You didn't mention how important pay is to you in your post. I assume it's not your main concern if you are considering Bangkok alongside Seoul. That's cool. There are many variables to address when choosing a new place to work.

I've not taught in Bangkok myself, but I HAVE looked at high schools in Bangkok during job searches. I've not looked at universities here, as I've not earned the MA yet.

Here is what I found, a guy who puts compensation first and foremost on his list, along with my advice on choosing a school if I were coming here to work for the first time.

Pay in Bangkok seems to be all over the board. Some jobs pay as low as 20,000 Baht with nothing included among the high schools where I've looked. I don't know why anyone would accept pay this low, but some do and it makes it harder for the rest of us to earn a decent salary. I've seen other jobs that pay upwards of 40K and come with free room and board and free food. I've even heard of guys making close to 50K in Bangkok if they gave private lessons on the side, everything included.

MY opinion is IF I had to pay for rent, meals, and utilities, I wouldn't accept a job that pays less than about 32,000 Baht out in the country, and would ask for even more if I were going to work in Bangkok proper.

If you get paid less than about 35K and you've gotta cover rent and so on, you'll spend the year just 'breaking even' in BKK. In other words, your income will just about equal those expenses along with the additional expenses such as movies, traveling, nice food, clothes et. al, you'll incur for the year.

After pulling a year out in the sticks in Lopburi making about 28K a month, I personally wouldn't ask for less than about 35K to sign the same contract for another year. I've learned. And if I were working in the big town, I wouldn't work for less than 40K, rent and food included, if I were teaching 22-25 hours a week and spending 8-12 hours per day at school planning lessons and just 'looking busy'
5 days of that week. But this is just me. Maybe pay isn't that important to you, Hunt. If it isn't, you'll be able to find a good job in Bangkok that'll make you happy, I'm sure.

If pay IS important to you, I'd go to Seoul. In SK, you will find jobs that will reimburse you for your airfare to get there, and you'll make a LOT more money each month to boot.

The students are a lot more serious in South Korea as well. Thai students are slackers, at least out in the sticks. They LOVE to cheat, and they demand their classes be nothing but 'fun and games'. In other words, you gotta charm 'em--substance be damned. If you are a serious teacher, I'd recommend you go to Seoul even if pay isn't an issue. Take it from me, a guy who's got his airline ticket to Incheon already packed away in his luggage. I didn't come to Asia to act like Bozo the Clown in the classroom no matter what I'm being paid. I'm also ready to start making at least some semi-serious money--something I've not done since I've been in Thailand.

Best of luck to you, Hunt. I hope this helps.

RhenoThai