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Korea vs. Thailand for teaching?

 
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jennad



Joined: 02 Dec 2010
Location: San Diego

PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:08 pm    Post subject: Korea vs. Thailand for teaching? Reply with quote

Hello,

I am trying to decide whether to teach English in S. Korea or Thailand.....

Obviously Korea outweighs Thailand with the financial pros.....but I'd love to hear from everyone else what I should consider.

i.e. quality of the schools/jobs, safety, visa requirements, attitude towards women, food, cost of living, landscape/sightseeing, climate/weather, overall experience, etc.

I know I might get a lot of, "it depends on the person," but I'm speaking generally. I'd love your opinions. Thanks!!
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Radius



Joined: 20 Dec 2009

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 1:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

well ive never been to Thailand, let alone teach there, but from what I've heard is that yes, the weather is magnificent, obviously, and you wouldn't get as many who the hell is this intruding in our land kind of stares. Yes you make more in Korea, but the cost of living is way cheaper in Thailand. The attitude towards girls has to be better in Thailand, too. Girls are way at the bottom of the totem pole in Korea and has been for centuries.
Got to give safety to Korea.
Sightseeing would have to go to Thailand, too.
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Globutron



Joined: 13 Feb 2010
Location: England/Anyang

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 3:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Radius wrote:
well ive never been to Thailand, let alone teach there, but from what I've heard is that yes, the weather is magnificent, obviously, and you wouldn't get as many who the hell is this intruding in our land kind of stares. Yes you make more in Korea, but the cost of living is way cheaper in Thailand. The attitude towards girls has to be better in Thailand, too. Girls are way at the bottom of the totem pole in Korea and has been for centuries.
Got to give safety to Korea.
Sightseeing would have to go to Thailand, too.


I've been to thailand for a small amount of time, and actually, the 'who the hell' thing is only lacking in Bangkok and maybe places like Phuket. The moment I left Bangkok for exploring, I was suddenly a stranger.

And I don't even get that in Korea, personally. Only kids trying to try out their English with 'Hello!' from time to time.

The weather averages 32 degrees all year round, but you also have a huge monsoon season that lasts from about April to September.
Recently there were some HUGE floods that killed a lot of people. (Also a buddhist temple that stored thousands of dead babies but hey).

From what I've heard on Dave's very own Thailand forum, where I've noticed you posting, too, There are a lot of inherent problems with the quality of the schools, something about there never being air con and some other more important stuff. I was only reading around briefly when it was monsooning on me in Thailand and I had nothing else to do until it stopped.

Luckily the bursts of rain don't tend to last long, and you can kind of predict that they will occur in the afternoon following the convection cycle.
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've heard the schools are kind of crap, and even with the ludicrously low cost of living, your purchasing power will still be a lot lower in Thailand than in Korea. That said, the sightseeing differential is huge: there's a hell of a lot more to see in Thailand than in Korea, and Bangkok is a significantly more interesting city than Seoul.
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Koreadays



Joined: 20 May 2008

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

life isn't just about money bro, life is a journey, experience it.
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machoman



Joined: 11 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 7:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

my old co worker taught in thailand. he said classes were huge, and they never turned on the AC. other than that, he loved thai culture.

if u teach here u can go to thailand during holidays. you can even go to japan, china, vietnam, australia, maylasia etc. etc. but if u teach in thailand, you can't go anywhere. that's the trade off.
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bucheon bum



Joined: 16 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

machoman wrote:
but if u teach in thailand, you can't go anywhere. that's the trade off.


There are most definitely worse places to be stuck in.
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machoman



Joined: 11 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 7:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

bucheon bum wrote:
machoman wrote:
but if u teach in thailand, you can't go anywhere. that's the trade off.


There are most definitely worse places to be stuck in.


true true. but i would imagine working in a place that appears to be heaven on earth won't seem like heaven on earth anymore once you're working there day in and day out.
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bucheon bum



Joined: 16 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

machoman wrote:
bucheon bum wrote:
machoman wrote:
but if u teach in thailand, you can't go anywhere. that's the trade off.


There are most definitely worse places to be stuck in.


true true. but i would imagine working in a place that appears to be heaven on earth won't seem like heaven on earth anymore once you're working there day in and day out.


True, but that doesn't mean it will seem like the opposite either. And I'm sure someone working and living in Thailand could afford going to neighboring countries like Cambodia and Laos.

And OP, it depends on what your motivation is. Saving up money? Paying off loans? Go to Korea. If it is to have a "cultural experience" I'd say go with Thailand.
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jennad



Joined: 02 Dec 2010
Location: San Diego

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm just torn because I agree and think Thailand would be more culturally enriching, but I don't know if I can swing it financially because I have certain financial obligations *cough massive student loans*

South Korea seems like a pretty decent place....right? Aside from the whole getting bombed by North Korea thing....

And apologies about posting in multiple forums. I didn't realize you are not supposed to do that (newbie here) and just figured it would maximize helpful responses. Instead it's mostly elicited angry responses Sad (not so much in this forum in this thread, so thanks!)
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metalhead



Joined: 18 May 2010
Location: Toilet

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thailand is more fun and there's more to do (Bangkok vs Seoul at least), so chances are you will spend more money in Thailand simply because you can, not good on your average EFL salary over there.

I mean, Korea's ridiculously expensive with regards to fruit and vegetables compared to most of Asia, not a problem for me as I don't really eat that stuff but I know it's a problem for so-called healthy people.

Work in Korea, vacation in S-E Asia. If you want to make decent money in S-E Asia teaching EFL then you should go to Vietnam.
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jennad



Joined: 02 Dec 2010
Location: San Diego

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I mean, Korea's ridiculously expensive with regards to fruit and vegetables compared to most of Asia, not a problem for me as I don't really eat that stuff but I know it's a problem for so-called healthy people.



I do love my fruits and veggies........Thailand it is! Wink
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I disagree with thos saying that you can't travel anywhere if you're living in Thailand. It's plenty cheap enough to get to Laos/Cambodia/Vietnam to do so, and you could probably make it to Indonesia as well.
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