Ok, this is time for a very special warning. It turns out that there might be some illegal recruitment going on again in the Philippines. It sure looks something dangerous and something that needs to be avoided when looking for a TEFL Job. Scams are proliferating on the internet trying to get money from teachers, but this one seems even more sinister to me.

Teacher 30,000 pcm in Thailand.

Salary and benefits include PHP30,000 pcm tax free, plus retun airfares, share apartment in Pattaya Beach Resort with pool, cable and wi-fi.
Suit 23-33 year old female with Bachelor degree or higher.
Start date 12 January 2008 for 3 month contract could lead to full time position.
I will fly to the Philippines to interview on 10th December.
If interested email me at - harry@4potter.com

Ok, this ad just doesn’t seem right. First of all it is paying a salary that is more than a typical Filipino teacher salary. With a large pool of Filipina teachers already in Thailand willing to work for this, why do they need to advertise abroad? Ah then there is Pattaya. It is widely known as the sex capital of Asia.

The website 4potter.com is an under construction site and could be considered not related at all to teaching and some may even consider it pornographic

The original details was just a job teaching a 9 year old New Zealand boy at 30,000 pesos a month. Even that sounded fishy, but seeing Pattaya in this ad, in my opinion, this was a job that might involve things of a sexual nature. Sexual trafficking of women is a bad thing and it is something TEFLWatch stands firmly against.

In my opinion, this is trafficking of women in the worst regard.

Additional Information:
This was another ad I found online:

Teacher 30,000 pcm (plus expences) in Thailand.
Start 12 January 2008 teaching a 9 year old New Zealand boy one on one.
Intial contract for 3 months could lead to a permanant position.
On top of the 30,000 pcm tax free salary other benefits include return airfares,
share your own apartment with pool, gym, games room, cable and wi-fi.
Education - Bachelor or higher. Age 23 to 33 years old female.
I will be flying to the Philippines on 10th December to interview applicants.
If interested email me - harry@4potter.com

We’ve talked about Nanny and Private Job Offers before in the TEFLWatch Forum, but I’m seeing an increase in complaints from TEFL and ESL teachers about these kind of scams more and more recently so it’s time we put a warning about them here on the front page. While some offers, I’m sure, are legitimate, many it seems are not and English teachers looking for jobs abroad need to be aware of this.
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It’s time again for another warning about unscrupulous recruiters preying on unsuspecting Filipino teachers. This time, we are warning about a recruiter by the name of Winston Pedro Bayron. Mr. Bayron is accused of recruiting Filipinos from the island of Bohol to teach in Thailand.

I have been approached several times about this recruiter and have heard nearly the same story every time. He allegedly recruits Filipinos with any kind of college background to teach in Thailand with promises of high salaries and immediate employment. Allegedly, on his initial recruitment effort, he tells potential recruits about how easy it is to find a job, how he will help them and how they need to attend a training seminar with him first.

The training seminar costs 3500 pesos(about $70), I’ve been told it is a pep talk to get the recruits to lay down the recruitment fee. They are allegedly told that they will earn 30,000 baht per month and they will immediately start. Teachers are shown Ajarn.com job postings and they are allegedly offered as proof of the large supply of jobs at a high salary. (For the record, this is something that the owner of Ajarn.com is not happy with.)

Recruits must pay an additional 45,000 pesos(nearly $1000) as their recruitment fee. It covers their transportation to Bangkok, one month of housing and all their meals for the month. In reality, it is alleged that recruits are put 6 per small apartment and are fed just 1 or 2 meals a day. Recruits are allegedly told that they are illegal and that if they try to complain, they will be arrested and deported. Some recruits were allegedly given just two weeks before being tossed out onto the streets.

Their only job search assistance is allegedly a print out of Ajarn.com job postings and some recruits have allegedly been taken to isolated parts of Thailand and left to fend for themselves after paying large recruitment fees. One recruit that I personally met, had to take a job at a school on a daily salary. Another one couldn’t find a job after nearly three months. Some recruits had to borrow money from money lenders in the Philippines for their chance at a job abroad, others had life savings pooled from family members for the recruitment fee. Nearly all recruits were very disappointed at how they were treated and ashamed of how they let their families down.

Needless to say, it is alleged that Mr. Winston Pedro Bayron is continuing to recruit teachers. Before falling victim, ask to see his proper registration as a recruiter in the Philippines. Or better yet, visit the TEFLWatch Forum and ask how you can teach in Thailand the right way.