Teaching Salary In Thailand

[ChrisB87]

Dear teachers,

So I'm a part-time language school teacher (and a university student) in Bangkok. I get 350 baht per hour, but I'm wondering how much full-time teachers are earning around the country.

So (if you don't mind telling) i am interested to hear the following things:

• What's your salary?
• How many months is your contract?
• What (paid) holidays do you get? or do you have to work during the holidays? (i.e. summer camp)
• What other perks are in your contract? ( e.g. health insurance, housing allowance etc. etc.)
• And of course, which part of the country are you in and what type of school are you in?

I apologize if these questions are a bit direct, but i am sure many teachers here and future teachers are curious to know.

Thanks in advance!

Edited August 21, 2013 by ChrisB87

[mooris7]

I will give you a range for Bangkok salaries which will be a little lower as you head north or south. Gov't schools usually pay 30-40k and are 10 month contracts through agencies. Private schools pay 40-70K and are usually 10-12 month contracts through agencies or direct with the school. Most normal Thai holidays are given and paid for. Full time jobs in language schools are 30-70K and most Thai holidays are still spent working with the exception of the Thai and Western New Years, April and January. Some language schools close between Christmas and New Years as well. Benefits are usually slim to none. Very few schools pay accommodation anymore but some pay some kind of accident insurance and very few pay health ins. These days salaries are being drive down with the surplus of teachers and young inexperienced teachers willing to work for lower salaries. Many agencies and schools are just happy with a white face and clear accent in the classroom that comes cheap!

Edited August 21, 2013 by mooris7

[zeichen]

anything less than 500 baht an hour for a lesson is very low in BKK. That is the standard rate up country.

mooris assessment is pretty good. He went a little higher though than I would. I don't see many jobs paying more than 50k a month.

Northern provinces usually anywhere from 20k-30k. Rare to find higher paid positions unless you are certified teacher.

[mooris7]

anything less than 500 baht an hour for a lesson is very low in BKK. That is the standard rate up country.

mooris assessment is pretty good. He went a little higher though than I would. I don't see many jobs paying more than 50k a month.

Northern provinces usually anywhere from 20k-30k. Rare to find higher paid positions unless you are certified teacher.

I don't agree with salaries upcountry being a good comparison with Bangkok. There are many teachers in BKK but upcountry as you say has less competition for teaching teaching jobs but also a lower cost of living. Part time jobs at language schools in BKK are paying about 400THB per hour. Even less like ECC which is paying 350 and even the op is getting less than 400THB per hour. Bangkok has too many teachers who are willing to work for less. I recently thought the same as this guy about the upcountry but when I was offered and saw many jobs for 25K per year my upcountry working idea came to an abrupt halt. There are now some private schools paying 50-60K per month and I believe The British Council pays as high as 71K per month as advertised on their web site. As for being a certified teacher that means absolutely nothing in Thailand. You can land a job at any of these salary ranges certified, not certified, degree, no degree. It all depends on experience, how persistent and patient you are, and who you know! Degree, no degree, certified, a d not certified. These topics have been discussed to death as well as this one on here! Just do your research and land the best job you can at the time.

Edited August 21, 2013 by mooris7

[sirchai]

Schools in the northeast of this country who hire you directly pay between 25 and 38 K. But this should involve the Thai social security with full coverage and other benefits, in case you're losing your job. Ss also pays money for your kids, but most people won't tell you that, or they just don't know it.

Some schools have free housing facilities, but generally speaking, you'll have to look for a one year contract, paid through midterm and summer holiday.

Many people just go for a higher salary offered by agencies, just to find out that they make less money a year, as most only receive a salary for 10 months

.And then the bitter truth. Most agencies "loose" their contracts with the schools and all your plans are gone.

Schools usually pay for your visa and work permit. A good test to see how welcome you are. Good luck.-

[Scott]

Several private schools that I am aware of have the following terms of employment (roughly--some variation)

Salary: The salary for a native English speaker (or westerner) starts with 33,000 baht for those without a degree and 38,000 for those with a degree. (Slightly less if the school provides housing).

The contract is for 12 months and is renewable at the end of each academic year. There is work in the summer (a special summer session) and teachers have to work the summer session every other year. Payment is for all 12 months, however.

