That is absolutely inaccurate! I’ve worked at multiple international schools in Thailand, and many of my colleagues have worked at all three types. There are a significant number of differences, from the work environment and expectations to the resources and facilities to the quality of teachers and learning outcomes. They also have to align themselves to very different standards. Public schools follow the national curriculum, with English being taught as a separate subject by foreign teachers, whereas private schools (at least those that are bilingual) usually teach multiple subjects in both English and Thai. International schools adopt foreign curricula (American, British, Australian, IB, etc.), and are typically accredited by overseas bodies.

Even between the international schools I worked at (a smaller privately owned one and another that is one the largest with an excellent reputation even beyond Thailand), there has been a huge difference in almost every aspect of my job. Beyond the much higher salaries, there are far more extensive support systems, higher expectations in terms of the learning, incredible professional development opportunities, stricter requirements for hiring and much more.

You can’t even lump all international schools together, let alone all three types of schools.

Thank you very much. And in China, for example, it’s even worse. Try “got kicked out my apartment and couldn’t go into restaurants/supermarkets because I’m black” during the virus outbreak.

You’re talking about Thailand, where the “whitening underarm deodorant” flies off the shelves. “White privilege”, as you called it, does exist in Asia, but frankly in Thailand less so, since there is also the “White falang discrimination” there. But instead of asking Nomadic Matt to explain it or ask for forgiveness, why don’t you do some soul-searching instead and see what is the problem with your ethnicity back home? You said you’re Asian-American, no?

Thank you sooo much for your response. I am a black Londoner who visited Thailand a couple of years ago and fell inlove with the place. I recently started thinking about teaching English there which is how I came across this article. You brought out the one thing that has been niggling at the back of my mind. I’ve read a number of articles and never once was it mentioned about the challenges a black or brown person is likely to face simply because of their skin colour. I am a bit tickled by it because whilst there I saw Thais who were actually darker than myself.

I mean I did teach in Bangkok but rather say “wrong!”, please share what is “wrong”. You left a fake email here so I’m thinking you might just want to be stirring the pot.

Thailand isn’t the only the country where white privilege is there. China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, or other Asian countries do the same. These travel bloggers don’t realize how much advantage they have over other native speakers or westerners because of the skin color-white.

One thing I don’t like about this article is that it doesn’t explain the negative aspects of teaching in Thailand (bureaucracy, bad management, bad schools, and racism).

I want to point out one thing. The funny thing is that alot of these travel bloggers or those who blog about teaching english overseas don’t point out racism or their “white privilege.” There’s a huge or hiring bias towards white westerners compared to other colored westerners (asians, blacks, brown, etc…). As an Asian-American (Parents are Asian; Born, Raised, Schooled in the USA), I faced countless racism as I was obtaining a teaching English position in Thailand. A lot of schools didn’t hire me because I didn’t fit their “image” of a teacher. One school told me that since I wasn’t “white,” they will have a difficult time hiring me. I know of alot of white teachers in Thailand who don’t have any type of educational or teaching credentials that got hired over a colored applicant who did. If your white, your life is easier in Thailand. If your non-white, expect too work a lot harder.

Most travel bloggers and those who write about teaching english overseas don’t realize the privileged they have. When I see their appearance, 100% of the time they are white.

I do wish ‘travelers’ who haven’t experienced the things they are writing about for longer than 10 minutes just wouldn’t….write, that is.

It’s annoying as hell and a huge disservice to the people that read the incorrect information you publish. But hey, you’ve made a name for yourself so I guess you don’t care.