Job Discussion Forums

[ela_espanola]

I am on vacation here and i feel in love with phuket. i currently have a teaching position in china but wish to move here one day 2 teach. can anyone tell me what the going salary is? i know it can't be much considering it's thailand and away from the main city

[Hod]

You'd be pleasantly suprised. There are jobs to be had at international schools paying well over 100000 baht a month in Phuket.

Saying that, I live in the real world. Phuket has at least 5 schools offering these mickey-mouse 4-week tefly training courses, the graduates of which snap up all of Phuket's woefully-paid teaching jobs.

Why not check out other provinces in the south of Thailand? Same scenery but more choice of jobs.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hola Ela:

Since you're already in Phuket now on holiday, I'd love to know how much you're spending per day ... on average.

To answer your question: Typical language schools in Phuket are generally offering salaries in the 24,000 to 34,000 Baht range, although you can easily supplement your base salary with some privates.

For privates, if you're good --- you can charge between 500 and 1,000 Baht per hour.

Here in Bangkok, I live comfortably on 1,000 Baht per day, but I'm supporting only myself, and have no realistic plans of saving anything. (fyi)

If you're lucky enough to land that elusive international school gig, you can invite me down for a weekend holiday ... on your tab.

Good luck!

[Rice Paddy Daddy]

Yeah, I hear those with a legit B.Ed degree are eligible for the Intl. School positions.

B100,000 - B140,000 / month

in Phuket...

[tedkarma]

Back to reality from the fantasy postings above. Sorry.

ECC and some of the other major chain schools pay B220 plus or minus an hour. No work permit, no contract. Some will contract, most won't. For most people a work permit and one-year visa is a dream. Many will have you running from public school to public school with no compensation for time or transportation.

The better hotels will pay B30-40k, but don't hire often. The ONE real international school pays well - yes - but you will need a degree (Master's preferred) and to be certified and experienced in your own country (at least two years - prefer more) and they typically hire from overseas - otherwise you get the local hire package - perhaps half as much. QSI - the only other school that could be considered "international" pays 1/2 to 2/3rds of Dulwich.

A couple other "international" (but not really) schools pay B20k-25 a month - and one school (sometimes) wants to hold your first month's wages to assure you will complete the contract.

Tutoring - when you can get it - B200-350. I got B500 once - for a small group. B350 would be considered quite good.

Competition is intense - old timers who have been there for a while will land the good jobs - as they wait patiently and network. The TEFL schools produce more than the market can handle and some are willing to work almost for free.

I don't mean to throw cold water on the great postings above (almost had me packing up and heading back), but Phuket isn't BKK and the wages are no where near as good - expect the cost of living to be higher than BKK too.

I love Phuket - have a home there - have taught and tutored there in the past - will retire there in a few years - but work elsewhere for money.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Tedkarma's probably right. The hourly figures I posted above may be a bit optimistic for the Phuket market.

I have, however, seen a number of job adverts recently from schools in Phuket offering monthly salaries closer to 30K than 20 or 25K.

As always, you need to keep your eyes open and be at the right place at the right time. Knowing how and with whom to network, as Tedkarma mentioned, is also very important. The higher-paying gigs will not magically fall into your lap.

And as Sigmoid reminds us from time to time --- market conditions have shifted slightly in our favour over the past year, as throngs of unhappy Thai TEFLers leave the country for greener pastures.

[tedkarma]

I spent part of June and all of July and August on Phuket - the job situation is currently unchanged. Phuket is on a different type economic cycle from BKK and the rest of the country. I think you may be right that wages may have improved slightly, but the people I know on the ground there don't report much change - other than a continued increase in the cost of living. Parts of Phuket are going upscale in a major way - US$1,000,000 houses are no longer unusual - hopefully that won't affect us of more modest means!

[Wildcat]

Ela - Those jobs paying 100,000 are recruited from outside Thailand. They are looking for MA as a minimum, 20,000-35,000 is a little more real. I work at Prince of Songkla University and we pay between 30,000 and 35,000. Some of the larger hotel pay a bit more, but those jobs are grabbed up in no time. Good luck.

[Rice Paddy Daddy]

i like those beaches up north on Phuket.