Are the new rules (15 rather than 30 day visa exempt stamp) going to change the teaching landscape in Thailand? If so, how?

Teachers on 30-day stamps usually work in language schools. Many of the 30-day brigade have short-term plans anyway and will move on after a few months. It will push the more serious ones to find better long-term solutions.

I think the change will affect dive schools where most of the instructors work on Visa Exemptions and Thais who exist on longish-stay backpackers for their income.

Good points there Loaded.

It could bring on a bit of a shortage of language school/short term teachers. I wonder what will happen next year when the TCT rules come into force as they may also create a further shortage.

I'd like to say salaries will rise, but now i dont think so what with the credit crunch an' all.

The government have certainly been after the dive schools here in Phuket. And one can't blame them i guess. They appeared to be paying significantly less tax than was apparant from the amount of dive boats operating. I've never fully understood why there arent more well trained Thais in diving.

Good points there Loaded.

It could bring on a bit of a shortage of language school/short term teachers. I wonder what will happen next year when the TCT rules come into force as they may also create a further shortage.

I'd like to say salaries will rise, but now i dont think so what with the credit crunch an' all.

The government have certainly been after the dive schools here in Phuket. And one can't blame them i guess. They appeared to be paying significantly less tax than was apparant from the amount of dive boats operating. I've never fully understood why there arent more well trained Thais in diving.

The TCT rules were supposed to have been implemented already. Remember the panic on the web boards this time last year? The evidence seems to indicate to me it's as relevant to teaching in Thailand as was the police-check scare the year before this scare. Business as normal.

Good points there Loaded.

It could bring on a bit of a shortage of language school/short term teachers. I wonder what will happen next year when the TCT rules come into force as they may also create a further shortage.

I'd like to say salaries will rise, but now i dont think so what with the credit crunch an' all.

The government have certainly been after the dive schools here in Phuket. And one can't blame them i guess. They appeared to be paying significantly less tax than was apparant from the amount of dive boats operating. I've never fully understood why there arent more well trained Thais in diving.

The TCT rules were supposed to have been implemented already. Remember the panic on the web boards this time last year? The evidence seems to indicate to me it's as relevant to teaching in Thailand as was the police-check scare the year before this scare. Business as normal.

I don;t think it will have a major effect on "proper" schools, where most teachers have work permits / non imm B visas (in theory, at least). Regarding thr TCT, I now have the new teacher licnence card (looks like an atm card), and a certificate, so they do actually exist. Whether they actually enforce the rules as they say is another matter. It's likely the card will continue to exists and be used to the new TL and other teachers will exist on 'letters from the school' to get the profisional TL. I don;t see that changing anytime soon, as most teachers don;t have the qualifications for the new TL. Sorry..back on topic now..

Are the new rules (15 rather than 30 day visa exempt stamp) going to change the teaching landscape in Thailand? If so, how?

Perhaps more of the language schools in BKK will relocate or open new branches near the border areas to make it easier for the teacher they employ to do the 15 day visa hops.

Heck, this would be a great opportunity for these teachers to have a field trip as they do their visa runs, and their students could visit a country like Cambodia or Burma where they 'want' to speak English.

It would also be quite eye opening to most of the Thais that want to learn English in BKK. Shake them up/motivate them so to say. I'm always telling my students that there are many people in other parts of the world that will do what ever job they 'might' get after they graduate for half of what they 'might' get paid. Seems that this may soon be the case.

Just a thought, never happen I'm sure. Coming soon (who knows?) will be the 9 day visa stamp, 9 is the lucky number here ya know....

Edit 4 fat finger errors...

Will this mean the end of the infamous Khaosan Road fake teaching credential industry...? Or just wishful thinking.?

Will this mean the end of the infamous Khaosan Road fake teaching credential industry...? Or just wishful thinking.?

I am not sure, but fake degrees and fake teaching licenses may still be in demand. I suspect that some of those customers have real short time visas.

Those who can't (because of school not willing to do it) or won't get legal will have to start getting tourist visas instead, as it is actually cheaper than going every 15 days to the border.

Thanks for the replies.

Do you think requiring a proper wp and visa will mean the schools will have greater control over the teachers? In other words, do increased visa runs mean less independence for foreign teachers?

I've always thought that for teachers who had a chance at doing well here, the initial chaos *helped* them in a sense- because usually if there were a lot of bad things going on at a school, the lack of WP and so forth would only be part of it. Not having a work permit means you never worked there, you don't know them, you don't owe them- you can walk any time you find something better. The difficult part is the 'finding something better.'

If you actually have the paperwork, the school can make problems for you if they're not happy with you when you leave them, and the whole process has to start all over again.

To me, as I understand the current rules, the scariest part would be that you suddenly end your employment, with an expiring work permit. This is often when you are least likely to find immediate new work. If you are on a visa which continues, fine. But if your visa expires immediately on the last day of work, you are forced to get a 1900 baht visa extension that is only good for seven days. Otherwise, you must jump onto the next transport that is leaving the kingdom before midnight.

Get a visa....easy peasey