Average Salary For University Lecturers?

[davejonesbkk]

What is the average monthly pay for university lectures in Thailand? I don't mean professors just masters degree level teachers, fluent in English (dont have to be native though) for general business subjects (for bachelors) such as marketing, finance , management etc..

thanks

[Ijustwannateach]

The baseline salary for basic foreign *public* university lecturers is fixed by law at about 27-29K (someone who actually has the job can probably tell you the exact amount) and hasn't changed in a number of years. This would include nearly all forms of English teaching and most of the taught-in-English pseudo-business classes, if part of your core hours. The trick is that most of these foreign lectures have relatively light courseloads and can pick up extra work for relatively good pay- 1000B+ an hour is not unusual, though such hours will be piecemeal and scattered around. However, this work is fickle for many reasons- departmental politics, economics and student interest, time of year, etc.

If you are a genuine expert- probably talking Ph.D with previous uni experience, or master's in a desirable or unusual field with sought-after skills- you can be hired on a different basis and paid more, sometimes a lot more. Your mileage may vary, but usually this type of job does go to people who aren't simply 'run-of-the-mill.'

[scorecard]

Your original question has many different case by case answers.

From my understanding the answer from 'Ijustwannateach' is a good summation of one scenario.

Another scenario is westerners who work as lecturers in Thai university business schools, teaching business related subjects: marketing, finance, accounting, management, organizational sciences etc:

- Some schools require a masters degree and many years experience .

- Some schools require a masters degree and no actual work experience (on the belief that a masters degree makes you an absolute expert and work experience is not needed.

- Some schools require a Ph.D. and many years experience (my picture).

- Some schools require a Ph.D. and no actual work experience (on the belief that a Ph.D. makes you an absolute expert and work experience is not needed).

Most business schools pay around 30,000 to 50,000Baht base salary per month for the above positions, which requires the lecturer to be on campus for a set number of hours per week (often 20 hours) and to contribute to committees etc etc. And on top of that the lecturers are paid by the hour for the courses they teach.

The per hour rate for course work teaching has quite a range, but would probably be within the range of 2,300 to 5,000Baht per hour (5,000 would probably be for course work and mentoring work for students in Ph.D. programs, therefore the total amount of work available is quite low because the total numb er of Ph.D. candidates is quite low).

Also note that most universities don't give a guarantee that there will be courses available for every semester.

On the other hand a lecturer could pick up say:

- 40,000 Base salary per month

- 80,000 per month for 2 courses, if each course has 2 X 3 hour lectures per week.

Most universities deduct tax from the above amounts.

Note also that there are lull periods between semesters when there is no course work available at all, however some business schools run summer courses.

You can readily find lecturers who receive the base salary at one university and perhaps teach one course at the same university and another course at another university. This scenario is 'normal' and most univesities readily accept this scenario.

Work permits is of course another area to be explored. Most quality universities are serious about work permits however they usually require the lecturer to pay for the work permit unless it's a director position or similar.

Another point to remember is that business schools are under strong pressure from the university affairs office to gain higher international accreditations which involves many factors. One of the big factors it that universities should have a large selection of international lecturers, which means that:

- Some courses are taught on the basis that every actual lecture has a different lecturer therefore income is dissapated strongly for individual teachers.

- The university has many lecturers on 'staff' and getting two full courses per semester is rare, and as mentioned above, no guarantee of any courses.

I must confess I have no idea what happens in the science etc., areas.

[paully]

1. Most business schools pay around 30,000 to 50,000Baht base salary per month

2. The per hour rate for course work teaching has quite a range, but would probably be within the range of 2,300 to 5,000Baht per hour (5,000 would probably be for course work and mentoring work for students in Ph.D. programs, therefore the total amount of work available is quite low because the total numb er of Ph.D. candidates is quite low).

1. I'd agree with this.

2. This level would be if you have a PhD yourself and are teaching/supervising Phds. For instructors/lecturers with Masters, like the OP, and therefore not on PhD programmes, the rate would be more like 1,200-1,500 baht per hour.

[scorecard]

1. Most business schools pay around 30,000 to 50,000Baht base salary per month

2. The per hour rate for course work teaching has quite a range, but would probably be within the range of 2,300 to 5,000Baht per hour (5,000 would probably be for course work and mentoring work for students in Ph.D. programs, therefore the total amount of work available is quite low because the total numb er of Ph.D. candidates is quite low).

1. I'd agree with this.

2. This level would be if you have a PhD yourself and are teaching/supervising Phds. For instructors/lecturers with Masters, like the OP, and therefore not on PhD programmes, the rate would be more like 1,200-1,500 baht per hour.

Actually at my university the western lecturers who hold masters degrees and have good industry experience and are teaching bachelor programs have a starting rate of 2,300Baht per hour. At other institutions it will obviously be different case by case.

I'm aware of one 'institution':

- Which advertises itself as a school of management (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx School of Management)

- Does not have accreditation as a university

- Does have approval to operate as a commercial college

- Advertises it's programs with wording like "This course could lead to a bachelor degree", etc.

