Jonson83

To get the Non-immigrant B visa, the school must first submit a copy of the degree and the passport to the Ministry of Education (MOE). There also needs to be a letter to the University requesting authentication of the degree--in short, that the degree is real. They will then send a letter to the Embassy or Consulate where the non-immigrant visa is to be issued, requesting the embassy to issue it (or attesting to the authenticity of the request). Without this from the MOE, the embassy probably won't give the visa.

The person then must have a copy of their contract, a letter from the school, and a copy of the schools registration to get the non-immigrant B.

Once the employee has the visa, the school can apply for the Teachers License and Work Permit. These,

This of course only applies if you apply for your non-immB in Penang or Laos. There's been no changes to the requirements at Thai Consulates or Embassies in your home country if that's where you apply for your non-immB.

But if the above is enforced just think about it for a moment: the teacher will need to wait a few months for his degree to be authenticated before he can go on a visa run to Penang or Vietianne to obtain his non-immB. If he's to obtain the non-immB before the academic year begins schools will need to start recruiting now, and that isn't feasible. Plus a letter needs to be sent from the MoE to Penang or Laos. If you've lived in Thailand a while you'll know that the letter won't be sent, or if it is, there will be no record of it when you arrive at the consulate or there be a spelling error. Absolute chaos. After a couple of days Thais will revert to their default machanism of ignoring the rules. IMO

True loaded,ive been in contact with 'SEE' and they have confirmed this.The Consulate in Hull has issued a statement saying that this new law will not apply to those applying for a NON-Im B visa from their consulate.I assume the other consulates in England are doing the same.

Btw,thanks a lot for suggesting them.They have been very helpful(visa..).Im going to enroll with 'Siam educational experience' tomorrow.

bluebear,

????

If you want to lecture people about degrees.Go do it on the other forum linked in my first post.

It's one thing for us farang to argue about "good teacher without degree" versus "bad teacher with degree" or with certified credentials, etc.

But it's another thing for the Thai government to tell us what they want. This is their country, their education ministry, etc. Their own Thai teachers in govt. schools have degrees, and they think degrees are important. But if you get a job without a degree (honestly) and do well, the school will usually move mountains to keep you. Well, usually.

It certainly is their country and they make the rules.I havent said one thing against this 'law' for that very reason.From what i have seen on these forums.It is ther people with degrees that are kicking up the most fuss.As they know just how hard it is to get a WP in the LOS.

The new rules are almost impossible to understand at the moment- but I don't believe they are making degrees compulsory for those who are only doing TEFL. I will do my best to figure out what's going on. Anyone have any real official word?

Thats great IJWT.If any more news comes your way, please share it here.Its so hard to keep track of whats going on when you live thousands of miles away Saying that, i have contacted 'SEE' in Chiang mai to see what they think of the current situation.

Toptuan,

I have seen your posts in the other thread m8,i dont want to get into that debate.But to say that someone with a degree is a better teacher than someone who doesnt is absolute rubbish and a view held by a only minority from what i have read here.Ill be going to thailand next year with a friend who has got a degree.We will hopefully gain our TEFL certificate in Chiang mai.But neither of us has any teaching experience.

Are you telling me that because my friend has a degree he will be a better teacher than me or that theres more chance of me being a 'peedo' or an 'undesirable'??? ...my friend that didnt even get english lang/lit A-C GCSE???

If i have to,i will go out of my way to get a degree.Im not looking to retire in thailand.I am 23 years old for gods sake! Lets say i get this degree.All of a sudden do i become a wonder teacher? well? Give me a break.

Since i dont have a degree,this news has got me worrying a bit.

Whats everyone make of this?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=91224&st=0

edit:Dont ask me where those 'As' in the title came from

What effect will this have on farang in thailand? Their surely not stupid enough to force it against such a valueble such of income?

