Teacher at my school got outed last week for having bought a degree. What happens next? When they surrender their work permit how long do they have to get a new visa? Are they blacklisted in Thailand? Ever able to get a work permit again? The teacher is Philippino, which, may or may not have any bearing on answers.

Last year, two teachers in Bangkok (name of school published here, on request) were JAILED for weeks, lost their jobs, lost virtually everything. It depends. Depends if their school is willing to BRIBE the officials, especially if the school TOLD him to get a fake degree.

Being Filipino/a may not affect the outcome; too many variables.

DO NOT WORK UNDER A FAKE DEGREE IN THAILAND.

Last year, two teachers in Bangkok (name of school published here, on request) were JAILED for weeks, lost their jobs, lost virtually everything. It depends. Depends if their school is willing to BRIBE the officials, especially if the school TOLD him to get a fake degree.

Being Filipino/a may not affect the outcome; too many variables.

DO NOT WORK UNDER A FAKE DEGREE IN THAILAND.

in fact, the teacher has been kind of the school darling for awhile now. shes around 30, is a single mother, and is most excellent at manipulating thai people!! however, her ways became a wee bit too grandiose for one particular older connected thai teacher who launched a jihad against her, in part to avenge an earlier loss of face herself.

the school likely knew she was working with a fake degree (degree was in computers but she knows nothing about them ) but turned a blind eye since she was popular and this isnt bkk. the board wanted to jail her but the school was able to save her that punishment at least for now. her tenure officially ends wednesday.

also, there are rumors that the school must refund the parents for any tuition connected to this teacher? is this possible? were talking nearly 4 years here...!!

Her best bet is to leave Thailand and seeking greener pastures doing some other work. This isn't just a school problem, or a loss of face issue, it's a legal issue and she is dancing with the devil. I am sure someone can post her length of stay time--it's something like 7 days after they CANCEL her work permit.

Sorry for her and her students.

As PB pointed out, mileage varies greatly depending on who you are and who they are. And as Scott pointed out, this could potentially be a very serious legal problem. She should leave as soon as she can (if she can). However, something about the tone of your posts doesn't make it seem like you're a sympathetic friend offering advice.

"Steven"

Her best bet is to leave Thailand and seeking greener pastures doing some other work. This isn't just a school problem, or a loss of face issue, it's a legal issue and she is dancing with the devil. I am sure someone can post her length of stay time--it's something like 7 days after they CANCEL her work permit.

Sorry for her and her students.

Sorry for her ? Goodness gracious man, she is a CHEAT, a FRAUD, a FAKE Why are you sorry for her ? Really baffling !!!

Last year, it seems the Thai government was getting serious about jailing people with fakes. There haven't been any cases that have come out recently, so maybe they are not going after people with fakes as harshly this year. (Or maybe there are far fewer people with fakes, who knows?)

Was the person caught by the Thai government or the school? If it was the government, this teacher should consider a quick exit from the country. An acquaintance of mine was caught by the government and they called the school on a Thursday telling them that the teacher was going to be arrested at his home on Monday or on the border if caught on Monday or afterwards. The teacher left the country on Saturday. I don't know why they called the school as it could have been a multitude of reasons.

Quite often (including in the case PB mentions above) the school itself is complicit in the illegality- for example, telling the candidate employee to go get a fake degree. However, this is difficult to prove and almost never results in punishment for the Thai institution, even though they are legally responsible for *verifying* the degrees. Furthermore, until a few years back this practice was (unfortunately, of course) widespread and tolerated. Therefore, the lady and the school could have had complete understanding of the situation, and she deserves sympathy if they misled her into thinking this was at all legal or acceptable- and if she is receiving all the blame and punishment for something that is also the school's responsibility.

Quite often (including in the case PB mentions above) the school itself is complicit in the illegality- for example, telling the candidate employee to go get a fake degree. However, this is difficult to prove and almost never results in punishment for the Thai institution, even though they are legally responsible for *verifying* the degrees. Furthermore, until a few years back this practice was (unfortunately, of course) widespread and tolerated. Therefore, the lady and the school could have had complete understanding of the situation, and she deserves sympathy if they misled her into thinking this was at all legal or acceptable- and if she is receiving all the blame and punishment for something that is also the school's responsibility.

while there are certainly instances where what ijwt says goes down, the case i describe is COMPLETELY the opposite. this teacher came to the school with the fake degree. she then proceeded to get a job for her bf using another faker. he lasted a couple of months since his thai was noticeably more proficient than his english . she has gotten at least 2 other co-teachers fired during her tenure and was gunning for another 2. shes a complete monster! i have absolutely no sympathy for her whatsoever. in fact, she was warned 3 weeks ago by the thai teacher who would then set her dismissal in motion, that she would lose her job if she didnt leave people alone. her reply? "you cant do anything to me. the school loves me!" som na na is all i can say, folks. perhaps the world is karmically balanced.

