Job Discussion Forums

[eIn0791207912]

Hi all,

I'm American, 26, have a BA, and have been teaching in Korea for 3 years. I'm looking to transition to Thailand this year or the next.

I'm not looking for much. No uni gigs. No super comfy business language stuff (though, I do have a business degree).

I just want something on/near a beach. And access to Muay Thai gyms to work on my training. I'm not looking to save a ton (a little would be nice), not looking to do any traveling (just gonna be there a year). Want to head to grad school after or head to Japan and fight shooto or K1.

Any help or advice? I imagine Thailand is much like the rest of Asia (flooded job market because of the economics back home), but I could be wrong.

Cheers!

[Pauleddy]

Yr post is similar to a couple of others sent recently.

Anything is possible, but the "crisis" has certainly hit Thailand in terms of jobs available.

In terms of timing, January is not good. Terms do not start until May or maybe June (for unis, which you don't want), because there is a long break which starts around March. April tends to be humid, and people don't enrol for lessons quite as much, even in the smaller gigs.

The "teach on a beach" ideal is very hard to find. Several people have pm'd me asking stuff like "Where is the best beach to get a job and have fun?" (because they have seen it in the movies)...but the beach jobs which do exist are usually not "on the beach" but in shabby/boring coastal towns. 60% of the Thai beaches (and all beaches near BKK) which I have seen are either commercial, dirty/not pretty, or both.

Good luck

Eddy

[rawlings]

work in phuket. some people will tell you it sucks; it doesn't. just keep a clean nose, a pair of clean clothes and stay away from the tourist dumps.

[Pauleddy]

True.

There are some very nice parts of Phuket away from the tourist areas.

However, in most cases, all westerners are viewed as tourists more or less. So, until you get known as that poor but nice teacher down the road, you won't be immune. There is a lot of rip-off (last week, a canadian got beat up cos he wouldnt pay 5 dollars for a 200 metre cab ride). It starts even at the airport, where the taxis want 500b or 1000b for a ride that would be 150b in BKK.

A motor-bike taxi (which you may need to get home after some beers, cos the buses stop at 7pm, and they know it) can be 300 or even 500b for a ridiculous journey.

Phuket Town, the main "city" is a terrible wipehole. Ugly and little to see.

When I lived in Kathu, a small place---I had to get a taxi or tuk tuk about 3 miles to Tesco. Local shops don't sell much, especially if you want cheese, meat, wine, pizza, underpants and normal stuff.

I heard that there are western millionaires with beach villas on the quiet beaches. I guess it's great. But Joe Average will just feel ripped off much of the time.

Eddy

The Phuket people have milked it for years.

[pest2]

Like you, I taught in Korea for 3 years before i came here.. You will find that the pay and lifestyle quality here alot lower. In Korea, I made like 3000$+ a month--- travelled around, ate at nice restaurants all the time, had a car, bought nice things, and still saved.

I found working with Koreans to be alot easier and straight-forward.... Working with Thai's effectively is like MOD EDIT

However, aside from work, Thais are alot easier to make friends with and get along with... There is more to see and do here. Things like food variety and product variety are alot better. More cultural diversity.

If you come here, you will have fun but eventually you will run out of money, maybe, and have to go back to boring drab Korea and save some more?

[Gypsy King]

Teaching in Thailand is definitely an experience for all. Thai friendliness and hospitality are reserved for mainly tourists who will see Thais (and Thailand) as a perfect holiday destination and they (the Thais) will no doubt be smiling at you when you spent all your money here. If you are contemplating teaching English here the schools that hire see you as a disposable Farang expected to act like a Thai in every sense. It is not a teaching English problem at all (you may be a excellent teacher) but it is the fact that Thais inherently resent foreigners making money off of them in anyway. Being a volunteer (non-paid) ESL teacher is really what they want at Thai schools Many adverts I see these days on different TEFL websites confirm this and this is also why volunteer Backpacker ESL teachers are now constantly being sought after especially on Kaosan Road.