Looking to teach english and dive train in Thailand

[ScubaSteve87]

Hey I'm looking for advice here.

I want to move to Thailand, I am a certified teacher for grades 4-12 in Canada and would like to teach English while in Thailand. I am trying to find a trustworthy place to teach. But I am also kind of picky because I want to be living on the coast so that I can also do SCUBA training during my stay.

Does anyone know of an ideal location for this? Or maybe you can point me in the right direction? Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

[Mweiga]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve87

Hey I'm looking for advice here.

I want to move to Thailand, I am a certified teacher for grades 4-12 in Canada and would like to teach English while in Thailand. I am trying to find a trustworthy place to teach. But I am also kind of picky because I want to be living on the coast so that I can also do SCUBA training during my stay.

Does anyone know of an ideal location for this? Or maybe you can point me in the right direction? Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

I can give you some very basic info as somebody who dives a lot throughout Thai waters and has some impression of the English teaching scene having lived here for the past six years.

I'm not sure the two activities will mix very easily especially if you're fussy about where you teach. The best centres for scuba diving are Phuket and Koh Samui (Koh Tao) having access to Thailand's best dive sites and hence the biggest concentration of dive shops and operations. Other popular areas for diving are Koh Lanta (good diving but off the beaten track) , Pattaya (major tourist town but indifferent diving) and Koh Chang (quieter tourist island but again indifferent diving). There are a couple of other areas also.

The locations for the sort of "trustworthy" schools you seek may not necessarily coincide with dive instructor opportunities. Unless you work for one of the private / international fee-paying schools , English teaching is generally very poorly paid. I recall during a visit to Taipei a few years ago meeting a whole lot of former Thailand English teachers who had moved over to Taiwan for work as they just couldn't survive in Thailand on the meagre salary they got.

Suggest you come out for a diving holiday to check out the scene for yourself.

[Song_Si]

Hi ScubaSteve

One more area you may consider is Khao Lak, north of Phuket on the mainland/Andaman Coast

a little info here and access to Similan Islands for diving; for some info on teaching in Thailand, search ajarn there's a lot of info there on working, salary rates and teaching experiences.