Wheres the money in ESL?

[inutil]

Or if you like... wheres the real career in it?

I have my own ideas of course (IELTS training?). But i know this is a bit cursory. Of course, QTS is loooooovely, but thats a bit of a commitment (and as i found out to my own personal distress in 2008 - theres no guarantee that people will take you onto an RE for KS4 (Secondary school - GCSE) students, when you have a degree in philosophy and a few years teaching on the JET programme under your belt).

I know im a bit of a young fish in this pond, and genuinely im not THAT concerned with following the money (ive been teaching govt schools from day 1 after all), but my recent job is putting me in a few more 1on1 style teaching situations and its not exactly hard work. In fact, of the two, its incredibly easy work compared to dealing with 30 plus 13 year old mixed level kids and trying to keep them interested, inspired, engaged, whilst also having them understand and be able to apply the language points youre teaching them. Phew, garbled sentence. Ill fix it later

Point is, hagwons and language schools never appealed to me, and to be honest, they still dont. It feels much less... chaotic and fun... but its also more structured and straightforward. And the time shoots past. So the little devil is peeking over my shoulder...

Say it was time to add some new strings to my bow... what would you suggest? Consider, BA philosophy+120 hour in class Tefl. Have plenty of space to add soem new letters. But also moving towards the big 4-0 in a few years. Im still life and soul though (genki teacher par excellence). Assume short time commitments though. Maximum would be a month out of the office.

Actually, cards on the table: My company really want me to teach in their office because all the students regardless of age seem to like me. But i really like public school teaching and kinda dont enjoy 1-to-1 all that much. It would also mean relocating me to their main office 60kms away which im reluctant to do. So looking for a thing or two i might want to ask for to help sweeten the deal (since honestly, if they say i have to do it, im not going to tell them to stuff off - im peaceful, flexible and diplomatic, which is another reason they want me there). But maybe if i can bring something in to the discussion that would beneift them as a company (a specific qualification allowing them to offer a unique service) then they might be inclined to pay for the training (and the contract) on the grounds that i complete the contract. Im only asking because it beats just showing up and getting little more than a relocation allowance.

So just thinking what you old hats might recommend. Consider also im in China. Though that might not make that big of a difference since its a big world. Again, its something i cant spend a long time on (or rather, the longer i spend on it, the longer id have to commit myself to their employment out of fairness). But definitely something that might carry me along a bit.

Alternatively you could just answer the question in the title of course and ill read between the lines a bit

PS. Also going to push for chinese lessons. But they aint exactly expensive. And the relocation means itd be easy enough since it puts me in a better place to be honest. Lots of benefits to moving there if im honest.

[celso]

DELTA opens up a lot of doors. Teacher training, material writing, management... or if you want to stay independent, it will give you a better chance of getting those lovely group-private classes.

Really group privates are easy money. Students are happy because they pay less than 1-1 classes. You get paid more per hour. And you have less work to do, as communication can shift to student-student.

Eg. In Spain I taught privates for $20 an hour. I met a group from a marketing company, five of them wanted lessons. So I offered to teach for only $10 an hour - bargain for them! And I made $50 an hour, teaching twice a week for $400 a month. That was a great time...

Shame privates are not popular in Bangkok.

Edited January 19, 2014 by celso

[DogNo1]

The best choice is going to a REPUTABLE graduate school for an MA or PhD in linguistics. Second choice would be going for an education degree starting with TESOL and then an EDD with a specialty in comparative or international education. Take a look at CIES. Google it on the Internet. Without the qualifications, you'll be relegated to low-paying and often irregular work. If you bite the bullet and get your terminal degree by the time you turn 50, you can look forward to around 20 years of high earnings and a very comfortable retirement. With a PhD or EDD under your belt, lots of doors will swing open. Good luck!

[Ruin]

I get the feeling that if it was not to be in a country like Thailand then most would not take this unqualified option.

It's not the money, it is the location and associated benefits of living there.

