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Thwartley
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 34
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 Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:48 am Post subject: |
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| Master Shake wrote: |
| Kent F. Kruhoeffer wrote: |
| To the best of my knowledge, a teacher's license is required only if you are teaching kids at a Thai government school, i.e. Thai public school. If you want to teach at a university, language school or in-company (as I do) a teacher's license is not required. You need a non-immigrant B visa and a work permit - that's it. |
NO. Anyone who teaches in Thailand is required to have a teaching license to teach legally. It doesn't matter whether they are working in a government school or a language school.
The government should, in theory, be checking up on every school to make sure that all their teachers are licensed.
| Kent F. Kruhoeffer wrote: |
| And remember this: the school that hires you is responsible for getting your paperwork processed - not you. You couldn't do it on your own even if you wanted to. If the school that hires you can't get your paperwork organized, you leave and find one that can. It's really that simple. Nobody expects anybody to risk deportation or fines for overstaying a visa or violating immigration rules. School owners and directors know this. They also know that it is their responsibility to take care of it. |
Yes, but the school directors are unable to meet these new requirements. As a result, more and more teachers are being forced to work illegally.
The bottom line is that if you are willing to work illegally in Thailand, there is plenty of work here now. But working on the up-and-up is damn near impossible in the present situation. |
Sorry, I don't buy this.
If what you are saying is true, there are countless hundreds, if not thousands, of foreigners who have the required visa, work permit, pay taxes, receive tax rebates and continue working for years in Thailand but are at the same time considered illegal...
It just doesn't wash. |
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roguegrafix
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 125
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| Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:21 am Post subject: |
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| I was under the impression that it was only for Thai government schools too. We've got people applying at the university and all is required is an original copy of your degree. Government universities generally do not flout the law. They might ignore teachers already hired but new teachers??? I'm not so sure. |
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laconic
Joined: 23 May 2005
Posts: 198
Location: "When the Lord made me he made a ramblin man."
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| Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:59 am Post subject: |
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I know people working at private language schools that have had to get a teacher's license.
Also, if a teacher's license is only required for government schools, then why does a private school such as the one below require it ("Jobs@KS")?
http://www.kajonkietsuksa.ac.th/en/mainframe.html
Government uni lecturers/professors do not need a TL. So it is that all teaching jobs in Thailand do not require a TL to be legally employed. |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:09 am Post subject: |
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| Thwartley wrote: |
Sorry, I don't buy this.
If what you are saying is true, there are countless hundreds, if not thousands, of foreigners who have the required visa, work permit, pay taxes, receive tax rebates and continue working for years in Thailand but are at the same time considered illegal...
It just doesn't wash. |
I work at a private language school and was required to do the Thai Culture Course and the Professional Knowledge Tests. I do teach Mathayom and Prathom classes because my school is contracted out to teach them.
I'll look into it more later. Check the 'Paperwork' thread at www.ajarn.com for more info |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:38 am Post subject: |
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Here's the deal: You need to do the Thai Culture Course if you teach ANY subject at the primary or secondary level - doesn't matter if it's English or physics.
I got this information from ajarn.com, and this is also what they told us at the Thai Culture Course.
It is still unclear whether all foreign primary and secondary teachers need to do the Professional Knowledge Tests for Foreign Teachers. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks...
I am doing my second visa run to Cambodia this month because I still havent got my certificate for completing the Thai Culture Course yet. I took the course over a month ago.
These new requirements are a massive pain in the a$$ |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 1276
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Silent Shadow
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 380
Location: A stones throw past the back of beyond
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| Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:19 am Post subject: |
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I'm considering leaving China after spending a good few years teaching over here. I too need to find out what is required for myself if I want to teach legally in Thailand.
There is some good, useful information in this thread and others on this forum, but I'm a little confused about the issue regarding whether a TL is needed if you want to teach in a university in Thailand. I don't particularly want to teach children, so a university (or college) is where I plan to go.
Some posters have mentioned that a TL is only required in government schools where you teach children, but not in universities. Okay. So, of a TL is not required at a university, then that means that universities in Thailand are all PRIVATE. Correct? Am I missing something here? Also, is a TL not required if you teach at a COLLEGE. College students are not children (not according to age anyway. Lol) so can I deduce from this that a TL is not required there either?
It just seems a little odd to think that all universities in Thailand are private, which they must be if no TL is required to teach at such. If this is true then this route seems the easiest way to go for anybody who wants to teach in Thailand legally, with the minimum of fuss. |
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junan70
Joined: 16 Apr 2008
Posts: 47
Location: UK
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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I too want to work legally in Thailand, but there seem to be few places recruiting outside of Thailand. I was planning on arriving and hoping to get a job there with the school doing all of the necessary paperwork.
I have ploughed through so many forum posts now that I am even more confused and the inside of my head feels like a chewed biscuit.
Do I come in on a tourist visa and get an employer to change/acquire my WP if and when I get a job?? Or do I do this? IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO FLY INTO THAILAND AND GET A LEGIT JOB?
Do I have to take this frickin teacher test??
Help (sigh) |
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roguegrafix
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 125
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| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:08 am Post subject: |
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I might be wrong but looking at the dates of the above posts -- I've not heard about this topic in a year. I suspect it has blown over as do many things here. They'll keep it on the books so they can (in theory and if they want to) throw the book at you. (EG, you are still supposed to - by law - report to the local police hq if you spend more than 24 hours out of Bangkok!). Otherwise it's another case of presentation over substance and keeping face.
