Advice

[james1979]

I'm currently working for Shane Eng Schools Japan. I like Japan but the quality of life here is not good compared to Thailand. It's ridiculously expensive (250K salary), there's little private space and it's not very exciting. Shane said i'd be working a maximum of 6 hours a day, but in reality I start work at 12pm and finish at 9pm. My break times are spent preparing! I have to Mon to Thu and Saturdays, and sometimes I have to do cover days/training on Friday my day-off. They also tried to rape me with my accommodation, charging 75,000Y excluding bills, for a room that probably cost them around 40,000.

I want to come over and teach in Thailand, probably in Bangkok. What salary can I expect in LOS with one years teaching experience? Will I have to work weekends? How many hours do ESL teachers typically work in Thailand?

Basically, are things going to be better in Thailand? I know the nightlife's better for starters.

P.S. I understand that these questions may be a little unanswerable, but any advice would be appreciated.

Edited August 30, 2009 by james1979

[Scott]

James1969: You might want to let us know a little bit more information about yourself and what you want. For example, do you have a Bachelor's degree? Your age and where you might want to locate in Thailand.

If you do not have a degree and a year of experience in Japan, you will likely be able to earn a starting salary of 35,000 baht and up (this is in Bangkok and surrounding areas). Of course, it you are qualified for an international school, then you will be earning a LOT more. But these are pretty coveted positions.

We've had a few teachers come from Japan and work at our school. There reaction has been mixed. They much preferred Thailand, but the salary difference was substantial. One had bills in his home country which made it financially a little difficult.

A normal work load would be around 20 hours of teaching and with a lot of schools there's morning duty and other responsibilities. You will often need to do a fair amount of preparation, grading, checking notebooks etc. In short, it's not a walk in the park. The school week is Monday to Friday (with some occasional work on Saturdays or holidays--but this is rare and may include things like camps for students or special events).

A lot of teachers do private work on weekends or evenings. The money is quite good.

Socially, the 'joys of Thailand' are hard to enjoy on a teacher's salary. It depends on what you enjoy doing.

[james1979]

Cheers for the advice.

I have a BSc in Molecular Biology, work experience in banks and Shane's in-house teacher training course FELT.

[james1979]

I don't really enjoy teaching adults very much as they too many grammar questions. I think i'd enjoy working only with children. I only have experience of teaching at maximum , eight kids though. I imagine the classes are pretty big in Thailand, right?

[Scott]

If you are contemplating a move to Thailand you might want to consider teaching science at either a bilingual program or one of the schools with international in their name. I hesitate to call some of them true international schools since they aren't affiliated with a particular country and aren't necessarily accredited by any country. They often pay better than the bilingual programs.

The bilingual programs are generally a part of the Thai education system and follow the curriculum of the Minstry of Education (MOE). You would probably be able to teach at the high school level.

Class size varies a lot. Expect between 30-45 students. Classroom control is a problem (but that doesn't matter if it's science or English).

[Ijustwannateach]

My advice: don't come. If you find Japan difficult to deal with in terms of unreliable management, low salaries, and difficult paperwork, you'll find Thailand much worse. Your experience of broken promises in Japan is quite rare, I would say, but things will be much worse here.

With one year's teaching experience and a non-education, non-science, non-mathematics related bachelor's degree you can probably expect 30-40k BAHT a month, possibly with a work visa.

[Loaded]

... It's ridiculously expensive (250K salary), there's little private space and it's not very exciting...

Thailand is cheap and normally exciting. Visit the place if you haven't been here before. Chiang Mai is a great place to live for most of the year.

[allane]

Relative to the local economy, you would be much better of in Thailand. Several years ago, after having worked in Thailand for a couple of years, I made a job-hunting trip to Japan. I was astounded that salaries there are so low, relative to the cost of living.

Send me a private mail if you would like more info. re cost of living, Bangkok vs. "up-country" etc. I have been here 15 years, and am well acquainted with the teaching scene here.

[Scott]

Let's stay reasonably on topic. The OP is asking for advice about working in Thailand as opposed to working in Japan. Commentary about his character are unnecessary, unwanted and often against forum rules.

Posts of this nature have been deleted.