Overstaying English teacher working for 15K a month arrested in north east Thailand

[Shaunduhpostman]

Once again Thailand just does as their masters do, that is basically what they do in the US, completely ignore the US businesses and individuals  employing illegal migrants and providing much of the incentive for illegal migration and put all of the blame on those who work for little to nothing as though they are destroying the nation when in fact those workers quite often provide a good service and help the citizenry make a profit and keep consumer prices low  over and above what is warranted. But its a great system to keep workers in line and forever cheap, as illegal migrants they have zero recourse to anything an employer wants to do with them such as not pay them if its no longer the holiday season and they are feeling grumpy. Now all Thailand has to do is set up a prison labor system like the US has had for most of its existence for Thai companies to use people caught and detained as even cheaper or free labor. I doubt Uncle Donald would put sanctions on them for that.

[dogfish180]

I need to get into the vinyl board printing business! 

[0815]

5 hours ago, geoffbezoz said:

From Wiki

 

" French and English are official languages, a heritage of Cameroon's colonial past as a colony of both France and the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1960. ... The nation strives toward bilingualism, but in reality very few Cameroonians speak both French and English, and many speak neither. "

And why is this important for this story?

[The Preacher]

2 hours ago, Tayaout said:

Same as Canada and I do speak both language. 

French is a dead language; total waste of time and energy to learn that one.  

[ScotBkk]

6 hours ago, MJKT2014 said:

Good to see all the relevant information is reported.

Yes, I would image this is so important to this case. At least it takes the edge off chatting about Brexit .... 

[RJRS1301]

2 hours ago, Smokegreynblues said:

Every school knows the visa status of an employee, employing someone on the wrong status is first an offence, so yes the school should be charged even if they grassed him up. I see a labor violation for the school and immigration violation for the teacher. 

and a return to absolute poverty in his home country

[geoffbezoz]

17 minutes ago, 0815 said:

And why is this important for this story?

So you didn't bother to read the OP before commenting ?

[Henryford]

A Cameroonian teaching English. I hate to think what the thai children ended up with.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, remorhaz said:

Does Thailand need English teachers according to market demand?  Yes very much so.  Do many Thais qualify to teach English with a high level of proficiency say IELTS score of 8 or 8.5?  No.  Can foreign born native English speakers help to teach Thai students English?  Yes.  Does the current government make it easy and financially rewarding for good quality English teachers with relevant backgrounds, advanced degrees, and lots of experience to come and teach?  Absolutely not.  Is the process to obtain a work permit straight forward and easy to navigate for a foreigner?  No.  Is it expensive and difficult to stay in compliance?  Yes.  Does the Thai government protect or assist foreign teachers in dealing with fraudulent schools?  No.  Will schools that wish to hire foreign teachers help foreigners with the permits required?  No.  Is the over all salary and pay high enough to attract good quality talent?  No, not at all.   

 

So adding up all these factors we have a) lots of market demand b) low pay c) expensive and difficult to navigate bureaucracy for permits and d) no assistance with a high percentage of fraud. 

 

Adding all these up I can't see why Thailand isn't literally flooded with high quality teachers from abroad eager to help educate.  It really is a mystery.  Must be bad fortune.  

 

Post of the week.

[tso310]

2 minutes ago, Henryford said:

A Cameroonian teaching English. I hate to think what the thai children ended up with.

A few years ago I met a couple of Cameroonians working as English teachers near Phrakhon Chai. Nice guys but their English wasn't easy to understand. 

[Date Masamune]

Will the Thais who employed him illegally get fines or jail, like this poor lad will unless he can pay for his own deportation?

 

[LukKrueng]

3 hours ago, remorhaz said:

Does Thailand need English teachers according to market demand?  Yes very much so.  Do many Thais qualify to teach English with a high level of proficiency say IELTS score of 8 or 8.5?  No.  Can foreign born native English speakers help to teach Thai students English?  Yes.  Does the current government make it easy and financially rewarding for good quality English teachers with relevant backgrounds, advanced degrees, and lots of experience to come and teach?  Absolutely not.  Is the process to obtain a work permit straight forward and easy to navigate for a foreigner?  No.  Is it expensive and difficult to stay in compliance?  Yes.  Does the Thai government protect or assist foreign teachers in dealing with fraudulent schools?  No.  Will schools that wish to hire foreign teachers help foreigners with the permits required?  No.  Is the over all salary and pay high enough to attract good quality talent?  No, not at all.   

 

So adding up all these factors we have a) lots of market demand b) low pay c) expensive and difficult to navigate bureaucracy for permits and d) no assistance with a high percentage of fraud. 

 

Adding all these up I can't see why Thailand isn't literally flooded with high quality teachers from abroad eager to help educate.  It really is a mystery.  Must be bad fortune.  

Being a native speaker of any language doesn't mean one can teach that language 

 

[Michelle2019]

Well at the end of the day he did break the rules. I am guessing he was reported on the day before pay day!

 

The other issue is that the school may have tried to help him with the VISA and in the end had no choice but to report him as a matter of duty. (although unlikely)!

 

Simple really and end of debate wouldn't you say?

 

It is a shame the teaching wages in this country are so bad. I wonder if anything will ever be done about that. Private schools seem to pay reasonably well, but government schools not so much, which is the same in most countries isn't it?