Holidays: It varies, but all gov't holidays. A couple of weeks in October. A couple of weeks at the end of the school year (if you work the summer session), a couple of weeks before the regular academic year starts.

Perks: Health and accident insurance. Housing is available, but then the salary is about 3,000 baht less.

The schools I am referring to are located in 3 different provinces, but all not too far from Bangkok.

[Slip]

Several private schools that I am aware of have the following terms of employment (roughly--some variation)

Salary: The salary for a native English speaker (or westerner) starts with 33,000 baht for those without a degree and 38,000 for those with a degree. (Slightly less if the school provides housing).

The contract is for 12 months and is renewable at the end of each academic year. There is work in the summer (a special summer session) and teachers have to work the summer session every other year. Payment is for all 12 months, however.

Holidays: It varies, but all gov't holidays. A couple of weeks in October. A couple of weeks at the end of the school year (if you work the summer session), a couple of weeks before the regular academic year starts.

Perks: Health and accident insurance. Housing is available, but then the salary is about 3,000 baht less.

The schools I am referring to are located in 3 different provinces, but all not too far from Bangkok.

That sounds very similar to my experiences Scott. Holidays slightly longer perhaps- maybe 5-6 weeks for summer school obligation, and 9-10 if not, plus a couple of weeks at Xmas (my experience being at Catholic schools within 100 km of BKK.).

[Scott]

Yes, there is usually a short break from Christmas through New Year's.

[isawasnake]

• What's your salary?

How many months is your contract? 12

What (paid) holidays do you get? or do you have to work during the holidays? (i.e. summer camp) thai holidays + ~2 months paid

What other perks are in your contract? ( e.g. health insurance, housing allowance etc. etc.) insurance and housing

And of course, which part of the country are you in and what type of school are you in? bkk

[ChrisB87]

Thanks for all the replies so far, hope to hear more

[zeichen]

The problem with your questions isawasnake are that frankly it is none of your business. I can give you a direct quote for specific schools but I will never tell you any details of my contract and I doubt any real teacher will.

"I don't agree with salaries upcountry being a good comparison with Bangkok. There are many teachers in BKK but upcountry as you say has less competition for teaching teaching jobs but also a lower cost of living."

This statement alone shows your lack of knowledge of the field in Thailand as a whole.

First of all in the North there is much higher competition for jobs than BKK. There are by far as many teachers but fewer schools. Cost of living is only about 10% cheaper overall. The real issue for lower wages is that there are more middle income families and what they are willing to pay is quite lower than the higher tax bracket earners in BKK.

As for 350 hour being a fair hourly wage in BKK, go post on Ajarn forums and say that, you will get your hat handed to you by every single poster in less than 10 minutes. At language schools yes you they try to lowball but typically you teach in blocks. I assume that the OP was referring to teaching one hour blocks which wouldn't be worth it if you had to travel to different locations. But if earning 350-400 for blocks of 2-3 hours it wouldn't be too bad but still quite low if you are claiming full time are making 50-70k.

Fact is that the average jobs in BKK pay 30-40k a month. It is rare to get anything more unless A. loads of experience, B. graduated from Ivy league schools and teach SAT prep courses, C. B.ed and certified teacher, D. have some marketable quality that makes you stand out.

Newbie teachers without qualifications don't get 50-70k.

As for degree in education not being relevant, you go with your no degree and TEFL certificate to an international school paying 70k+ and see how quick you get shown the door. You are correct that at a EFL language school it doesn't matter but for better paid positions at EP programs or International schools, it does.

Your British council example is funny, perhaps reading their web page more you would find out that, fact one you have to be a British Citizen for full time employment from them here in Thailand as you are on a G visa. You also need to have the CELTA. They don't accept any other TEFL certificate. For part time you don't have to be a British citizen but you do need the CELTA. British council does pay better than any other language school but you earn it. Split shifts, weekends,

Edited August 21, 2013 by zeichen

[ChrisB87]

"The problem with your questions isawasnake are that frankly it is none of your business. I can give you a direct quote for specific schools but I will never tell you any details of my contract and I doubt any real teacher will."

I believe he wasn't asking any questions, but answering mine.

However, thanks for your very informative response. Much appreciated!

Edited August 21, 2013 by ChrisB87

[Slip]

Reading comprehension test anyone?

