Can anyone give me an idea of how much i should be paying for private Thai lessons, preferably by the hour ?

I live in quite a rural area, but there are some teachers in the local town that are willing to teach farangs at farang rates....

Also, are there any accreditations or qualifications i should be looking for from my Kroo ?

Here the rates go from 250 to 500 B/hour. There's one school that charges 800B/h, but I think they are still waiting for their first farang student. I don't live in rural area, but also not in BKK.

It helps if your teacher:

- has a very nice pronunciation (R instead of L when necessary)

- is not shy

- has experience with teaching farang (so she'll not be annoyed when the student asks questions)

- can speak a bit English

- remembers and can explain the formal grammar rules of Thai language (most Thai people can't explain the tone rules)

- has ever read a book that a farang would use to study Thai

Is there a university nearby?

You could try to look for a student that is willing to teach Thai (via a message board of the university).

Most teachers have never taught a farang, nor do they quality for one of the points above, so a normal student might be just as good or even be better than a teacher.

Don't pay for many hours in advance.

Here the rates go from 250 to 500 B/hour. There's one school that charges 800B/h, but I think they are still waiting for their first farang student. I don't live in rural area, but also not in BKK.

It helps if your teacher:

- has a very nice pronunciation (R instead of L when necessary)

- is not shy

- has experience with teaching farang (so she'll not be annoyed when the student asks questions)

- can speak a bit English

- remembers and can explain the formal grammar rules of Thai language (most Thai people can't explain the tone rules)

- has ever read a book that a farang would use to study Thai

Is there a university nearby?

You could try to look for a student that is willing to teach Thai (via a message board of the university).

Most teachers have never taught a farang, nor do they quality for one of the points above, so a normal student might be just as good or even be better than a teacher.

Don't pay for many hours in advance.

Then I don't have a bad deal.

I am paying 150 baht /hour per person for me and my daughter in a small private school which mostly caters to children from the nearby school (Udom Suksa in Pattaya) who come there to get some assistance with their home work.

The teacher doesn't speak any English but that is no problem as I am fluent enough in spoken Thai to be able to communicate with her the main reason why I follow the lessons is to learn to read and write.