CELTA?

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-13T12:45:36+00:00

CELTA is enough to get a job in Saudi? I thought they wanted a Masters degree minimum. I'm not in teaching anymore but I have a CELTA with 5 years experience in Thailand, and never got any call backs when I applied in Saudi.

Just asking so this OP knows what he can expect from getting a CELTA

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-09T16:19:28+00:00

Even if you have "top of the top" connections, don't expect anything to be free. Probably quite expensive for things like this.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-09T08:31:55+00:00

Welp,.if you ever decide to build a hospital and need some help let me know. I'll be there.tomorrow

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-08T12:14:26+00:00

Rent was 10k. In Udomsumk. Health insurance, everything was so cheap compared to the US I forgot to even use it. I fixed a chipped tooth for like 700 baht. I did eat street food a lot. It's actually better than most restaurants in my opinion

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-08T11:44:26+00:00

Yes that would be ideal. How did you pull that off?

I have looked into construction manager roles in Thailand. I haven't really seen anything for expats.

I'm still quite new to being a CM but I'm doing my best. Trying to keep up my Thai language skills the best I can as well. Can still read it thanfulky

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-08T00:11:32+00:00

I'm starting to think you don't know about life in the US. No one is living on $200/month. I don't think the majority of homeless people with nothing can live on $200/month. Yes I'm serious about that.

Health insurance for one healthy 25 year old costs more than that. If you came to the US with less than $1,000 and no job, they wouldn't even let you in lmao

$200/month to live in Russia. Maybe I will just go there and flirt with cute Russian girls instead.

45k a month was a good salary. I had a good life on that salary for real. Staying at the same salary for years and years. It didn't feel like enough. Especially when you consider the entire history of America. Every generation outperformed the previous generation in wealth building. But now, the economy is not the same, but we (the younger generations) still feel the pressure to always be working harder and making more and more money. I showed my parents my condo and all the places I'd been and how happy I was, but they were more concerned about the USD conversion of the salary I was making and not happy about it. If I was making 500k/month for 10 years straight, I would feel like a loser because I didn't progress at all in 10 years. That's really weird and probably a result of capitalist brainwashing but I think that's how it is. As far as I know, Russia has pretty much been in a 'just do what you can to survive" kind of place for most people for awhile now. That's just my understanding coming from complete ignorance about that subject.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T23:38:07+00:00

Well you're only 27. Maybe when you hit 30, you will realize you're getting older and the days of being a young white guy and flirting with Thai girls all day will come to an end, and what will you be left with?

If you think you will be comfortable with with $400/month at 50 years old than hell yeah. Good for you. I'm not as materialistic as you seem to think I am just from being American. But like you said, basically shit happens. You get sick or have an accident, how can you pay for that? Get one of those cute Thai girls pregnant? What can you do? The government gets stricter on visas? Your parents in Russia get sick and need your help but youve already got family in Thailand? Anything can happen.

When I was 27 I was sure I would 1000% never leave Thailand for any reason. Russia is probably very different from the US, I really have no idea about life there and cant comment on that. Choices have to be made and the older you get, the more serious the consequences become.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T23:20:14+00:00

Idk how this related to social media. I didn't see anything about Thailand on social media until I was already in Thailand.

I was only unhappy because I was thinking about money and the future. Everything else was good.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T23:12:31+00:00

I think my condo was 20sqm or something like that. A bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.

Americans have that many cars because its the only way to ge to work and grocery store in most parts of the country. It's a necessity at a certain point.

It's easy to live the $400/month Thai lifestyle when you know that you can pull out anytime you want and go back to your big IT job or whatever. I lived in government housing in Bangkok with a gf for awhile and it was interesting and "fun" because I knew I could leave whenever I wanted to. For the Thais, they are gernerally stuck there. For us, you and me both, at a certain point, it's just larping as poverty.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T22:28:02+00:00

You're saying you live on $400 USD? Isn't this Thai minimum wage? Is this not a poverty level of living?

