Chiang Mai: Crackdown on tourists teaching at language institutes and cram schools

[moontang]

2 minutes ago, NancyL said:

I remember my father getting very upset when I started speaking with a New York city accent like my 1st grade teacher instead of with the neutral U.S. accent that he favored.  He wasn't happy, either that my mother, who grew up on a large farm in south-central Ohio could sometimes slip into the West Virginia hillbilly accent that the farmhands employed by her father used, despite her Ivy League college education.

 

I've found that here in Thailand a neutral American accent seems to be most understood by Thai people -- probably because that's what they hear most often from movies, and yes, cartoons.

that new yawk accent is contagious.  You hear it a lot in Las Vegas and Florida..even heard complaints about it in Denver.  

[Langkawee]

On 11/20/2019 at 12:37 PM, RotBenz8888 said:

And what happens to the schools that hire them?

Nothing Happens To Either the teachers or the schools. Both not charged. Police were just wanting another opportunity for a photo shoot. Slow news day for chiang mai post. 

[Just Weird]

On 11/20/2019 at 12:41 PM, Neeranam said:

It is not the immigration police rhat make arrests. This is a labout dept. issue, not immigration. 

The OP reports that Immigration police were there to make the arrests just as it says on the back of their shirts. 

[Trujillo]

Aside from the illegality, the fact is that these people have no idea how to actually teach English. So it's a fraud on the system and a fraud on the students. 

[Neeranam]

12 hours ago, Just Weird said:

The OP reports that Immigration police were there to make the arrests just as it says on the back of their shirts. 

They were there but didn't make the arrests. The arrest was made by the real police, if you read the Thai original article.

[DiJoDavO]

On 11/20/2019 at 3:06 PM, Hank Gunn said:

Problem is, in general, Thailand doesn't want to pay for "qualified teachers". They want to pay "backpacker wages" (which by the way haven't changed in the last dozen-plus years) and the results are what you see, a large amount of unqualified teachers, whose main "qualifications" are pretty much limited to having a light complexion and maybe being a native English speaker (although that's not always the case).

How about you go to a country where the cost of living is also higher. In Thailand you already make 2/3x more than another teacher who is Thai. What salary would you expect here? 

[LazySlipper]

On 11/20/2019 at 12:46 PM, Neeranam said:

Only a lroblem if tou poss off the wrong person. 

Who here hasn't  broken a law on Thailand?

My cleanest of mates, anti corruption giy even paid immigration money for something he didnt have.

He wouldn't  evrn pay 100 baht to a cop in the past.

Dude are you using a QWERTY keyboard? Or do you speak some alien language? You have so many typos I am inclined to believe the latter...

[Langkawee]

On 12/25/2019 at 1:12 AM, Neeranam said:

They were there but didn't make the arrests. The arrest was made by the real police, if you read the Thai original article.

Arrested is different from charged and brought before the judge in court. Foreign teachers have never ever been charged and brought before a judge in Thailand. Immediately admonished after the police arrest. same happened here.

 

[Langkawee]

On 12/24/2019 at 2:50 PM, Trujillo said:

Aside from the illegality, the fact is that these people have no idea how to actually teach English. So it's a fraud on the system and a fraud on the students. 

You must have a third eye or delusional ???? which is it? Hardly illegal when not one foreign teacher has ever been charged for working illegally in the history of Thailand. Fake news. Get the real news from me. 

[Langkawee]

On 12/24/2019 at 12:31 PM, Just Weird said:

The OP reports that Immigration police were there to make the arrests just as it says on the back of their shirts. 

Arrests but never charged. Foreign teachers have never ever been charged for working illegally. Same with BOI teachers arrested in Chiang Mai, all admonished and never charged. Look at the BOI 360 case above. Nobody was charged. interestingly in Vietnam also teachers are untouchable, very powerful and respected. 

[WonnabeBiker]

On 11/20/2019 at 6:42 AM, darksidedog said:

Really? Enough reports of people being turned away when having had 2 or more actual visas, and border hopping has been tough for a long time, so how have they been getting away with it all those years?

