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[Leung Falang]

Criminal background checks in most states do not require fingerprints. You can get one in my home state of Texas for a couple $.

and his inability to supply a home country police check

That factor is perhaps of more concern than the fake CV.

Simon

That again isn't as easy as one would think. I have no idea how to get a police check on myself. More important however, it is the employers responsibility to check the applicants police and criminal history. How and why would anyone expect the actual criminal to provide proof he/she's a sexual predator and/or has a history with children? It's defies common sense to rely on the applicant to provide these so called "police check"s. There is no method or means to do it. If there were a means, it would be expensive and who's going to pay for a real background check in these settings? Next they will be asking a native English speaker with a legitimate degree from an accredited western University which teaches in English to take a series of exams written by non-native speakers which make no sense to the western educated native English speaking teacher with a proven and clear teaching record in said country.

I'm American. I took a TEFL Course in America and was told that schools might request a background check from the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and that I should obtain this before leaving the US. The course instructor had been a TEFLer in LOS, Japan, and Korea.

As instructed, I went to my local police department and got my fingers printed on two seperate fingerprint cards. This was free. I then mailed these to the FBI with a $20 payment, as per the instructions on their website. The two fingerprint cards were returned to me within a few weeks with "NO ARREST RECORD" stamped in red on the backside of the cards. I then took the cards to the Thai Embassy and they prepared and attached a letter to the cards indicating the validity of the FBI's background check.

Simple for an American. An applicant from America should have this in hand.

[MantisMan]

My comments were based on the fact that the person has a degree from an unaccredited school, most likely a diploma mill. This is not a fake degree. It is questionable as to whether it is a fraud on the part of the person with the degree. If you go to somewhere like Khao San Road and have a degree printed up, then it is a fake and it is fraudulent.

There are plenty of schools that are unaccredited for a variety of reason. Some of the well-known Bible Colleges, for example, are not accredited. You do go to school, you do take exams and

What exactly are you basing your "facts" on?

Just because someone has a degree from a non-accredited institute does NOT mean it's fake nor fraud.

There are plenty of non-accredited schools that teach academia on par with other "legit" schools.

If I had paid my money and spent my time at one of the unaccredited schools and was turned down for a job, you can bet your panties I'd argue that out and ask for proof of fraud and fakery on your part.

I could be wrong, but you sir, are coming off as a snob.

Please note: "I could be wrong"

Edited December 23, 2013 by MantisMan

[dunque]

Having been involved in recruiting teachers and interviewing them in the past ( some 21 years) I would certainly reject the application regarding the false degree and also inform the applicant as to why the application was rejected.

Police checks are not always as easy as one may think especially if you are from the U.K but a non resident, the Data Protection Act is stringent in its application Police reports are,also somewhat sketchy in their reports.one can apply to ones local police station, if nothing is recorded you're clean. National records may well tell a different tale though.

Having served in the U.K police force (20+ years) prior to retiring from S.B. I am familiar with the process.

I certainly would not contact the immigration police or inform the mans wife. Nor would I contact his current school director. That director would certainly view your interference as a slight on his or her judgement.

My personal opinion is that I am nor is the O.P the judge or jury regarding the situation surrounding the applications and the applicants. What right do I have to destroy a marriage or a partnership based upon my own self conceived principles?

I have encountered some somewhat colourful characters who are teachers here in Thailand and elsewhere some qualified some not.. If the unqualified rise to the top, so be it. I've seen many a qualified teacher sink without a trace in the Thai system The wind always blows the chaff away and the seed grains stay..

To sum it up bundoi you are a recruiter or a manager not a policeman or a judge who is able and could destroy not just one life but two or three or more, Not a nice thing to have on ones conscience is it?.

https://www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check

This link might help UK applicants -

<<

Basic disclosure

If you need to run a check on yourself, you can get a ‘basic disclosure’ with details of any unspent convictions from Disclosure Scotland (you can do this anywhere in the UK).>>

[Scott]

My comments were based on the fact that the person has a degree from an unaccredited school, most likely a diploma mill. This is not a fake degree. It is questionable as to whether it is a fraud on the part of the person with the degree. If you go to somewhere like Khao San Road and have a degree printed up, then it is a fake and it is fraudulent.

There are plenty of schools that are unaccredited for a variety of reason. Some of the well-known Bible Colleges, for example, are not accredited. You do go to school, you do take exams and

What exactly are you basing your "facts" on?