- They pay their teachers 1,100 per day, and the money is held until the full course (30 hours) has been taught, tests have been completed and student records are all updated etc.

- Teachers have to do all preparation work, maintain attendance and all other student records.

- Teachers have to provide all text books etc., and teachers pay for all photocopying of handouts etc.,

- Teachers must write / mark all tests, and must be available to meet parents as requested with no extra reward.

[davejonesbkk]

Ok this is all good info thanks.

If we were talking about Thai lecturers with good English that had finished their Masters (in a business or finance field) with little or no work experience and they would only be teaching freshman business courses (management 101 etc) and they would have a maximum of say 15-20 hours of teaching time with just a little prep time and all materials, photocopies paid for by the University then would a salary of say 30,000 THB a month be acceptable?

[paully]

I'm aware of one 'institution':

- Which advertises itself as a school of management (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx School of Management)

- Does not have accreditation as a university

- Does have approval to operate as a commercial college

- Advertises it's programs with wording like "This course could lead to a bachelor degree", etc.

- They pay their teachers 1,100 per day, and the money is held until the full course (30 hours) has been taught, tests have been completed and student records are all updated etc.

- Teachers have to do all preparation work, maintain attendance and all other student records.

- Teachers have to provide all text books etc., and teachers pay for all photocopying of handouts etc.,

- Teachers must write / mark all tests, and must be available to meet parents as requested with no extra reward.

That's not a school, it's a labour camp

[thunder30101]

What universiteis pay these kinds of rates ? I dont know anyone where I work coming even close to those amounts. 2300-5000 Baht an hour ? they could pay for education overseas for those amounts.

[paully]

^ International Programmes (not the usual Thai ones) at certain Thai universities including Chula (Sasin Business School), Mahidol (MUIC), Bangkok U and others. But you have to be properly qualified and get your toe in the door.

[paully]

they could pay for education overseas for those amounts.

But the living costs are cheaper than abroad and also the Thai students can come back home to mummy every evening...

[thunder30101]

So what you are saying is these rates are not even close to being representative of current pay in universities, so lets get real in answering the question about pay.

[paully]

^ Not quite sure what you mean - rates of pay can be high in Thai universities, as scorecard said, but only on some international programmes and for special courses. If you only teach English on a standard uni programme, clearly you won't be pulling in anything like the rates quoted, but you can get some decent stuff as 'outside' work: I got 1,000 a hour cash in hand for teaching on an outside course, through a government university, for tourist guides. Nice, easy teaching too.

[thunder30101]

I think what you and others are quoting here for pay in university is very unrealistic relating to the op's question, I know quite a few people including myself teaching at university here that would say these rates are bs. The rates at goverment universities are set, if you have ever signed a contract with one to teach you would know there is a base salary for your education level, then it goes up according to other criteria including exp. and other qualifications. Maybe you are getting paid by the students for this work ? Bachelors around 30k, Masters 32-33k, Phd why would you be here ?

[paully]

^ If I can be so bold as to also speak on scorecard's behalf it was in response to this part of the OP's first post (emphasis added):

"masters degree level teachers, fluent in English (dont have to be native though) for general business subjects (for bachelors) such as marketing, finance , management etc.."

These types of subjects, taught in English in certain Thai universities, are paid well, much higher than general English teaching in unis. This isn't standard government uni stuff. Not all of it is full-time work, however. I still maintain that teaching undergraduates or masters students on these international programmes without holding a PhD is paid rather less (from my humble experience) than scorecard's figures but he, perfectly understandably and correctly, responded that his experience was rather different at the place(s) where he has taught.

[davejonesbkk]

Ok I am going to add some more info here:

I made this post as someone who is interested in pay rates from an employer's perspective not as someone who is thinking of applying for teaching positions.

I myself used to study at ABAC here in Bangkok (BBA) and I remember hearing that a lot of the lecturers received around 25-30k a month, I think some of these were only bachelor degree graduates though with some work experience and they only taught freshman courses. Not sure if any of this is true though.

@thunder30101 - Yes I also heard that there is a Government min rate for university lecturers of around 29k, is this true?

[thunder30101]

Where I work when I was hired they had a sheet with the base salary for you degree level, then other certifications such as tefl, celta, etc. which added so much per month, also your teaching exp. brought up your pay some more, there was one other group that I dont remember. Around 29-32k is normal I think for a bachelors degree, masters only 2 or 3k more. The sad fact is most primary and secondary schools pay more, but for me the working conditions and students are so much better, I tried teaching secondary school for a bit and couldnt do it. I have a great amount of respect for most teachers of primary and secondary schools as they really have a tough job. I know it doesnt sound like alot of money but I live quite well on it and it is always easy to pick up private work.

[paully]

The sad fact is most primary and secondary schools pay more, but for me the working conditions and students are so much better, I tried teaching secondary school for a bit and couldnt do it.

