What Can I Do With A Doctorate Degree?

[viv]

I'm an attorney from the US and I am considering getting out of criminal defense. What kind of teaching position would I be qualified for in BKK? I would like to teach English- but willing to consider anything else that would be more profitable. I would appreciate any input, suggestions or criticism!! thanks

[Rumpole]

It would be possible to teach law at a Thai university (I did), but the salaries are derisory - Bht 25,000 a month, with no other benefits - and the working conditions can be atrocious. Some universities offer MBA programmes in English, and you might be able to pick up work teaching business law components which would pay a little better, but don't count on it. The words 'teaching' and 'profitable' are generally asynonymous in Thailand. Thai tertiary establishments are not particularly interested in recruiting highly-qualified Western instructors, since they merely serve to highlight the ignorance and unprofessionalism of the majority of Thai professors.

If you want to work in Asia, you will have far more opportunities to teach law in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong or even Japan. The Chinese University of Hong Kong recently opened a law faculty, and I know they were looking for people. Academic salaries and benefits in Hong Kong and Singapore are excellent, but the competition for positions can be fierce. A proven track-record in tertiary-level teaching and publishing is almost always a prerequisite. My advice would be to try Malaysia.

Edited January 2, 2006 by Rumpole

[Bangkok Hound]

Do you have a Ph.D. or a J.D.?

[Ijustwannateach]

I have put an answer in the "Questions About Qualifications" pinned thread.

[viv]

Do you have a Ph.D. or a J.D.?

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A J.D.

[PeaceBlondie]

Doctorates are valuable when applied to the exact profession for which they were earned. A doctorate in Thailand will get you a cup of bad coffee, an interview, and an invitation to teach English under abominable conditions, for about 27,000 per month. Even if it's a doctorate in Etruscan sculpture.

You can't practice law in Thailand legally, as far as I know. If you've been a law professor in the West, you're overqualified to teach it here, or else you're underqualified, or else they don't really care.

That's US$670 per month. Not enough to save up the airfare home.

[Ladphrao]

The words 'teaching' and 'profitable' are generally asynonymous in Thailand.”

Generally true, don’t come to T-land to teach if you are very interested in Money.

“A doctorate in Thailand will get you a cup of bad coffee, an interview, and an invitation to teach English under abominable conditions, for about 27,000 per month.”

Not necessarily true. There are jobs teaching in some of the graduate schools that pay up to 3000 baht ($75) an hour for those with doctoral degrees. I know of some undergraduate programs that pay up to 2000 Baht an hour for teachers with doctoral degrees. (I often wonder about how legitimate the Ph.D.s of those working for about 27,000 Baht are) I don’t know much about opportunities for teaching Law, since all law schools that I am aware of in Thailand teach in Thai (Don’t need experts in American Law so much as experts in Thai law anyway, since this is Thailand), but I would think there are some opportunities for teaching classes in business law. However, to make a “living” at it might require doing mostly freelance work and not restricting yourself to a single university, but there are visa problems with that approach.

Cheers

[Stacking Zeds]

A doctorate in Thailand will get you a cup of bad coffee, an interview, and an invitation to teach English under abominable conditions, for about 27,000 per month. Even if it's a doctorate in Etruscan sculpture.

I love it !!

Good call PB...