Is Thailand less desirable now?

[Goodghost]

From Ajarn.com

http://www.ajarn.com/postbox.htm

Do you think Thailand is less desirable now?

"Teach at an international school," many people said, "Teachers there receive high salaries." But in nearly the same breath, I was also told about crackdowns and interrogations made of foreign teachers in recent years. A few criminals had slipped into the international schools and now governmental officials are hotly pursuing foreigners with falsified credentials. It seems "a few bad apples spoil the whole barrel." With the talk of bombings, shootings, and revolution in the air; censorship of movies and websites; and the daily experience of higher prices charged to foreigners, Thailand seems to be an increasingly uncomfortable place for foreigners to stay.

For those foreigners willing to devote their time and energies to quality teaching, it can be a bitterly disillusioning experience. With the salaries going lower and the benefits (medical and other insurance, housing, etc.) fewer, and the cost of living increasing, teachers who have been here for years are now leaving the country. Faced with contracts like the ones I have been presented with over the past three months, few quality teachers would choose to remain. Thailand has options as it is such a beautiful country with lovely, intelligent people. I urge school administrators and government bureaucrats to look to the 21st Century hiring practices of Human Resource departments in international businesses and enlightened governments in other countries. Please -- understand that a foreigner comes to a new country to experience the best, not the worst, of another culture. Understand that increasing restrictions is a form of imprisonment and that most people will wish to escape authoritarian practices. Understand that if you treat an experienced, quality professional from the start with suspicion, you encourage criminals and mediocrity and will lose the best people. Understand that teaching requires considerable experience and training to achieve quality and therefore should be compensated and respected accordingly.

As for me, I'm going back to China next week -- where I feel physically safer and am a much more valued commodity. I would love to return to Thailand one day when and if attitudes change.

Teviot Fairservis

[Hullboy]

Govt policy for foreigners investing and starting business's could be deemed as politely telling us we're not welcome, but Thailand is still a far more appealing place to live then my once beloved England.

[KhunEd]

I was not aware of the changing policies in Thailand towards foreigners willing to come and work there. I have family there, and will have to weigh the options with a little more concern when it comes time for me to retire there. Thanks for the heads up !

[duanja]

I think it good that the govt starts to check for falsified credential for the teacher.

sorry to hear that the rules gets tougher for being a teacher here.

Well, but those who still remain will receive a higher salary for staying ?

[zeusbheld]

I was fined 2 days over stay when i went to leave the country this time around. Even though I had only been in 62 days in the 6 month period - when we are supposedly allowed 90.

They said the 6 month runs on a block. So the days start counting from the first date you enterred after October1st 2006.

Stupid rule.! So without anyone telling me i was supposed to leave on the 11th of April. Even though I hadnt stayed over the 90 days.

They said i could have left and came back the same day and i would have had another 6 months.... Doesnt make sense to me.!

FYI believe they are changing the 30-day-stamp rule slightly, to something more sensible.

last i'd heard--and this is from www.thaivisa.com forums--the rule is now maximum 90 days per 180, come and go as many times as you please, and the officer has the discretion to stamp you for up to 30 days even at the end of your 180.

[Loburt]

Thailand, like many countries in Asia, has always had an ambivalent attitude towards Westerners.

Some banks don't pay interest on savings accounts if the account holder is a foreigner. That has been going on for years, not just recently.

On the other hand, some Westerners get paid extraordinarily high salaries and are treated like princes, yet couldn't survive in their daily life here without the assistance of a local earning 5,000 baht a month.

It's always been a very mixed bag and experiences vary widely.

Overall, attitudes towards foreigners are still fairly welcoming (the FBA changes being a notable exception). And they are nowhere near as bad as during the 1997-2001 period; the aftermath of the economic crash.

But if you want to read a lot of crap written by people who can't hold a messenger's job in their own country, but come to live in Thailand and then hold its people in utter contempt, log in to ajarn.com.

Sorry you can't get your porn online. Guess you'll have to spring for a DVD at Pantip. And sorry if spillover violence from the civil war in the south is spoiling your good time. I'm sure it's all about letting foreigners know they aren't welcome.

So pack up and go.

Charisma Man's post is spot on.

[theRascalKing]

About a year ago I started researching the idea of teaching english in Asia. I learned a couple things:

1. The golden time of going to an Asian country and earnly $30,000 - $40,000 and have all expenses paid are long gone. The market is very flooded with people wanting to teach english. Flooded market means the schools can offer less and less. Simple economics.

