The Embassy - London

[ambassador]

Last plea for help - Please Read.

The Thai man at the embassy could not grant me a 3 month work visa, despite having a letter from my teaching company in Bangkok because I did not have my work permit.

The company I would have been working for in Bangkok were going to apply me for the permit once I had obtained this visa.

Today I call the Thai consulate in Birmingham and speak to a british man who tells me he could have given me the 3 month work visa for 40 pounds providing I had a letter from my company and a couple of passport photos. I told him about my experience in London and he said they were a law unto themselves and were unpredictable.

It is too late to do anything about it now. No one seems to be able to answer my question r.e. Can a workpermit be granted on reccommendation with a diploma and TEFL without a degree, and what was supposed to be a year away working and starting a new life is now going to be a 30 day goodbye to all the friends I have made over the years.

I could work illigally but I am not one of these backpackers in their early twenties that wants to bum around for a year and I do not want to risk deportation or monthly visa runs.

I have very honourable intentions in Thailand; I loved it there and had even started working freelance for a magazine which is something I had always wanted to do.

I am thirty years old and I'm back to square one again. I'm devastated.

Over 200 forum members read my last post but I only recieved one reply, and personal messages I've sent in a plea for help and advice have been coldly ignored and I don't understand why. Undesirables posting to find out where they can get drugs or find a decent girly bar get more of a response.

I'm an decent and honest man who wants to live and work decently and honestly and enjoy a peaceful and happy life around wonderful friends without any worries hanging over me.

If anyone can give me some sort of reassurance, hope, help or answer any of my questions then please don't remain silent.

[lopburi3]

What can we say? You are 30 years old but can't or don't have your own papers in order for the job you want. There are rules and unless you have exceptional qualifications that would impress those that have seen everything I would not think there is much hope of a work permit without showing a degree. Sorry but that is probably why you have not received a whole lot of replies. Nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news.

What I don't understand is why you have not taken the advise to obtain documentation of name change if that is really the case and you do have a degree? Bring that and what you have with you and if it can be accepted make a border run to Penang to obtain the non immigrant visa if you can't get in England.

Please don't tell us how honest you are and then say "even started working freelance for a magazine" as it kind of makes it ring hollow.

Edited May 18, 2004 by lopburi3

[ambassador]

What can we say? You are 30 years old but can't or don't have your own papers in order for the job you want. There are rules and unless you have exceptional qualifications that would impress those that have seen everything I would not think there is much hope of a work permit without showing a degree. Sorry but that is probably why you have not received a whole lot of replies. Nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news.

What I don't understand is why you have not taken the advise to obtain documentation of name change if that is really the case and you do have a degree? Bring that and what you have with you and if it can be accepted make a border run to Penang to obtain the non immigrant visa if you can't get in England.

Please don't tell us how honest you are and then say "even started working freelance for a magazine" as it kind of makes it ring hollow.

I don't have time to sort out the name change documentation before I go but I have contacted my old headmaster who can write a letter and forward it to me out there. If I need to do it via a solicitor then it's a hopeless cause which it seems to be anyway if a degree really is the be all and end all of a work permit.

I do see your point and I dislike having to write such a desperate and depressing post but I've been misguided and misinformed about rules and regs that seem to be constantly changing anyway, and yes I do regret not going to university years ago when I was told I should. I know it's not too late but it'll take four years by which time the laws could have all changed again.

R.e. The writing, It was a one off bit of extra pocket money which I made and it wasn't regular work. The editor had responded to a group e-mail. I'm honest but I'm not Jesus, and writing was something I had always wanted to do.

Finally, I do appreciate the reply and any more than may follow.

If I had read a similar post a few months ago it would've either depressed or bored the shit out of me and I wouldn't have known what to say either.

[lopburi3]

It sounds as if the company you worked for had no intent to make you legal and not upfront with requirements. If you are really sure about teaching I would check requirements in other countries. Perhaps you could obtain a position without the degree in one of them. And there is no harm in trying here with whatever you can provide. You might have better luck than at the Embassy. Use the 30 days to check out other avenues. If travel writing is something you enjoy perhaps you could make it a money maker. Use those 30 days to travel the region and write. You may find something better.

[george]

Birmingham or Hull would be able to give you a NON-B to start with!

Forget RTE London!

[LivinLOS]

Strongly reccomend Hull office... I hear they are very easy to deal with...