Someone said that most thais think farang look older than they are,true,but the coppers arent stupid.All they have to do is ask for your passport,which they know you will have on you... <deleted> look at the kohsan road,one copper could pull in more than a months wages in just 10 minutes walking down there.What about all the young thais that go down there and get pissed up? Police going to ignore them/ban them..what? Same with all the other areas in bangkok were young farang/young thais mix and drink?

hmm i just cant see how they will enforce this law,let alone get any positve results...

Seems that no jobs are guaranteed but job contacts are.Thats better than nothing imo...

Have you looked into the place that sponsors this forum? http://www.siameducationalexperience.org/ I was told by another forumer who knows a guy who works there that its reliable and well worth the money.I plan on going to Chiang Mai to teach in March and ill be going with a year long visa hopefully.Why limit yourself to only three months??

Both Saigon and Hanoi are really great places for a vacation in vietnam.

Totally agree with you serpentine.I came back from a 9 month 'travelling' trip around south east asia in early august.The average backpacker spends a lot of money,an awful lot more than some people here are sugegsting.Anywhere between 500-1000 baht per day,no question.I spent about £5000(about 350K baht) whilst i was out,which is probably slightly more than average but not a lot more.

Superb info,thanks for the response.

I think a one year multiple entry visa will be best as i dont plan on doing any job searching at first.Best to be on the safe sound and be sorted for a year.

These new visa laws for sure then or what?? ....<deleted>!

Multiple entry non-immigrant visa for certain then.Not like i have a choice.

Loaded,

Do you think the Thai TEFL school contacts will really help? or at the end of the course some thai guys going to give me a piece of paper with some thai scribble on a phone number and say phone him ...hehe .Just that im caught in two minds,as i would like to book my TEFL course here in England soon.Ill probably end up taking it twice....

for newbie techers the ajarn.com site is also very helpful.

stay away from the tefl in thailand with guranteed job if you can.

get a tefl and come to thailand.

you will get a job, maybe not the best, without a degree.

schools who employ you are responsible for getting the work permit.

they are notoriously slow or have no intention to do it.

you cannot get a work permit on your own.

just jump in and you will learn very quickly.

My plan was always to get a TEFL before going to thailand,i hope to get it in november at brum university.Just thought it might be better to get it in thailand but wasnt sure,thnx for the heads up.

So many places in thailand seemed to run TEFL courses and half of these 'guaranteed' a job after the course was complete? If they guarantee a job,does that mean they guarantee a work permit?.If i remember rightly,the AUA and british coucil in chiang mai did 'deals' like this?

Yes, you can get a work permit because SOME think a TEFL Certificate is a college degree.

The only guarantee is they will WANT THE MONEY for the course up front. How they continue to advertise the guaranteed job is beyond most, however, it must work as people continue to take the courses. Cheers. Susan

Actually, the reason you can get a work permit is that for the purpose (teaching TEFL) a TEFL certification is considered good enough by most schools and then, of course, the Thai government which issues the work permit (and I personally happen to agree). I doubt anyone particularly considers a TEFL the same as a college degree. That's why it's called a TEFL.

I don't have any personal knowledge of what guarantees any TEFL course provider makes; let the buyer beware, as usual. However, I would be pretty sure that whoever wanted to claim those guarantees would actually have to finish the course. Don't you think so?

"Steven"

Steve,

So with a TEFL theres a good chance i can get a WP? nice one.Thanks for responding.

Ill probably have little option but to work without a one?

I suppose this is what I have difficulty comprehending. How an intelligent person can travel half-way around the world and so casually place themselves in such a precarious position... risking freedom and putting themselves in direct jeopardy of apprehension and confinement in a SE Asian jail. This is even more perplexing when this occurs specifically after being informed of the uncertainty of their situation and the ambiguity of their status and occurs when the issue is very much in the spotlight.

This isn't meant as a personal attack on you, Jonson… you are certainly not alone and most likely you are unaware of the severe repercussions this can have for you.

