English Teacher's Salaries

[toptuan]

English teachers, please take a moment to indicate your salary level. This is not an exhaustive survey, showing all the possible situations, but will give newbies a ballpark idea for what to expect when coming to Thailand to teach English. One important third dimension one cannot construct within the confines of this survey is location, for example Bangkok vs. upcountry salaries. Comparing Bangkok with upcountry salaries, I will take a chance and suggest that one assume 50% to 100% higher salaries for Bangkok schools. I believe that would be a conservative estimate.

[Edited: please vote once for each category; if it does not apply, vote "Not Applicable"]

[DragonQuest]

this is also a good thread to see what the going rate is for everybody in thailand for the year 2007, dont take it seriously though its only speculation on a forum^^ have fun

[PeaceBlondie]

toptuan, thanks for starting this great poll.

I couldn't get it to work because it didn't have a place for not applicable, so I added that option for each question, and it worked for me.

We would need a lot of people taking part here for this to work, so please vote (it's anonymous, once per poster).

I earned 25,000 full time (but only 9 or 11.5 months per year) in a northern province, and the salary hasn't changed. If I were seriously looking now, in Chiang Mai, I wouldn't consider less than 30K, considering my qualifications and experience.

[beerchang]

English teachers, please take a moment to indicate your salary level. This is not an exhaustive survey, showing all the possible situations, but will give newbies a ballpark idea for what to expect when coming to Thailand to teach English. One important third dimension one cannot construct within the confines of this survey is location, for example Bangkok vs. upcountry salaries. Comparing Bangkok with upcountry salaries, I will take a chance and suggest that one assume 50% to 100% higher salaries for Bangkok schools. I believe that would be a conservative estimate.

[Edited: please vote once for each category; if it does not apply, vote "Not Applicable"]

Hi toptuan,

this is my 1st ever forum reply. Hope it helps. (Advice: Add a private school section for your survey).

Although some jobs in BKK do pay slightly more than upcountry it's not a 'given'. I've been teaching in Thailand for 4 years and have been offered employment in BKK full time for 28,000 baht per month. I recently left a job in Sakhon Nakhon (Northeast) after working there for a year and a half at 34,000 baht per month.

Your educational background is becoming (at last!) more important to the Thai Govt. (Thanks to an American pervert)

Take my example: I DO NOT have a Bachelor's Degree in any subject, only college education. I do have a TEFL certificate and a lot of teaching experience though.

The result is of this is er...unhelpful really for me. The reason is that with all my experience and enthusiasm, It has become difficult for me to get a job doing what I love and even more difficult to expect over 30,000 baht. This is, however, great news if you have a Bachelor's Degree in, er, Horse feeding or, say, Dung beetle toenail trimming, then you will be employed almost immediately without ever having taught English before, and will probably get a decent salary of 30,000 + anywhere.

By the way, if I sound a little bitter it's because I love teaching the Thais, it's great fun. (A little stressful at times but fun all the same) and the Govt's. clampdown has made it difficult for people who love doing it, like me. Truth is, I retired and moved here when I was 35 (4 1/2 years ago) and now I teach for free. I'm only bitter about the 'no-nothings' who come here and do more harm than good to the education system here because of their B.A in Cake decorating!

My, I have gone on!

[Jonson83]

Thanks for creating this poll

[toptuan]

Thanks, PB, for tweaking it to get it to work. NOW I understand how the 3-question, multiple-choice thing works!

[ashacat]

Good idea for a poll, I hope alot of people vote to allow a wide range and accurate indication of actual salaries.

[Jessy]

I know you want to conduct your own research, and this is very useful, but if you haven't already done so, check out www.ajarn.com

I have taught in Bangkok before and my research told me that with experience the average is about 35,000, without experience (but with bachelors and TEFL) it is about 31,000 - on average.

[Billfo]

Great poll, gives me a rough idea of what to expect for a starting salary.

I agree with Beerchang, as a lot probably do, about the whole Degree thing. In my opinion its experience that counts, fair enough if someone has a teaching degree they get paid more, I could appreciate that but as you said Beerchang, someone with a degree in elephant dung (as interesting as it may be!) isn't anywhere near as qualified/knowledgeable than someone with experience.

