I have a friend who wishes to come to Thailand and teach for a year or two. I did some research for him and see that the best jobs require a 120hr TEFL cert. My friend has a Ph.D. from Canada and has volunteer taught ESL for several years, in addition to being an experienced lecturer and University. Of course, being highly qualified to teach English doesnt exempt him from the one month course requirments to get a ESL paper. My question is, for people who actually know how to teach and have experience, what is the fastest and cheapest way to get the diploma here (as a formality) as I doubt there is much he actually will learn from the program? I don't mean to imply the TEFL is worthless, but for this guy, its like requiring a surgeon to take a basic biology class... Thanks in advance for any serious suggestions.

Despite his experience, If he wants to benefit from training, he should read the reviews of some of the highly-rated courses here:

http://www.teflcoursereview.com/courses/location/thailand/

However, you are correct that he will gain very little from a cheap course.

A TEFL for the best jobs?

A Tefl certificate is not required by the MOE or the TCT (teacher's council of Thailand). Some schools may list it as a requirement in their job ads, but most would substitute, or even prefer, experience. Given that your friend has some experience in teaching ESL, I don't think that a TEFL certificate will improve his employability.

Thanks for the advice.

Thanks for the info.

The TEFL course taken in Thailand will also teach him the nuances that exist teaching Thai students. Negative or not, it will help your friend more so than hinder his teaching skills.

More often than not, the ads for teachers mention TEFL by about 90% over CELTA or DELTA paper holders. DOE have nothing to do with hiring at local anuban or orborjor levels.

I did my 120 hour 'intensive' online course in about 14 hours. And yes, it was completely useless but used a lot of big words. I am not sure how many schools actually care about it, much more important that you have a degree to show them.