Just because someone has a degree from a non-accredited institute does NOT mean it's fake nor fraud.

There are plenty of non-accredited schools that teach academia on par with other "legit" schools.

If I had paid my money and spent my time at one of the unaccredited schools and was turned down for a job, you can bet your panties I'd argue that out and ask for proof of fraud and fakery on your part.

I could be wrong, but you sir, are coming off as a snob.

Please note: "I could be wrong"

I think you have misread my post. I do NOT consider it fraud if a person has a degree from an unaccredited school. Numerous schools are unaccredited. As I said before, quite a number of the Bible colleges are unaccredited. These schools are not recognized by the MOE, so they are the ones that will not approve them.

[flyingdoc]

This exposes a very real problem here in LOS!

[tetleythedog]

I would guess that about 70% of farang teachers here have a degree problem,

I have not heard of any problems getting a work permit or the MoE not accepting them,

there was a report on one diploma mill that is no longer accepted by the MoE but I am sure the Thais are aware of the problem

but chose to ignore it as to deal with the matter would leave them very short of teachers.

SUSPENSE !!! Go on.........tell us which diploma mill !

[smotherb]

I don't see the dilemma--a fake degree and no police check? Unless you simply want to add to the lack of credibiity of English teachers here in Thailand, notify him he fails to meet your acceptance criteria and place his CV in the circular file.

[smotherb]

For all of you unaccreditied degree proponents, allow me to offer this simile: possessing anything less than a fully accredited college degree and claiming to be a college graduate is like being a pre-op ladyboy and claiming to be a woman.

[wolfmanjack]

The reason I brought up the scenario was to see if anybody would bite. By that I mean we look at certain offences as minor and others as extremely offensive. One poster wrote "don't be a rat", and this is exactly the point. We are judged by our actions by certain groups in our society.

You presented a situation (not real but based on facts) that you felt needed to be addressed in an open forum. Would you turn this person in! I guess that depends on your moral fibre. Are you worried about how you may be judged by peers or by others (you are a rat). Or are you guided by a higher judge......yourself. I work here in Thailand and it seems many of the other posters may as well. We all bitch and moan sometimes about pay, working conditions, this and that. Yet when confronted by one of the very problems that help exacerbate this situation you seem stuck.

This "person" would be deliberately breaking one of the rules set out by the Thai Government / Education Department and you as a recruiter (which I interpret as being a person who should uphold the rules under which you were given this responsibility) are unsure what you should do.

I am not a 'rat" I am a person with high moral fibre, strong ethics and the ability to stand up to people and do what should be done. As soon as this so called person purchased a fake degree at some store he placed himself/herself in the position of being caught and deported etc....he/she put his/her family in danger, he/she made that decision easy for "you" as the recruiter by being unethical.

You are not destroying this persons life by 'turning" them in, they made that decision long before you met them.

I realize this will go against 99.9% of the TV forum members.....but i guess I am different.

I fail to see how your choice to obey every law and your choice to try an make everyone else obey those laws has anything to do with whether you have "high moral fiber" or not.

I have a set of morals that I adhere to and if the law goes against my morals I do not adhere to that law. I stick to my morals instead.

If you turn everyone in that you suspect of breaking the law then you are a rat. A person's morals or lack of morals has nothing to do with that fact. You just choose your version of morals to justify being a rat.

In regards to the other posts in this thread i would turn them in if I suspected them of being a pedophile but not for having a degree from an unaccredited school.

As far as i am concerned the law is stupid any way. What does a person with a degree in math know about teaching English? I would rather hire someone with a TOEFL and hands on experience than a new recruit with a math degree. As far as I am concerned a TOEFL by itself is better than the math degree.

[simon43]

Even teens are been charged as sex offenders for texting themselves half naked

So how does that work then? Some sort of picture made up from text characters?

[wotsdermatter]

All the educational facility, albeit a school, university, college, or whatever, has to do is find the name of the issuing establishment, the years attended, the student number and other pertinent information, and e-mail the Registrars office. They will gladly inform whether the person on the certificate, degree, diploma, or whatever attended their place of study. Game over for fakes. Have taught many places this little skill. Takes but a few minutes to complete. Then there is no comeback to the hiring establishment.

[zeichen]

" i would turn them in if I suspected them of being a pedophile"

that bothers me the most. Turn someone in based on assumptions. I still believe in innocent until proven guilty. Granted I wouldn't trust that person with my child but I also wouldn't do anything against anyone without 100% undeniable proof. If you are wrong and ruin someone's life/career, it would be just as bad.