I know one early 40's guy living here on a retirement visa issued by them !!!! Also hear that people are getting non imm O's very simply from Hull..

[bangkokblue]

Misguided, Misinformed, By whom, Before venturing 6000 miles from home!?.

Well informed undesirable,

Blue.

[cutethaigirl]

Rules are rules at at your age and intelligence it is for you to sort through what is what.

the guys here offer great advice based on experience. No one can issue you a visa, no matter how nice you are:-)

You say you spoke to someone in UK that said they could do a visa of sorts. Why not go with that and then sort out employment or direction in life whatever:-) when you are in Thailand.

You may find that employer rules bend a little if you are in the right place at the right time??

I could relay a personal story about the application of rules but will refrain. It makes your situation look like a day in the park:-)

Pick your head up my friend and find way. Out of all bad often comes good.

CT

[Erawan]

Oh right, is this need for a degree a new thing? I thought in Thailand you'd be able to find a school to work at that doesn't require you to have a degree pretty easily. Have things changed or am I missing something? From what I recall from scouting out teaching jobs in Thailand, it looked pretty straight forward, do the course, get the certificate or whatever, get a job.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Last plea for help - Please Read.

The Thai man at the embassy could not grant me a 3 month work visa, despite having a letter from my teaching company in Bangkok because I did not have my work permit.

The company I would have been working for in Bangkok were going to apply me for the permit once I had obtained this visa.

Today I call the Thai consulate in Birmingham and speak to a british man who tells me he could have given me the 3 month work visa for 40 pounds providing I had a letter from my company and a couple of passport photos. I told him about my experience in London and he said they were a law unto themselves and were unpredictable.

It is too late to do anything about it now. No one seems to be able to answer my question r.e. Can a workpermit be granted on reccommendation with a diploma and TEFL without a degree, and what was supposed to be a year away working and starting a new life is now going to be a 30 day goodbye to all the friends I have made over the years.

I could work illigally but I am not one of these backpackers in their early twenties that wants to bum around for a year and I do not want to risk deportation or monthly visa runs.

I have very honourable intentions in Thailand; I loved it there and had even started working freelance for a magazine which is something I had always wanted to do.

I am thirty years old and I'm back to square one again. I'm devastated.

Over 200 forum members read my last post but I only recieved one reply, and personal messages I've sent in a plea for help and advice have been coldly ignored and I don't understand why. Undesirables posting to find out where they can get drugs or find a decent girly bar get more of a response.

I'm an decent and honest man who wants to live and work decently and honestly and enjoy a peaceful and happy life around wonderful friends without any worries hanging over me.

If anyone can give me some sort of reassurance, hope, help or answer any of my questions then please don't remain silent.

For an English teacher your spelling is somewhat ' iffy '

[taxexile]

teachers in uk primary and secondary schools have been "under orders" for some years now to overlook spelling errors in pupils work and exams.

hence the result that there is a generation of school leavers and university graduates who cannot spell.

[cutethaigirl]

is this forum obsessed with spelling

Comes up often if someone posts and the mood changes, have a go at the spelling??

Surely the value of the post is important too

CT

[taxexile]

depends if you consider the spelling of the written word to be important or not.

sometimes its hard to take a post seriously if the spelling is atrocious.

sometimes the post doesn't suffer at all from poor spellings.

someone who wants to teach english in a foriegn country should be able to make a posting of 20 lines or so and check for spelling mistakes before posting.

the fact that he doesn't indicates a certain sloppiness of character , a prospective employer would pick this up immediately and judge accordingly.

[konangrit]

I agree that ridiculing someones spelling is generally irrelevant to the post, but this guy wants to be a teacher. Not having a degree is a big disadvantage, but not being proficient in English is an even bigger problem.

Teaching is not that well paid in Thailand anyway, if you want to live and work here maybe you should consider some other alternatives to teaching. Failing that, why not return to your home country for a while and save some money? During this time you may be able to think of a better way to stay in Thailand and you will be far better prepared when you return.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I've seen so many people struggling to stay in Thailand without the proper funds and preperations to support themselves to any decent standard.

Go home for a year and come back in a better position, Thailand will still be here.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I agree that ridiculing someones spelling is generally irrelevant to the post, but this guy wants to be a teacher. Not having a degree is a big disadvantage, but not being proficient in English is an even bigger problem.