[moe666]

The certified teachers at Rum Ree Dee private school make 120,000 baht a month plus housing allowance as well as overtime for extra classes. In Chiang Mai a friend makes 40,000 a month at a Thai school and his wife makes 60,000 at the lanna school.

[ChrisB87]

Mooris7 raises a very serious and true point about wages being driven down. This is a real issue in Thailand. Most teachers i speak to say they had it better when they first came here.

This question could very well be for a different thread (i don't mean to go off topic), but doesn't anyone else (except me) feel a bit concerned about this?

[TerryLH]

"Schools in the northeast of this country who hire you directly pay between 25 and 38 K. But this should involve the Thai social security..."

Social Security would only be available at government schools, and you'd still have to pay your half of the fee.

" Most agencies "loose" their contracts with the schools and all your plans are gone."

Very annoying when they 'loose' something and you have to make 'boarder' runs' to 'loas'.

[paulmw]

anything less than 500 baht an hour for a lesson is very low in BKK. That is the standard rate up country.

mooris assessment is pretty good. He went a little higher though than I would. I don't see many jobs paying more than 50k a month.

Northern provinces usually anywhere from 20k-30k. Rare to find higher paid positions unless you are certified teacher.

I don't agree with salaries upcountry being a good comparison with Bangkok. There are many teachers in BKK but upcountry as you say has less competition for teaching teaching jobs but also a lower cost of living. Part time jobs at language schools in BKK are paying about 400THB per hour. Even less like ECC which is paying 350 and even the op is getting less than 400THB per hour. Bangkok has too many teachers who are willing to work for less. I recently thought the same as this guy about the upcountry but when I was offered and saw many jobs for 25K per year my upcountry working idea came to an abrupt halt. There are now some private schools paying 50-60K per month and I believe The British Council pays as high as 71K per month as advertised on their web site. As for being a certified teacher that means absolutely nothing in Thailand. You can land a job at any of these salary ranges certified, not certified, degree, no degree. It all depends on experience, how persistent and patient you are, and who you know! Degree, no degree, certified, a d not certified. These topics have been discussed to death as well as this one on here! Just do your research and land the best job you can at the time.

I think you will find most Gov't schools and labour offices now require a degree and thats up here in the NE.

All to do with ASEAN and the teachers council as you require their waver letter to get a visa extenstion and W/P.

No letter no extenstion or W/P.

Edited August 21, 2013 by paulmw

[isawasnake]

"Full time jobs in language schools are 30-70K and most Thai holidays are still spent working with the exception of the Thai and Western New Years, April and January. "

I don't agree with the upper end of that figure at all. I am not saying that salary does not exist, but that is high I feel if you go the language school route. And those guys are working every day of these year, even Christamas at the place i looked into. In fact, the guy who I interviewed with said those are their most popular times to receive clients, so it makes sense they are open. They pretty much have the open/closed days of a shopping mall like siam (ie no closed days). I am sure some are closed certain holidays though.

The way to go it private high schools, or primary. The money is there, the kids are monstrosities, but the holidays and time off are very good. I have friends back home who just can't believe I get 2 months paid a year. All things considered, this is the route I think, because you also have to consider special events and assemblies etc. A lot of missed exposure time in there. If you like pretty women though, nothing will beat a place like wall street. Nothing.

Edited August 21, 2013 by isawasnake

[zeichen]

sorry, Isawasnake I put your name and not ChrisB87. I made a mistake who the OP was.

If you check the ajarn main web page they have a lot of job listings probably the largest site for teaching jobs in Thailand. You can see what they are offering.

As others have stated it is pretty sad but a lot of positions are paying less now than they were 10 years ago but the cost of living is nearly 30% more. The last school I worked at in CM I was hired 2 years after the majority of their teachers. Some had been there for 4-6 years. However my salary was literally 10k baht month less a month than all of them. With the pay raise system they had, I would have had to work there for 15 years to catch up with any of them. Personally, I don't think it is good for companies to do that.

Moe, last I knew Lana international only paid 50k baht a month and try to start at 45k for those that don't have too much experience but the right qualifications. Unless your friend's wife is the director, no way that she earns more than the director.

