General Advice on Teaching in Thailand

[Joshuarrr]

Hello everyone,

 

After having a general look around the forums, I cannot see anything that exactly fits my questions, so I am posting them here instead. Some of my questions will generally touch on many sub forums, but since the overriding factor is teaching, I figured this was the best place to put the topic. A little background first: I am a qualified History teacher currently teaching in the UK, but I am looking to move abroad to Thailand (obviously) in the next year or so. I know teaching jobs tend to come up on March/April time. I have spent some time teaching English in China (before I was qualified) and my experience was far from a  positive one (which I won't go into now...), so I want to be absolutely sure, or as sure as one can be, before making such a big decision. My questions on teaching are (likely) to be referring to teaching within an International School.

 

1) Presumably I am going to need to apply to an International School (I would prefer in the Bangkok area) to be able to teach my specialist subject: For those with experience working in an International School in Thailand-- Are they reliable with paying your salary? I was working in China through an agency and it was a monthly battle to get paid. I would hope that wouldn't be my experience applying direct to an International School? Generally: What are expectations on teaching and workload? For instance: How many hours are you spending teaching students; Do you get non-teaching time to plan and mark; What is the general holiday pattern in international schools(is it goodbye to half-term holidays?); Are you generally expected to work weekends?

 

2) Do you find that your teaching salary, from an international school, enables you to live comfortably?

 

3) Do most International Schools provide accommodation (or at least help with securing it)? Does anyone know any 'English-speaking friendly' rental property websites (specific to Bangkok) which they could share the link to, so I can get an idea about cost of renting in Bangkok?

 

4) Language barrier: When/if I decide to make the move, I will of course try to pick up as much of the language as possible. I have a long way to go after visiting a Thai restuarant and saying (what I thought) was 'Thank you'  in Thai.. The look of horror on the face of the Thai waiter said otherwise. Does anyone have any 'fool-proof' ways to try and pick up the language? I had hoped to find it on Duolingo app - but no such luck! I have also been hoping - in vain - to pick up the language by watching Thai TV series... also no luck. The only words I seem to have picked up are: no and a few swear words... I am sure both will have their uses ????.

 

5) Living in Thailand during/post COVID: I probably wouldn't be looking to move until September 2021, at the absolute earliest, but I wondered if any teachers could provide their experiences of teaching and living in Thailand during the pandemic? Have Thai schools, generally, responded well to the pandemic in protecting staff and students?

 

6) Meeting new people: Have you found it 'easy' to meet new people (local/expat)? I would hope that I would find friendship amongst some of the teachers in the school I moved to, but who knows! Maybe this is more of a personal insecurity... but the last thing I want is to move to Thailand and fall into a routine of work and sleep with little/no socialising.

 

My vision of moving to Thailand is: It provides a fresh start to meet new people; different perspective culturally and professionally; opportunity to travel during school holidays; being able to live comfortably (reasonable salary and a 'nice' apartment) and (perhaps) save some money in the process. Feel free to burst that bubble.

 

I realise that much of what I am asking is general and open to interpretation... At this point I am looking for any suggestions on teaching in Thailand (specifically International Schools), general living in Thailand for teachers and general tips overall to moving and living in Thailand.

 

Many thanks in advance.