James999BKK
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Posts posted by James999BKK
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Ok, thanks. Yeah she has the return ticket and yes I'll be at the airport to offer backup if needed.
Just out of interest, and so that my girlfriend will be prepared if she is questioned at immigration, do the immigration officers have the documents from the visa application? She is thinking of taking all her documents from the application with her in case of any problems.
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Ok, quick explanation of my situation: The girlfriend is coming over to visit the UK, she already has the visa and our initial plan was to fly over together but this changed and I had to fly back from BKK early (family situation).
My question is what, if any, paperwork and documentation does my girlfriend need to provide at immigration? We are mainly worried about the accommodation side of things. We had initially intended to spend the holiday in hotels as we traveled about the UK showing her the sights so that is how we presented it in the application, however with the family situation, an illness, it is likely we will now be spending the majority of time staying at my parents house as I need to be here to help out. As a result of this we have cancelled our hotel bookings, do I need to write some sort of letter stating where she will be staying? Will they ask her about this at immigration? She is pretty worried as what we will now be doing is going to be different from how we outlined it in the visa application.
Sorry if that's a bit garbled and I will thank you in advance for your advice.
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Seems to be pretty obvious, why they'd made such a decision. It's not about not knowing how to hire a foreigner, what documents are needed, etc.
I've got all documents in office word format, in Thai and in English, on my computer, as I had to give these files to another teacher.
All to make a visa run, contracts, etc.....I could theoretically make a new business and sell them. ( Sorry, was just kidding)
As you're ( or had) working for an agency, they were not really aware that a BA in any field is required by TCT and labor. Then the problem with the agency, as just thinking about an upcoming problem in form of a fine.
Seems that they'll continue with the agency and the director with her "childish behavior", ( sorry but I don't see something wrong with it, as I'm also sometimes acting like that, when making jokes. Does age prevent you of acting funny?)
She'll have a free paid holiday somewhere in Europe, or the States. Then some pocket money for Khun Somchai in the financial office, plus other "presents' that keep their "relationship" up.
Why don't you look for a school that would hire you being not a teacher, but a XXX? Good luck.-
Just out of interest, what do you think it's about then if not the 'not knowing how' thing?
And on the director, I can't really explain it properly but if you spent any length of time having to deal with her you'd understand why I think she is an incompetent buffoon. The examples I gave may seem trivial but they are just a couple of things about her that get on my tits when I'm trying to do my job. No professionalism.
I did try persuading them to hire me as a 'language development assistant' or some such similar bull---- title but they didn't really seem to warm to the idea. I like the school and the students are great, I don't want to step into the unknown again and end up with a slightly better contract but a much worse job. I'll probably stick it out with the agency for another year and push for a bit more cash from them.
Thanks for the good luck message.
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An update for this thread:
The school, after plenty of dillying and dallying have finally decided that they can't afford to pay me after all. This seems strange to me as they currently pay the agency significantly more than they would have to pay me (I'd be happy with my current salary if they gave me a twelve month contract), and if I'm honest I think they've either hit a stumbling block or just decided it's too difficult and used the money as an excuse to back out without losing too much face.
I'm a little disappointed because I was looking forward to the better deal that the school would have been able to offer me, but I guess I may have dodged a bullet in as much as the school has no experience of how to handle foreign employees and I could see some problems arising down the line. Not least of these problems would be the fact the school director doesn't know her elbow from her... well, you know. Seriously, she's 50 and she sends me those stupid line picture emoticon things saying that she loves me and also does that 'index finger and thumb on the chin' pose that most of my kids do in photo's. Professional conduct I think not. Anyway, that's for another discussion...
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Thanks again for the extra info.
I know my contract has a clause saying I'm not allowed to negotiate work with the school whilst I'm employed by the agency so I'll be careful not to do that. To be honest though from the sounds of things it's going to be a non starter anyway, shame.
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Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the time taken.
I've been working for my school through an agency this year and now they say they are really happy with what I've done at the school and want me to stay and be employed directly by them. I'd be happy to do this as it would improve my contract in basically all areas and give me some (relative) stability. Of course now it's a problem because I don't have a degree and this coupled to the fact that the school has never hired a foreigner before means that both the school and I are pretty much at a loss as to how to go about it.
I'd never have even come to Thailand if the TEFL course correspondent had been completely honest with me in the email stage of my application and told me straight that it was impossible to work legally as a teacher in a school here without a degree. But now I'm here, well, in for a penny in for a pound and all that...
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Can anyone give me any reliable, first hand information regarding how schools go about hiring teachers without a degree? I know that the rules say that it is necessary to have one, but I also know that many schools manage to 'legally' employ teachers that do not have the required credentials and also manage to get these employees their work permits etc.
Foreign teachers in Thailand now need education degree?
in Teaching in Thailand Forum
Posted
Actually, if you were to use that analogy, it would be more similar to saying that because you can drive a car that makes you able to teach someone else to drive a car, which it does (at least, in the UK it does). Granted it doesn't make you a good instructor but you see what I'm driving at. (excuse the pun)
I agree with you that just being a native speaker doesn't make someone a good English teacher, but neither does simply having an education degree make you a good English teacher. To flip your car analogy on it's head, that would be like saying that because I know how to fix a car that I can teach you to drive, which isn't necessarily true.
To scrap the analogies for a second, all I'm saying is that people who have excellent theoretical knowledge aren't always great teachers, and neither are people who have already learnt the skill that they wish to impart on others. I think that the quality of teachers could be made higher simply by employers conducting a proper western style job interview and also asking candidates to prepare and deliver a demo lesson. If they then considered the outcomes of these tasks and who had performed well in them, possibly even calling back shortlisted candidates for a second interview, it would be possible to wheedle out many of the substandard teachers right at the first hurdle. After this they could offer a good wage on a short probationary period which would then transform into long term contracts with decent pay and clearly stated length, holidays and benefits if the outcome of that probationary period was satisfactory.
But then again I don't have a degree in anything and TIT so yeah, as you were.