r/Teachinginthailand

Hi everyone!

I'm set to start teaching in Thailand in about a month and I was told that I should enter the country on a 'Visa on arrival' and that I would get my non-b visa after I have already started working. They also told me that if immigration officers ask about the purpose of my visit that I can't say I will be working and need to give reason as 'holiday'. This is with BFITS btw. I'm worried about coming in basically as a tourist and starting work before having the visa. Is this normal/allowed? Thoughts/advice are much appreciated.

I have been applying directly to schools for a few weeks in the hopes of securing a TEFL teacher position for Oct/Nov 2026 but I haven’t received any responses from any schools. I have only received answers from agencies but I’ve read enough to know agencies are a scam, I only applied as a last resort and potential backup.

For context: I do not have a formal teaching degree, however, I do have a bachelors degree (BA) and TEFL certificate. I also have tutoring experience at high school and university level. I currently volunteer for an NGO which runs an after-school tutoring programme for primary and high school students where I have taught English and History for a year and a half. I also worked as a teaching assistant at my university for a year. I’m a South African woman (black - if that matters)

With this experience, I’d like to believe I should be able to secure an entry-level position at a bilingual or language school. I’m also not too fussy about location, I’d prefer close access to an international airport (like Bangkok or Chiang Mai) but I would definitely be willing to teach in a medium or even small town and I’ve applied accordingly. I’ve checked Ajarn, Teast, Jobdbs, KruTeacher, Schole etc. and applied for about 25+ positions (I do also try to tailor my cvs to each application by researching a bit about the school and their vision/mission/programmes etc.)

I suppose what I’d like to know is if anyone can offer advice on where I might be going wrong: Do I need to apply to more schools? Is it too early to apply for 2nd Semester (Oct/Nov), is the turnaround time for responses longer in Thailand? Is it common to be ignored by recruiters? Do I need to focus more on smaller schools and provinces? Are they ignoring me because I’m not currently based in Thailand? Etc.

Any advice would be genuinely helpful, thanks in advance 💛

Hi all, first time posting on reddit. I've seen lots of discussions about what courses to take and if it is worth it.

I just wanted to make my own post to get more information.

For context I am a 28yr old British citizen with a BA in art and currently working in the healthcare sector. I'm on minimum wage and have no real clue of a career I want to pursue.

I'm thinking teaching in thailand would be such a great experience as I love kids and do enjoy teaching, I'm just not sure if it's worth doing and how easy it is to do.

I also have a partner who would be interested in coming with me, he has a degree in tech and would like to continue that route. Does anyone have any advice on if this would work and what we would need to do to make it work?

Any advice at all would be helpful.

Thanks