Work: Thailand vs Vietnam vs Cambodia
Hi again Forum People!
I am currently teaching English in Korea but I need a change from Korean society.... I am here with my Dutch girlfriend (who is fluent in English) but has had a really hard time finding full time work because she is not a "native" speaker.
I will be ready to leave SK in 2 months and I am considering where to try next. I pretty much have my heart set on Thailand (maybe a quiet suburb in Bangkok), but I thought I should ask anyway as asking never hurts... Should I go to Cambodia, Thailand or Vietnam? We both have degrees, TEFL and teaching experience and would like to earn in the region of $1300pm each (I need to send around $550pm home for student loan payments). I've picked these 3 countries as they are all 'developing', beautiful and are supposed to offer the best salaries of the 'developing' South East Asian countries...and that my gf should not have any trouble finding full time work (if the info from various forums is correct). I've got 2 friends in Thailand at the moment who LOVE it .They both used agents to find work and make less than I would like to earn...so I would like to take this forums advice and just rock up & start looking for work. I would also like to teach adults/bushiness English/uni students so I figured I would try for some part time work in the mornings and then maybe try my luck with some private lessons in the afternoons...or maybe I can get really lucky with a uni job and then supplement my income with extra/private lessons.
Can someone offer some advice on which of the 3 they would choose, and why? Any comments on my general plans/salary expectations would also be most welcome!
Any input would really be appreciated! Thanks!
(Apologies for using US dollars but I figured it was the best as I was asking about more than Thailand)
I'd think the general rule is wherever it's fun, safe and comfortable is where travelers/foreign workers want to be. When foreigners come in mass is where the seller's market diminishes. Plus it'd seem logical the student tuition fees probably have everything to do with your wage. As far as your GF I've known employed Dutch in Thailand. Don't know about those other countries tho.
i would say thailand, because it's fun, safe, and comfortable. i've worked in thailand and viet nam and i much prefer bangkok. but i live in viet nam because i don't like being broke.
dutchies can work anywhere down here i'm sure.
You are fine. Find a school and get a job.
As an E2 holder you should be able to get something in the 35000 thb range pretty much straight off the plane.
You'll have to get established and network a bit or do some serious hunting to find better paying work straight off the plane. Schools and language academies pay better than uni jobs and again, if you are any good, there will be ample extra work finding you after you get settled.
Your G/F on the other hand will need to do a TOEIC test if she wants to be legal and everything. (non native speakers must achieve a score of 600+ on the reading/listening tests. Speaking/writing tests are not required.)
AFTER she gets the TOEIC she will easily find work in the 25k THB range and if she is any good will quickly find more and better paying options opening up to her.
.
Thanks for all the responses!
Kitty, do you mean that in the sense of Vietnam paying more or being a much cheaper place to stay in?Originally Posted by 3leggedkitty
Can you suggest where she should get a TOEIC? In Thailand/Vietnam or while still in Korea?
1500 thb in BKK. Test sessions twice per day (09:00 and 13:00), Mon-Sat.
Don't know about costs and test centers in Vietnam or Korea.
.
viet nam is rather more expensive even though it's a shabbier place, but the wages are considerably higher. qualified people can earn up to 3800usd, and costs can be as low as 500usd a month, depending on how much of a chiseler you are. just keep in mind it's very polluted and the traffic is very hazardous.
oh, and referring to tompatz post, none of that bullshit is part of your vietnamization. show your credentials to your employer and your work permit and visas are sorted fast. and should you or your dutchie gf choose to work under the table the process is even simpler.
Thanks!
I'm only really worried about making my minimum payment.... Could you tell me, out of interest, where you are currently teaching? If I chose Vietnam I would prefer to be outside of the craziness of the major metro areas....
3LK, i have some questions too about VN. Mostly quality of life. Would you consider it long term.
or once you have banked enuff $$$ you'll skedaddle? How would a mid-sized town be for a 'falang' ...mostly how does it compare to Thailand.
fred
i'm in saigon; it's rough but doable. i would not consider anywhere else in the country, ever. accept the craziness or work in thailand. if you really don't care about having to scrounge about the whole time and never affording any indulgences then just take thailand, it's a better life there anyway. except for the part where qualified people have to engage in endless qualification charades just to earn the same shitty wage as your unqualified colleagues who jumped through no hoops at all.
---Update---
apart from less than 2 years working in bangers i have been here since the beginning of 2005. it's not thailand. you have to drive motoby, the public transit system is appalling. it's very polluted, i've contracted bronchitis twice, but i drive constantly because it's fun and there isn't much else to do here.
there are a few new suburbs with nice cheap housing and all grades of international skools. i'm actually moving to one of those nice suburbs in october. it is getting better, much improved over the last 8 years, but it's still basically a shithole. but it's a shithole that you can afford to take many holidays a year from.
i may be here for several more years, it's not that bad. but i might think differently if i was qualified to get nicer jobs in thailand, tho the wages for a backpacker here are much better than a ph.d/certified teacher would get at most jobs in bangers.
in many ways a lot less bullshit with officialdom and bureaucracy than thailand. and that's no small potatoes.
Thanks Kitty! Could you clarify on what you mean by qualified? Any Uni Degree? Teaching Degree/Certificate? TEFL?
It can't possibly be worse than South Korea! Can it?
yes. I have gotten a visa in both places.
thailand keeps changing the rules and nobody ever knows for sure whats really required.
It took close to 6 months for me to get my first WP in thailand.
Last edited by fred flintstone; 19th August 2012 at 11:37.
That sucks! It it possible though that you were just one of the unlucky ones? I've spoken to a couple of other forum people who said it was relatively simple to get the WP. I ask because I seem to have been plain unlucky in Korea...most of my friends have great school/bosses that don't have to put up with half of what I do!How long have you been teaching there fred? Are you in BKK?
yeah, i'd put 1/2 of the problem down to bad luck(bad mgr). But it still probably would have taken 2 months.The rules change alot and there never seems to be anybody on the staff who understands the process.
Korea is simple comparatively. They give you a list of requirements and once you have the all the papers you go to Japan and get the E2.
2 days and its a done deal. Thailand has a way of dragging things out.But in the end you get the WP and everything works out. You just gotta be patient.
Bottom line its not a big deal, but can be a headache
sounds like you had a confused boss in Korea. I've had problems getting the apostilles from the US but once i had all those in hand the problem was over.
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