[F4UCorsair]

Would language teachers in Chiang Mai, or anywhere in Thailand for that matter, be offended if I started teaching for no cost? Would they see it as taking business off them?

I don't need the money but do need an interest, and I thought running private English classes at no cost, say three mornings a week, would be a good thing to do. I realize I would still need a work permit to do so. I guess most teachers work for schools/organizations, so wouldn't' see it as moving in on their patches?

I'm interested in any comments.

Edited January 20, 2014 by F4UCorsair

[danstarr]

If you manage to get a work permit I'd be interested to know how.

[donmuang37]

First, I think it is hilarious to mention "money" and "teaching" in one sentence!

I'm retired and fortunately have more than enough income for a comfortable life in Thailand. But after 3 years of retirement, I got bored. So my wife and I started running free English classes in her old neighborhood which were very popular and successful. We covered all the expenses ourselves, including an assistant. It was so successful that the head of village applied for government funding which was granted. He pocketed the money and even refused to pay for the assistant. The next week we closed the classes. Thais tend to equate "free" with "worthless", and "farang" with "stupid".

So I took a paying job with work permit 8 years ago. I've been head teacher for the last 4 years. It keeps me busy, and happy, but I don't earn any serious money. Very few teachers do.

If you want to make enough money to live a comfortable middle/upper middle class life and then have a retirement, go home. Get a real job that pays real money. And retire in Thailand when you know you have enough money to live, also considering that the cost of living always goes up, not down. Good luck!

[NoshowJones]

If you manage to get a work permit I'd be interested to know how.

So would I.

[sam sen]

i manage a summer schools in the UK for 3 months every year, in three months i earn more that i would working full time for a 12 months in thailand.

as a qualified teacher i teach private students not because i need the money but because i enjoy one to one teaching with motivated students and because i like to work.

as a career and to make any real money you really need to go the DELTA route and work as a director of studies or in higher management

[fifthcolumn]

So pathetic, I am so bored, so I teach...

Now THAT, that friends is a pure thrills

You people move to one of the most beautiful, dynamic parts of the world and the best you can come up with, despite pockets brimming in cash is to entertain yourselves by working often illegally in a hot noisy mess of kids that you cannot even understand.

Sheeeeeesh

Teachers were supposed to be smart.

Edited January 20, 2014 by fifthcolumn

[mike123ca]

Would language teachers in Chiang Mai, or anywhere in Thailand for that matter, be offended if I started teaching for no cost? Would they see it as taking business off them?

I don't need the money but do need an interest, and I thought running private English classes at no cost, say three mornings a week, would be a good thing to do. I realize I would still need a work permit to do so. I guess most teachers work for schools/organizations, so wouldn't' see it as moving in on their patches?

I'm interested in any comments.

Here in Ubon, I see a lot of the western churches here offering free language classes. There are people teaching for free.

[umbanda]

Would language teachers in Chiang Mai, or anywhere in Thailand for that matter, be offended if I started teaching for no cost? Would they see it as taking business off them?

I don't need the money but do need an interest, and I thought running private English classes at no cost, say three mornings a week, would be a good thing to do. I realize I would still need a work permit to do so. I guess most teachers work for schools/organizations, so wouldn't' see it as moving in on their patches?

I'm interested in any comments.

I was a free English teacher at Government Elementary Schools in 2011 even if I am a non native speaker. I did just because I love to teach and like to be busy on my retirement with something I like to do. I was having a wonderful time!...and 6 months later the Thai Government started a program paying 10000THB/month for ANY English speaker, foreign or Thai, teaching at elementary schools. The Principal likes my work so much that he was willing to pay me that only for working 3 days a week. I didn't do it because I got married and move to another city, but still looking for something similar to do it if I have the opportunity. If you go to any public elementary school and tell the Principal that you wants to teach English, I am sure you will make its day....specially if it is a countryside or village school. Go for it! You will make a lot of good friends!

