The English Teaching Job AGENCY in Thailand That Got Me Broke. As In Broke! Like Broke!

 

Almost two months ago, I found an English teaching job agency through an SWD facebook group. The office was located in Sai Mai Soi 55. It was called ACC. I sent my updated CV to their Email address and received a call straight away. I was told to report to their office right away. Two days later I went to the office in Sai Mai Soi 55. That was quite far from mine. It took me like 3 hours to get there. I didn’t get any transpo allowance but it was fine cause I was the one who was in need of a job. And so I was interviewed and later was got to give a demo lesson.

Everything went well. And so I was hired by ACC. I had several appointments with the agency and had spent a lot of money on transportation and food. I was always told to report to the office without anything in return although I had known that when I get started with the job, I would only make 280 Bhat an hour.

One day when I was enjoying a sunny afternoon walking around my ends I received a call from ACC asking me to participate at some camp without compensation. WTF. I just told the office that my money wasn’t sufficient to travel to Bangkok for that event. And so I turned down their invitation but some teachers did participate anyway and didn’t get anything in return. That was a shame!

I was gonna quit and  was gonna totally turn down this agency but the bloke who brought me in to the agency had been so nice to me. He was like laid-back so I didn’t  quit.

I waited for the district demo schedule for ages and didn’t get any schedule. So I was like waiting for nothing for like five weeks. And so I asked them if they were really going to employ me or not. And then a couple of days later I was told to report to the office again to prepare for a demo.

I had a demo at BanBangkapi Matthayom in Bangkok. Everything went well and later on I was told by the agency officer that I got the job. And so looked forward to getting started with the school.  A couple of days later I was advised by the agency to get a new visa immediately so I wouldn’t need to take a leave during the first week  of school.  And so I went to Laos and got a visa on my own expense.  Until that day, I hadn’t received anything in return from the agency.

I was advised by the office to move to Bangkapi. And so after I got my visa I moved to Bangkapi  which was  just a stone’s throw away from BanBangkapi Matthayom.

I had spent a lot of money. I moved to Bangkapi with my boyfriend. And the agency didn’t cover the down payment on the new apartment. That was a shame!

The day came that we had to go to Bangkapi  district for confirmation and things like that.

I was told by the woman agency officer to not to tell the district officers about the name of the agency. I was told to tell them I was a teacher from another agency called Nutty. That was a shame! I asked the woman “why?” and she was like “long story”. After a few minutes we went in to the office. The woman agency officer was with me and was also  applying for a teaching position but she told me to pretend that I didn’t know her. But later on everyone found out that she had something to do with me.  My name was not in the list of teachers who were going to start in November. The district officer turned around and checked with another office. I found out that I didn’t get the job. And so I was told by the woman agency officer to step out and wait for her call.

I wasted a lot of money and time. My boyfriend quit his job just to be with me in Bangkok. And so both of us had been jobless for almost three weeks. I asked my agency to reimburse the money I used to make my down payment for the apartment in Bangkapi. After a couple of days I got my money back but still me and my boyfriend were jobless.  Fucking helI! I wish I hadn’t listened to that agency. I wish I hadn’t moved to Bangkapi. What a big mistake.

Two days after I got my money back I received a call from the agency. I was told to report to the office again for another demo. The Thai agency leader wanted to see me teach and stuff although she had already seen me teach in a video that that was filmed like three weeks ago before I found out that this agency was no good at all. And I said, nah nah. I was like “ I’m sorry but I got a part time job already” the person on the other line said the Thai officer wanted to help me. I was like(in my mind) “ No way. You wasted my time, effort and money, How there you ask me to report to your office again”? OMG.

Until now me and my boyfriend are jobless. He can’t get back to his previous employer. And we cannot go back to our previous apartment in the province either. And now we gotta deal with all the expenses in Bangkok. Apartment, city services, food, and so on. My online teaching helps us get by. I’m not making enough, though.

