Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

People who overstay their visa in Thailand may face severe penalties.

A couple of days ago in Pattaya, an American tourist who had overstayed his visa by only one week was taken into police custody and placed in a cell with other detainees.

The American, Brian Dunn, 30, shouted and screamed. This went on for quite a while.

Some hours later, the unfortunate American was found dead in his cell. Police Lt. Colonel Anan Thamchaikun told "The Nation" (Bangkok) that Dunn "might have been a nuisance to other detainees who shared the cell."

Police are now looking at closed circuit t.v. footage.

In another unfortunate incident in Kanchanaburi, American Michael Waner died at the 'Blue Star Guesthouse.' He was found dead in his room with two empty bottles of mekong whisky. Authorities say he suffered a heart attack, after celebrating Songkran (Thailand New Year) in 41 degree heat.

Last night was ghost's last night in Pattaya (Thailand) and he witnessed a major 'drug bust' on the promenade, involving Thai police and young revellers. The police were equipped with all the latest gear, including high power lamps and torches and video cameras. The whole scene was filmed, and the police (plainclothes) made it clear that they do not fool around in such matters.

What has all this got to do with English teaching you may ponder?

The point is before looking for work overseas, many people go to a country like Thailand, Indonesia or Korea, without ever having been there. Of course it is expensive to just hop over to visit, but when you have the chance to go on an extended break in Asia, it could pay big dividends to visit and look at life in the countries you intend to work in. Too many people just turn up and then regret it soon after.

Ghost has met countless people working in Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and other places who have cut their contracts short, because they were not ready for the vast cultural change.

During the past two months ghost visited 5 countries (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Sri Lanka) and visited language schools in all those places, and the only place that appealed to ghost was Sri Lanka. Unfortunately Lanka does not have an ESL industry as such. They have language schools, but they are more "Mom and Pop" affairs run by teachers who moonlight in the evening hours after their regular school day.

In Sri Lanka, ghost was told by a Sri Lankan that there is no hope for foreigners to work there, because the country is poor and they should give work to their own people first. The Sri Lankan argued that many Lankans can do the job themselves (teaching English), which is debatable, because one witnessed many instances of poorly formulated English, even from teachers of English. Did you know that a large number of Sri Lankan graduate students have to take the TOEFL test before going to America or Canada for further studies. Many score low, despite claiming 'native speaker' status. Ghost noticed that most Sri Lankans speak an outdated (archaic) form of English, which is amusing to the ear, but has little place in modern business settings. They will say things like "you are naughty" if they are not pleased with your performance. Americans have trouble understanding those kinds of sentences.

Ghost will return to Lanka on holiday, but has no intention of returning to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam or Laos. Ghost is not dissing those countries (moderator does not approve), but in his opinion found them to be grossly overrated as tourist and living and working destinations. Ghost found it disturbing to have the orientals only relate to him as an ambulatory dollar bill (or baht, riel, dong, or kip).

At least he (ghost) will not waste time in the future applying for jobs in the other countries, and that will be a lot more efficient for future job searches because the locales and choices will be vastly reduced.

In retrospect, Turkey is not such a bad deal for ESL teachers. The fringe benefits are about as good as you can get, and the work is generally not too hard. Although the pay is usually not that high (about $1000/month), the fact that accommodation is provided or subsidized means that money can be saved each month, often at least half the salary if you do not live the luxury life.

The problem with Turkey is a lack of motivation from younger students if you work in Koleji and other Institutions which cater to younger students. In the Private Koleji, discipline can be a horrendous problem because the school admin. refuse to do anything, since parents are paying big money to send their progeniture there.

Even in language schools, where the students are older, one can encounter some very immature students who should not really be there. They refuse to do the homework or prepare for class. If there are big football matches, you might only get 2-3 students in the class, and one notorious school in Eskisehir saw most of the students complain about the vast majority of foreign teachers, aided and abetted by the admin. A very unhealthy situation, with the result of mass defections and resignations of foreign teachers in that place.

Do your homework before you accept an offer anywhere. If you are offered a job ask for 2-3 e-mail addresses of teachers who currently work in your projected future school. If it is a reputable school, the school should have no problem doing this. If you never hear from the school after asking for e-mail addresses, you can understand that the school has something to hide, and it would not be a good idea to accept the offer.

Schools always ask teachers for references. Well teachers should ask schools for references as well. It works both ways.

All the best from Bangkok International Airport before the long flight (11 hours) to London, and then on to Barcelona. It will be good to be back in Europe. The temp. in Thailand is around 40 (over 100 fahrenheit). Ghost lost 5 kilos in the two month trip.

[scot47]

I do wish that ghost would explain why he writes about himself in the third person. The only other example I have seen of this was in the writings of Queen Victoria.

Is His Ethereal Majesty trying to tell us something ?

And if you have to ask : "What is this third person ?"- you are in the wrong job !

[ghost]

Using the first person ("I") constantly smacks of bad form.

Using the third person can be useful if one is writing for the general public about general topics.

Using the first person exclusively comes accross as too personal, when the intention is to convey a general impression to the reader.

[Mike_2003]

[johnslat]

Dear ghost,
Ah - now this person understands. Johnslat thanks you for clarifying this matter.
Regards,
John