"As far as i am concerned the law is stupid any way. What does a person with a degree in math know about teaching English? I would rather hire someone with a TOEFL and hands on experience than a new recruit with a math degree. As far as I am concerned a TOEFL by itself is better than the math degree."

In theory I agree with this but for most that have an education, tend to take classes in more fields than just their subject matter. There are many educated people that don't have an education, but for the most part the effort and time you put into a university degree allows for growth that you just don't get living life. As for a 4 week TEFL course, you do realize that is never considered a terminal training but just a quick dip in the pool. Those people with poor language skills in their native language, were poor students when in school, and didn't have the chance to see the myriad of teacing styles you are exposed to in University, you will be at a disadvantage. Same goes for those that start a career in EFL that haven't been in a classroom in 40 years. What we know in the education field has changed drastically in the past 15 years. You barely touch on teaching methodologies, strategies and approaches in a 4 week EFL course.

Those that are educated/scholars have a better chance of learning different fields of study than those that have no experiences but so called "real life". University isn't just job training, so those with different degrees can usually adapt to all situations.

[SOTIRIOS]

...in a neighboring country it is a national industry and as result the market is flooded...with depressed salaries for genuine NES..

....and poor English results for the Thai students..... (example Esophagus my daughter was taught to pronounce it 'eeesofageeus'.....

(I couldn't even recognize the word...)....and this from a 'qualified teacher with a university degree'.....things have really gotten out of hand....

(...I was offered a degree form the unmentionable country...including transcripts and phone answering service for enquiries.

..see what people will do for money...they will sell you a 'verifiable degree'....so where do you begin to 'clean up the system'.....

As for 'life experience degrees'...a lot of them advertise 'recognized by the Thai Ministry of Education'.....

The law used to state: 'A bachelor's degree or equivalent teaching experience'.....

...and just a reminder.....you are not the law.....so choose carefully....

(..apparently just registering for a bachelor's degree program is acceptable too....I have heard from some Thai teachers...)

[SlyAnimal]

I fail to see how your choice to obey every law and your choice to try an make everyone else obey those laws has anything to do with whether you have "high moral fiber" or not.

I have a set of morals that I adhere to and if the law goes against my morals I do not adhere to that law. I stick to my morals instead.

If you turn everyone in that you suspect of breaking the law then you are a rat. A person's morals or lack of morals has nothing to do with that fact. You just choose your version of morals to justify being a rat.

In regards to the other posts in this thread i would turn them in if I suspected them of being a pedophile but not for having a degree from an unaccredited school.

As far as i am concerned the law is stupid any way. What does a person with a degree in math know about teaching English? I would rather hire someone with a TOEFL and hands on experience than a new recruit with a math degree. As far as I am concerned a TOEFL by itself is better than the math degree.

As a quick 2c regarding "High moral fibre"

I like to think of there being 2 standards by which "moral fibre" is judged. I grew up playing a lot of role playing games, and I think that they hit it on the button in regards to people's alignment:

Lawful - Obey/Uphold the law, regardless of whether it's a good law or not.

Chaotic - Do what you want, regardless of the law.

Good - Does what's "right"

Evil - Doesn't really care about "right" and "wrong"

With each person being a combination of the two sets of values, in varying degrees.

So you can be of high moral fibre, even if you're "Chaotic Good" or "Lawful Good". Likewise people will often consider themselves "Good", when actually they are simply being "Lawful".

For all of you unaccreditied degree proponents, allow me to offer this simile: possessing anything less than a fully accredited college degree and claiming to be a college graduate is like being a pre-op ladyboy and claiming to be a woman.

If you claim that your education is something which it's not e.g. you have a diploma but call it a bachelor's degree, or just make a forged copy of a bachelor's degree, then that is definitely "bad", or even illegal.

But applying for a job with an unaccredited degree isn't doing something bad at all. As their CV simply states what/where/when they studied and the qualification earned, so long as they have documentation to back that up, they are then not lying or attempting to deceive anyone. The fact that the university is a dodgey degree mill which churns out graduates of poor quality is the responsibility of the school to verify, the applicant is simply stating the truth about their study.

