Trifter

Why teach illegally?

Most people who just read the above title will immediately have the fear of good struck into them! After all braking the law in any country isn’t exactly a light deal. However, if you do so in a country with Thailand’s harsh reputation then it brings pictures of the infamous Bangkok Hilton to mind, and few people would voluntarily check in there!

So just why would someone risk getting themselves into hot water with the authorities here in Thailand? Well there are quite a few reasons. Some people end up here teaching English just as a means to fund their travels around Asia, Some come here to start a new life and find that their new employers for one reason or another can’t get them a work permit. Or work permits are promised from day one and then simply not delivered. The English teacher finds himself or herself then being fobbed off with excuses by the employer.

One of the biggest reasons that English teachers here in Thailand tend to flout the rules and teach illegally is that they don’t poses the one magic piece of paper the Thai authorities insist on, namely a college degree! If you don’t have one of these pieces of paper then you in most cases can not get a work permit for teaching English!

I’ve read this and decided to teach English in Thailand anyway! Who’s going to employ me without a degree?

Well of course you will be braking the law, and if anyone employs you they will be braking the law. So who will employ you? Lots of employers from the big name schools right down to the smaller agencies will quite happily open their arms and welcome you! You see, they ave clients lined up, such as contracts with government schools, corporate English jobs, private English teaching at language centers. All this means is that there is a great demand for English. Though not enough English teachers to teach it! So now it becomes clear as to why you will be employed!

What about a visa?

Years ago teachers just hoped on a bus and went to the border or sent their passports out of the country using illegal visa agents. Then came the crackdowns! Nowadays, it’s become more difficult to get visas which has led to a lot of teachers leaving. In most cases it just became too much hassle to keep doing visa runs every month or 3 months depending on what type of visa you had. You will need to constantly be doing visa runs if you don’t have a work permit!

What happens if I get caught by the police?

You could get fined, deported, taken to the local police station or immigration center and detained for a few hours then fined and told to get yourself legal. Or all of the above but not particularly in that order!

Mainly it depends on who catches you, what their mood is at the time or if the government is engaged in some kind of crackdown against illegals at that present time!

What can I do to get myself legal?

Easy, get a degree! Study part time on the net or by distance to get yourself a degree. It’ll take you a few years but will be worth it in the end!

I want to teach in Thailand, where can I get a teaching job?

A really good resource for getting yourself an English teaching job in either Thailand or China is http://esljobs4teachers.com Or if you want to know more about teaching in Thailand then http://thailanddelights.blogspot.com is a truly excellent resource foe English teachers.