

I bought an unqualified Tag Heuer watch in Patpong once.

[PeaceBlondie]

"It is a good thing in this instance they do this,on the other hand the qualifications they ask to be an teacher is a too high standard,even the West do not ask such a high degree too teach."

What West are you talking about? Most of the teachers I know working here legally, with qualifications acceptable to the Thai government, would not be able to teach in their home countries.

We are probably discussing several things here, including 'fake' documents. I think TerryLH may be referring to one of those official rumours (you know, where the high ranking officer of the govt. says the rumour) that you have to have a B.Ed. to teach conversational English to young students, even in the remote provinces that are remote and provincial.

I just checked the American NEA website for substitute (supply) teachers. In some states of the USA, not just those known for low standards of public education, you can supply as a teacher with only a high school education, or with two years of uni, or with any BA degree. But usually, to be a fully qualified teacher, you need to have undergraduate university major studies both in education itself, and in your teaching specialty.

Could we have a temporary crackdown on crackdowns, please? Enough time for one ministry to clearly and sensibly formulate and distribute actual, real rules that it will actually, really enforce?

[Fred Sanford]

They are doing these fake teachers a favor; teaching this way in Thailand is no way to go thru life just to exist here

[Ijustwannateach]

Is it any coincidence that the two most prominent officials to have commented publicly are neither from the MOE (you know, the people who define what the qualifications are) nor from Bangkok (you know, where they keep the central government), but are policemen from two of the most touristy cities on the coasts (Pattaya and Phuket)?

Unless they have misrepresented themselves (i.e., by using fake degrees to obtain their licensing/work permits/visas), foreign teachers who are teaching with a work permit are, by definition, qualified to teach in Thailand (it's the government that decides who's qualified, remember!). Both teachers working in the article were, to the best of my knowledge of their circumstances, working at the time without work permits and therefore ILLEGAL foreign workers, not "fake teachers." The schools they worked at should have been severely punished for not adhering to the letter of the law on hiring foreigners as teachers (if anyone can figure out what that is).

PB, you took the words right out of my mouth. What's needed is consistent, competent leadership on this issue and not a lot of Chicken Littles spreading hysteria about teachers in Thailand.

"Steven"

[qwertz]

I hate this mis-use of the word Fake.

If they mean "unqualified" then say so.

I prefer "Fake". Certainly if they were "teaching" any kid of mine

I bought an unqualified Tag Heuer watch in Patpong once.

fake = to cheat, defraud, contrive, deceive, emulate.

[John K]

The pendulum is at one end of the swing here at the end of the school year. Lest see what May has to say and not late February. I sincerely hope the teachers band together and no accept anything less than 50,000 at a public school. If they want quality, then they better be ready to pay for it.

Edited February 25, 2007 by John K

[seagull]

Allow me to give my take on "fake" and "unqualified" pertaining to education status.

Fake is when you professed to attain a certain level proficiency of which you are not.

Unqualified is when you are not qualified, and you did not fake it.

[PeaceBlondie]

I was just agreeing with seagull, and overlooked his noun-noun error. I interpret qwertz's point of grammar not to be a put-down of what seagull said, but an illustration of what really good teachers of English should know, whether or not they have certain documents in hand.

I think John K. is right (not the lead singer of Steppenwolf, John Kay, but the hypnotist ) - the crunch is likely to occur in May, if the Thai educators who run the schools had any intention of obeying the Thai law (whatever that is). Unfortunately, there will never be enough Thai schools willing to pay 50,000 baht to good farang teachers of English, and there will be too many farang willing to accept between 25K and 35K.

[Ijustwannateach]

I think we've had enough flame wars about grammar and spelling on teaching-related threads. I'm deleting it all now with amnesty for the participants; post another grammar/spelling flame on this thread and you're looking at a holiday.