This is also not to say that “I have never sinned,” ( *far from it* ) but as with many things in life, it’s all about risk assessment and I have trouble understanding the mindset that says, despite all the focus being placed on this particular sin for now, that, “The risk is worth it.”

It’s common phrase that to avoid trouble in Thailand involves “flying under the radar.” At the same time, the issue of teachers/work permits/qualifications/etc. seems to have a ground-level radar sweep scanning at present.

Fair comment and i can certainly see where your coming from.

But look at it from my point of view.I want to work in thailand and i want to work legally with a work permit.It seems that the thais dont give these things out like candy and even people with the right documents and degrees etc can have real trouble getting them.So,what can i do?

Can i get a work permit with only a TEFL ???

So many places in thailand seemed to run TEFL courses and half of these 'guaranteed' a job after the course was complete? If they guarantee a job,does that mean they guarantee a work permit?.If i remember rightly,the AUA and british coucil in chiang mai did 'deals' like this?

I understand that atm,the situation is very much 'under the spotlight' but as i said in my first post.I will not be returning to thailand for 6 months and i wont be working for atleast 2 months after that.Maybe things will be better in 7-8 months time or maybe things will have got worse?? who knows? Ill have to see for myself when i get there.Teaching or not,i will be back in thailand by then.For sure.

thnx for the comments btw,i need ti hear this sort of thing.

I'm looking to work in or around Chiang Mai; how hard will it be to get a job... either part time or full time?

What type of salary range would I be looking at?

Would I ever be able to get a work permit?

If anyone can answer these or give me some advice,thnx a lot

Jon

Hi Jon,

Welcome to Thai Visa, and thanks for the compliment.

Chiang Mai is a lovely place to live in many ways. But for people starting out to teach, without good qualifications, the salaries are low. 200 to 300 baht an hour; or usually 25K to 27K per month (maybe not for all the months of the year, either). Of course, I could be wrong and maybe I wasn't lucky. Same with work permit; you might get lucky, but I never did, and I had lots of the right documents. I think Loaded said here recently that there are hundreds of TEFLers in this area without WP's.

Get the best visa you can, preferably a one-year multiple entry. Then you do visa runs to Mae Sai (for example from Chiang Mai) every 89 days instead of every 29 days. Dress smart, act clever and proper, speak well, etc.

Perhaps several others have advice. Who's next?

Cool,thanks for the answers blondie.

Starting at 25-27k doesnt sound all that bad to me!.Its obviously no where near as high as western standards,but its still a lot of money for Thailand.Hopefully it will lead to better paid jobs aswell?

I did a couple of visas runs to mae sai whilst i was in chiang mai,so that seems simple enough.Althought going once every 3 months does seem a much better idea and would save me 1200 baht...or would it? do you have any idea how much a 1 year mulitple entry visa costs?

About the work permit,the 'raid' mentioned doesnt sound good,but if its so hard to get a WP.Ill probably have little option but to work without a one?

Hi all,

This is my first post on this forum.After searching the internet for a bit i think ive finally found a decent thailand forum.As most of the other questions i had about teaching in thailand have already been asked/answered in other threads.

Anyway,about me...im a 23 year old English bloke whos just come back(3 weeks ago) from 9 months living/travelling in southeast asia.I spent roughly 6 months in thailand(nearly 3 months in chiang mai) and the other 3 months was spent in laos,cambodia and vietnam.Quite simply i loved every minute of it and i really,REALLY want to get back out there.But this time stay for a lot longer and to work there.

I plan on heading back out there end of feb/early march.By then i should almost certainly have a TEFL certificate(hoping to do the course at birmingham uni in november).I do NOT have a degree,so as far as wp's go..im a little screwed.Anyhoo,a couple of questions i have for anyone who can answer them.

Im looking to work in or around Chiang mai,how hard will it be to get a job..either part time or full time?

What type of salary range would i be looking at?

Would i ever be able to get a work permit?

If anyone can answer these or give me some advice,thnx alot

Jon