Volunteering in Bangkok

[AlphaCanadian]

I am a 35 year old Canadian man. I a staying in Bangkok for about 6 months to work on some personal projects.

 

I am looking to volunteer, a few hours a week. I am open to different types of volunteering but I have experience teaching English (to adults and children).

 

I live near On Nut BTS but I am willing to commute (within reason).

 

Any suggestions of places to volunteer?

 

Thanks in advance.

[jackdd]

We just had another topic about this.

You need a work permit to do any work in Thailand, even if you do it for free.

[AlphaCanadian]

Thanks for letting me know.

 

I will be doing some Googling but do you happen to know if I will need to leave Thailand to get that taken care of? I hope I can go to an immigration office in Bangkok and get it done. I just got back from doing a tourist visa run in Malaysia, wish I knew about this before the visa run that I just did.

 

I want to volunteer to give something back, to meet people and for something to do.

Edited April 13, 2018 by AlphaCanadian

[FritsSikkink]

8 hours ago, AlphaCanadian said:

Thanks for letting me know.

 

I will be doing some Googling but do you happen to know if I will need to leave Thailand to get that taken care of? I hope I can go to an immigration office in Bangkok and get it done. I just got back from doing a tourist visa run in Malaysia, wish I knew about this before the visa run that I just did.

 

I want to volunteer to give something back, to meet people and for something to do.

Immigration is for a visa, you need a non -b to work/volunteer. the Labor office is for a work permit, which you can only can get if a company supports you (lot of paperwork). So look for a company/organization to volunteer first.

[jackdd]

Of course you would have to leave Thailand, because you would have to get a non-b visa.

But getting a work permit for you costs the company / organization money and time, so for "a few hours per week" they won't do it, so probably you should just forget about it.

[Thian]

In most fastfood restaurants (Mac, KFC, Ikea) you'll find students doing homework, several times i 've seen them getting english lessons from another thai...when i heard them speaking it was hard to not correct their pronounciation....

 

I think those students would love to get taught real english from a native, you can ask them...i see them everywhere.

[balo]

I'm pretty sure you can just visit any visa agent in BKK and they can arrange a WP for you against a fee. And you dont have to leave Thailand. They advertise their services in Bangkok Post so it should be legal.

[The manic]

9 minutes ago, balo said:

I'm pretty sure you can just visit any visa agent in BKK and they can arrange a WP for you against a fee. And you dont have to leave Thailand. They advertise their services in Bangkok Post so it should be legal.

Even people who own bars can't work in them. Getting a WP is nigh on impossible except in exceptional circumstances for limited job areas. You might need a criminal record check too.

Edited April 16, 2018 by The manic

[balo]

Even people who own bars can't work in them. Getting a WP is nigh on impossible except in exceptional circumstances for limited job areas. You might need a criminal record check too.

Then why do they advertise WP for foreigners in big letters outside the visa agent office ? It's not a scam , several are applying for them. Anyway I would contact the volunteer organizations first. The Soi dog foundation have Canadians, and Europeans working 6 months on and off.

[jackdd]

19 minutes ago, balo said:

25 minutes ago, The manic said:

Even people who own bars can't work in them. Getting a WP is nigh on impossible except in exceptional circumstances for limited job areas. You might need a criminal record check too.

Then why do they advertise WP for foreigners in big letters outside the visa agent office ? It's not a scam , several are applying for them. Anyway I would contact the volunteer organizations first. The Soi dog foundation have Canadians, and Europeans working 6 months on and off.

Probably they setup a company for you, employ some fake people and get the work permit for you. The fake employees are not legal, the rest of it is probably.

But having a work permit to work at his own company doesn't help OP, because he probably doesn't want to spend the money for it and with a work permit for his own company he can still not do volunteer work at another company / organization.

[The manic]

32 minutes ago, balo said:

37 minutes ago, The manic said:

Even people who own bars can't work in them. Getting a WP is nigh on impossible except in exceptional circumstances for limited job areas. You might need a criminal record check too.

Then why do they advertise WP for foreigners in big letters outside the visa agent office ? It's not a scam , several are applying for them. Anyway I would contact the volunteer organizations first. The Soi dog foundation have Canadians, and Europeans working 6 months on and off.

Some people are eligible for work permits and some are not. Agencies help with the paper work for those who are. Other services involve fake companies etc. But you can only work in your chosen designated area of work and geographical area. An English Teacher in Bangkok for example could not work as a Diving instructor in Phuket. Why do bar owner never sit behind their own bars? Because they can't get a work permit easily and their transgression of the law would be public.

[mommysboy]

Well done.  Lots of your own countrymen, as well as Brits, etc need help.  I salute you!