Footprints Recruiting

Thai culture is very complex and quite different from Western culture. Hopefully your school will walk you through some of these complexities in your initial orientation.  Couple things to immediately consider:

1. do not raise your voice or lose your cool.  Loss of face in this regard is extremely difficult to overcome.
2. be patient

Food is AMAZING in Thailand.  AND it is super cheap.  Street stalls are an excellent choice and the food courts in the markets are great and very well priced.  I took the family out for dinner and fed four people for about $6 and we were all stuffed.  I would give meat products at street stalls a miss in really hot weather or I would pick a stall that has some sort of cooling device.

Much to the surprise of most foreigners, Thais generally eat with a spoon and fork.  Chopsticks are reserved almost exclusively for foreigners and many Thais actually think foreigners must always use chopsticks when eating in their home countries. 

When eating with Thais, numerous dishes are ordered, often with rice.  Each person shares these by putting small amounts of the food on his or her plate and eating from their own plate. It is not appropriate to take food from another person’s plate.

In most cases a teacher apartment is a bachelor apartment - one room with a bathroom, air conditioning, a bed, a wardrobe and a chair.

Keep in mind that Thailand is a tropical country. Showers are not heated unless they actually have a shower heater.  You may want to pack your own linens and pillows or a thin sleeping bag and a sheet to get you by when you first get there.  This sleeping bag and sheet can then travel with you as you tour this amazing country.

Monthly rent for most one room apartments is approximately 3,000-4,500 Baht plus water, electricity and phone.

Thai is a complex and fascinating language and tone is very important for meaning.  While it may be difficult for you, try to learn some Thai.  Don’t worry about getting the tone wrong (you will).  Thais expect this but appreciate the effort.  In fact, showing that you know some Thai in a market can usually get an immediate smile.  Sharing language and culture is very important.  After the first month you may notice that you speak English more slowly and use gestures along with your Thai vocabulary to get your point across. 

Come with an open mind, a willingness to work, a professional attitude, the knowledge that it is not going to be “like home”, confidence in your teaching skills, and above all, that sense of adventure and challenge that lured you to Thailand.  This is an opportunity of a lifetime, but it will be over before you know it so make every moment count.  Work hard when you have to and play equally hard when you have your well-earned time off!

Documents

You should consider having 2 copies made of all your necessary information such as your birth certificate, driver’s license, SIN card, passport, any health card etc. Bring one set of copies with you and leave one set with someone at home.  This is a safety measure, things can get lost or stolen.

Clothing

You should bring plenty of comfortable clothing to wear in and around Thailand.  Cotton is a valuable material to have there.  You will get hot, and light cotton is the best thing that you can wear in heat.

Although it is hot, you will still want to bring your jeans and in the cooler season you will be happy to have some sweats and long-sleeved cozy shirts or sweaters. 

Underwear

If you are particular about your underwear choices, you will want to bring enough with you. Thailand manufactures for every major underwear and lingerie company, therefore there is a variety of availability. This does not mean you will always get exactly what you want however. You will want to bring more, especially if you like the cotton sporty sorts. 

Shoes

If you have a certain type of footwear that you are partial to (ie Birkenstocks, New Balance sneakers etc.) you should think about bringing an extra pair.

The government of Thailand has recently change the requirements to teach English in Thailand. To learn more about these new changed please check Teacher Certification Thailand

• minimum of a bachelor's degree (3 or 4 yr degree) in Education or a related field
• you must be a native English speaker
  • you must have a passport from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom or the USA.
    

Transportation in Thailand is diverse, cheap and abundant.  Bus is one of the most common forms of getting long distances but within cities and towns you have loads of choices.

• bicycle
• moped
• motorcycle
• motorcycle taxi
• taxi
• buses - community, AC buses, tour buses, long distance sleeper buses and more
• trains
• subway
• planes
• boats - water taxis, water tour boats, water ferries, barges, jet boats and more