How To Be A 'Legal' Volunteer Teacher At A Thai Government School.

[kat1]

How to be a 'legal' volunteer teacher at a Thai government school.

1. Find a school that needs you and has teachers that you can work with. (In hindsight this is probably the most difficult step)

2. Ask the school to make a contract for you and to apply to the Ministry of Education for your teacher's licence.

3. Visit your local Labour Office, get the forms and confirm what they need from you in order to obtain a work permit.

4. Visit your local Immigration Office, explain what you are going to do and confirm what they need from you. They should supply a page detailing in Thai what is required.

5. If you don't have one already, get a non-Immigrant visa outside of Thailand. As an example, a 90 day non-Imm. 'O' based on marriage is enough.

6. Apply for a work permit: You will need to supply the application form completed in Thai, with the necessary section completed by the school, along with a copy of your passport showing your non-Imm. visa and copy of ID page, a letter from the school requesting your work permit, a copy of the letter from the Ministry of Education granting you a temporary teacher's licence, photos, and the completed Power of Attourney form. You will eventually get a work permit valid until the expiry/renewal date for you visa, which could be less than 3 months. Take a copy of your contract with the school just in case. You are now legal.

7. A few days before your visa expires, go to your local Immigration Office and apply to extend your visa to one year. They will change your visa status to being based on work. As per the information supplied by them before, you will need a copy of the teacher's licence letter to the school, 2 letters from the school addressed to the Immigration office, one asking them to extend you visa to the required date so that you can teach, and the other guaranteeing that you teach at the school. You will also need a photo (6cm x 4cm), a copy of every used page in your work permit, and a copy of every used page in your passport as well as the ID page. If you don't speak Thai, take someone that does. The charge is currently 1,900 baht. Take a copy of your updated contract with the school just in case.

8. On the same day, or at the latest, on your visa renewal date (there is a fine for going after), go back to the Labour Office to extend you work permit up to the new expiry/renewal date of your visa. You will need a letter from the school, a copy of the new passport visa stamp and ID pages and the completed form (including the section filled out by the school). The charge is 750 baht per 3 month period, plus 100 baht admin. fee. Take a copy of your updated contract with the school just in case.

9. Repeat steps 7. and 8. every year! (1,900 to Immigration, 3,100 to Labour Office).

[mizzi39]

or better yet, just get hired by such a school and get a monthly salary.

Volunteering is good for village schools, or other programs that just cannot afford nor know how to get you legal.

The majority of Govt. schools insist on hiring teachers that they can get (and keep) legal (Visa, WP, and contract included) and also have the budget to pay a fair monthly salary. Many will even cover the WP and visa fees, like the govt. school I work for.

Edited July 6, 2010 by mizzi39

[kat1]

Yes, of course, if you are a qualified teacher and therefore meet the requirements, you should be paid accordingly.

I'm not, but wanted to help my local village school.

I'm sure there are plenty of other native English speakers out there that would like to contribute to their local community by helping out at a village school which is unable to employ qualified teachers.

[Mario2008]

Congratulations on receiving an extension of stay based on volunteering. It is not that difficult, it are rather the Thai organizations that seem to be the biggest problems, as they often will not help you or don't know how to go about.

Just a few comments:

You don't apply for a teachers license at the ministry of education but at the Teachers Council. But it can be debated if a volunteer needs a teaching license.

If you don't already have a non-immigrant visa you are better of to apply at the labour office for the work permit before you go abroad to get the non-immigrant visa. The labour office should give you a wp3 form to show a consulate that you will get a work permit once you have the right visa.

You can apply for an extension of stay at immigration in the last 30 days of your permission to stay. It is better to go early, in case you need to provide some extra documents. Your extension of stay will always start from the date your current permission to stay expires so you won't lose any days.

The minimum requirement for a volunteer to get an extension of stay is volunteering 4 hours a week on average.

[kat1]

Thank you Mario2008

re: volunteers needing a teacher's licence - from experience, if a work permit does not state 'teacher' but 'teaching assistant' or such the like, Immigration will reject the extension. They want to see an official teacher's licence document with all the paperwork in line.

A volunteer will probably never meet the requirements of the teacher's licence - I never will, (no degree, no culture course etc., etc.) so it is only a matter of time before I will be forced to stop.

[Mario2008]

Thank you Mario2008

re: volunteers needing a teacher's licence - from experience, if a work permit does not state 'teacher' but 'teaching assistant' or such the like, Immigration will reject the extension. They want to see an official teacher's licence document with all the paperwork in line.

A volunteer will probably never meet the requirements of the teacher's licence - I never will, (no degree, no culture course etc., etc.) so it is only a matter of time before I will be forced to stop.

The rules for getting an extension of stay from immigration list the criteria for a teacher, but there is a special category for volunteers. It depends under which category they are willing to provide you with an extension of stay. I would say you qualify under both categories.

[elkangorito]

When I first started work, I was a 'volunteer'.

Immigration (Pattaya) issued me with a Non-O visa. I didn't have to leave the country. Within a month or so, I had a work permit.

When my position changed from 'volunteer' to 'paid', my visa remained the same & nothing strange happened.

I still have the same job (& visa) after 4 years & have never left the country to change from a tourist visa to a Non-O.

I am single & under 50 years old.