The school will take care of your WP. If you give private classes, for free, in your home, you will have a lot of kids around, but I think will be better to ask the Labor Dept about that, and get a Volunteer Permit, WP, or any related documentation.

[Fookhaht]

First, I think it is hilarious to mention "money" and "teaching" in one sentence!

Well said. May answer the title of this thread in three words?

"NOT in Thailand!"

Sent from my tin can via string

[brewsterbudgen]

Plenty of money to be made doing exam preparation (IELTS/TOEFL/TOEIC/GCSE/SAT) in Thailand. Most teachers I know make around 700-1,000 baht an hour and supplement it with IELTS examining. Not difficult to make 80,000 - 100,000 a month, which won't make anyone rich but is a tidy sum for Thaialnd.

[inutil]

A mixed bag of replies to be honest

Some helpful, some... possibly a little more from leftfield. Not complaining mind you. Let the thread follow its own internal logic and all that. Just curious how it happens...

Anyways, the gist im taking is that the path well traveled is still the way to proceed: Delta then into MA/Phd.

Realistically the delta part time (over a year since there is no way i could afford to lose three months of salary) is the only option im seeing on the table. Of course i couldnt ask my company to subsidise this as part payment for the relocation so really its just back at the old question we all invariably ask ourselves at some point: do i really want to do this as a career, or do i really want to get the hell out and start again with enough cash to retrain? And to be honest, i dont. Just looking for a way to add some small things to the CV that might beef it up and be financially (and temporally) unimposing enough that a company employing me might find the cost in training me is easily returned by the clients they can sell the qualification to in the general public.

"ah, your son is taking the ielts 7? As it happens we have a teacher fully trained up by cambridge on this very thing! just sign this paper and we'll have them working on it in no time"...

That kind of thing...

Oooh!... maybe im becoming evil?

[isawasnake]

I honestly, from the deepest bowels of my soul, think you have to be crazy to pay money to "learn" to teach something here in Thailand. I mean, I guess to get your foot in the door to do something you like would be ok, but this talk about delta and masters just astonishes me. If you want money, teach brats in a private high school here in Thailand, or go home. If you don't, keep teaching the poor brats for 30k a month.

[tingtongtingtong]

I have went back to the UK to complete my PGCE in genera primary (wouldnt advice it if you do not love teaching) and will now apply for jobs in international schools in BKK. Lots of schools want you to have taught in your home country for a few years first but I know atleast 2 people who haven't and just did the PGCE and teach in a top teir international school.

Gonna take a job teaching English and keep aplying for international schools, i'll keep you posted if I get a job in one asap

I'm starting to think I have been over thinking the situation. You can spend your whole life planning and not living. I have the most fun in Thai government school. Its not a money thing with me more a security thing, yearly contract BS and stuff.

The people you surround yourself with means more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je3rQevW-cw

[tingtong]

Thais tend to equate "free" with "worthless", and "farang" with "stupid".

So true, yet I dont get why!

Just put down for one of those Thai things.

[celso]

Some people in this thread are being too pessimistic about ESL in Thailand.

I work at a language mill and make 70k a month for 100 hours of teaching. Plenty of overtime which im too lazy to ever take. I know others with more experience and qualifications who have gone to good international schools, teacher training, and examining who earn 100k+.

Im not saying it is easy, you need qualifications and experience. And it is not rich like some retirees on this board, but it is enough to live nicely in Thailand.

Delta, PGCE, Ma, jump at the chance to do any of those.

[F4UCorsair]

Would language teachers in Chiang Mai, or anywhere in Thailand for that matter, be offended if I started teaching for no cost? Would they see it as taking business off them?

I don't need the money but do need an interest, and I thought running private English classes at no cost, say three mornings a week, would be a good thing to do. I realize I would still need a work permit to do so. I guess most teachers work for schools/organizations, so wouldn't' see it as moving in on their patches?

I'm interested in any comments.

