Sine Education Services is a recruiter.

They do not pay for you airfare.

They do not pay for your housing.

They are really nice.

They set you up with a nice school.

They take 12.5% of your monthly paycheck.

They will help you with your passport and work permit.

They run a business.

6 out of 10 stars.

Kirk

Finally, what kind of support do they offer teachers AFTER they are placed at a school? I ask because many of these schools will pay companies such as Sine Education upwards of 45,000-60,000 baht per month for a teacher. Companies like Sine then places a teacher at a school and handles the payroll and work permit paperwork for the school (though Sine turns around and also charges the teacher for this). What else Sine offers is not clear…no vacation or bonuses are mentioned but according Sine’s job ads, they only pays 30-35,000 baht:
http://www.tefljobsnow.com/TEF.....038;t=3342

I won’t even mention the ambiguity of these statements:
3. The contract depends on the schools , but at least the contract lasts one year with ten – month payment.
7. The work permit will be serviced in the case of one year contract.
8. You have to pay for non-b-visa and work permit by deducted from the salary as two-month installment.
(what exactly does “work permit will be serviced” and in case of a 1 year contract but they say you are only paid for 10 months…again…very ambigious. Also NOTHING is mentioned about Sine paying for 1/2 unless you realize that even talking 15,000 baht from a teacher is twice as much as it costs to obtain a work permit for 1 year in Thailand)

I didn’t realize there were still companies around that did this type of “contract” because for 15-25,000 baht per month, per teacher, that Sine Education is receiving, I would assume that they would offer A LOT of support and training (or ANY benefits such as paid vacation) to their teachers as well as covering the costs of a work permit which is only about 5-7,000 baht!

Ann

It is correct that teachers in Thailand can process their work permits by themselves WITH THE BIG AND EXHAUSTING work and support of the schools or agencies they are working with. By doing so, teachers can really minimize their expenses and won’t succumb to as much as 30T baht which SINE is being charged by its processing firm. Alleviation comes in when SINE subsidizes this fee by half. BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE, the 15T baht WP fee which SINE’s teachers are paying is reasonable enough. Believe me! If there would be some kickbacks as others would interpret it, they will never accumulate into unreasonable proportion – counting the side expenses like transportation, photocopying, etc.. I am stating this because, after reading all the comments, I conceived it’s necessary to share the facts about the WP fee issue and this is an experience-based information. Suffice it to say, this is a very professional piece of advice not tainted with any biases.

Now, I also knew that stand-alone processing would not cost as much as the first issuance during the WP renewal. BUT THEN, I just learned that WP processing varies according to cases as I recently phoned two servicing agencies which had posted ads in a daily. One of them advertised 4T++ baht WP fee but said that this fee doesn’t include the real fees to be paid in the Immigration and Labor departments. This very well clarified the position of SINE subsidizing the WP fee for its teachers.

What I would like to say is LET US JUST RESPECT our individual spaces under the sun. SINE is an agency, a business institution and it is really no different to any other agencies in the world. All business structures have chains of functions and this is just SINE’s function: arrange and charge something. This is very much within the realm of things. What is just worth noting is the fact that SINE does not charge exorbitantly and it recently announced some recreational programs for its teachers at the year-end aside from its continuing support.

As one of SINE’s teachers, I concluded that I am in a win-win situation. But then again, if an opportunity will knock to attain greater heights in my teaching career especially with international schools or any other schools which will give better benefits than SINE, human nature will dictate that I should just grab it and leave SINE. But if there will be none, I will still choose to work under SINE as it seems to be one of the prudent agencies operating in Thailand – not a proper dodgy agency! I just really hope and pray that they maintain this kind of operation. This assertion might be applicable to all other and would-be teachers of SINE.

So, let us just stop this brouhaha about SINE for the moment; but if you still want to comment, please be fair and prudent – most especially if you are one of SINE’s teachers. While I salute Philip’s frank, intellectual approaches and perfect language, I really suggest that Roger be wiser next time – especially if he is an English teacher. We don’t like to be looked at as some so-so teachers in Thailand, remember? That would not be beneficial to us, the school we are working with and SINE more particularly.

MORE POWER!

Fact: the work permit is freely quoted BEFORE any job offer is made. This price is indeed 30,000 baht but the agency pays half so the cost to the teacher is 15,000. Agreed still somewhat expensive but remember they will do all the initial work and do every 90 day report in as they fall due.

Fact: the 15,000 can be deducted over a period of months from your salary.

Fact: the issue of the work permit being issued under the name of Sine rather than the school is indeed correct. My enquiries show this is REGULAR practice within Thailand and not a problem- the main reason schools use recruiters is to off load the permit paperwork.

Fact: Poor teachers will not be offered a contract by Sine Education and a demonstration is required. I would suspect that this is the Ajarn’s above problem- can’t teach!

Fact: the head of this comapny goes all out to help her teachers. I have been helped with a genuine rent subsidy by Sine, assisted in getting such things as curtains (for which she offered to pay half!) and furniture for my home and had my rental agreement checked, free-of-charge- by Sine’s lawyer. Oh, and she has negotiated salaries for two non-native speakers that I know of at levels well above the norm.

Fact: this recruiter has done everything and more that she said she would do, for me and other teachers at my school.

Fact: if you cannot teach forget it, Sine doesn’t want to sully their reputation for the sake of signing a contract with someone unsuitable.

For me, without Sine I would still have settle into a position I am sure, equally though I am sure that this company has made the process a lot easier. 5 Stars