Teaching is not that well paid in Thailand anyway, if you want to live and work here maybe you should consider some other alternatives to teaching. Failing that, why not return to your home country for a while and save some money? During this time you may be able to think of a better way to stay in Thailand and you will be far better prepared when you return.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I've seen so many people struggling to stay in Thailand without the proper funds and preperations to support themselves to any decent standard.

Go home for a year and come back in a better position, Thailand will still be here.

Exactly. If he is under qualified and cannot spell, pray tell us Cute TG, do you want him ( attempting ) to teach your Thai friends kids. I try not to ridicule posters, but make an exception for people like this.

[bina]

give me a break!

who pays attention to spelling when posting a message: i dont bother to edit when i email my parents and dont do CAPS either! there's a whole generation that talk like sms: ILU WRU ETC... gone are the days that people write long detailed letters using full sentences that dont end in prepositions, etc.

as for teaching-- in issan schools i saw, english spelling, never mind-- start with elocution (r/l, v/w x/ek); when the houses i visited have no washing machine, how can a child read about daisy doing the wash (w/ pic of machine) and then write about using one??

not to mention organized lesson plans that dont involve memorizing from the board; and last, i checked work of teachers studying english in udon, the the english sentences used in the exams were a catastrophe-improper grammar, confusing use of subject etc.

BUT not every expat that speaks english can actually teach it beyond the primary age group just because he/she speaks the language; teaching isnt just knowing info, its getting it across...i considered doing a program like tefl and then teaching, but i hate teaching formal edu. and thai teaching that i saw is frontal and formal. i've been doing informal education for too many years.

[bina]

my apologies, off the subject but couldnt resist anymore the digs on spelling....kho thot

[simey]

There's a difference between typos made during the typing of a message and spelling mistakes - we all make errors while typing (especially those of us using only two fingers to type) but that doesn't explain errors in spelling. You are right in saying that it doesn't matter when it comes down to getting the message across, however it does matter when the spelling mistakes make your post seem less intelligent. And I would have thought that, of anyone, an english teacher would be subject to scrutiny over their spelling at least.

[ambassador]

No time to type let alone check spelling. Speak soon ' airport

[dr_Pat_Pong]

No time to type let alone check spelling. Speak soon ' airport

Don't hurry back/'

[Axel]

Lets oll rite fonetic.

Typos, I agree is a different story, I do them all the time, not my mistake, my keyboard is too fast.

When to write too and when to? No spellcheck can tell you.

[Richard W]

When to write too and when to? No spellcheck can tell you.

A combined spelling and grammar check ought to be able to sort it out, but it seems that Word 2000 can't. My test text was:

Is it difficult too get a spelling check to distinguish 'to and 'too'?  I to think it can be done.

[taxexile]

my apologies, off the subject but couldnt resist anymore the digs on spelling....kho thot

errrr, shouldn't that be "khor thordt" ,

kho thot sounds like "can i have permission to fart"

[ambassador]

No time to type let alone check spelling. Speak soon ' airport

Don't hurry back/'

At this moment I'm neither in a hurry or paying much for internet usage so I'm therefore able to type with more accuracy to avoid any nasty, glib comments from the man who calls himself Dr Pat Pong.

I started a post appealing for help as I'd had a desire to teach and work legally with a legit company as opposed to one that would take me on regardless of nessessary documentation and seemed unconcerned about getting me legit.

Now I'm far from faultless and one of my shortcomings is giving a toss what people think of me, especially when it's a moderator or admin from a discussion forum I had respected and confided in.

Dr.PP has arrogantly just assumed that I'm one of these nice but dim Banglumpoo bums in a 'Same Same But Different' T-shirt who wants to be part of the proper gang. He's criticised me for a few minor spelling errors and therefore insinuates that I am unfit to play word games, read stories and and hold up flashcards to Thai toddlers.

Other than the fact he doesn't give a toss who he offends and I do, another of our differences is that I don't abuse my own intelligence and I could never have it in me to respond to a genuine plea for advice in such a c**ty, contemptable manner which is not unlike that of a prep school bully.

I don't have a dictionary to hand so forgive me if there are any mistakes in this post and thanks to those of you who's replies were constructive or sympathetic to my cause.

For the record, (if it is of any interest) I'm back, things are looking up and I'm feeling more positive, so if Dr.PP wants to try his hand at kicking a man when he's up, then he need not bother as he has got what he wanted anyway by tarnishing any pleasure I may get from using the forum in future.

Cheers.

P.S. Isn't 'Dr.' a title and shouldn't it therefore have a capital 'D'?