Korean Job Discussion Forums

maeil · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Location: Haebangchon

My husband and I will be heading to Thailand and staying there for about 6 months while we study Thai massage at an institute in Chiang Mai. I'm wondering if, while we're there, we'll be able to supplement our savings by finding some students for private English lessons. Is it as illegal there as it is in Korea, or are the rules a bit more lax? I don't want to do anything that could jeopardize my time there.

Thanks for any info on the subject.

monkeyfish · Joined: 10 Jun 2008 Location: Shinchon

Do your own research once you get there, but my feeling is that the legality of doing privates would be much more relaxed than Korea. Thailand is a pretty lawless place, whole families riding around on a single motorbike with no helmets, a lot of drug trafficking, etc... I think the authorities have bigger fish to fry than english tutors.

Your problem would probably be finding students who could afford to pay a sum of money that would be at all meaningful to you... there is probably a niche market in the upper class elite in Bangkok, not sure about Chiang Mai.

To be honest if I was trying to budget a six month stay in Thailand, I would be focusing more on saving money than making money. The tourist economy can be over ten times the value of the local economy... so learn some of the language and make Thai friends asap.

Undercover · Joined: 14 Nov 2007

I have seen many lovely privates from many lovely Thai women!!

Oh, not those kind of privates.

Yes, privates are going to be hard to come by in Chiang Mai. But if you can find them I wouldn't worry about getting caught. Nobody cares. It is easier to find privates in Bangkok, since there is much less wealth in Chiang Mai. The business district is your best option, particularly Japanese companies. Hand out some business cards. You never know but don't count on it. And the most you will get is about 500baht/hour.

Bryan · Joined: 29 Oct 2007

maeil · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Location: Haebangchon

Haha, all right, thanks for the advice guys. We're saving every won we can these days to get ready for our stay there, and I can see it probably wouldn't be worth my time to try the English route in our spare time. That's fine.

We're most likely going to be signing up for this place: http://www.tmcschool.com/

And this is the particular program: http://www.tmcschool.com/gct.asp

My husband already has 13 years as a massage therapist, so this will just increase his knowledge, but I'm a beginner. The great thing about this program is that it will give me more than enough hours to get my massage license when we return to the States, where I'll study other techniques in the future.