One of the more complicated aspects of starting a new career in a foreign country is making sure you have the right documents ready — for job applications, visa applications, or even just deciding whether the career path is a viable option for you.
So let’s break it down: here are the documents and qualifications you will need to teach English in Thailand.

Hi, my name’s Ben. I’ve been living and working in Thailand for around 8 years, and for around 5 of those years I was working in Thai schools as an English teacher. I like to share my experiences and the things I’ve learnt along the way.

I’m making this blog post because I’ve often found it tricky to find all this information in one place, so I wanted to put together a clear list and hopefully save you some of the headache.

I want to give you the bare-bones minimum requirements upfront — this might not land you the best job, and we’ll go into more detail on some of these later, but to find work as an English teacher at a formal school in Thailand, you will need:

• University Degree (or equivalent — legalised or attested)
• Teaching Qualification (e.g. PGCE, or a TEFL Certificate)
• English Proficiency Qualification (e.g. IELTS, for non-native English speakers only)
• Police Background Check
• Working Visa (Non-Immigrant B)
• Work Permit 
• Thai Teaching Licence (a 2-year waiver is available when starting out)

The visa, work permit, and teaching licence — or teaching licence waiver — will all be arranged in collaboration with your school once you’ve secured a position.

Your employer or agency may assist with the legalisation of your university degree, but if not, I recommend Argentum — a document legalisation service I trust and have used myself. If you do get in touch with them, please mention my name as a referral (Ben Joe Walker); I’d really appreciate it.

Let’s get into some of the finer details of the required qualifications and documents.

University Degree

One of the biggest hurdles to entering a teaching career in Thailand is the university degree requirement. These days, every formal school in Thailand requires that teachers are educated to degree level.

Some positions will require a degree relevant to the subject being taught. If you want to teach secondary school maths on an English Program, for example, you may find that a mathematics degree is expected. It’s worth bearing in mind that many English Programs in Thai schools cover a wide range of subjects — including P.E., social studies, and history — so a relevant degree is always an advantage and can sometimes be a hard requirement.

That said, as long as your degree is from an accredited university, you will be able to apply for English teaching jobs in Thailand regardless of your field of study.

Now, comments on internet forums and older expats in bars will insist that a degree isn’t essential for teaching in Thailand — and they’re not entirely wrong. 20+ years ago requirements were more lax, and some teachers who have been here a long time, perhaps staying at the same rural school where foreign teachers are hard to come by, have managed without one. But those days are largely gone. Khurusapha — the Teachers’ Council of Thailand — is the official body responsible for issuing teaching licences, and formal schools are legally prohibited from sponsoring a work permit for a foreign teacher without a degree. The devil being in the detail, you may still find teaching work at a non-formal setting such as a language learning centre in a mall, but finding a teaching job in Thailand without a degree is a significantly harder task than it once was.

Teaching Qualification

A second non-negotiable requirement when it comes to teaching English in Thailand is a teaching qualification. A postgraduate teaching qualification such as a PGCE is a great place to start — in fact, if you are already qualified to teach in your home country you may find you are ready to hit the ground running in Thailand. If not, don’t worry: a teaching certificate such as a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) will suffice in most cases, particularly at the beginning of your teaching career.

If your goal is to work at an international school, my understanding is that in most cases you will need to be fully qualified to teach in the country whose curriculum the school follows. Put simply, if you want to work at a British international school, you would need to be qualified to teach in Britain, and classroom experience in the UK may well be preferred.

That said, the majority of schools in Thailand are not international schools, and most foreign teachers don’t work in them. Private schools and government schools both hire foreign teachers, and a TEFL certificate paired with a university degree is usually enough to get you through the door.

When it comes to teaching qualifications, the TEFL is probably the most well known — though not all TEFLs are equal, as there are multiple variations. It is by no means the only option, however. There is also the CELTA and TESOL, to name but a few, each varying in length, price, and course content. The differences are worth exploring in more detail another time, but for the purposes of this post the key takeaway is that you will need at least one of them.

English Proficiency Qualification

If you are a non-native English speaker, you will need an additional qualification to demonstrate your English language ability in order to teach in Thailand.

From my research, there are three accepted options when it comes to English proficiency exams: IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), or the Aptis for Teachers test offered by the British Council.

Being a native English speaker myself, this is the one qualification I didn’t need — and therefore the one I know least about, so there may be gaps in my knowledge here. From what I can find online, the minimum scores required are approximately 5.5 on the IELTS band scale, or 600 on the TOEIC, for your work permit application to be successful. There are slight variations across different sources, so I’d recommend verifying the current requirements directly with your employer or the relevant authorities.

Police Checks

A police background check is commonly listed as a requirement, and some schools will ask for one from your home country as part of the application process. In practice, this can vary — I worked at two schools in Thailand in different provinces, and while the first requested a home country police check, the second did not.

Both schools, however, did require a Thai police check, which is a standard part of the work permit application and something your school will typically help you arrange.

Visa

For the vast majority of teachers working in Thailand, the visa you will be applying for is the Non-Immigrant B visa. The application process will be a collaboration with your employer, as you will need documents from the school to submit alongside your application.

If you secured work whilst still in your home country and your employer is willing to proceed remotely, you will make the visa application at a Thai embassy in your home country. Once approved, you can enter Thailand on the correct visa ready to begin work and start the work permit process.

If you are already in Thailand, or your employer wants to meet you in person before offering the job, you will likely need to leave the country — typically to a nearby country such as Laos or Malaysia — and apply for the Non-Immigrant B visa at a Thai embassy there, before returning to Thailand on the correct visa.

One exception worth noting: if you are married to a Thai citizen and hold a Non-Immigrant O visa on those grounds, it is possible to apply for a work permit on that visa type instead.

Work Permit

The work permit is the document that legally authorises you to work in Thailand, and it is specific to both your employer and your role. This means that if you change schools, the process will need to be repeated with your new employer.

The work permit application is largely managed by your school. By the time you reach this stage, you will have your visa in order, and your employer will guide you through what is needed. You will typically need to provide copies of your documents — degree, teaching qualification, passport, and visa — and your school will handle the submission to the Ministry of Labour, although you will likely need to accompany them when the documents are submitted.

The work permit is tied to your Non-Immigrant B visa, and both will need to be renewed periodically. Again, your school should manage this process, but it is worth keeping track of your own expiry dates so nothing catches you off guard.

Teaching Licence

When you begin teaching at a formal school in Thailand, you will not immediately hold a Thai teaching licence. Instead, Khurusapha — the Teachers’ Council of Thailand — issues a temporary teaching licence waiver, valid for two years, while you work towards a full licence. 

You are permitted up to three of these two-year waivers, giving a maximum of six years in total. However, it is worth noting that renewals are not automatic — Khurusapha now requires proof of enrolment in professional development training before granting a second waiver.

If you only plan to teach in Thailand for a couple of years, the waiver system covers you and you don’t need to think much beyond that. If you intend to stay longer, you will need to work toward a full licence, and the main route for most foreign teachers is Khurusapha’s 7-module TPDI training course, completed online. There are other routes involving postgraduate qualifications in education, but those are beyond the scope of this post.

If you already hold a teaching qualification from your home country — such as a PGCE or equivalent — you may be exempt from the waiver system entirely and able to apply directly for a Thai teaching licence.

I’ll be honest: this is an area where the rules have evolved since my own time in Thai schools, and the specifics can vary depending on your qualifications and employer. I’d strongly recommend checking the current requirements directly with Khurusapha or your school before making any decisions based on this.