My Teaching Experience in Thailand - Honest & Realistic Review
Most of my teaching experience has been positive; I love the kids. There are many good things that come with teaching in Thailand such as travel opportunities and local life experience. However, there are a few things I wish I knew before going into it.
Below are 5 less-than-pleasant things to be aware of if you are considering teaching in Thailand. They are not meant to be negative, but are honest and realistic based on my experience.
*Traveling to Thailand or to other countries? Check your visa requirements here.
1, Hiring process, paperwork and placement takes about 4-6 months.
In my case, it took about 6 months from the time I was first contacted by the agency to the actual date I started teaching. There are lot of paperwork and documents (diploma, certificates, letters of recommendation, criminal background check) to submit. In Thailand, most provinces require university diplomas to be authenticated and it is rather a long and complicated process. Most agencies will not tell you how complicated and how long the initial process takes.
2, Visa You can enter the country with your passport which grant you 30 days (with most passports). Or you can apply and get a 60- day tourist visa at a Thai embassy/consulate in your country before going there. Either way, you will have to make a visa run which is not the most pleasant experience. Upon visa run, you receive a non-immigrant B Visa, which grant you 60 days in the country. I had to make a visa run to Laos. The trip by bus took about 4-5 hours in total. (long and uncomfortable ride if you are not used to traveling by buses like me, and I'm an older woman). The visa application wait time was about 4 hours (standing the whole time) and picking up the visa next day was another 2 hour wait.
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3, You have to be okay with being hot, sweaty and uncomfortable
Thailand is hot and humid all year around. Where I'm in the remote province in the northeastern part of the country, It's been 90-100 F every day. Most of the classrooms at my school have no air conditioning. The accommodation provided by the agency has no furnishings except for the refrigerator and the bed which was too hard and I had to buy a mattress for it. It's hard to live in a place where there's no kitchen. For me, 4 months is too long to eat out every day. I bought a hot plate and an electric kettle so I could at least make simple meals.
4, Food Safety
Food is okay and mostly safe in Bangkok. However, In the remote areas of Thailand, standard for sanitation is almost non-existent. I've gotten sick from the food here a several times even when being careful. I'm no stranger to street foods and have eaten just about everything all over the world.
5, Do this for the experience
I get paid for teaching yes, but the pay is very little. I love kids and wanted to help the few I could by teaching English. Teaching abroad is solely for the experience.