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Nickyboy
Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 21
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 Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 9:50 am Post subject: |
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Hi there,
Is the school in BKK? Makes a bit of difference.
You really should be able to pull in 35-40,000 THB a month with your qualifications.
Keep looking, but do come here. It's great! |
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ContemporaryDog
Joined: 21 May 2003
Posts: 1477
Location: Wuhan, China
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:08 pm Post subject: Re: Teaching salaries in Thailand |
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| jhp03319 wrote: |
Is $26 000 american a good salary for Thailand? It seems really low to me. I have a PGCE, TEFL and a Montessori Diploma (not that the Montessori qualification counts for anything in the eyes of most international schools). I have five years experience in both ESL and Montessori.
Housing, airfare and shipping costs are paid for by the school.
Thanks for your reply,
Jen |
Its extremely good. If you have no housing to pay for, it will be a fortune. In thailand I spent about 500 quid in a month, and that was with 3 good meals a day, beers every evening, herbal tobacco, travel, etc |
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ContemporaryDog
Joined: 21 May 2003
Posts: 1477
Location: Wuhan, China
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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Of course as others have noted if its 26,000 baht then its not so great.
Having said that, that's only a bit less than what I get in China. And I remember Thailand being cheaper than China.
Since I've been in China, on my 400 quid a month, I have eaten better than I ever have in my life, have got married and am thinking about buying a house... |
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Waldorf Salad
Joined: 03 Apr 2004
Posts: 56
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 9:35 am Post subject: Re: mea culpa? |
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| kenkannif wrote: |
| I know quite a lot of teachers making and saving good money here in Thailand. It's there if you're willing to work for it! |
So what's the secret to making and saving good money in Thailand? |
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Kent F. Kruhoeffer
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2129
Location: 中国
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 12:55 pm Post subject: 6 secrets to wealth & fame |
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hmmmm. If we tell you, it won't be a secret. 
Ok - just kidding. There's really no magic formula to landing a good job in Thailand, but here are a few general tips that spring to mind. I'm sure kenkannif & others will add to them:
1. Being here helps. In the Thai TEFL market, jobs offered over the internet tend to be the lower-paid 'come experience the beauty of Thailand' variety. Managers & Directors of the better schools want to meet you in person - before making a firm commitment. Having a cell-phone helps too, as Sheep-Goats already mentioned on another thread. Being at the right place at the right time counts for a lot here.
2. Know your market value & don't jump at the first offer. TEFL teachers are not all created equally. Some of us are more suited to the private language institutes & public schools while others have the requisite qualifications & diplomas to get into the up-market international schools. Your salary can vary greatly - depending on which track you follow.
2.5 Consider teaching corporate/company classes, since it generally pays well and doesn't involve the over-crowding, long office hours & baby-sitting element inherent with teaching kids & teens. The only real downside is that you'll probably spend a considerable amount of time commuting between clients.
3. Put some effort into your appearance. It has been said before, but I'll say it again. Looking good, smelling good and being dependable count for a lot in a TEFL market where hairy backpackers & a mixed bag of tourists-on-extended-holiday are competing for the same pie.
4. Smile a lot & learn about the Thai ways of doing things & solving problems. I know it sounds patronizing to say this, but it can mean the difference between your long-term success or failure. Learning how to handle 'touchy topics' and how to solve disputes without causing loss of face - is vital. Thais just see & do things differently than we do. If you play the game their way, you usually win.
5. Learn to speak some Thai; not because you need to, but because your students will respect you & like you for doing so, and that respect will generate better evaluations for you as a teacher. And better evaluations can often translate into a pay raise. If you're good in the classroom, and your students think highly of you, word gets around.
6. Keep your eye on 4 websites for job offers. You might actually get lucky and find a good one. On The Master Index (at the top of this forum) scroll down to TEFL THAILAND and hit the first 3 links in that category on a regular basis, in addition to watching for offers here on Dave's.
Ok. That's all I can think of for now. I am going down the road for a bottle of Chang & a bucket of ice.
It's Saturday night in The Big Mango.  |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 1:35 pm Post subject: Re: Teaching salaries in Thailand |
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| jhp03319 wrote: |
Is $26 000 american a good salary for Thailand? It seems really low to me. I have a PGCE, TEFL and a Montessori Diploma (not that the Montessori qualification counts for anything in the eyes of most international schools). I have five years experience in both ESL and Montessori.
Housing, airfare and shipping costs are paid for by the school.
Thanks for your reply,
Jen |
That puts you at about 2000USD per month, or 80,000THB. That makes that job you've been offered one of those top 1% jobs in the country, with a salary and benefits that 99% of the teachers here would kill for. The only people here who earn more do so through other internationl schools (120,000B / month is the highest I've ever heard of), or, more likely, through an enterpernurial approach involving contacting places that might need English and starting classes for them at rates of 1200 B an hour or so -- or by drawing off the Korean/Japanese expat communities. And by working 9 jobs like a Jamaican.