I thought I heard a grindstone somewhere in this thread...

Id say that there are a lot more Phillipinos working with fake degrees than farangs.

Let her go, it ain't that serious.

Id say that there are a lot more Phillipinos working with fake degrees than farangs.

Let her go, it ain't that serious.

youre likely correct

What needs to happen is that one or more schools need to be held civilly liable for failing to exercise due diligence in the hiring of teachers wherein a teacher is hired with fake qualifications. Civilly liable means having to pay big bucks to the parents (and students?) for being defrauded by the actions of both the school and fake teacher over whatever period of time. Hopefully, this would have a chilling effect on the industry as a whole.

Id say that there are a lot more Phillipinos working with fake degrees than farangs.

Let her go, it ain't that serious.

If the school value her as a good teacher they should find a way to support her and back her up with the authorities, after all a Degree is only a peice of paper to say you have completed your University course , I have worked with Teachers who had no degree in bilingual schools in Bangkok and they were excellent teachers and good roll models for their students , this was before the clampdown last year.

But there is a huge difference between an applicant saying "I have no degree" and saving falsely, "Yes, I have a real degree," and presenting a copy of a fake degree.

Let's stay on topic- the topic, in case we forgot, is FAKE degrees, which are an entirely different kettle of fish from those who have honestly acquired their jobs stating their qualifications (or lack thereof) openly.

while there are certainly instances where what ijwt says goes down, the case i describe is COMPLETELY the opposite. this teacher came to the school with the fake degree. she then proceeded to get a job for her bf using another faker. he lasted a couple of months since his thai was noticeably more proficient than his english . she has gotten at least 2 other co-teachers fired during her tenure and was gunning for another 2. shes a complete monster! i have absolutely no sympathy for her whatsoever. in fact, she was warned 3 weeks ago by the thai teacher who would then set her dismissal in motion, that she would lose her job if she didnt leave people alone. her reply? "you cant do anything to me. the school loves me!" som na na is all i can say, folks. perhaps the world is karmically balanced.

Oddly enough, many of the teachers that I knew that were caught with fakes were out to get people fired. Often, they were after people that weren't schmoozers but were seen as a threat because they actually did their jobs well. I'd have more sympathy for the people with fake degrees if this attitude along with it wasn't so common.

Folks, no more reminders. I have started yet another new topic "Qualifications to Teach EFL in Thailand to Thai Tykes" and you're welcome to post specific matters there. Off topic posts have again been removed. Sorry, but we need to focus this discussion on fake degrees.

I would guess that most of those who stress the importance and value of having degrees to do certain jobs, are those who have degrees themselves.

Why would these people feel this way?

Could be because having done it themsleves, they have seen first hand the benefits and understand how not having one would effect a persons ability to do the job in question. Or another reason could be that having slaved away for three or more years of their own lives, they don't see why the lazy ones who couldn't be bothered should be getting any of the good jobs - that's their preserve.

Both of these seem good reasons to feel like that if you ask me.

while there are certainly instances where what ijwt says goes down, the case i describe is COMPLETELY the opposite. this teacher came to the school with the fake degree. she then proceeded to get a job for her bf using another faker. he lasted a couple of months since his thai was noticeably more proficient than his english . she has gotten at least 2 other co-teachers fired during her tenure and was gunning for another 2. shes a complete monster! i have absolutely no sympathy for her whatsoever. in fact, she was warned 3 weeks ago by the thai teacher who would then set her dismissal in motion, that she would lose her job if she didnt leave people alone. her reply? "you cant do anything to me. the school loves me!" som na na is all i can say, folks. perhaps the world is karmically balanced.

Oddly enough, many of the teachers that I knew that were caught with fakes were out to get people fired. Often, they were after people that weren't schmoozers but were seen as a threat because they actually did their jobs well. I'd have more sympathy for the people with fake degrees if this attitude along with it wasn't so common.

you could not be more right! fakers naturally must be ultra political; so, any real teacher who doesnt play into the game is seen as a threat.

the thing that really gets me, though, is that thais generally sympathize more with the faker who gets fired than with the real teachers or even with the betrayed students/parents. at the risk of sounding a wee bit denigrating, thais (especially teachers it seems) really lack deductive reasoning skills when it comes to political situations. in other words, theres a certain lack of social sophistication.