I was a free English teacher at Government Elementary Schools in 2011 even if I am a non native speaker. I did just because I love to teach and like to be busy on my retirement with something I like to do. I was having a wonderful time!...and 6 months later the Thai Government started a program paying 10000THB/month for ANY English speaker, foreign or Thai, teaching at elementary schools. The Principal likes my work so much that he was willing to pay me that only for working 3 days a week. I didn't do it because I got married and move to another city, but still looking for something similar to do it if I have the opportunity. If you go to any public elementary school and tell the Principal that you wants to teach English, I am sure you will make its day....specially if it is a countryside or village school. Go for it! You will make a lot of good friends!

The school will take care of your WP. If you give private classes, for free, in your home, you will have a lot of kids around, but I think will be better to ask the Labor Dept about that, and get a Volunteer Permit, WP, or any related documentation.

Thanks umbanda for the encouraging reply. I don't think I'd be so interested in teaching kids, being something of a disciplinarian, and reading that Thai classes run amok much of the time.

Actually I would charge, and the charge would be that the adult students take turns at bringing lunch for me, lesson 10.00 - 12.00,and then I enjoy a Thai lunch. If I had say, ten students, with lessons three days a week, it would mean each student brought lunch only once every three weeks, and that's a reasonable cost.

[F4UCorsair]

If you manage to get a work permit I'd be interested to know how.

So would I.

Are you asking that of me? I guess so because it immediately follows my post, but not sure. You both obviously see difficulties? What are they?

It may still be some months before I relocate, so an answer could be some time away.

[NoshowJones]

If you manage to get a work permit I'd be interested to know how.

So would I.

Are you asking that of me? I guess so because it immediately follows my post, but not sure. You both obviously see difficulties? What are they?

It may still be some months before I relocate, so an answer could be some time away.

I'm no expert, but one thing is you need to employ at least 4 Thai people. I was a school teacher, and if I could get a work permit just for teaching kids on my own two or three times a week, I would have done it a long time ago.

[zeichen]

some misconceptions going about in this thread. I love when I see people post about degrees and qualifications. I wonder those recommending DELTA and MA/PHd in linguistics actually have them.

Universities pay low overall. The most I know anyone making from straight salary at Universities is 50k a month. I know so many PhD's making only 30k baht a month at universities. I even know two full proffesors retired from the states working part time making only 18k a month.

Specifically for EFL field in Thailand, test prep and being IELTS examiner will often get people to the higher salaries but it takes work building a reputation.

Being a subject teacher with a teacher's license and home country experience will bring the larger 100-150k baht salaries at international schools.

The advanced degrees in linguistics/TESOL still will not get you the same money that teaching subjects at international schools, but will open more doors in European ESL, and the middle east.

The EFL business in Thailand is still based more on personality, contacts and relationships than pure qualifications.

Personally, I got bored of EFL teaching after doing it for 6 years and moved to more specific areas like academic/thesis writing which did generate a lot higher salary but the number of positions were limited. There is also recruiting exchange students which pays a lot about 2k USD per student.

I have been doing the international school route for a few years now and definitely prefer it. I have taught science, History and English Literature. The pay is higher than any of my top paid EFL jobs. The most I ever made in Thailand in EFL was 50k baht a month + editing jobs, though in CM that is pretty good. However teaching at international schools I have never made less than 100k baht. I do prefer to teach abroad though and having a teacher's license and a degree in a subject that is desired like business, economics, sciences, maths, etc open more doors.

DELTA does not open as many doors in Asia as it does in the Middle East or Europe and is often harder to get and more specialized than an MA TESOL/EDU etc.

[BasilBrush500]

Some people in this thread are being too pessimistic about ESL in Thailand.

I work at a language mill and make 70k a month for 100 hours of teaching. Plenty of overtime which im too lazy to ever take. I know others with more experience and qualifications who have gone to good international schools, teacher training, and examining who earn 100k+.