If you don't have a pension arranged for already, then yes, it's maybe not enough for you. But if you're looking for a two year vacation in Thailand then you'll have one hell of a good time here on 80,000B a month.
There are some Monetssori places here (whatever the hell that is) and they may be willing to give you more for your Mont.D.
(26,000THB a month is peanuts, BTW. 40,000 is the minimum to be comfy and fly home at the end of your contract.) |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 1:41 pm Post subject: Re: mea culpa? |
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| Bart wrote: |
| kenkannif wrote: |
| I know quite a lot of teachers making and saving good money here in Thailand. It's there if you're willing to work for it! |
So what's the secret to making and saving good money in Thailand? |
The secret to saving adequatelyl in Thailand: Not going to Nana every weekend. Eating Thai. Learning the bus system -- at least for you daily work transport needs. Basically, you'll need to keep in mind that you are, in fact, NOT a rock star.
The secret to making and saving good money in Thailand: You can't without excellent enterpernurial abilities and drive, and then you'll be quick to realize how unlikely it is to do it by teaching. Even then you'll quickly find out that there's a reason tiny Siam has maintained sovereignty in the face of foreign intereset and an internal Chinese invasion for a few hundred years now: they don't let go of what's theirs for anything, and if you don't like it you can leave.
If you need money try Korea or the Middle East. |
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Waldorf Salad
Joined: 03 Apr 2004
Posts: 56
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
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| Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 6:52 am Post subject: Re: mea culpa? |
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| Sheep-Goats wrote: |
The secret to making and saving good money in Thailand: You can't without excellent enterpernurial abilities and drive, and then you'll be quick to realize how unlikely it is to do it by teaching. Even then you'll quickly find out that there's a reason tiny Siam has maintained sovereignty in the face of foreign intereset and an internal Chinese invasion for a few hundred years now: they don't let go of what's theirs for anything, and if you don't like it you can leave.
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There are quite a lot of foreigners here in Taiwan running their own schools. What's that like in Thailand? Is it easy to start a school and what are the chances of being successful? Do you guys know any foreigners in Thailand who own a school? And what do you mean with Thais not letting go of what's theirs? |
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kenkannif
Joined: 07 Apr 2004
Posts: 550
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| Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:53 am Post subject: |
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Thais will always need to be involved if a farang wants to open a school 51% I think!
I know some that do well, and some that don't! |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:06 am Post subject: Re: mea culpa? |
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| Bart wrote: |
| Sheep-Goats wrote: |
The secret to making and saving good money in Thailand: You can't without excellent enterpernurial abilities and drive, and then you'll be quick to realize how unlikely it is to do it by teaching. Even then you'll quickly find out that there's a reason tiny Siam has maintained sovereignty in the face of foreign intereset and an internal Chinese invasion for a few hundred years now: they don't let go of what's theirs for anything, and if you don't like it you can leave.
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There are quite a lot of foreigners here in Taiwan running their own schools. What's that like in Thailand? Is it easy to start a school and what are the chances of being successful? Do you guys know any foreigners in Thailand who own a school? And what do you mean with Thais not letting go of what's theirs? |
I know one person who owns his own school -- but I suspect it's semi-legit. The long and short of it is that it's not too hard to open a school legitimatly here but it is very difficult to cut a good profit on your investment. Lots of middleage Thai ladies gang up and open schols, chain schools are thick, etc etc. Keep in mind that the hardest places to make money with a school are probably the places where everyone's tried to do that same thing because there wasn't any decent work there in the first place -- I mean the islands.
As to them not letting go: They're fiercely territorial in matters of war, property here is inflatedly expensive due to their attachment to it, they only pay a salary which they will feel good about losing -- not that you will feel good about getting. It's a sort of face thing in a way -- they don't lose any if their loss of money doesn't appreciably change things.
They're not generally greedy and are very generous with their time and whiskey and whatever else that starts with a w, but if they mark something as theirs you'll be hard pressed to convince them otherwise.
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| Thais will always need to be involved if a farang wants to open a school 51% I think! |
This is mostly true. You will need a Thai partner (required by law, not just by convenience) but you can do some legal fanagling to keep a fair share of your business. You'd have to talk to a lawer as to how, but basically what goes on is 49% is your, 49% is the Thais, and 2% gets stuck in legal limbo. |
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gwmss15
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 3:09 am Post subject: |
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Hello everyone Iam a young white Australian native speaker looking to teach in Thailand.
I have a Monash University degree in business accounting and soon ill have a CELTA cert however I have no teaching experience except for a few days of conversational teaching in Ho Chi Minh City.
Is English the only thing I can teach is it possible for me to teach accounting as well?
What kind of salary can I expect to get
Will this salary be enough?
How hard will it be for me to get a reasonable job in Bangkok?
How long will it take me to get a good job?
NOTE:
I don�t drink, smoke, take drugs or go clubbing. I have a partner to share some of the rental costs with in Bangkok.
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