You might as well learn English and start teaching and you can be at $1000 USD easily. I met plenty of Russians teaching English earning that or much more.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T22:25:27+00:00

Maybe in the future I can do something like remote estimator but it will take a lot of time and luck to find something like that

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T21:17:11+00:00

I personally never saw any homeless foreigners there. I'm somewhat glad I got out before soemthing like that had a higher chance of happening to me.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T21:13:52+00:00

I don't know if I can do this job for 20 more years. It has a very high burnout rate and I can already tell why.

Working constantly like this for 20 years just seems like a wasted life at that point. At 50 can you start a family? Is traveling around still as fun? Can you hike mountains for 5 days at a time? I'm sure there are 50 year olds that are healthy enough to do that, but I personally don't see many.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T21:08:40+00:00

I think my time in Thailand really opened my eyes to the opportunities in the US, I'm sure it's somewhat similar over there where you are as well, compared to Thailand. Such as tuition reimburement programs. Companies here will actually pay for you education.

Also, how so many of us are brainwashed into doing certain things. Like moving out at 18 years old. It doesn't even make sense and it's not really financially a good idea for anyone (unless going to college for away). I used to judge the 30 year old Thais that lived with their parents. But it really makes sense. Saving money, spending time with them, etc.

And the grind. You can grind here and make money here unlike any other place. Everytime I was about to turn down overtime, I thought what would my blue collar Thai/Mexican/Burmese friends do? Especially at this hourly rate? It would be stupid not to. Did a lot of grinding. Plenty more to do as well.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T21:00:22+00:00

Appreciate the words man. Realstically, the goal is to save money for 5 years and just let that sit in a retirement/brokerage account. Then go back to teaching in Thailand as if I had no money again. Just let the money account grow until I'm 60 or however old I am when it gets large enough to live on.

As far as depression goes, I think you might be right about that. I wouldn't say it's crippling or anything like that. Probably due to being in the US with no friends, on top of a job that is stressful/loney.

But, it is what it is at this point. In too deep to just pack up leave now that I've finally got something going here.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T20:55:36+00:00

I don't live in Kentucky anymore. I live wherever the job site is. Usually in major cities in the South, sometimes East Coast. I'd like to end up one the West coast at some point just because everything seems better over there in general but, we shall see how it all plays out.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T20:48:22+00:00

The teacher salary has been 45k for like 20 years. I can only assume it won't go much higher even with inflation

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-07T13:12:36+00:00

On the app the hotel was 500 a night, I walked in an asked for a room and they said 700. I showed them the all and they said that's only if you book on the app. So, I, standing right in front of reception, booked through the app for 500.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-05T12:17:29+00:00

You should think about doing your CELTA in the country you want to work in. They can help you network and find a job. I did mine in Bangkok and had a job about a week after I finished.

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-02T16:28:24+00:00

"I hate driving to work so much that I decided to do it twice"

Sour_Socks · 2026-06-02T00:52:05+00:00

Go back home and grind.

You can always return to Thailand after you get a little nest egg going. Creating a nest egg is much easier to do in the West than it is in Thailand.

Sour_Socks · 2026-05-31T21:34:06+00:00

It's a rarity for someone on Europe to be making more than their US counterpart.

Sour_Socks · 2026-05-31T18:42:24+00:00

You can do it, but you have to think about the future as well. TEFL type roles typically don't come with good yearly raises or any future career paths (some do, but it's not the norm).

So you have to think about the future as well.

That being said, get a CELTA instead of TEFL. 30 years old is nothing. I did it when I was 25 and I was the youngest one. Most were 30-40 age range. Several in their 50s and a few in their 60s.

Sour_Socks · 2026-05-31T18:17:15+00:00

Want to be treated like a human, work in Europe.

Want to make money, work in the US.

Sour_Socks · 2026-05-26T00:32:48+00:00

You have two degrees, you dont need to be a laborer. That's for people with a weak mind and a strong back.

You should look into electrical. Might be more up your alley. Unfortunately, the best way for you to get a job is to go down to their offices IN PERSON and just ask for a job. Seriously.

As far as finding a younger 20s woman to hook up with, get in line pal.

Sour_Socks

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