Charis

Hi I need some advice and hope someone can help. Our Burmese maid just got her temp passport, and she was told she needs to get her work permit done in a month. She had a previous quota but now I will like to get her quota under my name, to get everything done right. I called the dept of labour and was given a couple of numbers which all din work. So desperately need advice.

1. How do I find out which labour office to go to? I live in Wang thong Lang.

2. We are not Thai, and are renting, meaning no house registration. Can we still get quota?

3. If we do get the quota done, where should we go to to do the work permit?

If I can't get that straighten out, I guess I will have to hire an agency to do it for us, but if possible, I will like to do it myself. Any advice appreciated! Thanks.

just an update on this, for completeness of the thread.

Our maid went to get her health check a few weeks back, and at the same time applied for and received a government insurance card, which gives her access to the public hospital system here now.

This morning, after receiving an approved quota to hire her in the mail, we went to apply for the work permit at my local labour office. Documentation required is basically a copy of the medical report, a copy of the quota approval, a copy of her registration made by the Ampur and 1900 baht for the application.

We'll be notified in coming weeks on when to come back and pick up the card.

In terms of this year being the final year for this particular registration system, it appears to be true.

The labour office (very well run and managed by the way) gave us a new form to fill in and return by Feb 2010. It is a 'nationality checking document' which our maid needs to submit, and in return, she'll receive (we think) a burmese passport which will allow her to travel freely and legally between Thailand and Burma, so long as her status here is legal. She won't have to go to burma, we think, to pick it up.

But, all in all, our maid is now fully legal here now, which is a relief to all.

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A friend of mine is stuck there in Germany unable to get back to BKK. Does anyone have any suggestions if there's any nearest airport to get to for flying back? Not sure if Thai Airways will allow rerouting... his colleague Thai is worse off, with visa expiring already on date of departure. It's a real mess!

There were flights from Spain and Italy taking off a couple of hours ago so it doesn't appear to have affected there yet although I guess this could change at any time, I can't logon to the live flight site any more so it's probably overwhelmed with traffic.

Saw on Sky today Brits trying to get from Spain to France by land and then accross on the boat or train, which now appear to be fully booked out for days.

Also remember whenever flights start again there will still be chaos for a while.

I don’t understand the apparent complaceny of Wille Walsh at BA when it’s a fight for their financial survival now.

BA must have a fair number of aircraft sitting idle in other countries so why don’t they at least use those for now?.

Surely they could find a redundant military airfield or underutilised airport somewhere at the edge of this ash cloud

they could use a temporary “ hub “ even if its in far eastern Europe and then charter hundreds of buses as a shuttle service from wherever that destination is?.

BA will be flat broke if this goes on for weeks because they have said they dont have any insurance. I feel they be should jumping straight into emergency plans right now. I know it would not be much fun travelling through Europe by bus, but surely its better than not knowing how long you would be stuck say in the Far East or even Australia?

just called Thai airways, (after a zillion attempts) and they said only flight home is from Rome. BUT like the U-Tapao case, passenger has to go there to queue up for tickets with no guarantee of getting one! Its horrid and no solution in sight.

A friend of mine is stuck there in Germany unable to get back to BKK. Does anyone have any suggestions if there's any nearest airport to get to for flying back? Not sure if Thai Airways will allow rerouting... his colleague Thai is worse off, with visa expiring already on date of departure. It's a real mess!

Called the phone initial half hour of realizing it was lost. someone switched it off; tried to message. But realize phone doesn't support Thai text, so I sent English message, even tho' i know its even more hopeless. Will go to AIS to check it and replace SIM.

The Spouse suggested still going to Police. What an experience. For anyone else reading this, if you lose something and wanna make a police report, be warned that you need to go to the police station that has jurisdiction over the vicinity. Else, it's tough tough tough. I got a statement after much effort, managed to persuade them to sign it, will submit Nokia to blacklist the IMEI. I guess we'll never get it back.

*sigh* learnt a gd lesson; always back up electronic devices.

we tried to message - but the phone doesn't even read thai. it comes out gibberish, so hopeless to communicate with the "Thief" at all unless they read english?? it sounds totally hopeless.

yes, wanted to buy the iphone before E71 but it was not available, guess that's the next choice.

*big big sigh*

Hi,

I lost a nokia E71 along suk road. Does anyone know how or if possible to recover this? Will police help track with IMEI number? The phone is not thai language enabled so perhaps someone will sell it away. Where's it probably sold? I've a lot of data and pictures so really wanna get it back. Pls help if u can.

thats right, easist way would be your wife, the thai citizen, to employer her as a domestic house keeper. Your wife would be the sponsor, and it would require moving the sponsorship from the old employer to your wife. Enquire at the Ampur and or the labour office as to how to do this. note, this can only be done if she is actually currently legal here.

The whole process is very cheap. We just registered our maid and the entire resitration, WP process was about 6000 baht all up with offical fees. Once she is reigistered, then she can go through the nationality checking process, as Mosha has outlined.

thanks! interestingly... i am the other half and i'm not thai. But i guess if the passport only can allow her to go between Thailand and Burma, then probably not very useful as we were thinking if she can travel out of the country with us. I guess in this case not.

" Our maid has sent her 'identity checking' form off to immigration here, who in turn will liase with the burmese government to issue her a passport, in which proper visa's etc will be entered. She'll apparently have to go up to Mae Sot or something to receive the passport."

