Should I apply for a work visa before getting a job as a teacher in Thailand?

Lisa, most of the foreigners looking for teaching jobs in Thailand don’t have teaching credentials at home. Since you do, you’d be looking at a completely different set of jobs/wages.

While ajarn.com is the most popular and a very good resource site for teaching jobs, the positions you’d qualify for aren’t usually posted there. You should be looking in the 70,000-150,000 THB/month range (or maybe even higher).

Those higher paying jobs are posted on international teaching sites like tes, schrole, etc. Googling international schools will lead you to a plethora of schools, from pathetic to fantastic. Once you find the better schools among them, their websites will have job links. ISB, Harrows, Shrewsbury are a few to try.

As for your visa question, the top international schools will hire you from overseas and arrange the visa before you arrive. However, 99% of the other jobs will require you to be in the country to apply. Once hired, the visa process will either be easily transferred at immigration, in country, OR you may have to travel to an embassy in a neighboring country. Schools in Bangkok and the surrounding areas will often be able to transfer your visa in country. While outlying provinces (like Phuket) may insist the only way to do it is traveling to Laos or Malaysia. The first visa is usually 3 months, after which you will get your work permit, and then do your 1year extension to your visa, all handled through your employer… but all these steps require you to go to the respective government offices yourself.

Note: you may be asked to work while the paperwork is processed. While this puts you in a position to work illegally for the first 3 or more months, it is actually common practice for about 80% of the jobs. Once visa (at immigration) and work permit (at labor office), processes that are all the employers responsibility, you are legal and only have to worry about *making 90 day reports *ensuring you’ve bought a reentry permit before leaving the country, *keeping your job, and *timely processing of your annual visa extension.

Good luck. It’s worth it.

Try Government Universities. I hired on at 62 and later retired. U can work until u die. Good benefits but not high wages.

You will be considered old for employment in Thailand even as a teacher. Not easy to come by. But Hua Hin is an older expat community and you will easily make lots of connections. Also a very low cost place to live, so work may not be critical with teachers pension from Canada. It's astounding how many Canadians are leaving that country. StatsCan says over 5 million living abroad

Be aware that I’ve been told several times that teachers age out at 60 in Thailand. I’ve been on the journey of trying to find where I’d like to land since I left teaching in the states and have a TEFL as well. Most suggestions are to open my own language school so ageism isn’t an issue. I’m 57.

You can go for either way

Get a job offer and travel or you can come on a tourist visa and apply for a job. Once you get success you can exit the country (you will have to go to the neighborhing county)and get a Non-B Visa and get your work permit based on it.

This website spells it all out, with job listings. Ajarn.com

You need a job (offer) in order to apply for a work visa then work permit. Enter on a tourist or exempt entry. Find an employer and then go from there.