Salary Question

[DragonQuest]

Just curious how some non-native peolpe make about the same or close to a native speaker and why thailand would rather have 5 filipino's teachers then 1 native speaker? Kinda been bugging me lately , I not flaming or anything just want to know why I see all these non-native speakers trying to teach english, I mean some are pretty good at it though, dont get me wrong:), Im not trying to flame a specific group, just curious as to the Thai insight of things. Why do they hire them?, and what the current situation is. I was thinking maby they had like a docter PH.d degree with more uber experience then a freshy native speaker. But none-the-less please give me some thoughts here flames and rants welcome.

Example: at one school some guy from new york interviewed a native and a filipino and the interviewer said they will pay the native 37k and the filipino 27k if hired.

Edited January 2, 2007 by DragonQuest

[PeaceBlondie]

I'll give you another real life example. Another poster and I earned 25K as native speakers of English and Math; a Brit still receives that pay at the same school. The boss makes 31K all year, and some of the other Thai teachers make more than 25K. They replaced the other poster with a Filipina at around 20K. She probably has better paperwork than he and I had; she may have a B.Ed. or a BS in math from a uni in the Philipines.

In Chiang Rai, they begged for a native speaking math teacher (I refused to apply), at 35K. Nobody applied, so they hired a Filipino for less than 20K. These are very recent examples.

Filipinos and Indians apparently are willing to work for less than native speakers of English. Filipinos apparently teach in similar fashion as the Thai teachers do, and are more complacent with their job conditions. They are less likely to run back to their home country. The Filipinas (most are females) don't use the whore houses or tarverns as much as the White males do. The average Filipino's command of English speech and writing is slightly higher than the average Thai teachers of English, but much lower than an average native speaker with a bachelor's degree.

In my biased opinion. Oh, Filipinas work harder, too.

[Ijustwannateach]

Just like to put a word in here that flames and rants are NOT welcome in the Teacher's Forum, especially with regard to slurs on nationality, etc. Please check the guidelines in the pinned thread if you are unsure about what is acceptable in this subforum. Flames and rants, especially nationality-bashing, will as usual result in warnings and holidays.

[sensei]

But none-the-less please give me some thoughts here flames and rants welcome.

No they are not.

Vent out all your flames and rants in another forum.

Don't do it here. And besides, some hardworking Filipinos have already experienced

so much prejudice in the hands of Thais and some native speakers because

they just happened to have the wrong skin color.

Sad world.

Peace.

Edited January 2, 2007 by sensei

[DragonQuest]

ok sorry about the flames and rants thingy but peaceblondie explain it to me right where i need it thanks guys^^

(the forum i came from was a final fantasy 11 online game forum and I had to deal with little punks all the time and all ages comming from everywhere lol kinda left that scene was to immature for me)Im glad you guys are making me proper though:)

[DragonQuest]

Q1.1: What is a good TEFL salary in Thailand?

A1.1: It can be difficult to say exactly since each of us has unique and highly personal ideas about what 'good' means. We have different lifestyles, different hobbies, different shopping & spending habits, and differing ideas & expectations when it comes to personal travel, the size, quality & location of the apartment we live in, how often and where we socialize, where, what and how much we eat, etc. Having said all that, the general consensus of opinion on salary goes something like this:

under 25K :: ouch !

25 to 29K :: not so good

30 to 32K Baht :: ok / fair

33 to 35K Baht :: average

36 to 38K Baht :: decent

39 to 41K Baht :: good

42 to 45K Baht :: comfy

46 to 50K Baht :: great

above 50K :: easy street !

[mijan24]

But none-the-less please give me some thoughts here flames and rants welcome.

No they are not.

Vent out all your flames and rants in another forum.

Don't do it here. And besides, some hardworking Filipinos have already experienced

so much prejudice in the hands of Thais and some native speakers because

they just happened to have the wrong skin color.

Sad world.

Peace.

Certainly there is some of the above but from my mere 31 years experience of the Philippines the lack of accademic acceptance can be blamed on the amount of learning establishments (PI) that are simple cash cows (in other words you pay for what you want).

This does not mean that there are not some very good learning estalishments in the PI but unfortunately they are undermined by the many many not so credible ones.