[PeaceBlondie]

I know you want to conduct your own research, and this is very useful, but if you haven't already done so, check out www.ajarn.com

I have taught in Bangkok before and my research told me that with experience the average is about 35,000, without experience (but with bachelors and TEFL) it is about 31,000 - on average.

It would appear that other websites and forums are primarily filled with "Old Asia Hand" types like my friend Aging One, who's been teaching at a uni for 17 years. If there are newbies over there, they aren't posting on the regular forums, and it appears to be far more centered on Bangkok. Most of them will swear they're all 100% legal with work permits, TL's, proper visas, etc. Not a representative sample, IMHO. This research here is about as valid as what passes for surveys and statistics in Thailand.

look at beerchang's example, above: makes less in Bangkok than he did in the province!!

[Jonson83]

Great poll, gives me a rough idea of what to expect for a starting salary.

I agree with Beerchang, as a lot probably do, about the whole Degree thing. In my opinion its experience that counts, fair enough if someone has a teaching degree they get paid more, I could appreciate that but as you said Beerchang, someone with a degree in elephant dung (as interesting as it may be!) isn't anywhere near as qualified/knowledgeable than someone with experience.

I'd love to do a degree in elephant dung,sounds really hmmm interesting..

Peaceblondie,

"I recommend that we all recommend to our friends not to come here to teach. At all. "

M8,you really do inspire confidence in us newbies

Well,its to late for me and Billfo now.Flights booked,Visas and TEFL courses paid for.Not long to go now.

[toptuan]

I'd love to do a degree in elephant dung,sounds really hmmm interesting..

Somebody at the Los Angeles airport is selling greeting cards made from Thai elephant dung (no kidding!) at $5.50 each. Somebody has either got a degree or experience, and theyre laughing all the way to the bank (while the rest of us sweat it out for a measly $800/month!)

[Ijustwannateach]

Steady, gents. Thanks so far to everyone for your restraint. It's a good topic, but always one that has a tendency to deteriorate.

"Steven"

[Munted]

Maybe the poll ought to be averaged over 12 months. I'm teaching at a Matayom school and for five months of the year there was no income. When I am working it can range anywhere between 25 and 35k. But if you average it out it's more like 22k/ month.

[otherstuff1957]

I voted for over 35K. My actual salary is only 35K, but with a bit of overtime I usually get around 40-45K.

[DragonQuest]

Ive had offers starting from 27k up to the max of 45k here in bangkok and upcountry.

But then after a few months then you get debited "Tax" from your salary, and that can vary and range ><

[mbkudu]

But if you average it out it's more like 22k/ month.

This absolutely sucks. You people need to get real. How can anyone teach for this measly amount of money

per month and be happy in Thailand. Well, I guess you never stated whether you were happy or not, so I'll give you that much. I guess I should have asked you how many hours this is for before I vented

22,000 baht would pay some expats electric bills. I'm no expat fat cat by a long shot, but I won't demean myself either. Just to put things in perspective. I was making 40,000-50,000 baht per month doing

privates in the year 1999, that's 8 years ago mind you. I do realise that times have changed and visa regulations are shutting down that kind of working situation, but I would not work here for less than 40,000 per month at a legal or illegal job anywhere in the country.

[Ijustwannateach]

I make more now than I used to, but sometimes I think I used to be happier (making less).

I don't think it's inherently a sign either of merit (or intelligence) that someone is spending 22K on electricity, or making xxK in whatever way they do, or making only a certain arbitrarily low amount and happy with it.

It's true that overall foreign teachers' salaries in Thailand are unfairly low for a variety of reasons compared to our counterparts in other countries. If we're lucky the new qualification requirements will shake a few things out in our favour.

In the meantime, there's plenty of work around. I could be making a fair bit more than I am now, if I didn't care about my free time. It all depends on what you value.

"Steven"

[BlackArtemis]

22k (looking at 25k my second year) for a Gov't school teaching EP 3rd grade in CM. I could make a lot more at a private school. But I get to work with my soon to be wife. They pay her well over double the average Thai salary due to her TEFL Masters so we won't be leaving.

[aussiestyle1983]

40k + about another 10k in benifits such as free accomodation etc. Also get about 2-3 months paid holidays per year, plus optional bonuses to teach summer school. All this just to teach KG1,2 & 3 for 13 hours a week (20 periods) English and PE. I certanilly cant complain. Also I am the only Farang and native speaker at my school and all the other teachers there (Thai and Filippino) are all excellent people, as well as the students. I think I got a pretty good deal.

