Married To A Thai And Have Master's In Biology

[Trex52]

I am married to a Thai national, although it is not registered yet....still trying to get her over to US on fiancee visa...but am looking at moving to LOS because of economic downturn here...I know it is all over the planet, but the cost of living is so much lower in Thailand. Can anyone give me any insight into this? Thanks in advance...

[Martian]

Hello Trex52,

I'm doing exactly what you are thinking except that my wife just received her US citizenship last fall and my job of 22 years was taken away from me last spring so................. I said heck, I'll just take advantage of the situation and live in LOS for a while. I've lived in LOS before for my past company so I am a little more ahead of you.

I only have a house payment, no other debt, plenty of savings and decent retirement savings that wasn't greatly affected by the recent market losses. I sold everything in a yard sale that I didn't really want and store our remaining "American" possessions in a secure building on my USA property. Someone is renting my house and as long as they pay the rent, I will be just fine. Anyway, it still scares me a bit but I am going for it. Leaving this Saturday!

If you have the financial means I recommend that you commit to doing it and get to it soon. Holding a degree (in anything) is a big plus, it puts you ahead of the many people who do not. I would get enrolled in a TEFL class either in the USA or in Thailand (preferable because you can network while studying) to make yourself more attractive, although it isn't an official requirement for teaching in Thailand. Additionally I recommend a class that is not internet based and you actually attend class and go to real Thai schools for teaching practice (this is for your comfort and development).

Schools in Thailand are hiring now for next year (2009 classes begin late April/early May) so getting over there and beating the pavement now would be good. If you have other ways of submitting for jobs, fine, try that too. Lots of jobs to see on Ajarn.com. Most English teaching jobs in the North pay about 25,000 Baht/month on average and if you can get into a government school you can enter AND stay in the social security system after 3 months of working (good for lifelong medical coverage as long as you continue your monthly premium payments (432 Baht/month) after you stop working).

I'm attending an upcoming SEE TEFL course and have been very very satisfied with the communications from this organization and it is in Chiang Mai (North). They can also help you with placement afterward but Mr. Quinn is a good contact for inquiring about his TEFL class and the teaching scene in Chiang Mai if not the whole of the north.

If you're serious and in a position to do it.....you're burnin' daylight!

Regards

Edited February 18, 2009 by Martian

[Trex52]

Hello Trex52,

I'm doing exactly what you are thinking except that my wife just received her US citizenship last fall and my job of 22 years was taken away from me last spring so................. I said heck, I'll just take advantage of the situation and live in LOS for a while. I've lived in LOS before for my past company so I am a little more ahead of you.

I only have a house payment, no other debt, plenty of savings and decent retirement savings that wasn't greatly affected by the recent market losses. I sold everything in a yard sale that I didn't really want and store our remaining "American" possessions in a secure building on my USA property. Someone is renting my house and as long as they pay the rent, I will be just fine. Anyway, it still scares me a bit but I am going for it. Leaving this Saturday!

If you have the financial means I recommend that you commit to doing it and get to it soon. Holding a degree (in anything) is a big plus, it puts you ahead of the many people who do not. I would get enrolled in a TEFL class either in the USA or in Thailand (preferable because you can network while studying) to make yourself more attractive, although it isn't an official requirement for teaching in Thailand. Additionally I recommend a class that is not internet based and you actually attend class and go to real Thai schools for teaching practice (this is for your comfort and development).

Schools in Thailand are hiring now for next year (2009 classes begin late April/early May) so getting over there and beating the pavement now would be good. If you have other ways of submitting for jobs, fine, try that too. Lots of jobs to see on Ajarn.com. Most English teaching jobs in the North pay about 25,000 Baht/month on average and if you can get into a government school you can enter AND stay in the social security system after 3 months of working (good for lifelong medical coverage as long as you continue your monthly premium payments (432 Baht/month) after you stop working).

I'm attending an upcoming SEE TEFL course and have been very very satisfied with the communications from this organization and it is in Chiang Mai (North). They can also help you with placement afterward but Mr. Quinn is a good contact for inquiring about his TEFL class and the teaching scene in Chiang Mai if not the whole of the north.

If you're serious and in a position to do it.....you're burnin' daylight!

Regards

Hey thanks for the input. I am coming next week to see about possibilities. Again thank you very much, I owe you a cup of coffee or a beer. Trex52

[scorecard]

I would assume that there would be very few Westeners in Thailand with your degree qualification and therefore I would assume that international schools and some of the better bi-lingual schools, perhaps also some universities with English language programs would be interested.

However, I would also suggest that you look for ways to bypass the Thai administrators of these schools, because they are so locked into correct process, rather than look at your application of it's merits. I've had several experiences of job applicants being rejected by my Thai administration manager for silly tiny 'process' factors, and on two occasions I accidentally met the applicants in the lobby of my office and eventualy employed them. Overall, they had a good picture and went on to become good employees. The Administration Manager still, today, can't understand why they were employed 'they didn't perfectly meet the paper warfare criteria'.

If you want to approach a university it might be better to do the spade work to meet another Western teacher and ask him/her to introduce you to the head of faculty, etc. Same comment for international schools, bi-lingual schools etc.

I agree it's to your advantage, in terms of daily existence, to be able to speak some Thai, and maybe you already can. Just one example, the battle of trying to take taxis, with no Thai language ability, several times every day, can be very frustrating, and you don't need this type of extra pressure and stress when your trying to get more important things in place.

Good luck

[BlackArtemis]

Hey, thought I would chime in.

I am married to a Thai as well. She was a kindergarten Teacher in Chiang Mai and I taught in Chiang Mai for 2.5 years (06-08). Now we are living in the US and I am going for a BSED Bio and she gave up her MA from Thailand to pursue one here.

When I worked in CM I worked for a Government school and I had a BA in Family Pysch. I made 25k/month

Govt schools start out around 20-25k depending on your degree, experience, and nationality.

Private schools will start out around 30-35k But some in CM are paying upwards of 50k

Now if you have an MS in Bio, and some teaching experience on top of it, you could get a job at one of the international schools or universities and make upwards of 80k. I say 80k because I knew of someone with an MA working at Payap making about that much, whether this was typical or just a one of case I don't know.

Also all these prices are based out of Chiang Mai.

The wife and I rented a 4 story town house (unfurnished) in the old city for 12k/month including utilities. We ran a tutoring business as well and made much more than my 25k.

Now for some tips:

if you are older, prepare for some ageism.

Don't think that it's going to be easy, don't expect the kids to just listen to you. I taught 3rd and 5th grade, about 35 kids in my class. I recently did a classroom observation here in the states for 7th grade and was floored by how tame and polite the students were compared to my old students. However, I loved my old students and loved my experience working as a teacher in Thailand.

You get away with more at govt schools. Meaning less weekend meetings, I had 2.5months paid vacation so to say and I was allowed to leave at 3pm. I could have made 7k more a month at a private school and then i would have had to stay til 4pm, weekend meetings and only 5 days of vacation in october compared to the whole month.

if you have a related degree and experience, start applying at the best schools in town and work down.

Hope this helps a little bit.

My goal is to get this BSED and work here for awhile and start a family. but ultimately end up in Thailand again. I am a bit jealous of you guys.