I don't know any government school in CM that pays 40k. So unless you see someone's bank slip, I don't trust what anyone claims to make. Only a few private schools pay that much here and only for the EP programs. Most of the private schools like Prince Royal, Dara, Montfort, Sacred Heart, Regina pay less than 30k a month for normal or bilingual program and around 30-40k for EP. Prince Royal, Montfort and Dara try to start at 25k a month for the Bilingual and or regular program teachers.

[Slip]

anything less than 500 baht an hour for a lesson is very low in BKK. That is the standard rate up country.

mooris assessment is pretty good. He went a little higher though than I would. I don't see many jobs paying more than 50k a month.

Northern provinces usually anywhere from 20k-30k. Rare to find higher paid positions unless you are certified teacher.

I don't agree with salaries upcountry being a good comparison with Bangkok. There are many teachers in BKK but upcountry as you say has less competition for teaching teaching jobs but also a lower cost of living. Part time jobs at language schools in BKK are paying about 400THB per hour. Even less like ECC which is paying 350 and even the op is getting less than 400THB per hour. Bangkok has too many teachers who are willing to work for less. I recently thought the same as this guy about the upcountry but when I was offered and saw many jobs for 25K per year my upcountry working idea came to an abrupt halt. There are now some private schools paying 50-60K per month and I believe The British Council pays as high as 71K per month as advertised on their web site. As for being a certified teacher that means absolutely nothing in Thailand. You can land a job at any of these salary ranges certified, not certified, degree, no degree. It all depends on experience, how persistent and patient you are, and who you know! Degree, no degree, certified, a d not certified. These topics have been discussed to death as well as this one on here! Just do your research and land the best job you can at the time.

I think you will find most Gov't schools and labour offices now require a degree and thats up here in the NE.

All to do with ASEAN and the teachers council as you require their waver letter to get a visa extenstion and W/P.

No letter no extenstion or W/P.

Nothing to do with Asean I think, just the teachers'council, and they are dumping teachers with years of experience to replace them with (at least at times) dodgy expats with zero experience and a degree in agriculture, electronics or whatever, gained 30 years ago.

[Torrens54]

Several private schools that I am aware of have the following terms of employment (roughly--some variation)

Salary: The salary for a native English speaker (or westerner) starts with 33,000 baht for those without a degree and 38,000 for those with a degree. (Slightly less if the school provides housing).

The contract is for 12 months and is renewable at the end of each academic year. There is work in the summer (a special summer session) and teachers have to work the summer session every other year. Payment is for all 12 months, however.

Holidays: It varies, but all gov't holidays. A couple of weeks in October. A couple of weeks at the end of the school year (if you work the summer session), a couple of weeks before the regular academic year starts.

Perks: Health and accident insurance. Housing is available, but then the salary is about 3,000 baht less.

The schools I am referring to are located in 3 different provinces, but all not too far from Bangkok.

You mention "those without a degree" I'm a retired journalist who also trained people entering the broadcasting industry, I don't have a degree but did lecture in journalism at Education Department Colleges in Australia.

Hadn't thought about teaching English here but am getting bored with retirement. Do you think it might be worthwhile checking further? I'm here on a Spouse Visa, would obviously need to get a work permit. Would appreciate your thoughts.

[mooris7]

You don't know the op so what does it matter if you give details about your contract or not? The op has some interest in becoming a full time teacher and wants to hear some examples of what real teachers are making. The only reason I did not tell him is because I hire teachers for schools and also teach so I gave him a range based on the majority of our schools that we hire teachers for. Salary for my teaching gig is 35K per month. My contract is 9 months. I start everyday at 9AM and finish at 1PM with the exception of Friday when I start at 830AM and finish at 10AM. After that I work in a company hiring teachers until about 4PM. Four evenings a week and on Saturday I work at a language school getting 400THB per hour for normal classes and 600THB per hour for corporate classes. I get all Thai holidays off at day school. The language school is closed between December 23rd January 3rd and Thai New Years only. I have a degree but no teaching certificate and I have been teaching for 6 years now.

[sirchai]

"Schools in the northeast of this country who hire you directly pay between 25 and 38 K. But this should involve the Thai social security..."

Social Security would only be available at government schools, and you'd still have to pay your half of the fee.

" Most agencies "loose" their contracts with the schools and all your plans are gone."

Very annoying when they 'loose' something and you have to make 'boarder' runs' to 'loas'.

