ESL Teaching Guide - Thailand
Ron Federighi - May 2004
I am from San Mateo, California originally, have taught ESL since 1977 in several countries: Japan, China, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and currently in Thailand.
I am a university lecturer at Prince of Songkla University in Trang, Thailand in the south of the country. The good thing about my job is my independence in creating the course and teaching it with little or no interference. The negative thing about my job is the small salary. Yet, despite the financial gains, which are limited, I have no threatening teenage students to harass me and disrupt the class as they did when I taught high school and middle school in California, which was a living hell. Students in Asia are a genuine pleasure to teach.
Amy Starkey - July 2002
Most schools require that you have both a college degree and be TEFL certified and/or have teaching experience.
Ted Hill - November 2002
Just a note on Amy Starkey's comment on requirement on teaching subject other than English. this only applies at bilingual schools(usually private colleges) of which there are few relative to overall number.
The Bangkok Survivor's Handbook: A Guide to Living in Asia's City of Angels
Living in Thailand
Lonely Planet Thailand
Lonely Planet Thailand's Islands & Beaches
Travelers' Tales Thailand: True Stories
Dk Eyewitness Travel Guides Thailand (Dk Eyewitness Travel Gudies)
Fodor's Thailand, 8th Edition
Jake - October 2002
Please take note: All schools are not equal in other respects. Conditions will be different. Take into account timetable and accommodation factors. **Things can change quickly.**
60bht= £1. 43bht= 1$US
SCHOOL HOURLY RATE MONTHLY SALARY APM 425 42,000 AUA 220-315 N/A Bell ? 34,100 - 48,100 Bits 500 - 800 35,000 - 40,000 British American 200 - 230 27,000 + British Council ? 35,000 + Cambridge 200 - 950 23,500 - 45,000 + ECC 200 + 23,000 + IDP 409 - 727 37,000 - 55,000 + Elite 300 - 400 25,000 - 40,000 Go Chulalongkorn 700 45,000 Henley 500 - 900 N/A Ideal 300 30,000 - 37,000 Inlingua 200 - 500 30,000 + IEG 300 - 500 28,000 - 37,000 Kings College ? 31,000 + MELS 600 N/A Nava ? 26,000 - 30,000 Plan-It 500 - 800 40,000 - 50,000 Siam Computer 200 - 250 23,000 - 30,000 Text'n'Talk 350 - 450 N/A TS Education 300 - 400 35,000 - 40,000 Vektor Multimedia 500 25,000 - 45,000 World Learning Sv 400 N/A
Amy Starkey - July 2002
One thing that surprised me was that foreign teachers didn't teach English. They taught the different subjects IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. So a foreign teacher had to be a social studies teacher, or a math teacher or a science teacher. This can be rather intimidating for a teacher who is an ESL teacher only. However, it helps that this was just an elementary school so the boss hopes that a person with a college education has basic, elementary knowledge of math, science, etc. Just something to be aware of if you are interested in Thailand!