Which is part of the reason why TESOL Certificates are so dodgey, as (to the best of my knowledge) there isn't a single international body which can accredit organisations on whether they meet a high enough standard or not. As a result, when applicants apply with a certificate from a dodgey TESOL school, the employer can't verify if it's a decent school or not, as they don't know which schools are good and which aren't. Universities on the other hand, have various rankings etc which can be used to confirm that they offer legitimate courses.

[wolfmanjack]

The reason I brought up the scenario was to see if anybody would bite. By that I mean we look at certain offences as minor and others as extremely offensive. One poster wrote "don't be a rat", and this is exactly the point. We are judged by our actions by certain groups in our society.

You presented a situation (not real but based on facts) that you felt needed to be addressed in an open forum. Would you turn this person in! I guess that depends on your moral fibre. Are you worried about how you may be judged by peers or by others (you are a rat). Or are you guided by a higher judge......yourself. I work here in Thailand and it seems many of the other posters may as well. We all bitch and moan sometimes about pay, working conditions, this and that. Yet when confronted by one of the very problems that help exacerbate this situation you seem stuck.

This "person" would be deliberately breaking one of the rules set out by the Thai Government / Education Department and you as a recruiter (which I interpret as being a person who should uphold the rules under which you were given this responsibility) are unsure what you should do.

I am not a 'rat" I am a person with high moral fibre, strong ethics and the ability to stand up to people and do what should be done. As soon as this so called person purchased a fake degree at some store he placed himself/herself in the position of being caught and deported etc....he/she put his/her family in danger, he/she made that decision easy for "you" as the recruiter by being unethical.

You are not destroying this persons life by 'turning" them in, they made that decision long before you met them.

I realize this will go against 99.9% of the TV forum members.....but i guess I am different.

I fail to see how your choice to obey every law and your choice to try an make everyone else obey those laws has anything to do with whether you have "high moral fiber" or not.

I have a set of morals that I adhere to and if the law goes against my morals I do not adhere to that law. I stick to my morals instead.

If you turn everyone in that you suspect of breaking the law then you are a rat. A person's morals or lack of morals has nothing to do with that fact. You just choose your version of morals to justify being a rat.

In regards to the other posts in this thread i would turn them in if I suspected them of being a pedophile but not for having a degree from an unaccredited school.

As far as i am concerned the law is stupid any way. What does a person with a degree in math know about teaching English? I would rather hire someone with a TOEFL and hands on experience than a new recruit with a math degree. As far as I am concerned a TOEFL by itself is better than the math degree.

Good points.

You are right. I should have not used the term suspect. I should have said if i was convinced the person was a pedophile. It would then be up to the courts to convict or not.

I still maintain that the mere fact someone has a bachelors degree of any kind should not be the deciding factor.

There are plenty that can teach English with only a high school diploma. On the other hand there are University English Professors in the USA that should not be teaching at all. I had the displeasure of being a student of one of them at the University I attended.

For the record I left school lacking 4 credits for a bachelors degree therefore am not qualified to teach English in Thailand according to this Law. Neither would I consider myself qualified if i would have spent another 3 months getting those last 4 credits. The degree I was going for was in Economics which in no way would have made me qualified to be a teacher let alone teach English. I did take several education classes as electives since they were considered the easiest way to get some extra A's and B's to raise my GPA. In my opinion these would not have made much difference in my being a qualified English teacher either other than the fact that it did expose me to teaching kids.

What I do consider makes me qualified (I am not getting paid to teach) is the fact that I have some experience from teaching my own kids.

My kids are attending a school with NES teachers that show up in class once a week. I spoke with the NES teachers and others at the school. I determined that the majority of their job is to keep the kids entertained instead of teaching them properly. The one benefit I can see is the Thai kids are getting some kind of exposure to the spoken English language but that is pretty much it. It isn't the NES teachers fault though. I was told that they have to follow the Thai education program which is seriously lacking. Therefore the real job of teaching my kids English has fallen upon me. Now some of my kids friends want to learn from me but I can't teach them according to the law. I would do it for free anyway except I am fairly certain a rat would turn me in.

[HerbalEd]

Knowingly lying to me with a fraudulent degree would cause me to immediately reject him. Period.

[laislica]

and his inability to supply a home country police check

That factor is perhaps of more concern than the fake CV.

