Teaching business in Thailand

[shaun86]

Hi there, I'm new to the forums. I've had a look through at some of the responses, but I was wondering if anyone could give me information specific to my situation?

I have a BA, Masters degree in Business and 6 months experience teaching Business at an international school in Beijing, China, and I'll be tutoring at a popular Australian university this year. I'm considering teaching in downtown Bangkok at the start of 2010, but I'd like to get abit more information before I make any decisions.

I was wondering a few things : What sort of salary could I expect? Would I be able to comfortably find employment? And what do most forum members recommend, Private Universities vs Government?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Shaun

[Scott]

Moved to forum topics section for better visibility. Hope some folks can give you some advice and answers.

[shaun86]

Thanks Scott, wasn't sure about making a new topic, cheers

[Scott]

Sorry that there hasn't been much advice given. I'll bump it up. All I know is that Universities are known for paying low wages in Thailand. Perhaps someone can respond either from their personal experience or from knowledge about friends they may have.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Starting salary for English speaking business studies/economics lecturers is 30,000-40,000 baht/month. I'm not aware of any government schools that hire business teachers, but you may be able to slot into a social studies EP teaching position. There aren't a lot of university/private school jobs in this field, either. You would be able to find some part-time employment as a business English teacher, as a fall back, and corporate gigs pay much better than universities (600 baht/hour to start).

[aussiebebe]

What sort of salary do Bangkok Universities pay? A friend of mine informed me that they give a basic salary and then you work 'over-time' or extra classes for a higher hourly rate to make your salary up. Can anyone confirm this or give an idea about the salary levels?Which Universities are good for working at and how is salary calculated?

Edited August 5, 2009 by aussiebebe

[beano2274]

Basic uni salaries are around 23000baht, with an extra 8000baht for accommodation. And that is considered a great salary.

Extra work is not always guaranteed, and sometimes only pays 400 per hour, classes in corporate work can be from 450 to 900 per hour even more sometimes

Edited August 5, 2009 by beano2274

[emsfeld]

Private unis (Bangkok University, ABAC) do pay fairly well in Bangkok . Depending on the number of sections and hours you get allocated, monthly salary for a "freelancer" ranges from anywhere between 35k Baht up to 120k Baht at an hourly rate of 1500Baht. I have never taught myself, but one of my best mates has been teaching at one of the private ones for the past 4-5 years and in a good semester (meaning lots of sections where one section goes 2hrs) earned extremely good $$$$! However, not every semester is a good one! For him average monthly salary appeared to have been somewhere around the 60k THB mark.

[Scott]

I think you need to be realistic about the money you will make. What you CAN make and what you WILL make may be very different. Many of the people who do well financially are well-connected. If you are new you will likely not have the connections to find a lot of extra work or extra work that pays well. Over time, this will change.