Got a mirror?-

[gerryBScot]

I'd advise you to avoid the places that pay by the hour. Bottom line: that means zero pay if you work zero hours, in other words you'll only earn if you work. In theory you might earn reasonable money if you get lots of work, but in practise you'll earn little if the school is not very good. No other benefits. These per hour jobs are becoming more and more common and indicate the general approach to the employment of foreigners: cut costs at all costs, strip out all benefits like sick leave, health insurance, no paid holidays, etc and pay as little as you can get away with. It's not unique to Thailand, in fact it is the ugly face of global capitalism - and people wonder why Thai school children's attainment in English is so low, about the lowest in ASEAN I believe.

[mooris7]

I'd advise you to avoid the places that pay by the hour. Bottom line: that means zero pay if you work zero hours, in other words you'll only earn if you work. In theory you might earn reasonable money if you get lots of work, but in practise you'll earn little if the school is not very good. No other benefits. These per hour jobs are becoming more and more common and indicate the general approach to the employment of foreigners: cut costs at all costs, strip out all benefits like sick leave, health insurance, no paid holidays, etc and pay as little as you can get away with. It's not unique to Thailand, in fact it is the ugly face of global capitalism - and people wonder why Thai school children's attainment in English is so low, about the lowest in ASEAN I believe.

I would tend to agree with you if we are talking about working for a language school full time but most of the per hour paying language schools are for part time teachers. These teachers must prove them selves before they will get the prime teaching hours and classes. I had to be the go to guy for absent and sick teachers at my language school. After 6 months of proving myself I now have a slew of regular and private classes every week amounting to about 60-70 hours per month. Also getting paid by the hour is way better because then you won't find your self teaching extra classes for free or other duties like oral testing and English camps. Any of these extras I get paid my hourly rate for. I will gladly give up some lame ass benefit for more money and freedom. If I want to refuse to teach a class then I can because I am not a full time employee!!!!! Works much better that way! Ask any Wall Street teacher working full time what they think. Their salary is 47K per month and they always get extra classes added on and I believe Wall Street has one of the worst teacher retention averages. I know because I have interviewed may unhappy teachers from there. As for the quality of teaching and students I also don't agree with you. I have taught in China before and the students there are 10 times worse than Thai students. The students and teachers are not the problem, it's simple. Whenever you have people paying for school or extra classes it stops being about learning and it becomes a business. The only goal is to make the students happy, end of story. For farang teachers even the govt schools are moving in that direction. If the students are happy then you can keep your job. Don't believe all this nonsense about AEC, nothing will change!

Edited August 22, 2013 by mooris7

[mooris7]

Dear teachers,

So I'm a part-time language school teacher (and a university student) in Bangkok. I get 350 baht per hour, but I'm wondering how much full-time teachers are earning around the country.

So (if you don't mind telling) i am interested to hear the following things:

• What's your salary?
• How many months is your contract?
• What (paid) holidays do you get? or do you have to work during the holidays? (i.e. summer camp)
• What other perks are in your contract? ( e.g. health insurance, housing allowance etc. etc.)
• And of course, which part of the country are you in and what type of school are you in?

I apologize if these questions are a bit direct, but i am sure many teachers here and future teachers are curious to know.

Thanks in advance!

Chris are you looking for a full time job? Maybe I can help! Sorry but my private messaging does not work for some reason from my iPhone app. If Thai visa reads this please fix!

[gerryBScot]

Fair comment Mooris but what do you take home every month on average?

[SlyAnimal]

I teach in the Isaan countryside and make 36k per month, on an 11 month contract, with 5k per year towards my Non B+WP and 2 1/2 - 3 months holiday (Although that including 1 month unpaid leave), as well as statutory holidays etc off. That did previously also include free accommodation at the school house, but it was too far from the exchange to get the internet so I found other accommodation instead. We teach 16-18 periods per week, although there's a lot of holidays/activities, so we'd average a bit less than that.

Other schools I heard of in RoiEt City, who were hiring, also offered similar deals.

In general, I think that working for a government (or private school as well I guess), is going to be vastly superior to working at a language school. As working on an hourly rate means you do have to work a lot in order to get money. If your students don't turn up, you don't get paid, if your language school doesn't assign you many hours, you don't get paid much, and in general, even if you are able to earn a decent amount of money, you're really having to work for it. Also at a language school, your primary working hours, will be evenings and weekends, although I guess that might work in well for some people.

