Job Discussion Forums

[the foystein]

I am thinking about going to Thailand to teach, non-ESL. From a monetary standpoint it is not as good a deal as other Asian countries. I have never been there but it looks like a really beautiful country. Why do you like it?
Thanks

[ronald_reagan]

I have never lived in Thailand, buy have visited 4 times. Last school year I taught in China and vacationed in Southeast Asia. I suppose there are many reasons why people dig Thailand. I have to say the food is absolutely my favorite cuisine of anywhere in the world that I have traveled to. I do not see myself suffering in the slightest when it comes to eating in Thailand. The food is really cheap on the street as well.

[Smeagol]

Hi, Foystein (may I omit the "the", or are you the only one?)

I guess I'm qualified to answer your question. I lived and worked in Thailand for over six years, am married to a Thai woman (age 42, so I'm not a pedophile looking for a "faux daughter"), and we still maintain our actual "permanent" residence in Thailand.

First of all, Thailand is not for everyone. Secondly, there is no one "Thailand". Working in rural Thailand will bear very little resemblance to life in Bangkok, for example. So a teacher who enjoys his overly-large classes of rural Thai children at a government primary or secondary school in, I don't know, some village near Udon Thani, will give a very different account from a teacher who likes his job at a language school just off the Skytrain in downtown Bangkok (I actually was the latter for a few months, and would never, ever want to be the former).

Despite the near impossibility of answering the question of why people like Thailand, I'll try to explain what I find to be the good points, and a few of the pitfalls.

The lifestyle is very relaxed, even in Bangkok. This is a plus, if you're not particularly driven to costantly try to "improve" your situation and everything around you, or a minus if you are the least bit impatient, or have western ideas about what constitutes "properly" providing services. I find it to be a definite plus, but note that I'm not working there at the moment, as I want to earn a real living right now.

The weather is warm all year round. This is a plus if, like me, you detest anything below 25 degrees C. and thrive on 38 degrees. It's a minus if you are like many of my former colleagues who constantly complained about the "heat" and longed for those "crisp" mornings "back home" (which I abhor). This may be less of an issue in the extreme north (Chiang Mai, I suppose, for example), which I avoided like the plague.

The English language is quite prominent in the urban areas, especially Bangkok and the touristic areas. This is a plus if, like me, you don't want to struggle with daily living. It's a minus if you are trying to immerse yourself in the alien culture (and in the rural areas, it REALLY is "alien", and the English language will be less prominent, especially spoken English).

Some westerners claim to love the cuisine; I challenge them to eat real homecooked Isaan (northeast Thailand, bordering Laos) cuisine. They'd choke and wretch. Other westerners, such as myself, like some of the Thai cuisine, from the more hygenic restaurants (those at least not directly exposing the food to debris and exhaust fumes from passing traffic). I find it difficult to believe that food could be a major reason to choose to work and live in a particular country, but apparently, for some people, it is.

The cost of living has risen significantly during the past five years, and I noticed major increases in prices last summer (from the winter before), but is still relatively low (whatever that means - as compared to western countries, I guess). This is a major plus if you have any income or assets from your home country (or elsewhere). It's a minus in that salaries reflect the cost of living (with lesser increases, or no increases in many cases).

Thais are friendly, at least superficially, and I think moreso than many other nationalities, although perhaps not the best providers of customer service, or employee (e.g., teacher) support, one might find. But they usually make at least a half-hearted effort to be helpful, if not always successfully. Most Thais are fairly honest, too; I have rarely encountered out-and-out theft, although deceptive behavior is common (but, then, isn't it everywhere?).

Many single western men, of which I was one when I first went to Thailand and decided to stay and work there, find Thai women, generally, to be desirable. I would be remiss if I didn't mention this, as it is such a common reason for western men to want to teach in Thailand (I am NOT implying that this has anything to do with you). It would be untruthful to say that Thai women were not the main motivation for working in Thailand for more than half of my colleagues (how's that for a convoluted sentence?).

The students? Well, I taught English as a foreign language at two private language schools, a university, and as part of my duties at a foreign-owned business. Thais are simply not serious people ("serious" is synonymous with something like "grumpy" to Thais, seriously!), and definitely not serious students. The Thai language is tonal, and in a language family far removed from western languages, and it is quite difficult for most Thais to progress beyond low-intermediate level. I don't know what or where you're considering teaching, and although you mention that it's not the English language, I presume that English will be the medium of instruction. You might consider investigating, through whatever means are available to you, whether your potetial students' English-language skills are sufficiently developed for the curriculum.

Whatever you decide, good luck to you. I hope my post has at least a morsel of information that's useful to you.

[the foystein]

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

[Solar Strength]

Yeah, but how does one live on Baht 21,000 a month! Or even more concerning, how does one leave the country when they've decided they've had enough. It would be hard to save anything on a salary like that.

[MaiPenRai]

Who's making 21,000 baht? Ya, it would be hard to save any money on that salary, but where did this number come from? Anyone making less than 30,000/month is doing something wrong or working in Chiang Mai. Thailand is an easy place to live any extremely inexpensive lifestyle, but living in Bangkok or in touristy areas, one could easily spend a whole lot of money. For me, the initial draw was being able to live a very modest lifestyle in an area where that was what everyone else was doing. Its tough being poor in Western countries. I think anybody who comes here without an exit plan (i.e. plane ticket home or money in the bank to buy a ticket) is asking for trouble.

If you are teaching non-ESL, your options will be fewer, but you will probably make 40K+/month, unless at a Univeristy where the salaries are abysmal.

[ronald_reagan]

After reading many posts on various websites, I am assuming a lot of people are living beyond their means, or perhaps extravagantly by Thai standards. I have visited Thailand a few times and it does appear that it can be cheap living or expensive, you can get both ends of the spectrum.

I am not sure which city is more expensive, Shanghai or Bangkok. I lived in the former on about $1000 a month. I managed to save for travel and had a pretty decent nightlife (on the weekends). I did have accommodations paid for. This May, I will be headed for Thailand making about the same amount, but living in a much smaller town than Shanghai. We will see how I do, I suppose.

[the foystein]

I noticed your post about a background check. I have been offered a job, but they haven't asked me for one. Do I need one?

[nikinax]

Its very possible to live on a minimal amount of money;
you can easily get a full meal and a drink for 40baht, a bottle of water is 7 baht from 7/11 and transport is about 10 baht anywhere around.

I've been living in thailand since jan and i LOVE it. the language barrier is a bit of a mission thought.

[ronald_reagan]

[Master Shake]