If you fly in on a tourist visa and get a job, you'll need to change your visa to a non-immigrant one. This MAY mean a visa run to a neighbouring country or it might be possible to do this at Bangkok Immigration (I'm not an expert). Anyway, all that will be explained once you've got the job and the school should assist you. |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 3:06 am Post subject: |
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| roguegrafix wrote: |
| I might be wrong but looking at the dates of the above posts -- I've not heard about this topic in a year. I suspect it has blown over as do many things here. They'll keep it on the books so they can (in theory and if they want to) throw the book at you. (EG, you are still supposed to - by law - report to the local police hq if you spend more than 24 hours out of Bangkok!). Otherwise it's another case of presentation over substance and keeping face. |
Not so fast. We just had a teachers' meeting last week and one of the main points was that everyone with a BA should do the teachers council course "if you are planning to stay in Thailand for long and want to be safe" says my Thai coordinator.
The crazy thing was, they did a head count of people at the meeting who acutally had degrees: Only a handful of the white foreign teachers at the meeting had degrees at all. The vast majority were teaching illegally on tourist visas, and many have been with the school for several years. These guys were told they could no longer be guaranteed a job and that they had better start working on a BA in something...anything.
So the situation has not blown over. If anything, they are constantly trying to up the pressure on teachers to get qualified.
On the other hand, a large percentage of teachers in Thailand still have no further qualifications than a British/American/Australian accent and the white skin on their faces.
I've changed jobs recently and am currently teaching at one of the largest (grade K-10) chains in Thailand. |
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rigel
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 308
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 7:00 am Post subject: |
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| Master Shake wrote: |
....
The crazy thing was, they did a head count of people at the meeting who acutally had degrees: Only a handful of the white foreign teachers at the meeting had degrees at all. The vast majority were teaching illegally on tourist visas, and many have been with the school for several years. These guys were told they could no longer be guaranteed a job and that they had better start working on a BA in something...anything.
So the situation has not blown over. If anything, they are constantly trying to up the pressure on teachers to get qualified.
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If they want the farang to be qualified, they need to start paying decent salaries. All this talk about a culture course and a teaching license has me looking elsewhere for jobs. It was nice to know you, Thailand. |
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jayasia
Joined: 06 Apr 2009
Posts: 65
Location: Isaan
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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i have a lovely thai partner. but i will NEVER teach in thailand!
how much are they paying you....?..... around 35,000?...fools!
i will relocate there next year, but will not need to teach ( our business will generate more than enough income to satisfy immigration requirements) to sustain myself.
some of u should look at yourself in the mirror and think.....why am i putting up with this nonsense and perpetuating this absurd situation??
get out of there!
granted, u don't need to be fully qualified to make a half decent teacher, but by taking the peanuts the thai system is offering, you've only got urselves to blame that pay rates havn't increased?!
a lot of these "teachers" in thailand are able to offer the thais exactly what?
a native speaker/white face??
give my love to thailand.
i do miss it so much! there is a price to pay for teaching in another country...sigh!  |
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NigerianWhisper
Joined: 21 Mar 2009
Posts: 176
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 1:35 am Post subject: |
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| You're a teacher?? |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:43 am Post subject: |
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| jayasia wrote: |
i have a lovely thai partner. but i will NEVER teach in thailand!
how much are they paying you....?..... around 35,000?...fools!
i will relocate there next year, but will not need to teach ( our business will generate more than enough income to satisfy immigration requirements) to sustain myself.
some of u should look at yourself in the mirror and think.....why am i putting up with this nonsense and perpetuating this absurd situation??
get out of there! |
Teachers who are qualified to teach grade 1-12 in their home countries make a much more than 35k a month. You obviously don't know about the teaching scene here in Thailand.
There are basically three kinds of grade teachers in Thailand:
cat 1) Teachers who are qualified to teach in their home countries can make over 100k/month in an international school and have paid flights home, l3+ months of vacation/year, health insurance, free accom. etc. etc..
cat 2) Teachers with uni degrees and proper tefl certificates (myself included) can earn up to around 60k plus many of the perks of the cat 1 teachers. *A tefl cert is not an absolute necessity but many reputable schools insist on them.
cat 3) "Teachers" who don't have a uni degree but are presentable, white (yea, you pretty much have to be white) and speak some English can get up to about 40k with few perks. They will also have to do visa runs at least every three months to renew their visas. They will be working illegally.
What Thailand has been trying to do for the past few yeas is to raise the qualifications of their cat 2 teachers to near cat 1 level by making them do a year-long teaching course offered at the universities here.
The problem is that nobody wants to do this lengthy, expensive course (And with so many other countries offering work to cat 2 teachers for better money, why should they?)
Whats more, there is still a very large percentage of cat 3 teachers in Thailand who have no intention of ever becoming legal. Thailand needs these people. Without them there would be a huge vacuum.
Thailand has set its sites way to high in trying to make all cat 2 teachers do a course. They huff and puff about making people with degrees go back to school while all the geezers who dropped out of high school but have been teaching in Thailand since '96 just shrug and carry on teaching grade six math (which they barely passed themselves).
Had Thailand decided to ensure that everyone teaching here had a uni degree and a teaching cert, it would have made sense. It might even have been achievable, given time. But the situation as it stands is laughable and actually discouraging people with degrees from coming to teach in Thailand. |
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rigel
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 308
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:51 am Post subject: |
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| I wish I could land one of those 60K+ jobs. But I don't teach, er, babysit, brats. Working in other countries that pay much more than Thailand has weaned me of settling for the 30-40K tablescraps. |
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