Teaching in Thailand is no longer the easy option it once was for the English teacher without a bachelor's degree.

To obtain a necessary work permit a teacher must first obtain a teacher’s license from the Thai Ministry of Education (MOE).

To qualify for this license, the MOE requires the holder to have both a bachelor’s degree and a TEFL certificate.

A prospective English teacher is not only required to show copies of their degree certificate, but also their transcripts. The review of transcripts is a relatively new phenomenon in a bid to minimize the chances of fake qualifications.

The Dangers of Using Fake Degrees

In the past, Thailand earned a reputation for the easy to obtain, so-called 'Khao San Road' degrees, bought off the street for as little as 600 Baht ($20). However, it is unwise to get a teaching job based on a fake degree. If caught, this is a serious offense, as it amounts to defrauding not only the school but the Thai government.

As the Bangkok Post highlights in its article, Two Held with Fake Qualifications (17 January 2007), “Two foreign nationals have been arrested for using fake qualification certificates to teach at a Bangkok school. Officers from the Immigration Police Bureau (IPB) apprehended Briton Allan Parson and Canadian Greg Morgan Mercer yesterday”.

A number of recent high profile pedophile cases revealed that the suspects were found to have been teaching in Thailand. As a consequence, the Ministry of Education carried out a random check on its teachers: “background checks on 1,000 of them found that 65 produced false certificates to obtain their jobs........These teachers were now being prosecuted” Bangkok Post (17 January 2007).

Since the introduction of new regulations in 2006, employing schools are legally responsible for verifying a teacher’s qualifications before offering them employment. The MOE has toughened up on this and schools face a hefty fine if they are found to be recruiting teachers with fake degrees or teaching certificates. The school will normally contact the teacher’s university and TEFL course provider to obtain an official letter to verify dates of study.

Another addition to the red tape is the requirement of a Criminal Record Clearance Certificate, before a 1-year non immigrant B visa can be issued. English teachers should contact the local police force back in their home country, in order to provide evidence of no criminal record. This can take up to 40 days to process. Details for British teachers can be found on the Metropolitan Police website.

Teaching in Thailand Without a Degree

All is not lost. There are exceptions to the rule, after all, ‘this is Thailand’, TIT! Any teacher wanting to teach without a degree should make sure they have a recognized TEFL teaching certificate and a high school diploma. Whilst there is certainly no guarantee, the Ministry of Education does make exceptions, especially for the teaching of young children, teaching in rural areas (where there is a greater shortage of teachers) or for teaching in some language, rather than government schools.

However, without a degree, the MOE will not usually consider a license application for teaching in high schools or international schools, as an undergraduate qualification and a teaching certificate is the minimum criteria.

The Demand for English Teachers

In reality there are not enough suitably qualified teachers to fill Thailand’s ever increasing number of vacancies. Demand for English teachers exceeds supply, so the higher paying schools or those with a good reputation have the pick of the bunch.

If a teacher does not possess a bachelor’s degree it is better to 'come clean' when making a job application, rather than risk prosecution by proffering a fake diploma.

In today’s current climate, what language schools want and what they are able to get may be two different things. Some schools will also do their best to assist a prospective teacher in presenting their case for a teacher’s license to the MOE.

If a teacher attends a TEFL certificate course in Thailand, then their course provider will also be to offer support and advice on where best to apply for jobs.

The Reality in Thailand

The last word goes to Phil Williams, webmaster of Ajarn.com, in his article, Degrees of Uncertainty, in Bangkok Post’s Learning Post 2-5 August 2005,

“…in Thailand, the degree certificate, with its fancy font and embossed finish, means everything…one body that certainly possesses this “degree is everything” mindset is the Ministry of Education.

………Thailand is a long way off being an educational utopia where every TEFL classroom contains a teacher who is a genuine degree holder.”

For anyone wanting to find a teaching job in Thailand, the simple truth is that the country does not have enough degree-qualified teachers to go round!