Topic: Somtawin School Hua Hin

[melilly]

Beware of this school. It was my first "official" teaching job in Thailand, and it left a very bad taste in my mouth. Here's what the school currently promises on ajarn.com:

In return for your hard work we offer the following:

- Locally competitive salary
- Full payment and administration of work permit
- Medical Insurance.

The salary is low compared to a new international school opening up in Hua Hin, a school in direct competition with Somtawin. The school is also moving to a new location about 15 clicks or so outside of town, which means lots of extra commute time for no extra pay.

The school, at least in my case, did NOT provide administration of my work permit. I paid for two 30-day visa runs and a Non-Imm B, and when the school had finally "processed" all my paperwork there were only three days left on my 90-day visa. At one point, when I asked about the status of my work permit paperwork, it was found in the middle of a stack of papers in the Admin. Office. The school sent me to the work permit office with only a non-English speaking Thai driver, so when there were "problems" with my application there was no one there to represent me. My work permit was denied for the following reasons and "concerns".

1) I had visited the Kingdom 10 times on 30-day tourist visas since 2002. They were "concerned" about my visits and wanted to know if I had been teaching "under the table".

2) There was a new law that requires there be at least five days remaining on a Non-Imm B. I had three left.

3) There is a new law that requires all applications for work permits to submit a crimminal background check from their home country.

The head teacher at the school told me it was not her responsibility to know all the new laws required for work permits. She blamed all the visa and work permit problems at Somtawin on the two Thai women who work in the Admin. Office. The school has gone through some major changes in management and continues to be the most chaotic teaching environment I've ever seen.

The school did provide me with an "employee handbook" which stated that I would be paid 300 baht an hour for any overtime teaching above 96 hours a month. At one point, **** asked me if I would "help out" by picking up one extra English class a day, that's five a week, 20 a month, but she told me she could only pay me around 1,500 baht, which came out to around 75 baht an hour. When I asked her about the 300 baht overtime, she said it only applied to "covers". She also told me that one of the Philipino teachers had accepted the same payment for picking up two extra classes a day, and that she was surprised by my "attitude" for saying it was insulting to be asked to do so much extra work for such little pay.

The employee handbook also outlined the "administration" of work permits, but **** did NOT honor this written promise either. Somtawin assured me that I would only have to pay for one visa run and a Non-Imm B, and they would take care of the rest. This simply did not happen. ****, at least on my behalf, acted in both a negligent and incompetent manner. **** encouraged an environment of mistrust and misinformation. There were many disgruntled and unhappy teachers, and an unharmonious and contemptible working environment that included "pecking order" of rudeness and disrespect that **** allowed out of ignorance or secretly encouraged in what I considerd her "good cop, bad cop" routine.

The school's health insurance is a JOKE. You get a 500 baht deductable, but only at Hua Hin's most expensive medical provider. I was at the school for nearly four months, and they NEVER allowed me to sign a legitimate contract. Bottom line, I was never officially employed and was therefore teaching at Somtawin illegally. I provided them ALL the paperwork required to teach legally in Thailand, but the school failed in it's written promises and acted totally unprofessionally, and in my view, unethically.

I could rant and rave, but I need to move on and let it go. If you're thinking about Somtawin Hua Hin, take a close look before. I don't have time for a spell check, so take it easy on me if that's a pet peeve.

[ajarnnormal]

Sounds like you had a rough time and the school is definately one to avoid. These type of cowboy outfits don't deserve teachers and with admin like that should get their act together before they even think about taking on staff. I hate the bit where the person who deals with WP and Visas says ' It is not my job to be aware of new visa laws'. In that case who is?

[samvimes]

Somtawin assured me that I would only have to pay for one visa run and a Non-Imm B

Why the hell would any school expect you to pay anything for this??!!!

If thay want you, they should pay the fees....

[bomha]

To the original poster: it sounds like you were employed directly by the school, and not by the former agency that used to place some of theire teachers, and most other job openings in the area.  Is that correct?

I suspect that the statements being made in the opening post are probably correct.

If there is a new administration, if they do not hire through the regular agency, if there is a new 'international school' opening up (?), and if the school is moving way out of town ----- everything is different.  And I do not think everything was very good, before it got worse.

More and more Philipinos teaching there?

[soidog]

Melilly, does this school have air-con yet? Last time I checked I was told no. I would have thought that this would be a standard at a private school International Program?
There's several threads about this school on one of the local Hua Hin websites HHAD.

[melilly]

Thanks to all who posted comments.

When I was "hired" at Somtawin, the "recruiter" was a private language school in Hua Hin called WECI. During my so-called "employment" at Somtawin, the owner of WECI resigned her position at Somtawin and the new head teacher took control of recruitment. The head teacher then handed the recruitment duties to one of her "pet" Kindergarten teachers, who now manages the hiring process. It's now become sort of a "good old gals" club at Somtawin. If you're willing to do lots of extra work for little or no pay, you'll fit right in.