My Angel

I never thought I would find the right man for me in Thailand. I left the school and took off to my boyfriend’s straight away. We really missed each other so much. We made love right away and we were just so happy. And we make love every day and every night like there’s no tomorrow. We love each other so much and we knew it from the very start that we would grow old together. My life had never been complete until I found him. He is my life. Now you’re probably wondering how we get by. Of course I’m jobless. And so Mike, my boyfriend is the one that brings in money. He works all day. I teach English part time online but to be honest, I’m not making enough. I need to save up money for my visa and for my mum in the Philippines. The flat rent and city services are Mike’s concern. He brings me breakfast in the morning at around 8 o’clock when he is not busy. His work is just a stone’s throw away from our flat. He usually leaves for work at 5 AM. I go to the shop to lunch with him and get back to the flat at around 3:30 pm to teach online.  In my free time at around 6 pm, I make our dinner and he gets home at around 7:30.  We take it easy after dinner. I teach again for like 2 hours.  After teaching, we make love and talk about our future. This is our daily routine. We usually talk about our marriage and things we want to do in the future like travelling the world and stuff. Sometimes he asks for a leave and we spend the whole day outside you know biking, food, taking selfies, and at night we go for a walk. We go for a walk like three times a week but when he’s on holiday, we spend more time walking around the ends seeing interesting sights. And sometimes we talk about our family, friends, and our past but we are focused on present and future. Mike is a good bloke and I love him with all my heart, body, and soul.

I Thought I Would Be OFFLOADED But I Was Wrong!

 

To me, travelling isn’t a waste of time and money at all. I’m from a third world country and hundreds of thousands of people from my country travel abroad every year to work. I would say that travelling abroad is like priceless ’cause you meet new people, you speak English outside of your country if English isn’t your first language, you fly in planes and experience things that you never experienced in your motherland. It doesn’t matter which countries you’ve been to or where you are in now, as long as it’s another country it’s priceless. Many people get old and leave the world without any international travel experience and I feel bad about that for some reasons. Well, sometimes shit happens. It’s like trial and error. Before you travel, you gotta check your financial resource and find out whether you’re strong enough to live away from home.

The thing is, many aspiring travelers get offloaded by immigration. This thing frequently happens in countries like Romania and Philippines.  But Philippine immigration is like the strictest immigration in the world I would say as far as letting Filipinos travel abroad is concerned. Sometimes it’s  just like hard to figure out why the officers do this when international travel should be for all. There’s like tons of blogs about the rights and duties of immigration officers. And we all know that it’s their job to protect us. Anyway, I don’t want to rephrase the content of those blogs so I’m just gonna talk about my own travel experiences.

It was mid 2015 when I traveled abroad on my own for the first time. I had been to several countries when I was very little so I  was sort of like confident to kind of show off my new virgin passport to the immigration at Clark International Airport cause I thought they would see my travel records in the past. I thought I wouldn’t have any issues at all but I was wrong. The aircraft was departing in less than an hour when I got to step forward to the immigration counter. I was interrogated for a bit and was advised to stop by the immigration office first. I was advised to show the officers my financial resource that was basically my online teaching. By the way I’ve been teaching  English online for ages. I was made to log into my PayPal account. The officers saw and understood my financial condition. After the bloody long time of consideration, I was told to dash off to the aircraft. The plane was almost ready to push back to KL when I made it to the departure lounge. The passengers were boarding and the lounge was almost clear. I made it to the cabin. I was like freak out during the screening process. I thought I would be offloaded and left behind but I was saved by the bell.

Now, I’m in Thailand but still I can’t get over my experience at Clark International Airport. It was really horrible. I used NAIA for my Thailand flight. I was like less scared and more confident during the interview with the immigration officer. I made it to the departure lounge straight away but the woman I met at the check-in area and who was supposed to be my co-passenger didn’t.

I dunno if this horrifying thing also happens frequently in many countries like many countries. One thing I know is, if you’re a traveler, you gotta dress like a traveler and you should be able to  kind of support yourself while you’re away from home.

Why I Left The First School in Thailand I Taught At

I took off to Udon Thani at 7 o’clock in the morning. I was advised by  Nion (my agent) to catch the head teacher at the arrival lounge of Udon Thani Airport. I enjoyed the flight so much ’cause the cabin was filled with astonishing artificial fog coming out of the air conditioner. It was magic. I was so delighted.