Simon

That again isn't as easy as one would think. I have no idea how to get a police check on myself. More important however, it is the employers responsibility to check the applicants police and criminal history. How and why would anyone expect the actual criminal to provide proof he/she's a sexual predator and/or has a history with children? It's defies common sense to rely on the applicant to provide these so called "police check"s. There is no method or means to do it. If there were a means, it would be expensive and who's going to pay for a real background check in these settings? Next they will be asking a native English speaker with a legitimate degree from an accredited western University which teaches in English to take a series of exams written by non-native speakers which make no sense to the western educated native English speaking teacher with a proven and clear teaching record in said country.

Aye, I wondered how to get a UK check, so, thanks to Google..... The first hit of many

Get a copy of your police records

Contact your local police for a copy of the records they hold about you.

Under the Data Protection Act you have the right to ask your local police for a copy of the records they hold about you. This is called a ‘subject access request’.

You may need to show a copy of your records to the local police if you move to another country.

Your local police will tell you how to apply.

You may have to pay a fee. This can’t be more than £10 for checks in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Police certificates for visa applications

Contact the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) if you need a police certificate for a visa for Australia, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa or the United States of America.

The fee is £45 to get the certificate within 10 working days and £80 for a 2 day premium service.

Personal record requests from other organisations

You can also request your personal records from the following organisations:

HM Prison Service

HM Court Service

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

https://www.gov.uk/copy-of-police-records

[fifthcolumn]

So now the guy is watching under age porn at his school desk. That is a bit of a reach to make your point no? Maybe he's down south making bombs or in MaeSot cutting up bags of Ice.

What sort of logic would inject such a situation to make a point?

I think you are inferring: bogus degree = (at least potential) evil person

This may be so but far more likely, he's just a lazy slob who found himself in Thailand, broke and has a knack for teaching.

I'm all for running the entire teaching clearance out of govt offices, hiring packages as well. Personally, I feel diploma mills for lifelong learning is bs and are indeed fake diplomas but understand the distinction.

The Educational system does not consider lifelong learning a valid degree. I read it in my documents while studying for the TCT exam.

I have to laugh, so many dodgy UK degrees, especially Masters.

Up to them, hire or fire.

[otherstuff1957]

Like most of the other posters on this thread I would neither hire the applicant nor turn him in to the police. I am referring to the dodgy degree issue of course, the kiddy-porn issue would change things considerably!

Actually, I'm rather surprised that the op has had this problem. On another thread he said "My experience is that Thais are the best teachers of English for Thai students. If there are any farangs out there who can speak even Patom 1 level, please let me know ;-)". So, why is he interviewing NES teachers instead of Thais?

[xenophon]

This is not a dilemma. This is fraud. Bin the application and don't notify him.

In any other country you should also contact the police and immigration but not here. Getting involved with local officialdom can lead to who knows where - from nothing at all to bribes to floating face down in a klong.

[MantisMan]

My comments were based on the fact that the person has a degree from an unaccredited school, most likely a diploma mill. This is not a fake degree. It is questionable as to whether it is a fraud on the part of the person with the degree. If you go to somewhere like Khao San Road and have a degree printed up, then it is a fake and it is fraudulent.

There are plenty of schools that are unaccredited for a variety of reason. Some of the well-known Bible Colleges, for example, are not accredited. You do go to school, you do take exams and

What exactly are you basing your "facts" on?

Just because someone has a degree from a non-accredited institute does NOT mean it's fake nor fraud.

There are plenty of non-accredited schools that teach academia on par with other "legit" schools.

If I had paid my money and spent my time at one of the unaccredited schools and was turned down for a job, you can bet your panties I'd argue that out and ask for proof of fraud and fakery on your part.

I could be wrong, but you sir, are coming off as a snob.

Please note: "I could be wrong"

I think you have misread my post. I do NOT consider it fraud if a person has a degree from an unaccredited school. Numerous schools are unaccredited. As I said before, quite a number of the Bible colleges are unaccredited. These schools are not recognized by the MOE, so they are the ones that will not approve them.

My apologies. I understand now where you are coming from.

It just seems these days the paper work and qualifications needed for teaching employment is getting bigger and bigger, higher and higher.

And that's just to teach kids who don't care anyways with the lowest pay of all the Asian nations combined.

[inutil]

Number 2 is by far and away the best choice.

