Teaching at a government school VS private school

[Ventenio]

I forgot to add yesterday.....I believe the OP said he gave a "demo" to the director's kid.  Yea, that's a really big red flag.  Trust me, I have experience.  That means they want you to be his/her private tutor forever and this will be your most important student.  Even if they do pay 500 baht an hour (which I what I charged after I realized I got scammed into this), they will probably first want you to do it for free and then maybe a few hundred baht per lesson.  This will be after a long day, and the director will watch over you.  Then the director will want lessons.  It will never end.  

 

My memory is a little weak, as this was almost 10-years ago; however, it's something you need to worry about.  Sure, maybe a little more money and perks, but would it be worth it.  What happens when the kid isn't fluent in 3 minutes?  

[Tounge Thaied]

1 hour ago, Mambowoman said:

You always do the best resorts, and are simply the best teacher!

 

Regarding the Laos bank account, is it possible to open one while I'm in Laos, on a tourist visa?

I just did a quick online search, I wanted to know also, As a foreigner you require a Lao work permit and associated business VISA or residence VISA to open an account with a Lao Bank. you cannot open an account with just tourist VISA etc. 

http://www.retire-asia.com/lao-bank.shtml

[Nakmuay887]

1 hour ago, Ventenio said:

I forgot to add yesterday.....I believe the OP said he gave a "demo" to the director's kid.  Yea, that's a really big red flag.  Trust me, I have experience.  That means they want you to be his/her private tutor forever and this will be your most important student.  Even if they do pay 500 baht an hour (which I what I charged after I realized I got scammed into this), they will probably first want you to do it for free and then maybe a few hundred baht per lesson.  This will be after a long day, and the director will watch over you.  Then the director will want lessons.  It will never end.  

 

My memory is a little weak, as this was almost 10-years ago; however, it's something you need to worry about.  Sure, maybe a little more money and perks, but would it be worth it.  What happens when the kid isn't fluent in 3 minutes?  

little guy had better English than Most Thai's I have come across, the school was called sukhothai wittayakom school and I was impressed with it overall honestly, the kids I met took right to me. But the more reading I do the more working online seems to be appealing in the long run, the brick and mortar school was appealing because of the work permit and long term visa,

 

I will look to sort the visa through NGO work as I had originally been planning and work online. it gives me a lot more time with the boarding school kids and more time to box and kick people. so that's a win/win for me

 

this thread really has been top notch and I hope others can find it when asking similar questions. you guys are awesome. Thank you

[thequietman]

2 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

I typically taught 3 days a week for about 4 hours a day in government schools for about 5 years.  At least initially, after 4 hours of back to back 1 hr classes, I would be absolutely exhausted and have to take a nap immediately upon return home. That was with intensive pronunciation and grammar drills. Had to bring home armloads of homework for correction which ate up tons of time. Quiz and test writing and correcting, and attendance and test score record keeping does too.

I want to be clear about this from the very beginning. When I became a teacher in Thailand, I was as keen as the next guy. I wanted to do well and wanted my students to do even better. However, my efforts were shunned and I was labelled as a troublemaker at my first school 11 years ago, due to the fact that I tried to enact changes for the better that the Thai teachers just didn’t want to get involved in.

 

As the years progressed, I learned that it was best to stay below the radar and just turn up and do the bare minimum that I could get away with. I am not being unprofessional here, I am just being realistic regarding the education system in this country.

I’ve been teaching here for 11 years, two years at primary school level, five at secondary school level and coming up to 4 years at university level. I would recommend the OP to take the position at the government school.

 

If he signs up for the private school, he will be expected to be there in the early hours of the morning and stay until late in the evening. His workload will be massive and if he isn’t prepared to do what they want him to do, even though it is not stated in his contract, they will let him go without any thought at all. I’ve seen this many times at private institutions. They promise the world and then deliver nothing.

 

This is my $.10 worth and you can take it or leave it. It’s entirely up to you, but you need to learn how to play the game here, and once you understand the game, teaching or what is construed as teaching here, becomes much easier. Wishing everyone here a Happy New Year. ????

[Isaanbiker]

On 12/30/2019 at 7:44 PM, Denim said:

If you love teaching ,  fine. 

 

But if you are only doing it as a means to finance a long stay here you could consider doing something else.

 

I tried it for a few years but found it not to my liking so gave it up.

 

And that was 35 years ago where you could just do it without bothering with work permits , visas and contracts. Must be a nightmare now.

I had 3 K more per month ten years ago. 

 

These days are too many agencies and "wannabe agents" involved, and all of them want a piece of the cake.

 

 Salaries didn't go up while all has gotten quite expensive.

 

More and more "extracurricular activities" have to be done, and Thai teachers do not respect foreigners at all. 

 

  All was immensely different 15 years ago when some Filipinos signed contracts making 12K/month.

 

At that point, too many foreigners were working on tourist visas, and it's IMO a homemade problem that all laws and regulations have changed. 

 

 These days, we foreigners are openly called "Farang" in our office where we stay with Thai colleagues who usually know our names.

 

 Now it's remarkably different, and many schools have a very high turnover.

 

"Native English speakers" from Pakistan and Russia, etc.. are often to find. 

 

Agencies who create fake degrees for their employees' visa runs and to get them a work permit should be taken care of, and the black sheep removed from all schools. 

 

 But it's still an excellent occupation, especially when your students love you. Only my five baht. 

 

   

 

     

 

  

 

  

Edited January 1, 2020 by Isaanbiker

[Assurancetourix]

16 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

"Native English speakers" from Pakistan and Russia, etc.. are often to find. 

[OumarhindaOunsingha]

On 12/30/2019 at 1:44 PM, Denim said:

If you love teaching ,  fine. 

 

But if you are only doing it as a means to finance a long stay here you could consider doing something else.

 

I tried it for a few years but found it not to my liking so gave it up.

 

And that was 35 years ago where you could just do it without bothering with work permits , visas and contracts. Must be a nightmare now.

"...you could consider doing something else."
 

What, for example?

[Denim]

4 hours ago, OumarhindaOunsingha said:

"...you could consider doing something else."
 

What, for example?

 

There are literally hundreds , maybe thousands of digital nomads working here now doing various things.

 

Selling on the internet can also be very lucrative if you can find the right niche. Takes a while to set up and maybe a couple of thousand baht investment in start up stock but not expensive and pretty hassle free.

 

Working from Bangkok I was pulling between 30-60,000 a month selling online. Living in the boonies now so cut off from my suppliers but even so still making an easy 10,000 a month from my bedroom. Not enough to live on anymore but combined with my savings no problem.

 

 

[LazySlipper]

On 12/29/2019 at 2:39 PM, Isaanbiker said:

Social security must be included, even when it's a private school where they're trying to not pay for you. 

No it doesn't in private schools and many gvt schools will try to weasle out of it. Check your facts b4 spreading false information...