Nancy, I assume you have a bachelor's degree. If you don't, you need to get one. Here in Thailand as
well as many other countries in Asia, it's required (thankfully) to get a job as an English teacher.

Now.....for my advice. If money is no issue, by all means take the CELTA. It's a good course. If you take the TESOL, make sure it's the 120 hours/6 hours program. Those are really good as well. However, if you are 'careful' with your money--if you're a tightwad or you're on a budget--then I would go to Korea or Taiwan to get the training. Some schools there will actually train you for free. I don't know if these TESOLs are recognized outside of Korea/Taiwan, so you'll have to check. My guess is they are. As long as you have a white face and are a native speaker, you're set in this part of the world if you have a BA/BS and a certificate. Even if you can't find a school in Korea or Taiwan that will take you on and train you for free, you'll still be better off going to one of those countries than coming to a country like Thailand. After you finish training in Korea or Taiwain, you will be able to get a job with a school that will reimburse you for your plane ticket. If you fly to Thailand and take a CELTA or TESOL, you will foot the airfare to come take the course, as if you do get a job here, you won't get reimbursed for your plane ticket and you'll get paid a LOT less than Korea or Taiwan. Besides, you don't know if you'll even like teaching. People come here all the time because they think they want to be teachers. They fly here on their own, drop a chunk of change on a TESOL or CELTA course, get a job that pays 700-900 a month with no airfare reimbursement, then leave after a year because they don't like it. Thailand's novelty wears off quickly. There are LOTS of things here that will aggravate the hell out of you. If you're gonna get aggravated, make sure it's in a place where you'll at least be earning a good salary.

Take it from a guy who made some wrong moves.....go to Korea or Taiwan and avoid places like Thailand altogether if you want to make/save money.

RhenoThai--telling like it is since 2004