Ajarn, my apologies. I know there are serious teachers out there in Thailand. I can tell you are one of them, not part of the "freak show" that parade around government offices. I know there are serious teachers out there. I know because I hire them. If they say they have a TEFL from Phuket or Kao Samui, or a CELTA from Siam Square, guess who is on the horn calling to find out if they did indeed go? I am. I hire candidates who have real diplomas from their home countries. I guess that was my real beef: people who purchase a degree/diploma from XYZ University on Kaosarn Road. Working here now for over a year, I've seen some moderate to excellent teachers who have neither a degree nor a diploma. They usually tell me this upfront, though, because I refuse to to start the work permit process for someone without a legitimate degree. They teach without a permit at their own risk.

Wouldn't it be better to get teaching experience in one's home country before coming here and wasting Thai parent's money with shoddy/inexperienced teaching? I saw several new teachers grow while in TEFL or CELTA courses. These were people who'd never stood in front of students, hadn't studied their own language since grade school! This was the perfect course for them. An amazing transformation took place once they'd been given a methodology to follow. I had come into the course with 7 years teaching experience, 4 of those years in a foreign country and I was grateful for how much I learned. Surely, if veteran teacher can respect a 4 week course, why wouldn't a new one? What self-respecting person in any profession would purchase their degree or diploma anyway? Thailand, hopefully, will move in the direction of Korea or Japan in cracking down on false degrees/diplomas. In my small corner of Thailand, I plan on giving students what their parents are paying for: a qualified teacher.