Now before we all start down the flames/troll road when my daughter (now 30 years old) was born in Cavite I was provided with ID Number etc etc. $$ talk. My ex brother in-law ( a great guy and very well educated in the PI) then a mere Attorney now a Senator was very particular about where he sent his Daughter and Two Sons to do their studies for this particular reason - to finish it off the family had one my nieces birth identity details re-entered to satisfy some surname requirements of A Land Down Unders Immigration.

So before you say it is simply a case of "skin colour" be sure you know what you are talking about!

Edited January 3, 2007 by mijan24

[Buki]

I think it really depends on how much the experience the Thai hiring committee have with Filipino English teachers. My boss would always remind me that, at first, she would never consider hiring a filipino before. She had a preconcieved notion that a lot of Filipinos still have that Filipino accent when speaking English.

but fortunately, I was able to break that mind set. And the administrators are now open to hiring another Filipino teacher. When I started, I asked for a salary that is somewhat at the same level with a native speaker, but I kept telling myself that I would probably get something lower, since they were looking for a native speaker and clearly I was not. I was even told by one of the Thai teacher, that I shouldn't feel bad if I get something lower and also said that how school are paying. I didn't mind as long I got the job. So, I met the school director. Had a little chat. Said our pleasantries and then went off to work. To my surprise, the director agreed to what I've asked. I basically was the first Filipino teacher they ever had. So, I worked hard, prepared my lessons well, followed policies, attended assemblies/meetings/parties and socialized with my Thai counterparts (very important). That really helped in making a good impression that it is acceptable to hire a non-native speaker in my school.

However, other schools have different experience with non-natives. And in each school has a different opinion about Filipino teachers. Some may have good ones and some have the other way around.

About the salary, my native speaker counterpart and I have the same salary range. We both agree that it is fair and it is just enough to be able to save and spend. but I have to agree with PB, that there are a lot of non-natives, who would readily work for lower wages because of despeparation of needing a job.

I have heard from a friend, that in the 80's, Thai labor laws have specific salary bracket for native and non-natives. She told me that native speakers were supposed to get a salary range of 70 to 100k and non-natives 40 to 70k. But when the backpackers came here, they were more than willing to work for lower wages. Hence, the start of the trend of lowering of salaries for native speakers.

[sensei]

ok sorry about the flames and rants thingy but peaceblondie explain it to me right where i need it thanks guys^^

(the forum i came from was a final fantasy 11 online game forum and I had to deal with little punks all the time and all ages coming from everywhere lol kinda left that scene was to immature for me)I'm glad you guys are making me proper though:)

peace, man!

apology accepted.

teacher's salary starts at 30k. it varies depending on your qualification (that's how urgent the need for a teacher is) and the school's ability (willingness) to pay and it's location (could be BKK, or any far flung laid back city).

Edited January 3, 2007 by sensei

[wintermute]

Thais hire filipino teachers because they can grossly underpay them and you have to remember the general train of thought in Thailand is "cheaper is better" for all things. I've worked with a lot of these filipino teachers and a few are actually very well qualified with no accent and should be bringing in native speaker salaries.

[DragonQuest]

now i see alot of filipina secretaries working at different schools, why cant they use regualer thai girls that speak english just as well? i mean i see them do paper work , and they look like thai , but why working in thailand like a secretary?

[graesta]

now i see alot of filipina secretaries working at different schools, why cant they use regualer thai girls that speak english just as well? i mean i see them do paper work , and they look like thai , but why working in thailand like a secretary?

for the salary maybe???

[sensei]

now i see alot of filipina secretaries working at different schools, why cant they use regualer thai girls that speak english just as well? i mean i see them do paper work , and they look like thai , but why working in thailand like a secretary?

personally, i don't think Filipinos can work effectively as a secretary

most of the papers secretaries prepare are in Thai.

It's so easy to mistake one for the other.

as for Asians, all farangs look alike.

could this be a case of "all asians look the same to farangs"?

[DragonQuest]

probably lol

[legaleagle]

Here at my uni in VN we pay all starting Lecturers the same salary ($2,461 USD net + 10% bonus + western benefits), and our MBAs from the Philippines are top-notch. English-wise they are certainly a step ahead of other Asians I've met.

[DragonQuest]

what is VN? Vietnam? I highly doubt a filipino is getting $2,461 USD anywhere in Asia lol, I dont care how good he or she is lol, but im sure they are getting it in the States:)

[Ijustwannateach]

As it no longer seems that this thread is really about Teaching in Thailand, I'm shutting it down.