Job Discussion Forums

[btsmrtfan]

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/03/15/deped-thai-counterpart-discuss-deployment-of-filipino-teachers-in-thailand/

[EFL Educator]

Very cheap labor.....non native speakers from the Philippines........

[btsmrtfan]

UPDATE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/04/07/thailand-to-hire-more-filipino-english-teachers/

[EFL Educator]

Filipinos are teaching English everywhere here.....soon there will be no more native English speakers teaching in Thailand...as wages continue to fall!!

[sigmoid]

Yes, it's just simple economics/supply and demand.

Demand throughout the region has increased exponentially with more and more opportunities in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, not to mention China. There simply aren't enough native speakers available.

Non-native speakers are therefore needed to fill the gap and can be paid less then native speakers. In addition, emphasis has shifted to fluency (being able to communicate) rather than accuracy these days as globally, the number of non-native speakers has surpassed that of native speakers. Thus, it has been found that poor grammar and pronunciation don't hinder comprehension to a significant degree.

[voyagerksa]

There would be quite a few more native speakers available if Vietnam and China would stop the ridiculous age discrimination. In China even though some language schools would happily hire into the 70's, if that was all that was available. However, the government has handed down this no teachers past age 60 edict. So, let them hire non-natives. The Vietnamese are just as appalling. In addition to the non-natives not understanding the nuances of English tenses, colloquial speech and idioms, there is going to be no assistance in stopping the rote learning that occurs in those countries if you hire non-natives.

I remember especially in Saudi Arabia, the Arab instructors had all the rules down, stuff that I couldn't even get down straight. The problem is the items that effect clarity, are immense, much more far reaching then a simple set of rules which no NET is used to or interested in keeping track of. The Arabs were really good at impressing the Saudi students with rote learning. So the rote learning continues.

[sigmoid]

Just my impression: Many teachers from Thailand (as well as Cambodia and China) are showing up in Vietnam. Myanmar is another place former colleagues have gone. Although a number of schools in VN may mention 50 years of ageor something, it's because they need teachers for kids classes, not because of any official policy (as far as I know). As the whole the TEFL industry in VN is still largely unregulated, so if a school wants to hire older people, they can.

As for Thailand, with the ongoing political crisis and power struggles, they're going to need those Filipinos. Who else is going to show up?

Anyway, it would good to hear from those who are still there. I left a dozen years ago.

[EFL Educator]

Non Native English teachers from Africa are now fiercely competing with Filipinos for EFL jobs and mediocre salaries in Thai schools...as most native English teachers it seems are leaving due to falling wages!

[AbeCross]

"There would be quite a few more native speakers available if Vietnam and China would stop the ridiculous age discrimination."

Indeed! In China, the cutoff seems mostly to be 50 or 55. Confucius, after years of wondering, returned home to teach at the age of 67! I guess they didn't have the ludicrous age discrimination in his day. I wonder what Confucius would think about this practice?

[EFL Educator]

I understand from a former teaching colleague that now Filipinos make up the majority of EFL teachers in Thai government and private schools. Me wonders how many native English speakers are still actually teaching in Thailand....?? Also regarding age discrimination seems now the cutoff is around 40 years of age...give and take a few years!!!

[AbeCross]

This ad is from a well-known Bangkok-based university:

"Not over the age of 55
A one year contract, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and departmental requirements
A one year bonus (one month salary) after successful completion of the second year contract
Salary 20,780 THB/month; plus housing allowance 8,000 THB/month"

[voyagerksa]

The Filipinos can have it. The Filipinos can have all of Thailand for all I care. I probably won't go back even for a vacation.

[sigmoid]