Teaching Visa Work Permit Fallout Begins.

[John K]

Apparently agencies that have limited number of work permits have already started to feel the fallout. The desire to shuffle teachers to schools that are willing to pick up the non B visas work permits has started. If you are a teacher who is in such a situation, please post what your agency is doing and the reaction from the schools who will soon find themselves with no teachers when the second semester starts October 30. Bottom line it looks as predicted that teachers will be in high demand with high pay offers to keep them.

[john b good]

Apparently agencies that have limited number of work permits have already started to feel the fallout. The desire to shuffle teachers to schools that are willing to pick up the non B visas work permits has started. If you are a teacher who is in such a situation, please post what your agency is doing and the reaction from the schools who will soon find themselves with no teachers when the second semester starts October 30. Bottom line it looks as predicted that teachers will be in high demand with high pay offers to keep them.

Maybe "high demand" but what would you consider to be "high pay offers"

Up until now they have only been paying nickles and dimes (well haven't they)

Edited October 27, 2006 by john b good

[John K]

It is too soon to say but very possibly for public schools 50,000 for low end plus picking up what ever expenses to get a non-b. That does mean a road trip of sorts unless they can get one in Bangkok.

[Casanundra]

I am not in the English teaching game myself but alot of my friends here are and already three of them where told to leave their school thus losing their jobs because the school didn't want the hassle of WP and Visas for them all... adopting instead to employ Thai teachers to teach the English classes

[Gazza]

......because the school didn't want the hassle of WP and Visas for them all... adopting instead to employ Thai teachers to teach the English classes

Some schools may decide to employ Filipinos because they look Thai. Some probably speak English better than native speakers too.

[JR Texas]

I am not in the English teaching game myself but alot of my friends here are and already three of them where told to leave their school thus losing their jobs because the school didn't want the hassle of WP and Visas for them all... adopting instead to employ Thai teachers to teach the English classes

JR Texas (51, USA): Establishing a set of visa rules that result in Thai teachers teaching English is way beyond stupid. But, not to be totally stupid, Thai teachers can teach grammar. They should not, however, teach English conversation. The current Thai government makes George Bush look like a erudite scholar. Maybe the next one will do a better job. For the record, it was TOXIN who first promoted the idea of Thais teaching English to Thais, thinking that they could do the job as well as or even better than native speakers of English. What an id*&t!

Best wishes,

JR

[Casanundra]

......because the school didn't want the hassle of WP and Visas for them all... adopting instead to employ Thai teachers to teach the English classes

Some schools may decide to employ Filipinos because they look Thai. Some probably speak English better than native speakers too.

Especially if that native English speaker happens to be someone from Newcastle, Liverpool, Wales, Scotland, Bristol, Norfolk and blimy <insert any UK county here>

[PeaceBlondie]

We'll never have accurate statistics about such things, but there are anecdotes already of teachers giving it up and going back home.

You never know about birthplaces, and whether you can adapt your speech. You'd have thought there's no hope for anybody from Hope, Arkansas, or from Brownsville, Texas. Yet two Rhodes scholars are from those places, and they speak good English.

[Santidreamer]

[JR Texas (51, USA): Establishing a set of visa rules that result in Thai teachers teaching English is way beyond stupid. But, not to be totally stupid, Thai teachers can teach grammar. They should not, however, teach English conversation. The current Thai government makes George Bush look like a erudite scholar. Maybe the next one will do a better job. For the record, it was TOXIN who first promoted the idea of Thais teaching English to Thais, thinking that they could do the job as well as or even better than native speakers of English. What an id*&t!

Best wishes,

JR

Hi

This is my first posting, I seem to have missed something.

My understanding was that as a white native english speaker getting a teaching job was very easy.

Have the rules changed or are they just enforcing them?

Thanks

[Casanundra]

Hi

This is my first posting, I seem to have missed something.

My understanding was that as a white native english speaker getting a teaching job was very easy.

Have the rules changed or are they just enforcing them?

Thanks

Getting a job is easy. Getting the school agency or School to sponsor a WP and Visa is a completely different matter altogether.... the changes that are occurring are the result of the new visa regulations that are supposed to stop the perpetual visa runner in their tracks and its this which is causing some minor blips in the teaching profession

[John K]

......because the school didn't want the hassle of WP and Visas for them all... adopting instead to employ Thai teachers to teach the English classes

Some schools may decide to employ Filipinos because they look Thai. Some probably speak English better than native speakers too.

It is still the same problem. I know the teachers from the Philippines work for less, but if they have no non B visa they still need to get it. The 90 day period will mature all during January. That leaves about 2 weeks in the semester that end mid February. I am sure the schools will try a lot of creative things, but it the end if the law does not change then they will have no teachers. Particularly at the rates of pay they have been paying. I am not sure but even private schools may find problems with the 4 to 1 work permit quota. (4 Thai employees allows 1 work permit.) The teachers that already have proper credentials will and should remember economics 101 when it comes to agreeing on their rate of pay.