One teacher having been caught, also doesn't seem like massive evidence of a grand epidemic.

 

 

au contraire, it is a massive problem (during the probationary period). TH needs a new solution like an easy B-VISA.gb

[Just Weird]

2 hours ago, Langkawee said:

Hardly illegal when not one foreign teacher has ever been charged for working illegally in the history of Thailand.

Nonsense. Instances of foreigners working as teachers illegally being arrested, charged and in some cases deported, are not infrequently reported.  

[Neeranam]

8 hours ago, Just Weird said:

Nonsense. Instances of foreigners working as teachers illegally being arrested, charged and in some cases deported, are not infrequently reported.  

Any links? For online teachers.

[Hank Gunn]

On 12/27/2019 at 10:41 AM, DiJoDavO said:

On 11/20/2019 at 3:06 PM, Hank Gunn said:

Problem is, in general, Thailand doesn't want to pay for "qualified teachers". They want to pay "backpacker wages" (which by the way haven't changed in the last dozen-plus years) and the results are what you see, a large amount of unqualified teachers, whose main "qualifications" are pretty much limited to having a light complexion and maybe being a native English speaker (although that's not always the case).

How about you go to a country where the cost of living is also higher. In Thailand you already make 2/3x more than another teacher who is Thai. What salary would you expect here?

You know, that's such a tired and discredited argument. First, as government employees, Thai teachers are eligible for a range of benefits mostly unavailable to foreigners; specifically low-interest loans that are almost guaranteed, not to mention pensions and healthcare. So the total compensation package is not 2-3 times more than a local/Thai teacher.

 

Second, if you want real, qualified teachers (and I'm just talking about those with a bachelor's degree and not even a teaching cert. in their home countries) you have to pay for it, and the competition is worldwide. As I said, salaries have been pretty stagnant the last dozen years or so at about 30-40k Baht/month which is about $1,000 US. At those wages, you're going to get the "gap year"/backpackers looking to finance their world travels, or those who don't have the financial means to actually retire and are here because they can't compete in their home countries. There are only a few westerners here, who actually make it a real career to teach in Thailand and I'd wager that most of those do so because they've married and started a family here which they're forced to support and it's about the only job available to foreigners who don't have the capital to start a business.

 

The money is actually there to pay more but the rampant corruption skims out most of that and what is left is why the wages are low. I live in a provincial capitol in Isaan and the amount of high-end cars (Mercs, and BMWs) was surprising to me. When I asked my wife, she said they were all government workers, including those in the local K-12, college, tech. college and university administrations. She was particularly furious when she heard of the school director in her old village, where her family still live, went around asking for "donations" from the local farmers, most of whom live not much better than peasants. She admonished a sister and told her, "They already have all the money from your taxes! Your'e just paying for his new car."

[Just Weird]

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Any links? For online teachers.

I don't need to look for links, I've already read the reports that I'm referring to, if you need links have a look yourself.  The woman that is being referred to was not an online teacher.

[bigginhill]

On 11/21/2019 at 2:51 AM, BobBKK said:

If you do not have a degree and a valid TEFL diploma you are an amateur who does not have the skills to teach. That's fine if you are volunteering in the local Wat for FREE it is not fine if you get paid to be a professional, qualified teacher (and are hear illegally).

Hear?

[overherebc]

4 hours ago, bigginhill said:

Hear?

Stolen 'eering aid.

[Langkawee]

On 12/30/2019 at 12:33 PM, Just Weird said:

Nonsense. Instances of foreigners working as teachers illegally being arrested, charged and in some cases deported, are not infrequently reported.  

B.S..source please. I've shown mine. BOI 360. Teachers have never been charged in Thailand. 

[Just Weird]

On 12/30/2019 at 8:50 PM, Neeranam said:

On 12/30/2019 at 12:33 PM, Just Weird said:

Nonsense. Instances of foreigners working as teachers illegally being arrested, charged and in some cases deported, are not infrequently reported.  

Any links? For online teachers.

No.  Did I mention online teachers?  But as you, and others, seem to not be able to use google, The Samui Times was one source that reported a large number arrested.  Always best to do your own research.