Udon Thani

I touched down in Udon Thani in less than an hour and caught the head teacher straight away. We drove to Nongbualamphu for like one and a half hours. I realized immediately that my agent lied when she told me that I’d be working in Udon Thani which is like a small town that has a bit of  everything that people need. The truth was, I was expected to teach in the very far district of Nongbualamphu which is a tad rural place in Northern Thailand. If Nion had told me the truth, I wouldn’t have accepted her job offer in the countryside. We stopped by the supermarket to get some stuff I would be needing for my first week. I was like OMG when I found out that I could only go to the centre of town every weekend. I could’ve flown back to Bangkok because of disappointment. I imagined what the work place would be like. I gave the benefit of the doubt anyway. We made it to the campus at around 4 o’clock.

I was really unhappy because my agent lied to me. The campus was beautiful and my room was simple and nice. However, the area where the school is located was worse than I imagined. I was like ” I wish I hadn’t accepted the offer. ” I felt like I was like in the middle of nowhere especially at night. I was given the line ID of the toktok (tricycle) driver so I could ask him to pick me up from the campus on weekends. I would’ve spent a lot of money on the driver’s tip if I had stayed in Nongbulamphu for a longer time. I was given a room for free but I paid for every single meal I had. I would’ve made 18000 THB if I hadn’t left the school. Yes 18000 THB monthly. What a joke yeah? I’m a Philippine passport holder so I couldn’t complain at all. I left the school anyway. I quit like three days after I got my non-immigrant b visa (non-b). I was like the new definition of broke. I paid 3500 THB for the visa application process with the help of Meesuk Travel  (Visa Run). To be honest, I wasn’t really going to quit until something came up. Well, I just had a 3-day holiday in Bangkok after I got my visa. I had the nerve to show off my wounded face at the embassy in Laos.

Yes. I had injury on my face. The water in the campus had been so violent to me. It was contaminated with sand and small stones. I did my best to take care of my face but I got injured anyway. I was like “what a horrible place”

After my 3-day stint in Bangkok, I decided to make it back to Nongbualamphu. I was on the bus which was going to run at 2 pm and would arrive in Udon Thani at 10 pm. I messaged the head teacher and let her know that I would need her to pick me up from the terminal but she was like “I’m in another province now”. I was like “what?” I messaged my Chinese colleague to let her know that I would be needing someone to pick me up from the terminal but she was like “I can’t travel to Udon Thani at all and my friend who has a car is not around.” So I turned to my head teacher again and let her know that I would need someone to pick me up from the terminal. She advised me to just spend a night in Udon Thani until the first bus to Nongbualamphu is ready to load passengers. And that would have been in the morning of the following day. I was so upset and I got more than upset when I found out that there was a bus going to Nongbualamphu from Morchit leaving at 8 pm that day. The thing was it took me like 3 and a half hours to travel to Morchit from the place where I spent my 3-day holiday. I was never told about this alternative bus. I was only told that I would always need to take 2 buses to get to Nongbualamphu and vice versa. I didn’t choose to wait in the terminal for ages. I was so upset as in like upset. I didn’t make it back to Nongbualamphu.

 

My Arrival in Thailand

 

My first two weeks in Thailand had been terribly exhausting. I took off from Manila at around 6 o’clock in the morning and got to KL at around 9 o’clock for my connecting flight.

I had to wait 3 hours for my connecting flight. And finally got to Bangkok at around 3 o’clock in the afternoon Thailand time.The immigration area was horribly crowded. There was like tons of folks from China arriving to Thailand. And the area was a mess like I didn’t know if I could get out of the airport and stuff. It was unforgettable. I met a nice Indian lady from Malaysia and we made it together to the arrival lounge after 3 hours. We got out of the airport at around 6 o’clock.

Now, you’re probably wondering where I headed to. I went off to teacher Thomas’ (TJ), a Filipino bloke who lives somewhere in Samut Prakan. I met him on SWD facebook group. I had been talking to him before I took off from Manila.  He was nice. He just broke my broken suitcase haha. He picked me up from Samrong Station (BTS). I was so confused. I was like Ohh. Could I really put my trust in this bloke? I didn’t check in at the hotel where I had had a reservation. It was a pay later reservation, though. I thought I would save a lot of money if I stayed at the bloke’s. So I just gave the benefit of the doubt. We took a Songtew to his. My suitcase handle got totally destroyed. I was told to turn in 1700 THB to him right after we got to his. His place was nice. I caught a glimpse of the every day scenario in Thailand. He showed me the Salat or Talat (market) in his area. His place was cozy. I really liked it.