Im not saying it is easy, you need qualifications and experience. And it is not rich like some retirees on this board, but it is enough to live nicely in Thailand.

Delta, PGCE, Ma, jump at the chance to do any of those.

Hi Celso, I have CELTA, MA Tesol, lots of IELTS teaching experience, TOEFL teaching experience, but never seen ESL jobs for 70,000 in LOS. PM me if you can spill the beans. I work in Saudi at the moment but want to relocate to Thailand eventually. I have considered doing PhD, but I don't see the point really unless you want to go into management, and in fact a PhD tends not to be practical, but rather an extension of in-depth MA dissertation research, which anybody with a life would never seriously be interested in reading. I consider myself an academic, but I don't spend my weekends reading PhD thesis work. Who does exactly if anyone? I do wonder, how many PhD theses lie in libraries around the world wasting away until somebody has to read them to get some information to show their own extensive reading to add yet another 'useless' thesis to the pile (pun unintended). Writing practical classroom materials that students can learn from are far more useful. Sorry ... getting a bit off topic ... However, the OP might consider the amount of time spend doing further education courses to get more qualified vis a vis writing teaching textbooks that could bring future royalties and advance his career as a materials writer. At 40 years old though he will soon find himself the right/wrong side of 50 in a few shakes, so he needs to either DELTA or MA TESOL pronto. The DELTA would open up all doors in the Middle East ... Aramco pay 250,000 baht a month in Saudi, so a few years doing that he could set up his own language school. Google Al Hoty who are agents for Aramco recruiting. It's all very well to follow your dreams and do what you love, but sometimes you need money to do that. The OP should also make sure while he is spending time in China or wherever in Asia that he saves into a pension fund or buys property back home for retirement nest eggs.

[inutil]

The OP is praying that the good lord drags him into the night long before he needs to face the music on that one. And if he doesnt, he hopes he has just enough wiles to become a street alchy and finds a solid doorway to kip in. Or even better, he'll find himself a nice quiet disowned cottage in the highlands of scotland that people just sort of forgot about and sleep there until the NHS spontaneously find him in a state enough to drag the OP kicking and screaming into a hospice.

The pirate code, yarr!

I drift aimlessly through it all to be honest. No point fretting about me and a cushy retirement, its not happening in this cycle. When the chickens come home to roost, ill maybes have some dinn.. ah, who am i kidding, they can come live on my incomplete farm. I reckon im going for 'eccentric' to get me through it all. If that fails, i'll go for myy Presbyterian genetics to make me revel in the hunger and cold. Itll be a penance! A penance for a life wasted with nothing to show for it. Ive got a bit of a martyrs disposition (:

But with all that...

looks like still nothing in particular worth bothering with. Id love the PGCE, but genuinely, if i became a teacher, id be teaching in my home language. If theres one thing i lament its that i just cant use language like a weapon in asia. I can everywhere else. But here, its a bag of happy kittens. I want my students to understand and better themselves as people, not as students. and the googley eyed 'foreigner babble' thing never really worked for me. If youre going to change lives, you change their perception, you dont just chuck a ppt on the big screen about 'poverty around the world!' It bothers me that this subject just lacks something... or rather, ive just never understood it. So im long past due out... But ive still got a couple of years. Im nowhere near the financial circumstances that would deliver me home to a hero's welcome after all. Got the tefl though. There should be one last act of plunder in my 50s before i need to give it all up for the sake of those poor kids whose time im wasting.

So 14 years from now then (or 24), wheres the last port of call? Will this gig still have any legs on it?

PS. im also a happy drama queen. Its not really that serious (life)

Edited January 21, 2014 by inutil

[culicine]

some misconceptions going about in this thread. I love when I see people post about degrees and qualifications. I wonder those recommending DELTA and MA/PHd in linguistics actually have them.

Universities pay low overall. The most I know anyone making from straight salary at Universities is 50k a month. I know so many PhD's making only 30k baht a month at universities. I even know two full proffesors retired from the states working part time making only 18k a month.

