Please Help

[sonrisapt]

I am an American citizen working in Thailand as an English teacher making 35,000 baht per month. I work for an agency that has been giving me problems and I'm not sure how legal everything is or how much illegal money they are taking out of my paycheck each month. They won't give me a work permit and instead charged me 10,000 baht (I found out price after the fact) for a 3 month student visa which I'm not sure allows me to work 40 hours per week in a professional setting. **UPDATE - they wanted to charge me 25,000 baht for a one year student visa so I am now on a 30-day tourist visa. On top of that, they take out each month 1,000 baht for taxes. But if I'm not legal, how can they pay taxes on my behalf? Will I get screwed by the Thai government come tax time? Everytime I question them on both the visa and the taxes, they accuse me of calling them thieves and fire me. Each time, the teachers in the school have to mediate on my behalf to get them to rehire me but my questions are still never answered. Right now they have 90 teachers in their agency and of the ten I know, they are all illegal working on either bogus student visas made by the agency or on 1 year tourist visas obtain in American before entering Thailand.

Is there any way you can help me get some answers and/or get the money back taken out of my paycheck each month?

Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated!!

[Mario2008]

A student visa doesn't allow you to work, only a workpermit does. Working without a workpermit is a criminal offence.

However on a education visa you can do on the job training, as part of the course.

Not sure how that would work out when you recieve an income. But you yourself state that you are working for them, not following a course and not have a workpermit. That makes it illegal.

Best advice, find an employer who will apply for a workpermit for you.

Edited September 1, 2008 by Mario2008

[KamnanT]

Income tax withholding on an annual salary of THB 420,000 would work out to THB 1,500 per month assuming you're single and only entitled to the basic deductions (60,000 for employment income deduction, 30,000 for personal allowance).

If your employer is remitting the tax withholdings to the Revenue Department, then they should have obtained a Taxpayer Identification Number for you. This is a 10-digit number in the format X-XXXX-XXXX-X. Ask them for your T.I.N. (assuming, of course, you don't mind being fired again).

Working without a work permit is illegal and could get you fined and deported. Your Non-Immigrant "ED" visa is not a work permit.

Your employer sounds particularly dodgy. If at all possible, find another one. If not, keep your suitcase packed at all times.