The following is a short guide about living and working in Thailand teaching the English language. I worked teaching English in Thailand for five years, three years at a language institute (British-American Language Institute) located in Future Park Mall, Asia´s largest super mall. Future Park Mall, located in Rangsit, is just a short 25 minute motorcycle taxi ride from Bangkok. The other two years I was an English language lecturer at Rangsit University teaching a variety of English language courses including Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Tourism for Tourist Guides.

Getting to Thailand is reasonably simple. You book a ticket on an airline to Thailand, and you arrive. Leaving Thailand, however, is another story. Once you arrive in Thailand, the possibility that you will want to leave becomes less and less with each passing week. Why, you might ask?

Well, for starters, the Thai people are some of the nicest people on earth. Bangkok is a internationally cosmopolitan city and many Thais speak just enough English to get you to where you want to go. The weather is perfect year round if you like warm to hot beach weather. The job opportunities teaching English are almost without boundary country wide and the pay can now be as much as US$1000 per month. When you factor in the low cost of food, transportation, excellent medical facilities, and cost for an apartment (as low as US$20 a month) and US$6 a month for water and electricity you have the best of all worlds. What types of teaching jobs are available and what are the job responsibilities?

There are several different classifications of employment available for foreign English teachers. Teaching positions can be had working in the many English language institutes found throughout Thailand. The language institutes reguire a minimum amount of paper work compared to working in a university. I worked for two years at Rangsit University, located near Bangkok, and spent an average of five hours a day Monday through Friday, correcting students' homework and tending to office issues. Correcting homework is a normal part of being a university English language teacher, however, the downside was teachers were only paid for actual student contact hours, meaning teachers were only paid for their time teaching in the classroom. So, I would recommend working for one of the many English language institutes needing English teachers now.

What is there to do when you are finished teaching for the day? Thailand abounds with may travel opportunities. There are rain forests and beautiful beaches. The nightlife is wide and varied (that is an understatement, the nightlife is amazing) with discos, Thai boxing, cinema, bars, cinemas, open air markets, most notably Patpong open air market, and restaurants offering a variety of cuisine from around the world. Songkran holidays are famous to expats who travel to Thailand to holiday, live or work. Phi Phi Island full moon parties are a must do. Thailand is near Vietnam, Malaysia, and Laos offering additional places to visit and see while in Asia.

Many male English teachers marry Thai women and never look back. Some of these men start import export businesses, English language schools, restaurants and a variety of other businesses.

In summary, of all of the countries I have visited and taught English in, Thailand offers one of the best cultural, travel, and income possibilities.

Sawadee :-)

Oh, by the way, as an alternatiave to teaching English in Thailand you might want to check out my web site about my experience teaching English and living in South Korea http://hubpages.com/hub/Teach-English-in-Korea