Teaching without a work permit

[Chad91]

Today I went to visit my stepson at school we are in a small village in North East Thailand.

 

Whilst there I was approached by a teacher and asked if I would be willing to come in for 1 hour on Thursday's and help the English teacher. ( I don't know why because I'm not claiming to be clever enough to be a teacher, I suppose it's because I am English and they want the pronunciations with the accent)

 

I felt obliged to say yes as she was asking the kids if they would like me to do that and they was all shouting "Yes! Yes!" 

 

I have no problem doing this and will not be getting or asking for any kind of payment from the school, I just want advice if people think I could be potentially taking a risk with no work permit doing this?

 

Thanks

[A1Str8]

Yes you could. As a foreigner you can't just go and do it.

[blackprince]

It's quite common for foreigners to be asked to help out in schools, but if the people doing the asking had experience of hiring foreigners, they'd know that a work permit is required.

 

As any bona fide foreign teacher in Thailand will tell you, the qualifications required for a work permit are quite strict. Being a "native speaker" isn't a qualification.

 

I've posted several cases of foreigners being deported for teaching without a work permit. These cases were communicated to me by the Ministry of Education.

 

In the past, the enforcment of the laws may have been lax in some regions, but the laws themselves haven't changed.

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

Technically, yes, it could be an issue.  Realistically, highly doubtful, as someone would have to report you, and in a small village setting, don't think much to worry about, since only popping in for 1 class, and probably won't be ongoing anyway.

[grain]

I wouldn't do it now due to covid. There's more anti-foreigner sentiment in Thailand since covid. A xenophobic parent could well get concerned about a "dirty farang" potentially infecting their children with covid and make complaints to the police or health department. I also live in a small village in NE and I've also been asked by teachers to come to the school and do some activities, but I'm not interested and tell them why. 

[Preacher]

Volunteering requires a work permit, period. Which cost 3,100 baht a year and is difficult to get on an extension of stay based on retirement. A teaching license is not required for volunteers, by regulation of the teachers council of Thailand.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

Thursdays after school? Heh. She's gonna tell some parents she got a farang teacher for a special class, and collect a few hundred baht a head. This happened to me. ????

[puchooay]

On 11/27/2021 at 9:46 AM, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Thursdays after school? Heh. She's gonna tell some parents she got a farang teacher for a special class, and collect a few hundred baht a head. This happened to me. ????

I can't see where he said after school. 

 

This is a village school by the sound of it. Village kids will not have 200 baht a head to study English for an hour a week.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

4 hours ago, puchooay said:

I can't see where he said after school. 

 

This is a village school by the sound of it. Village kids will not have 200 baht a head to study English for an hour a week.

I didn't say he said after school. It was a question. See the question mark? I was asking him if it was after school.

 

Because believe it or not, it happened to me. I indeed saw the teacher who had asked me to teach collecting funds from the parents each week.

[recom273]

Why don't you ask the school? Let them contact the labour office on your behalf and find out where you stand. 

 

For starters, you haven't mentioned which visa are you on? I dont think you could approach the labour office with a retirement or tourist visa.

 

You wouldn't be a teacher, you are helping out once a week, maybe you would actually be classed as a "teaching assistant", if the term exists with the labour office. If you had permission from the headmaster it may be enough to open some doors.

 

If you want to do this, I would avoid speaking to immigration, they might tell you that it's impossible without looking into the case, they are a wing of the RTP, the judge, jury .. 

 

I always found that the labour office aren't the bad guys, they are just doing their job, to get people registered and in the system. When I visited my old office, its filled to the brim with Burmese and Cambodians, working in building sites and rubber factories, as a westerner I was rushed through. The labour office aren't concerned with a teachers license, it seems immigration are left to enforce this when you apply for an extension based upon work. I always used my non-O based upon marriage, immigration officers will m(gr)umble but its perfectly fine. 

 

If you do apply for a WP, amongst other paperwork dependent upon your local office, you will need to show them your qualifications (a scanned printout is fine) and I would suggest the minimum they would need is some kind of TEFL (even a $20 online may suffice).

 

Im not saying that there is a method to help at a school, but I think you should take steps to enquire ways to get a WP and make an educated decision.