He was very supportive but I wasn’t really happy for some reasons. So I decided to move to another place after two weeks. I went off to teacher Lyka’s,  a Filipino woman who lives somewhere in Pathum Thani. Also, I met this person on SWD facebook group and had been talking to her before I took off from Manila. She was nice and kind. She helped me get my own room in the apartment building where she lives. I stayed there for like two weeks.

I was happy cause I had the privacy that I would covet. The room was nice and cozy and I only paid 1100 THB.

Now you’re wondering why I left the apartment. Well, I received a call from an online agent whose name is Nion. I was immediately deployed to a school in northern part of Thailand. I was very grateful.

 

 

 

The Monuments

 

This is basically the place in Thailand where the ash and bones of the people who have departed are kept. And what you see in the picture are monuments. The most expensive monument amounts to like 10000 THB and the cheapest one amounts to 5000 THB. But if you have no money at all, you don’t have to worry because the people in your community will definitely help you take advantage of the incinerator and you could throw the ash over the river across from the monuments.

incinerator behind the small coffin

The temple

 

Mut Mee Garden Guest House

Now, you’re probably wondering what this picture is all about. Well, It took me like a while to find this lovely accommodation which is very affordable. First glance, you would not think this is where you should stay to take it easy. But the truth is, this is a like a paradise in disguise. I stayed here for like a couple of  days when I was travelling to Laos. And I never thought I would come across a lovely place like this. Well, this is Mut Mee Guest House in Nong Khai, Thailand. If you prefer to get a Thai visa on your own and need to stay somewhere close to the border of Thailand and Laos, I suggest taking advantage of this wonderful accommodation. No matter if you’re travelling alone or in a group, this place will surely give you delight and peace of mind.

 

 

 

Why I Need To Be Away from Home

I arrived in Thailand like two months ago. And luckily, I found a job straight away. And this got me able to get my first non-b visa. I’ve got a couple of reasons why I am here. Let me just be honest with you guys. The first reason is of course to find a job here so I can financially help my family in the Philippines. Another reason is to get my travel around the world going again. Well, I’ve been to like three countries in 2 months but my main country now is Thailand. Another reason is to find myself. Actually, I’m just  being exactly what I’m supposed to be now. Being a trans woman ain’t easy. I’ve got mixed feelings to be honest and it feels like hell sometimes especially when you remember the things that you kind of gave up. Sometimes it tears me apart. But I know I’ve got to be like stronger than I was before. Anyhow, I ain’t gonna stop travelling cause this is what I really want to do in my life. I love to meet new people. I’m so into different cultures. I learn a lot from the people I meet. And I acquire a great deal of knowledge from each country or place I visit. Sometimes you need to kind of stay in one place for some time and work for a while so you can support yourself and things like that. Right now, I’m still on the process of getting used to living away from my home country. Unlike other English teachers, I ain’t been so focused on teaching recently. I got so into video blogging and stuff  like that but I had a short time teaching experience in Nongbualamphu Province.

Bangkok

 

 

3 Amazing Teachers from the Philippines

In this video, I’m with 3 amazing teachers from the Philippines I came across the other day at Saphan Mai Market in Bangkok. The girls arrived in the country two weeks ago. And they’re here to teach English. They’ve just found an agency and it’s getting them started teaching in November. There’s like hundreds of thousands of people from the Philippines come to Thailand on a tourist visa and later on they will find a job. Most Filipino people in Thailand are teachers of the English language.

 

This is Terry Wiles, your English teacher who is now in Thailand to  find out what English teachers’ life is like here in this beautiful land and one of the melting pot countries in Asia. If you like this video, give me a thumb’s up and subscribe to my youtube channel. Follow me on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/terrywilesonline

Have a great day!

 

So This is Bangkok, Thailand

It took me like 2 hours to get to the guest house where I only stayed for like 7 hours. I could’ve found it straight away if the bus had dropped me off at the right Soy. (Street/Avenue) I was supposed to get off at Soy 39 but the bus dropped me off at Soy 71. Since, the check-in time was at  8pm, I just walked along Bangkok road under the BTS(city train) bridge to Soy 39 where the guest house is.