When I left, there were four Philipino teachers on staff. This was not really an issue for me. But I resented being asked to do a lot of extra work for very little pay, in the name of being a "team player", as some of the Philipino teachers had been asked to do.

The current Somtawin school, what I'll call the "old" Somtawin school, is in shambles. No air conditioning, broken screen doors, shoddy classrooms. The "new" Somtawin school, which will be ready for the next semester beginning in May 2007, is supposed to be a nice facility. I've never seen it. I'm told it will have air-con, and nice new classrooms with new desks, etc. But, its going to be some distance outside of town. Supposedly, the new teaching schedule will include shorter hours, to make up for the extra "commute" time.

I was "employed" by Somtawin directly, not by a recruiter. Everything seemed to be controlled by the new head teacher, who told teachers in meetings that she was working directly with one of the family owners of Somtawin school. During my time there, the new Director of Operations came to the school one day drunk as a skunk, and resigned the next day. So there seemed to be a "power" struggle going on, with a lot changes in management, and in the end it was the new head teacher who had taken "control" of the school. I can't use her name, but she's the one. It's like the line in the movie (from the novel) "The Quiet American", when Michael Caine says to Brendan Fraser, "It's YOU, you're the one, you're the person running this entire bloody affair." Or something like that.

When everyting is said and done, I blame the new head teacher. Sure, she had to take over a school that was hanging on by a thread, and I'm sure she wants to turn things around and make it a nice place for teachers to work. But the bottom line, at least in my case, was that she was so busy dealing with all the "fires" and problems at the school that she neglected to perform the most important aspect of her job, which is to make sure new teachers have signed contracts and work permits.

Oh well. Everything happens for a reason. I'm now in Phuket Town. My new school assures me they've NEVER had a problems getting teachers work permits, as long as all the required paperwork is available. This includes my crimminal background check, which took a trip to Bangkok, with stops at the U.S. Embassy for the fingerprint form, and one to the Police Clearance Center, for the fingerprints. Merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream.

[bomha]

I thought that WECI was doing a fairly good job of placing people everywhere in Hua Hin, including at Somtawin.  But, I did hear a first-hand report that the Philipino math teacher was difficult to understand.  So, WECI and its owner lost the power struggle, and everything has gone downhill.  But according to reports in HHAD forum, it was getting mixed reviews prior to this.

[JackJohnson]

Thanks to all who posted comments.

When I was "hired" at Somtawin, the "recruiter" was a private language school in Hua Hin called WECI. During my so-called "employment" at Somtawin, the owner of WECI resigned her position at Somtawin and the new head teacher took control of recruitment. The head teacher then handed the recruitment duties to one of her "pet" Kindergarten teachers, who now manages the hiring process. It's now become sort of a "good old gals" club at Somtawin. If you're willing to do lots of extra work for little or no pay, you'll fit right in.

When I left, there were four Philipino teachers on staff. This was not really an issue for me. But I resented being asked to do a lot of extra work for very little pay, in the name of being a "team player", as some of the Philipino teachers had been asked to do.

The current Somtawin school, what I'll call the "old" Somtawin school, is in shambles. No air conditioning, broken screen doors, shoddy classrooms. The "new" Somtawin school, which will be ready for the next semester beginning in May 2007, is supposed to be a nice facility. I've never seen it. I'm told it will have air-con, and nice new classrooms with new desks, etc. But, its going to be some distance outside of town. Supposedly, the new teaching schedule will include shorter hours, to make up for the extra "commute" time.

I was "employed" by Somtawin directly, not by a recruiter. Everything seemed to be controlled by the new head teacher, who told teachers in meetings that she was working directly with one of the family owners of Somtawin school. During my time there, the new Director of Operations came to the school one day drunk as a skunk, and resigned the next day. So there seemed to be a "power" struggle going on, with a lot changes in management, and in the end it was the new head teacher who had taken "control" of the school. I can't use her name, but she's the one. It's like the line in the movie (from the novel) "The Quiet American", when Michael Caine says to Brendan Fraser, "It's YOU, you're the one, you're the person running this entire bloody affair." Or something like that.

When everyting is said and done, I blame the new head teacher. Sure, she had to take over a school that was hanging on by a thread, and I'm sure she wants to turn things around and make it a nice place for teachers to work. But the bottom line, at least in my case, was that she was so busy dealing with all the "fires" and problems at the school that she neglected to perform the most important aspect of her job, which is to make sure new teachers have signed contracts and work permits.

Oh well. Everything happens for a reason. I'm now in Phuket Town. My new school assures me they've NEVER had a problems getting teachers work permits, as long as all the required paperwork is available. This includes my crimminal background check, which took a trip to Bangkok, with stops at the U.S. Embassy for the fingerprint form, and one to the Police Clearance Center, for the fingerprints. Merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream.


Iam currently trying to get a Police Clearance or Background check. Can you tell me where this "Police Clearance Center" is? I have never heard of this place.
Thanks