Thai schools have ben allocated the cash to get the necessary documents, but in many schools that money has been diverted as a result of corruption or to fund other things. The number I have heard is 44,000 per month. Teacher now are lucky to see 35,000. The difference can easily fund a trip to Penang or anyplace for a non B visa. (9000 ThB x 11 months = 99,000 ThB) A round trip ticket to the USA is about 60,000 ThB. 5000 ThB for the visa, that still leaves plenty for the work permit.

[otherstuff1957]

More money? It just isn't going to happen. As the supply of teachers who are 'qualified' to get a WP and Teaching License shrinks, a lot of schools will simply choose to shut down their EP programs and go back to using Thai teachers.

As for Filipinos, they are experiencing the same Visa problems that Farangs are. A lot of them are thinking of packing up and moving on.

[John K]

More money? It just isn't going to happen. As the supply of teachers who are 'qualified' to get a WP and Teaching License shrinks, a lot of schools will simply choose to shut down their EP programs and go back to using Thai teachers.

As for Filipinos, they are experiencing the same Visa problems that Farangs are. A lot of them are thinking of packing up and moving on.

I understand it is mandated by the government to have native speaking teachers so they can’t close. In EP programs the students pay 30,000 ThB per semester plus about 60,000 enrolment fee. The money is there.

[Nam Kao]

Well understanding a bit of Thai logic myself, the schools will just tell the parents:

"Sorry we cannot employ Farangs no more to teach English" and mai pen rai

if all schools do this at the same time there will be no fuss from the parents

--------------------

There is a Thai English teacher across the soi from my baan upcountry, his sole job is

to teach English, nothing else, well i try talking to this guy and he understands NOTHING!!

The closest thing he has got going for him is he will see me at night and wave and yell GOOD MORLNING!

His daughter graduated in College (6 years so far) at a major university is proud that she

speaks english and brags about it to other thais, I tried to talk to her and she knew

NOTHING, maybe 5 words

Edited October 28, 2006 by Nam Kao

[sting01]

Well understanding a bit of Thai logic myself, the schools will just tell the parents:

"Sorry we cannot employ Farangs no more to teach English" and mai pen rai

if all schools do this at the same time there will be no fuss from the parents

--------------------

There is a Thai English teacher across the soi from my baan upcountry, his sole job is

to teach English, nothing else, well i try talking to this guy and he understands NOTHING!!

The closest thing he has got going for him is he will see me at night and wave and yell GOOD MORLNING!

His daughter graduated in College (6 years so far) at a major university is proud that she

speaks english and brags about it to other thais, I tried to talk to her and she knew

NOTHING, maybe 5 words

You fool, she speak english fluently, as her father, but you are simply a farang and by so you do not understand (I am joking, but I got the same in 7/11 2 years ago, I asked for a brand of ciggy, the girl gived me the M.... and as I was trying to refuse it but get the brand I was looking for, she explained to others that obviously I was not spoken english ).

What about Chayaphum, were the head of the english department was Head ofenglish department (7 teachers from thailand) because he used to spend 3 month of vacation in New brunswick 30 years ago (no other credentials in the related field!).

Anyway, in Chayaphum, the notation is english are similar to those given in Thai classical Saber Dance (no kidding). And that is trully sad, because for other subjects such as robotic) the kids are smart ... but they will never speak english before to go to university...

[sting01]

Shortage of teachers?

Do people mean shortage of QUALIFIED teachers (with diploma) eligible for a WP. Or does it willbe shortage of WP?

Not the same thing.

It can be people who are eligible for the wp, but who are not native english (a german teacher of physics for exemple) and I bet those people will be contacted to teach english with a WP, but without the full salary (I got a deal similar in 2003 for some weeks).

[John K]

Shortage of teachers?

Do people mean shortage of QUALIFIED teachers (with diploma) eligible for a WP. Or does it willbe shortage of WP?

Not the same thing.

It can be people who are eligible for the wp, but who are not native english (a german teacher of physics for exemple) and I bet those people will be contacted to teach english with a WP, but without the full salary (I got a deal similar in 2003 for some weeks).

No doubt the schools will try to some how get by. The bottom line is the one work permit for every four Thai employees will kill many non Thai agencies. Thai agencies just screw over the teachers while non Thai agencies do there best to get a fair deal for the teachers. The one thing that for now puts the pressure on the schools is having native English speakers in mandated. <<SNIP - references against forum rules deleted >>

At the moment for the schools it is not in their face as classes ended before October 1. By November 1 that will no longer be the case.

Your suggestion that teachers will be offered lesser pay may be a typical response as sometimes Thai thinking tries to go against the engines of economics, but ultimately that will fail.