[DragonQuest]

....

[PaleRider]

Finished a Teaching contract in Phuket, worked through an agency and averaged 30,000 p/Month for around 5 days per week.

I got some medical insurance, but no other real benifits.

Great poll

P-Rider

[jbowman1993]

I work a a large public university here. Salary is 44k plus 10k for housing. Make another 20k a month teaching one class (4 hours per week) at the international college (Strictly under the table, of course, lol)

[siamamerican]

English teachers, please take a moment to indicate your salary level. This is not an exhaustive survey, showing all the possible situations, but will give newbies a ballpark idea for what to expect when coming to Thailand to teach English. One important third dimension one cannot construct within the confines of this survey is location, for example Bangkok vs. upcountry salaries. Comparing Bangkok with upcountry salaries, I will take a chance and suggest that one assume 50% to 100% higher salaries for Bangkok schools. I believe that would be a conservative estimate.

[Edited: please vote once for each category; if it does not apply, vote "Not Applicable"]

Hi toptuan,

this is my 1st ever forum reply. Hope it helps. (Advice: Add a private school section for your survey).

Although some jobs in BKK do pay slightly more than upcountry it's not a 'given'. I've been teaching in Thailand for 4 years and have been offered employment in BKK full time for 28,000 baht per month. I recently left a job in Sakhon Nakhon (Northeast) after working there for a year and a half at 34,000 baht per month.

Your educational background is becoming (at last!) more important to the Thai Govt. (Thanks to an American pervert)

Take my example: I DO NOT have a Bachelor's Degree in any subject, only college education. I do have a TEFL certificate and a lot of teaching experience though.

The result is of this is er...unhelpful really for me. The reason is that with all my experience and enthusiasm, It has become difficult for me to get a job doing what I love and even more difficult to expect over 30,000 baht. This is, however, great news if you have a Bachelor's Degree in, er, Horse feeding or, say, Dung beetle toenail trimming, then you will be employed almost immediately without ever having taught English before, and will probably get a decent salary of 30,000 + anywhere.

By the way, if I sound a little bitter it's because I love teaching the Thais, it's great fun. (A little stressful at times but fun all the same) and the Govt's. clampdown has made it difficult for people who love doing it, like me. Truth is, I retired and moved here when I was 35 (4 1/2 years ago) and now I teach for free. I'm only bitter about the 'no-nothings' who come here and do more harm than good to the education system here because of their B.A in Cake decorating!

My, I have gone on!

Well you made the leap - good 1st post. As for the Thai gov requiring a BA, it's their prerogative and as a whole people with BAs are more qualified to teach English. It would be nearly impossible to graduate from college without rudimentary knowledge of English grammar and communication. People without a BA are more likely to have a difficult time with grammar and articulating themselves. With that said, there are many exceptions and you seem to be one of them.

There might be a hidden agenda, but most likely the government is just trying to make sure capable people are teaching English. An alternative might be to just require a TEFL cert. I never took the course and don't know if it prepares a person to teach English. My guess is that it does.

Good luck and teaching English for free is commendable. To be honest, I wouldn't do it for free.

[Neeranam]

In Bangkok it's easy to earn 50,000+ if you have at least 1 years experience.

The thing to do is get a job at some school but block schedule. I used to do it a few years back - 3 days a week(20 hours). Then get work at the weekends at some language place(ECC etc) - up to 700 baht an hour. On top of this get some corporate work 4 nights a week(1000+ a gig). I was earning up to 70,000 with two days off.

For newbies without experience - it's possible to work in bangkok getting 40,000 with a language school. Up country, it's very possible too with a few privates, and of course money goes much farther.

[traveldog]

Hi, strange.... I can't vote. Keep getting the error message to select a bubble...and I did...I teach corporate anyway so the boxes don't really apply, so, I make 40,000/mo. Been with the same company almost 4 years and finally getting things set up/changed/improved to make it a fairly comfortable(for Thailand!) teaching experience. I Have a degree(English), teaching and related corp experience. I think I am very underpaid, but love the staff/students and my schedule-4 day work week. Good idea for a poll, will try to vote if I can make it work.