Hi Samran,

What do u mean send identity checking form to immigration? How can I do this? And do you know how much it costs for the whole process?

Tks again.

Somewhere you should have a "Bureau of proof of Myanmar nationality". You don't say where you are, but we have one in Ranong. We took him there, I left it all to my significant other. AKA wife. The visa is I was told 2000 Baht (I suspect 1900) Immigration in Ranong never seem to have change for 2000.

Tks Samran, Mosha. She is legal with the work permit card, but it was under name of previous employer though. We're in Bangkok. I'm surprised its only 2000 baht. She had a friend who had it done, went back to Yangon took like a month, and had to pay something like 30,000baht!

So with this passport, it means she can exit and enter thailand with no problems, only need to stamp every 90 days?

" Our maid has sent her 'identity checking' form off to immigration here, who in turn will liase with the burmese government to issue her a passport, in which proper visa's etc will be entered. She'll apparently have to go up to Mae Sot or something to receive the passport."

Hi Samran,

What do u mean send identity checking form to immigration? How can I do this? And do you know how much it costs for the whole process?

Tks again.

I'd like to ask if anyone knows what is the process and costs of helping a burmese maid get a passport done? I've heard that they need to go back to Yangon to do this and it takes a very long time. Is it possible to do this in Bangkok at all?

Hi all,

Does anyone know if there is a daycare for toddlers 1.5years old nearby Esplanade mall, (around Ratchadaphisek soi 5)? Appreciate any suggestions around that area or between that and Central Ladprao mall. Thanks alot!

hi

hope this helps. i delivered more than a year ago at bnh, and did not feel good about it as i also went through a c-section. generally, i feel that the doc i dealt with was not pro-natural despite me stating strong opinions about it. finally the babe was about 3.8kg and i had to deliver by c-section. perhaps it was a situation where they did the necessary but i just felt they were too swayed and too pro c-section. for me, i wont return to bnh if i had a second baby. i'm sure there are lotsa cases where they delivered babies naturally so mine could be an isolated case. everything else, service etc, was good but if you are very pro-natural and cannot agree with doc on this, perhaps you need to reconsider a different doc or hospital. since i had a first hand experience, tot i share this with u n hope it gives you a perspective on this.

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Hi Chatette,

Thanks for the recommendations. Yes, I do have to return to work so I've to find a solution soon. I've seen NeoKids and they are about 13K per baby. Price seemed steep. Nannies on the other hand, as you described, are a little scary especially when there's a case reported in today's papers about a baby being kidnapped by a nanny! There's another centre named Fullakids - any idea about them?

think too mut,

Kluaynamtha hospital nursery is not aircon ventilated and disallow viewing of their premises. So, I guess it's not such a good start.

any other recommendations welcome!

I want to find a good nursery/ daycare for a 3month old baby, any recommendations?

As an alternative, I will have to hire a maid at home. In case of a maid, is it alright to expect her to take care of the baby as well as some chores? How much is usual for such a maid live-out Mon-Fri?

I'm looking for a design agency in Bangkok that can handle design and layout for newsletters in English and Thai. If they are able to layout in Mandarin, that's a plus point. Anyone who knows such an agency, please recommend. thank you.

If you're staying in Thailand, I'd say go for Thai language. It's much more effective to learn when you're in the environment anyways.

I have a working knowledge of Mandarin and am learning Thai now. I think Mandarin is pretty challenging for foreigners because you need to memorise every character; and about 4000 characters are necessary as basic foundation. There's no alphabetical system so it is tough, even though the grammer itself is fairly simple. Compare to German for instance, Chinese grammer is fairly straightforward. But if you just want to be able to speak Mandarin, it should be easier.

I've learned Mandarin by HanYuPinYin; and that's my recommendation if you decide to learn Mandarin. It's a phonetic system, and you can type Mandarin on computers using HanYuPinYin.

Chinese who learn thai may find it a bit easier than say an English learning Thai because of the tones, and some similar words.

Comparing the 2 languages, I'd bet you will pick up Thai much faster. So go for it!

Yes my husband will have his work permit done. I'm asking if I need one as well. I also thought that if I work from the subsidiary office, I may need the proper papers too.

The question is if I have to have the same minimum income as well and if I need to pay all my taxes here too.

I'm curious if all expatriate wives are working at all in Thailand - as teachers or something else and if work permits are necessary in this regard?

I'm going to move to Thailand with my husband who will relocate because of his work. My employee in Singapore is able to allow me to continue working here in Thailand in a regional capacity, in office of our Thailand subsidiary. (Strictly speaking, I do not really do work in Thailand for the business of our subsidiary but coordinate more for our business overseas.)

If I have a non-immigrant O visa, will I need the work permit legally speaking? If I need a work permit, will the income minimum be the same or can I declare a lesser amount? Can I be taxed back home instead?

Appreciate your help! Many thanks.

Can anyone also offer some advice on this situation:

I have a dependent visa on my husband who is relocated here in Thailand. I can choose to continue working for my company, based outside Thailand, as my work is based regionally but I can use the office space of my local subsidiary. I receive my income outside Thailand.

In this case, do I need a work permit and change my visa type?

If I do, do I have to meet the minimum income requirement based on my nationality? Will it be difficult and costly?

Please help. Thanks.