[Just Weird]

10 hours ago, Langkawee said:

On 12/30/2019 at 12:33 PM, Just Weird said:

Nonsense. Instances of foreigners working as teachers illegally being arrested, charged and in some cases deported, are not infrequently reported.  

B.S..source please. I've shown mine. BOI 360. Teachers have never been charged in Thailand. 

Ever heard of search engines?  Try one, you'll see Bangkok Post and Samui Times reports.  

 

"B.S..source please".

Seems that the "BS", to use your expression, is yours, not mine.

[scottiejohn]

On 12/30/2019 at 12:33 PM, Just Weird said:

are not infrequently reported.  

Since you are discussing the teaching of the English language I suggest your comment quoted above would have been much clearer without the double negative!
A straightforward "are frequently reported" (assuming that was your intended meaning!) would, I believe, have conveyed your message in a less ambiguous way. 

[scottiejohn]

On 12/31/2019 at 12:15 AM, Just Weird said:

I've already read the reports that I'm referring to

You may well have done so but how are we poor mortals to know which reports you have read.  Google et al do not know what reports you have read and may be referring to.

[Just Weird]

27 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

On 12/30/2019 at 12:33 PM, Just Weird said:

are not infrequently reported.  

Since you are discussing the teaching of the English language I suggest your comment quoted above would have been much clearer without the double nagative!
A straightforward "are frequently reported" (assuming that was your intended meaning!) would, I believe, have conveyed your message in a less ambiguous wa

No I wasn't discussing the teaching of the English language, I was commenting on illegal teachers being arrested.  That aside, there is a subtle difference between "frequent reports" and "not infrequent reports", and I meant what I said.   If you had difficulty interpreting it, that's not my fault.

 

Edit: Happy now?

[scottiejohn]

2 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

And, since you are discussing the English language (and you started it), I suggest your comment quoted above would have been much clearer, and, I believe, would have conveyed your message in a much less ambiguous way, without your incorrectly spelled "double nagative" [sic] and the extremely ambiguous "in a less ambiguous wa" [sic]!   What is a "wa"‽

I suggest you read posts before replying with copy and paste.  The errors you quote were corrected before you posted!

[Just Weird]

17 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

On 12/31/2019 at 12:15 AM, Just Weird said:

I've already read the reports that I'm referring to

You may well have done so but how are we poor mortals to know which reports you have read.  Google et al do not know what reports you have read and may be referring to.

You "poor mortals" would know if you bothered to read my post #199 and 200.

[baansgr]

On 11/21/2019 at 8:51 AM, BobBKK said:

If you do not have a degree and a valid TEFL diploma you are an amateur who does not have the skills to teach. That's fine if you are volunteering in the local Wat for FREE it is not fine if you get paid to be a professional, qualified teacher (and are hear illegally).

I have admiration for most teachers, especially those that taught mine at an EP school, they did a sterling job.....however having an ology degree in some nonsensical subject dosnt give someone the skills to teach and make them.professional. I have seem some of the idiots that have degrees and have no common sense whatsoever....

[scottiejohn]

5 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

You "poor mortals" would know if you bothered to read my post #199 and 200.

Your posts of 194 comes before your posts of 199 and 200. 

 

On 12/31/2019 at 12:15 AM, Just Weird said:

I don't need to look for links, I've already read the reports that I'm referring to, if you need links have a look yourself.  The woman that is being referred to was not an online teacher.

 

[pixelaoffy]

So true ! Most degree diploma teachers I've seen are pretty pathetic, unless have an education degree and some teacher training.

[Just Weird]

2 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

7 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

You "poor mortals" would know if you bothered to read my post #199 and 200.

Your posts of 194 comes before your posts of 199 and 200. 

Well, isn't that a surprise, where would you expect it to be?

[Just Weird]

On 11/21/2019 at 11:33 AM, Morty T said:

Defamation, very expensive here. Those who think their pseudonyms on these sites are protecting themselves, often have a very rude awakening. 

Who have often had a very rude awakening, then?