Questions about working in Thailand

There are certain questions that those wishing to teach in Thailand frequently wish to know prior to committing themselves to making the move. Here are some of the most common questions asked.

Will I find work easily in Thailand?
Your qualifications and teaching experience will decide the ease to which you find work in Thailand. In many cases qualifications seem to matter more than experience. In the past it was possible for any native English speaker to just arrive in Thailand without any real qualifications and experience and still find a job but this is getting harder. You still hear about it happening, but most of this type of work is illegal and unreliable.

Do you need a degree to teach in Thailand?
Most school teaching jobs in Thailand do require that you have at least a degree. It is also a requirement for a teacher’s license, and it will be a bit of an uphill battle to get a work permit without a degree. People do get jobs without degrees, but again this tends to be of the illegal variety.

Is it possible to work illegally in Thailand?
I would not advise anyone to work in Thailand this way. Legally you could be arrested, spend time in an immigration prison, before being deported and banned from Thailand for eleven years. This has happened to westerners; although the most often reason has been working with a dodgy degree or getting into trouble. I don’t know of anyone who has actually been deported for teaching illegally, but that is not to say it doesn’t happen.

Can you make a good living teaching in Thailand?
This depends what you mean by a good living. Most of us manage to get by on our wage, and some of us are able to supplement our income in other ways. The average teacher, outside of Bangkok, only earns about 30,000 THB a month which is about $900 or 600 Euro. You can certainly live on this and there are better paying jobs once you get yourself settled in Thailand.

Am I too old to teach in Thailand?
Most Thai teachers retire at 62 years old, but as demand is so high for good native speakers you will likely still find work way beyond this age.