When you work for a government/private school, if you want to work a bit harder to earn a little more money, you can via tutoring or English camps/teaching at other schools etc. The school I work at tries to assist us with picking up additional work, this term 2 of us have an extra 3h per week at another school (@400THBp/hour + petrol money), which means I get an extra 5000+ per month. If I wanted to do extra tutoring to fill in all of the free time I have, then I could easily pickup some after school or weekend tutoring.

Only real downside to government/private schools, is if you get a bad one, as I've heard some schools do try and load you up with more and more work without expecting to pay you for it. So there is a little bit of a lucky dip with government schools, although I think even if they loaded you up with quite a bit of extra work, so long as you get one which pays a decent base salary, once you add in all of the holidays you get paid for, you'd probably still come out even with most language schools anyway.

(When I refer to language schools, I'm specifically referring to ones which pay per hour. Some might pay salaries, but I've only heard of them paying by the hour, usually ~400THB/h, ones which pay higher and manage your hours in decent blocks might work out well though).

[puchooay]

I teach in the Isaan countryside and make 36k per month, on an 11 month contract, with 5k per year towards my Non B+WP and 2 1/2 - 3 months holiday (Although that including 1 month unpaid leave), as well as statutory holidays etc off. That did previously also include free accommodation at the school house, but it was too far from the exchange to get the internet so I found other accommodation instead. We teach 16-18 periods per week, although there's a lot of holidays/activities, so we'd average a bit less than that.

Other schools I heard of in RoiEt City, who were hiring, also offered similar deals.

In general, I think that working for a government (or private school as well I guess), is going to be vastly superior to working at a language school. As working on an hourly rate means you do have to work a lot in order to get money. If your students don't turn up, you don't get paid, if your language school doesn't assign you many hours, you don't get paid much, and in general, even if you are able to earn a decent amount of money, you're really having to work for it. Also at a language school, your primary working hours, will be evenings and weekends, although I guess that might work in well for some people.

When you work for a government/private school, if you want to work a bit harder to earn a little more money, you can via tutoring or English camps/teaching at other schools etc. The school I work at tries to assist us with picking up additional work, this term 2 of us have an extra 3h per week at another school (@400THBp/hour + petrol money), which means I get an extra 5000+ per month. If I wanted to do extra tutoring to fill in all of the free time I have, then I could easily pickup some after school or weekend tutoring.

Only real downside to government/private schools, is if you get a bad one, as I've heard some schools do try and load you up with more and more work without expecting to pay you for it. So there is a little bit of a lucky dip with government schools, although I think even if they loaded you up with quite a bit of extra work, so long as you get one which pays a decent base salary, once you add in all of the holidays you get paid for, you'd probably still come out even with most language schools anyway.

(When I refer to language schools, I'm specifically referring to ones which pay per hour. Some might pay salaries, but I've only heard of them paying by the hour, usually ~400THB/h, ones which pay higher and manage your hours in decent blocks might work out well though).

I too teach in Issan. I get 32500 a month. Visa extension and work permit paid for by the school. I also get traveling expences for going to and from the various offices. Here is the humdinger.....I am on a 12 month contract. I get paid in full for all holidays, about a total of 8 weeks in March/April/may and about 2 and a half weeks in October/November. I also get a full months salary as a New Year Bonus, so in effect I have a 13 month contract.

Happy Days.

[Scott]

Several private schools that I am aware of have the following terms of employment (roughly--some variation)

<snipped>

You mention "those without a degree" I'm a retired journalist who also trained people entering the broadcasting industry, I don't have a degree but did lecture in journalism at Education Department Colleges in Australia.

Hadn't thought about teaching English here but am getting bored with retirement. Do you think it might be worthwhile checking further? I'm here on a Spouse Visa, would obviously need to get a work permit. Would appreciate your thoughts.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Without having a Bachelor's Degree, you may have trouble getting a Work Permit, however, you don't have anything to lose by checking out the situation and seeing what's available and what piques your interest.

The Work Permit issue becomes a problem when you have to have the Teacher's License. This isn't necessary for Universities and for Language Schools, for example.

Best of luck.