Topic: Thammasat University

[DedicatedEducator]

DeadED:

Could you please inform the forum of your education level, and that of your co-workers?  It sounds pretty awful, if you wouldn't go back for double pay.  Kind of a mixed bag of opinions on this one.  Enlighten us.

MS/Engineering; MS/MBA (International Business); BS/Engineering; TESOL Credential; Teaching Credential from State of Arizona, USA; various other academic credentials and certifications in Program Management and Executive Development.

Many of my farang co-workers possessed advanced degrees, but most had Bachelors. Most of the Thai lecturers had Masters degrees from Western countries.

[jackbarnes]

Administrators with little knowledge...that's the understatement of the year--all they want to do is eat. The previous poster must have taught only low level (e.g, Listening and Speaking 1) courses. It's true that they are very well-behaved. But other classes, in particular, South East Asian Studies  and BBA, were a NIGHTMARE. And the truth of the matter is,  I handled them much better than most of my colleagues did. I guess my tolerance for being shit on by rich little children is much lower than that of others. I call that self respect.

Hey, you give these kids a 10 minute break and they return in 40 minutes (big groups rolling in at different times). They, the boys especially, openly challenge you in class; by challenge I mean "Mr. Teacher, you're stupid and I'm smart and I don't have to listen to you; besides my daddy is very rich." Whereby you are forced to put the little turd in his place: "If you don't change your attitude, you will fail. Try me buddy boy." Again, some teachers will tolerate such garbage for the money. My dignity does not have a price tag.

It seems that rich Thai youth (and probably their parents) are ignorant of their real place on the food chain. After all, they are still only Thai.

 

[Uncle Che]

Please avoid talking about Thai Farang relations on this thread, those posts have been moved to the Sour Gripes section where they are happily on-topic.

[greenlight56]

that sounds like every thai school, both the students and administration.

[upright man]

"After all, they are still only Thai."
What does that make someone who works for them? I admit Thammasat can be a pain; i was there for a year - way back. I was the only farang at the Rangsit campus and consequently had lots of proof reading and editing to do for the Thai ajarns. They were always considerate and understanding of the times required to undertake these tasks. I had 4 groups of 2nd yr students (over 150) and they were ALL hardworking and fun people to be with. It may have helped that I was a thorough bastard the first few weeks and laid down the lecturer/students expectations in the 1st 5 mins. I also told them that I was very wealthy and was only teaching for fun (a pack of lies). I'm buggering off soon to some very lucrative new pastures outside of Thailand, but when i return in a coupla years i will look for a p/t job in my semi retirement. It will be places like Thamm and the Raja's where i will look.
As far as the Bangkok campus is concerned, i only have a few dim memories of my rare visits. I get the feeling that Jack's experiences are pretty typical and it's a shame that Thai management don't back up the farang staff when it's really needed. Jack IS an ajarn and should never be spoken to by anybody in such a fashion.

[jamesball]

Hullo,

does anybody have any info on what the written test focuses on for admission to this university. Also are they accepting applications at the moment?

[Minxlady]

I can't answer the last question, but see reply in the Siam Uni thread for some general comments about "leading" Thai unis.

Re. Thammasat:

Ages ago, I did not attend a Thammasat interview because over 60% of the classes were at Rangsit (way out of town) and then I was expected (next morning) to commute to the river campus too. The Rangsit commute could be (total) 2 or 3 hrs daily, in bad traffic. Maybe OK if u live up there.

Re: 1000b an hour!

I understand that Chula pays even more for "overtime" private courses (usually in other faculties). A friend who left there recently told me it used to be 2500b AN HOUR !!!but the management resented the fact that farangs were managing and delivering these courses very well 'outside' of the language faculty.... and sliced off 10% of the farang wages for 'admin costs'. The Thais promptly screwed up the 'admin' of the courses, and in the end it got so bad that the farangs took back managing the courses for free, despite losing money. To add insult to injury, the Thais promised that the 10% would pay for new teachers to relieve pressure on the farangs (cash enough for 4 but only 1 was appointed...good profit).

Re:Salary

The previous poster was right. The gvment uni salary is 26,000b. This is 18,000 basic (YES!!) but 8,000 housing allowance added. U can't live on this money, so u have to do the overtime. I couldn't live on this, so I left a public uni 2 yrs ago...but I left also because of the sheer ineptitude and incompetence of the Thai 'management', and the way that farangs were exploited while Thais gossiped, ate noodles all day and took huge sabbaticals/jollies while screwing up everything they tried to do.

If you can live on the money, your hours are about 12-15 teaching (but u have meetings and paperwork). Your visa and WP should be sorted effortlessly, in any case.

M