Have to second that. Government uni teaching in Thailand is pleasant, enjoyable and pretty much stress-free and you are mostly in control - contrast that absolutely with prathom/matthayom or private language school teaching . If you can do some extra/outside stuff to up the income to a comfortable level, then it's fairly sweet.

The only issue is: is it enough for you for the long-term? That's really why I left to return to the UK for a few years, at least.

[scorecard]

I haven't checked this thread for a while, and I notice some questioning / doubt about the rates I quoted in my original reply.

I confirm that the rates I mentioned are for a so called 'highly prestigious' university, for very well qualified and experienced lecturers, and as mentioned by another poster, it's not that easy to get in the door.

I mentioned 5,000Baht per hour for doctoral studies tutorials /mentoring etc., but perhaps I should add that these assignments are fairly rare and the total numbers of doctoral students at any one time is very small.

Let's also please realize that most (perhaps all, I'm not sure) Thai government linked universities still get quite big budgets of taxpayers funds, and some also have pretty high fees (especially doctoral studies programs) which substantially builds the total funds available for salaries, buildings, equipment etc.

I stand by what I originally posted, and I did answer the original question.

[Scott]

Thanks for the clarification. It's helpful to know that there are some coveted positions and they are well paid for, but difficult to get.

[desi]

I mentioned 5,000Baht per hour for doctoral studies tutorials /mentoring etc., but perhaps I should add that these assignments are fairly rare and the total numbers of doctoral students at any one time is very small.

I know of a department that pays similar. The foreign staff are highly skilled, highly educated professionals. If the uni cannot meet the international rate, then they cannot attract the known talent. And without the talent, there is no department. In order to pull it off, they sourced outside funding. A win win.

[Khun Bob]

I was offered a job with Durakit Pundit Uni (DPU) in Laksi, 5 years ago, purely on the basis of me emailing them with an interest in collaborating on research, and also offering to teach for them. I have a first class bachelors degree and PhD from a UK university. I have several years UK university teaching experience and student project supervision. I have many years of relevant industrial experience. There was no interview and the position offered a monthly salary of 55,000 baht. This was an 8am to 5pm Mon - Fri job and I think it may have been necessary to be present on Saturday morning. The was an initial teaching commitment of 3 hours per week. It was on their international program, so all the teaching was to be in English. I didn't stay there as they weren't to keen nor quick to sort out a work permit for me. I was not comfortable to work without a work permit.

I live near the Uni now and occasionally go on campus and the students are amazed to see a foreigner. I have seen very few foreigners there. However, all round the Uni are massive adverts in English advertising the international programmes. Some adverts have many photos of a various collection of foreigners that look like lecturers. One advert even has foreign students in Thai Uni dress. In all the times I have been there and around about I have never seen a foreign student at DPU !<br /><br />HTH<br /><br />

[paully]

I didn't stay there as they weren't to keen nor quick to sort out a work permit for me. I was not comfortable to work without a work permit.

Quite right, too!!

[moto77]

I'm just teaching in Bangkok for the summer as I have a regular university job in the US, but my salary is about 100,000 per month (2 courses/12 hours per week) plus 20,000/month housing and about 45,000 for airfare. I do have a business Ph.D. from a major US university. I make up the difference by teaching an online course for my home uni which, yeah, pays about 4 times as much per course...

I know some business faculty that have been coming for several years that make MUCH MUCH more in terms of both salary and housing allowance...

[Neeranam]

I used to work for a prestigious uni in Bangkok - 23,000 a month but for 9 hours a week. 1200 minimum for extra classes.

The secret is to get few hours and do lots of extra, obviously.

[moto77]

Another guy I know makes 7500 per hour at the MBA level plus 45,000 per month for housing and airfare of course.

We have nearly identical qualifications and teach the same courses, so that's my eventual goal...

[moto77]

By the way... where do I start with getting a work visa? Is there a specific category for a university professor with a PhD (as there is in the US) or is it just a general work visa?

[Scott]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. I am sure some posters will be along to give you more specific information on your situation, but there is no special category for university professors. You might want to take a look at the pinned topics at the top of the forum and in the visa section.

Best of luck and again, welcome.

[moto77]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. I am sure some posters will be along to give you more specific information on your situation, but there is no special category for university professors. You might want to take a look at the pinned topics at the top of the forum and in the visa section.

Best of luck and again, welcome.

Thanks for that info. I saw some information on some kind of research visa, and wasn't sure if I needed that one. It seems to be relatively difficult to track down Thai visa information. I have looked at the US visa information on the State Department website, and, while the information is readily available, I think you would need a law degree to actually figure it out--not sure which system is worse...

[Scott]

On this forum take a look at this section:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thai-visas-r...permits-f1.html

And you are right, it takes a Ph.D or a law degree or a whole lot of experience to figure some of this out. We do have people with all three qualifications--but the experienced ones are the best at helping out!

[Loz]

glad I finally found this part of the forum.

Looking forward to the University Challange.