Howard Zinn, Historian
- 2005-06-16
I interviewed at a private high school in Bangkok about a month ago and nearly laughed myself right out of the interview.
Here is what the 'great deal', as this school called it, entailed:
1. Pay began at 25K Baht a month. This is about 650 USD, depending on the whims of money-market speculators. 25K for Bangkok? No damn way!
2. On top of the pathetic salary, I would have been expected to pay for rent, an 8K Baht per month expense: 25K - 8K = 17K.
3. I would have been expected to pay for utilities and such things as laundry. Assume this runs about 1K per month in BKK: 17K - 1K = 16K.
4. I would have been expected to pay for meals twice a day. I don't like eating chicken and rice seven days a week from a slop-trough, so I'd splurge a little sometimes. This expense would be about 5K Baht for the month, slop-trough meals and all:
16K - 5K = 11K.
So, after paying out all these expenses that the tight-wad school SHOULD have covered, I would have been bringing in about 11K a month before any other expenses. This translates into about 250 USD a month.
250 USD a month for 30 hours/week x 4 weeks or 120 hours work per month. AND I would have been expected to be at the school planning lessons, attending meetings, giving extra help, etc for who-knows-how-many more hours.
That covers the income. Now considering I spend about 12K per month on clothes, personal 'survival' items, and an occasional emergency, I would end up in the red about 1 K per month if I took this job--my expenses would actually outstrip my income by about 30 bucks a month.
Needless to say, I didn't take the job. However, I've heard of idiots here who make 17K a month
take-home, so I guess this job was a gold-mine.
F## low wages and long hours. After a year working here, I now won't work for anything less than 40K in Thailand with everything included. If any of you readers are heading to Thailand, don't settle for less.
If I gotta settle for less than 40K a month, I'm headin' back home.
HZ
You teachers that advise others to accept less than what they are worth should wake up and smell the coffee - or maybe the cha. The fact that Chinese teachers earn less is irrelevant. The fact that you earn less is irrelevant. If you are a qualified teacher with experience, you deserve the max. It's not like they don't have the money to pay. It's no different here than it is in any Western country - the fat cats are laughing all the way to the bank because you're so willing to be taken advantage of.