Specifically for EFL field in Thailand, test prep and being IELTS examiner will often get people to the higher salaries but it takes work building a reputation.

Being a subject teacher with a teacher's license and home country experience will bring the larger 100-150k baht salaries at international schools.

The advanced degrees in linguistics/TESOL still will not get you the same money that teaching subjects at international schools, but will open more doors in European ESL, and the middle east.

The EFL business in Thailand is still based more on personality, contacts and relationships than pure qualifications.

Personally, I got bored of EFL teaching after doing it for 6 years and moved to more specific areas like academic/thesis writing which did generate a lot higher salary but the number of positions were limited. There is also recruiting exchange students which pays a lot about 2k USD per student.

I have been doing the international school route for a few years now and definitely prefer it. I have taught science, History and English Literature. The pay is higher than any of my top paid EFL jobs. The most I ever made in Thailand in EFL was 50k baht a month + editing jobs, though in CM that is pretty good. However teaching at international schools I have never made less than 100k baht. I do prefer to teach abroad though and having a teacher's license and a degree in a subject that is desired like business, economics, sciences, maths, etc open more doors.

DELTA does not open as many doors in Asia as it does in the Middle East or Europe and is often harder to get and more specialized than an MA TESOL/EDU etc.

I think the home experience is the key for the best international schools. I did my grad dip ed via UNE in Australia - had two residential schools there, but allowed the prac to be done in my current school (EP), teaching maths. So I have a secondary maths teaching qualification, but no experience in an Australian school. Despite neary 15 years teaching here, I could not get even one interview in the several schools I applied to here (not all were top tier either). Perhaps they do not prefer local hires either, which is strange,as they save on costs and have a teacher adapted to the culture.

[onebir]

Here in Ubon, I see a lot of the western churches here offering free language classes. There are people teaching for free.

Could someone mention a couple of churches that have these classes? A friend of mine in Ubon was wondering... Thanks!

[Newguy70]

First, I think it is hilarious to mention "money" and "teaching" in one sentence!

I'm retired and fortunately have more than enough income for a comfortable life in Thailand. But after 3 years of retirement, I got bored. So my wife and I started running free English classes in her old neighborhood which were very popular and successful. We covered all the expenses ourselves, including an assistant. It was so successful that the head of village applied for government funding which was granted. He pocketed the money and even refused to pay for the assistant. The next week we closed the classes. Thais tend to equate "free" with "worthless", and "farang" with "stupid".

So I took a paying job with work permit 8 years ago. I've been head teacher for the last 4 years. It keeps me busy, and happy, but I don't earn any serious money. Very few teachers do.

If you want to make enough money to live a comfortable middle/upper middle class life and then have a retirement, go home. Get a real job that pays real money. And retire in Thailand when you know you have enough money to live, also considering that the cost of living always goes up, not down. Good luck!

And why is that? The schools are certainly making a killing. Why shouldn't the teachers make 50k to 60k.

iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[DogNo1]

Yes, I have both the MA and PhD. Although I graduated with a BA in music from San Diego State, I was interested in Thailand because I studied Thai and Vietnamese while in the US Army and served three years in Vietnam with frequent R&Rs in Thailand before? I returned to get my BA. I taught English at Payap College for a year 1983-1984. While I was there, I became keenly aware that I was not going to be competitive for jobs and make decent money unless I got the advanced qualifying degrees and people at Payap told me that degrees in linguistics are valued more highly (at least in Thailand) than other degrees such as TESOL and English. So I went back to California and got them, finishing my PhD at USC in the early nineties. As I neared the completion of my dissertation, I was deluged by job offers from around the world. I took a job in Urayasu, Chiba in Japan were I started off as an assistant professor for just under $100K. Four years later I was recruited by another universityfor a full professor job that paid around $165K with good retirement and health benefits. I worked there for the next fourteen years serving as department chair (an elected position) for twelve of the years. I retired on April 1st last year and am enjoying retirement with a comfortable pension from the school.