2. The quality of 'teachers' is faily low. As someone else pointed out having a bachelor's degree is some field and a 2 week 'training' at an ESL school doesn't make you a good teacher. I think Asian schools are starting to realize this.

I know a few people who couldn't teach their way out of a wet paper bag... yet they got jobs teaching in Asia (who knows for how long).

After reading that it kind of killed my idea of teaching english (for pay).

If you are truly wanting to go to a foreign country I recommend going through a volunteer agency as I did.

Anyways .. just my $0.02

[admin]

I work in the technology industry which has seen a lot of change. First you had the big boom in the mid/late 1990's where anybody who could do anything that could even be mistaken for skill was given a large salary and a signing bonus. Then in 2000 that world disappeared overnight. Guys who were making $50K a year as HTML coders couldn't believe it when they couldn't even get an interview and the lucky few who did were being offered jobs at $25K. Right around the same time outsourcing technology work to India became the hot new trend and even highly qualified software engineers had to worry about their jobs being exported.

And the one thing I noticed throughout all of this change was that those who adapted survived and those who didn't are either earning a fraction of what they made a decade ago or they jumped ship to a completely different profession.

Let's face it, if you're an English teacher in Asia then you've got to take a good hard look at where the market for your skills is going. You either need to adapt to the new environment or move on to something else. That's the same advice I've given to all my colleagues in the tech industry during the last 15 years of change.

Unfortunately I have no specific advice to offer as everything I know about teaching in Asia comes from ajarn and thai visa. :cry: But the advice I gave to many of my colleagues may be helpful if it at least helps get some thoughts going. One thing I was big on was following the value train. If you're a software lead and you think your job is going to India then start taking some project management courses. Those projects still need managed by someone back home to make sure they're on time and done correctly. If you're a software engineer find a niche that can't be sent overseas like security. Nobody is going to trust a third party to mind the company's secrets.

Another option is to increase your revenue streams. Maybe an eBay business? I know many amateur bloggers who make $200 - $500 a month from advertising and affiliate deals. I know it's not a lot but it's not supposed to be a replacement for your job.

Anyway, that's my .02

[rilly]

I will speak only from a Krabi perspective, because that is the only one i know.

Teaching went down the tubes big time about a year ago. . . then they hired a consulting company to find and screen new recruits (and recruit them) instead of Khun "Lek" or some othe woman who will hire you if she thinks you are handsome (this happens in Krabi!)

now things are getting better, but i will never teach another day in Thailand, not English anyway.

From a business perspective, rules are pretty lax compared to other countries, i know a Thai woman who is trying to set up a restaurant in the U.S. and she has to submit a detailed 5-year plan... i have a restaurant, guesthouse, internet cafe, and tour desk. My 5 -year plan was to "not go out of business"

However, some things are unfair. I am audited nearly every month by the revenue dept. who i suspect is looking for a bribe..., and am probably the only business on my street that is paying V.A.T. as well as standard withholding tax.

I am required to pay myself a foreign salary on paper ( it must be reported, and most importantly, i MUST pay tax on that supposed salary)...

bribes are a part of life here to get anything done by the government offices (for permits) the bribes required of me are much higher, even though i send my thai staff in to take care of it. I decided to play hardball one time and not pay... and the permit that normally takes two weeks to process still hasn't been completed.... 8 months later.

But we manage, we just aren't getting rich any time soon... the tax office sees to it that we never will.

-RILInJuH

(that post was too long... )

[The Punisher]

But if you want to read a lot of crap written by people who can't hold a messenger's job in their own country, but come to live in Thailand and then hold its people in utter contempt, log in to ajarn.com.

So true. So many people think they are owed a living over here while at the same time being good for nothing ungrateful social retards. I would rather turn a contract down than use these people for my work.

[rilly]

ajarn.com is winge central. and there are some people on the forums there that seem to have only one objective in mind: to denegrate anyone that visits.

I have to admit i used to participate in that battle. never again

-RiLInJuH!

[rilly]

was it a "saint something something" nursing school?

The extra credit for attending church is strange...

having religiously affiliated schools is quite common. . . a great many of the private schools in the US are religiously affiliated...

many of the P or M level schools are the same way (on a private level) in Thailand. New one is opening here soon.

-RiLInjuH!