As a former teacher at three different schools, and a candidate for positions at ten different schools (I interviewed for 2.5 years, looking for something better between absolute crap and crap), I can say that the problem here isn't the foreigners, but the Thais.

When asked how you want me to teach students, the answer is always "play with them." I've travelled from Anuban to Matthayom. May 19, 2026, is my last day of work, not at just any school, but at the prestigious demonstration school of Rjaphat University. And I'm ready to go back to being broke and foraging in the jungle, but not to return to these Thai concentration camps, where the management and, as they say, "good environment" sincerely believe they're hiring white idiots who are fundamentally incapable of thinking.
All they require of you is dancing, singing, games, and worksheets. I'm a professional teacher with degrees in pedagogy and nursing, and a certification in language psychology and intercultural integration. I hated every day of work and prayed for it to end soon. Thailand's education system is at its lowest ebb for one simple reason: corruption. All they want is a white face in the classroom so they can milk parents for their children's English Program (EP, EP+, MEP, Interplus, ICP, IGCSE), which includes a white person in the classroom.

As soon as you start talking about educational standards, strategies, plans, and approaches, you instantly put yourself on the blacklist of some Thai teacher or administrator, and then you just wait to be kicked out of the school. One day, the head of the English program at one of the schools said something like, "Your job is to make the kids happy, and my job is to respect the parents. Together, we must ensure that the school gets money, and I don't care what happens to these kids outside of school, even if they die. And if you want to continue working here, don't show off your knowledge, just do what you're told." That was the breaking point for me; after that, I simply couldn't stand being around the Thais who work there.

And the barrier to entry into the profession is so low that they'll hire anyone (drug addicts, alcoholics, prison escapees, pedophiles, or worse), as long as the speaker is white and native, or near-native. That's it, then this carousel begins with a change of teachers every month in schools, since the teachers are not teachers, but simply natives or near-natives who came there to grab money and, if it works out, to get a visa and stay in Thailand and spend their evenings after school in bars with trannies and drugs. What about kids - f*ck them all, I am here for pocket money.

I have never seen foreign teachers who loved their job. Kids are cute; it is really interesting to work with them. You can learn a lot about culture, behaviour, and psychology, and apply this experience in your future career. But between kids and you, there are Thais who are crazy only about themselves and money.