Some people on this forum have questioned the relevancy of the PhD which is a research degree while the EDD is for teacher practioners and is somewhat easier to get. I learned ear!y on in graduate to just suspend disbelief and plunge ahead knowing that the a PhD is like a university driver's license that makes it possible to get the best-paying jobs. I was, I think, in a spot similar to the OPs now. I had to follow the route that would provide me with good wages at a secure job and then a comfortable retirement. There were any number of things that I could have done that would have provided me with more day-to-day enjoyment, not to mention a less stressful life style. Graduate school sucks! Don't expect it to be fun but it's a means to an end. There's a lot of postponing gratification involved but it can work out well. By the way, during my last two years at the school, we hired two new teachers with doctorate level qualifications who started as full professors, in other words at the $145K to 165K level depending on their age. We were lucky to get those two because five teachers whom we were considering were snatched away by other universities before we could hire them. There are lots of good jobs available if you have the right qualifications.

I realize though that this is not some peoples cup of tea. As one poster pointed out, some people mainly want to remain in Thailand and marginally improve their positions.

[nietzche]

First, I think it is hilarious to mention "money" and "teaching" in one sentence!

I'm retired and fortunately have more than enough income for a comfortable life in Thailand. But after 3 years of retirement, I got bored. So my wife and I started running free English classes in her old neighborhood which were very popular and successful. We covered all the expenses ourselves, including an assistant. It was so successful that the head of village applied for government funding which was granted. He pocketed the money and even refused to pay for the assistant. The next week we closed the classes. Thais tend to equate "free" with "worthless", and "farang" with "stupid".

So I took a paying job with work permit 8 years ago. I've been head teacher for the last 4 years. It keeps me busy, and happy, but I don't earn any serious money. Very few teachers do.

If you want to make enough money to live a comfortable middle/upper middle class life and then have a retirement, go home. Get a real job that pays real money. And retire in Thailand when you know you have enough money to live, also considering that the cost of living always goes up, not down. Good luck!

I will both agree and disagree with this post.

Let me address your first statement "I think it is hilarious to mention "money" and "teaching" in one sentence! ".

I currently teach at a very reputable university in the middle east. I earn a tax free salary of around $70,000 per year. My accommodation is paid for by the university and I receive other benefits such as round trip airfare each year, annual bonuses, etc.

Even though I travel regularly and buy some small luxury items, it is impossible for me to not save at least of $50k cash every year. I am 30 years old and am on track to purchase my first house outright back home in the U.S in a few years. My friends whom still work in the financial sector back home are a couple of decades away from paying off their mortgages.

I never went into teaching to make money. I made this career change for the purpose of living a better quality of life with plenty of time off to pursue other things. Even if I earned 150k back in the U.S. I would never be able to save as much as I do now.

I think my situation contradicts your original statement. Even English teachers out here earn enough to put away $30-$40k per year. You may be basing your assertion on the experiences you have encountered during your time in Thailand.

I do agree with your advice that younger teachers in Thailand should go home (or to a high paying country) and put a big chunk of money away before moving to Thailand. I spent 2 years teaching at a top 3 government university in Thailand. I earned around 40,000 baht per month flat. No perks, etc. This was not a big deal for me as I came over with some savings and only planned to stay for a short period of time for the life experience.

Almost every person I met in Thailand who arrived with no money still had no money when they went home eventually. The phrase "lost in Thailand" is a very true one. Do not make the mistake of spending your most financially productive years in a place that does not pay a highly qualified teacher a livable wage. I have met far to many long term Thai expat teachers who were living hand to mouth and putting up with abusive employers as a result of financial desperation.

My goal is to return to Thailand later in life, however; I will do so with financial resources that ensure that I do not need to work there. I like teaching and would like to do it again in Thailand out of enjoyment, not necessity.