Edited August 9, 2019 by Michelle2019

[sunnyboy2018]

2 hours ago, fvw53 said:

Same question I wondered many times...is it in Thailand enough to speak English as mother tongue to be also a teacher? Does the school not do checks of qualifications? 

Depends on the quality of the school 

 

[JMSIII]

Almost sounds like he pissed somebody off, and they made a phone call...

[Mitkof Island]

8 hours ago, mercman24 said:

another idiot who likes the limelight, so you catch ONE who is probably teaching your future generation a decent way in life,  go and catch some real scumbags. i bet you can go in any bar in Patttaya and catch a few on overstay. get a kin life,

A few hundred you mean a night

[Matzzon]

8 hours ago, mercman24 said:

another idiot who likes the limelight, so you catch ONE who is probably teaching your future generation a decent way in life,  go and catch some real scumbags. i bet you can go in any bar in Patttaya and catch a few on overstay. get a kin life,

Yeah, sure. Before it was much complains about that the police do nothing, Immgration do nothing. Now when they find people everywhere. Naturally it´s time to tell them that they look in the wrong places, and that they should find people in other places instead.

Just understand. He broke the Immigration law.

 

On the other hand, they should look in Pattaya at the same time. Then we can get rid of all the foreign scum that brakes the law in one way or another in this country.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Matzzon

[CNXexpat]

7 hours ago, MJKT2014 said:

Good to see all the relevant information is reported.

Learning something new is never wrong ????

[CNXexpat]

Why they printed it at these huge board? Do they have a pay-back contract with a print shop? And if it´s a vinyl board, I hope they recycle it after the short press meeting. 

[Bastos60]

8 hours ago, mercman24 said:

another idiot who likes the limelight, so you catch ONE who is probably teaching your future generation a decent way in life,  go and catch some real scumbags. i bet you can go in any bar in Patttaya and catch a few on overstay. get a kin life,

Teaching and meanwhile providing a whole litter of offspring and probably not very legal activities after hours. Because, common, 15k a month. he can earn that in cameroon too.

[Number 6]

4 hours ago, remorhaz said:

Does Thailand need English teachers according to market demand?  Yes very much so.  Do many Thais qualify to teach English with a high level of proficiency say IELTS score of 8 or 8.5?  No.  Can foreign born native English speakers help to teach Thai students English?  Yes.  Does the current government make it easy and financially rewarding for good quality English teachers with relevant backgrounds, advanced degrees, and lots of experience to come and teach?  Absolutely not.  Is the process to obtain a work permit straight forward and easy to navigate for a foreigner?  No.  Is it expensive and difficult to stay in compliance?  Yes.  Does the Thai government protect or assist foreign teachers in dealing with fraudulent schools?  No.  Will schools that wish to hire foreign teachers help foreigners with the permits required?  No.  Is the over all salary and pay high enough to attract good quality talent?  No, not at all.   

 

So adding up all these factors we have a) lots of market demand b) low pay c) expensive and difficult to navigate bureaucracy for permits and d) no assistance with a high percentage of fraud. 

 

Adding all these up I can't see why Thailand isn't literally flooded with high quality teachers from abroad eager to help educate.  It really is a mystery.  Must be bad fortune.  

8.5 that is native. This guy would be lucky to eek out a 6.

 

No decent teacher would want to teach out wherever the hell that province is. At 15k he's doing them a favor.

 

Good schools assist good teachers and many bad ones to no end. Really don't know what your on about?

Edited August 9, 2019 by Number 6

[Ctkong]

9 hours ago, HampiK said:

I would like to know they found him, because the school reported him, and if not will the school also have to pay a fine?

Problem with Thai justice system is they rarely punish the owners or enablers .only the culprits. That is why the enablers are so comfortable

with their antics. Moreover the school whether public or private is supposed to be in compliance with the education ministry. 

Perhaps in order to improve Thais in the English language, the immigration can perhaps make some allowance by turning a blind eye on poorly paid English teachers for those rural schools that can not afford higher rates? The end justify the means. 

[Too young to be old]

I bet he lived the high life on 15k a month!

[IAMHERE]

I admire that he can live on 15,000 baht per month. 

[humdrumdays]

Thank god that's one less...

 

[FarFlungFalang]

4 hours ago, berybert said:

Good foreigners don't break the law.

I mustn't be a good foreigner then!In fact I'd bet my bottom dollar that there aren't any good foreigners in Thailand if that's the definition of a good foreigner.

Edited August 9, 2019 by FarFlungFalang

[Jimdandy]

6 hours ago, manta said:

Just don’t get it, how can a school employ a teacher without doing checks?

 

Just like the line from the old movie when John Huston says to Jack Nicholson,  after he discovers some really sinister things going on, 'it's Chinatown'; it's Thailand.

[Jimdandy]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

 

He was named by Naew Na as Mr Njei, 32, but a vinyl board at the press briefing said he was Mr Mjel.

Why refer to him in the past tense? Is he still alive?

[emptypockets]

From the OP "He was thus on overstay of 1,691 days." 

About 4.5 years give or take.

 

Seems a lot of our esteemed members may be native English speakers but their comprehension does leave a little to be desired.

It had nothing to d with his occupation or salary.

[Caldera]

The head clown in charge of immigration once again demonstrating that he has nothing important to do. Next we'll read is that he has personally arrested three shrimp peelers from Burma.