Just because hes got a phoenix (i assume) degree doesnt make him a bad person who cant teach. Just because ive got a degree from an accredited university doesnt make me an awesome teacher. The degree is a visa formality, its a hoop you jump through for the work permit. It suggests you have the study skills and discipline in an academic environment i suppose, but nothing more. Im no brighter than someone without one. I can possibly write in a more colorful manner (and use bigger words thanks to the millions of essays i had to complete in the process of attaining my degree), but other than that... i dunno...

it always feels hilarious that i can teach in asia, and my swedish mates (with their fluency in second language acquisition) cant. It also seems funny that i get an automatic 1 year visa in china (where i live), and my Philippine colleague gets a six month visa purely on the basis of her nationality (shes a qualified teacher and im not). It does lead to a certain cynicism about the whole thing. I mean, i get why theyd want to put the hurdles up (probability?), but the only real qualification to do this job is a certain look and disposition that marries itself to the expectation of your clients.

Too cynical perhaps? Maybe so.

Bottomoftheladder4life!

So number 2. Tell him that hed have more success with that degree certificate if, instead of mailing it out to foreigners who know that its not a real university, he popped in to the schools themselves and spoke only to the Thai English teachers/directors who had no clue one way or another.

Edited December 29, 2013 by inutil

[inutil]

As a quick 2c regarding "High moral fibre"

I like to think of there being 2 standards by which "moral fibre" is judged. I grew up playing a lot of role playing games, and I think that they hit it on the button in regards to people's alignment:

Lawful - Obey/Uphold the law, regardless of whether it's a good law or not.

Chaotic - Do what you want, regardless of the law.

Good - Does what's "right"

Evil - Doesn't really care about "right" and "wrong"

With each person being a combination of the two sets of values, in varying degrees.

So you can be of high moral fibre, even if you're "Chaotic Good" or "Lawful Good". Likewise people will often consider themselves "Good", when actually they are simply being "Lawful".

Which is part of the reason why TESOL Certificates are so dodgey, as (to the best of my knowledge) there isn't a single international body which can accredit organisations on whether they meet a high enough standard or not. As a result, when applicants apply with a certificate from a dodgey TESOL school, the employer can't verify if it's a decent school or not, as they don't know which schools are good and which aren't. Universities on the other hand, have various rankings etc which can be used to confirm that they offer legitimate courses.

I always liked to think of myself as chaotic good, but turns out every test i take (and i take them because like you, i am a massive nerd), makes me neutral good. I cant even be a bloody druid.

[mopar71]

First there is this interesting story that hooks me in...

bundoi

Posted 2013-12-20 04:34:26

I receive an application from an NES with 2 years experience in Thailand, married to a Thai lady; they have a young child together.

His degree is a fake from a well known fake university and his inability to supply a home country police check, plus his shiftiness on that subject, suggests some past trouble.

Then this...

First of all I should say that the scenario I presented is a composite of several fraudulent applications I have received over the last year, not a specific individual;

So the OP in this topic is itself a fraud, a fake? I thought it was a real situation until I read up to here. IMO, you should have stated in the OP that you made it up, that it was just a composite you put together.

[mmh8]

and his inability to supply a home country police check

That factor is perhaps of more concern than the fake CV.

Simon

That again isn't as easy as one would think. I have no idea how to get a police check on myself. More important however, it is the employers responsibility to check the applicants police and criminal history. How and why would anyone expect the actual criminal to provide proof he/she's a sexual predator and/or has a history with children? It's defies common sense to rely on the applicant to provide these so called "police check"s. There is no method or means to do it. If there were a means, it would be expensive and who's going to pay for a real background check in these settings? Next they will be asking a native English speaker with a legitimate degree from an accredited western University which teaches in English to take a series of exams written by non-native speakers which make no sense to the western educated native English speaking teacher with a proven and clear teaching record in said country.

I'm American. I took a TEFL Course in America and was told that schools might request a background check from the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and that I should obtain this before leaving the US. The course instructor had been a TEFLer in LOS, Japan, and Korea.

As instructed, I went to my local police department and got my fingers printed on two seperate fingerprint cards. This was free. I then mailed these to the FBI with a $20 payment, as per the instructions on their website. The two fingerprint cards were returned to me within a few weeks with "NO ARREST RECORD" stamped in red on the backside of the cards. I then took the cards to the Thai Embassy and they prepared and attached a letter to the cards indicating the validity of the FBI's background check.

Simple for an American. An applicant from America should have this in hand.

I guess it is simple for them to keep an eye on you without having to arrest you they now have your fingerprints on database, who knows what they will do with those? they also now know you are in Thailand, I'm sure they have much more in your profile case now