Hello,

I arrived in Thailand on a one year multi entry non b immigrant visa at the end of Ocober 2012. I started teaching from mid-November and I am finnishing my first semester next week. I work for a teaching agency who has failed to obtain me a work permit during this time, even though they said they would. I have been paid every week though. This and other reasons have made me want to leave them and go solo and find a job on my own.

My concerns and questions are;

1,Can they cancel my visa? or do they have any power or rights to do anything with it? As It is they who sent me the relevant documentation to get the visa in the UK from a consulate. (I am a UK national).

2, I am concerned that when I get the next job that my employer and me will have problems because of this. Will I?

3, I know it is illegal to work in Thailand without a work permit, but I feel this wasn't my fault as I was promised by the company and was stated in the contract which I have prove of. Can I get in trouble for this? This agency is well known in Thailand.

4, Can I just find another job and use my existing visa to obtain the work permit via my future school? Which is what I want to do.

If anyone can point me in the right direction or give me some answers and guidance on what I need to do next, I would be very appreciated as I am worried. All I want to do is end it with my agency and find a job on my own and continue working as a teacher in Thailand.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Your Visa is valid until it expires.

So do not worry.

Question 1 and 2

No.

question 3.

Working without a WP is a criminal offence, carrying a maximum jail term of 5 years and/or a fine of 100,000 baht. You cannot start working till you have a WP, so yes you can be in trouble but since you have stopped that is unlikely.

Question 4.

Yes.

Thank you Lite Beer and Mario2008!

Due to the generally lack of communication from the agency and the gathering bad reputaion I am discovering about them, they have left me paranoid. Especially as I am new to this Thailand teaching/visa thing.

Can you think of any other things I should be concerned about from this scenario?

Have the agency got no power whatsoever on matters like this?

I have never recieved a WP and I never had a medical, sent any photographs, sent my passport or went anywhere with anyone from my agency. I was just told I will be contacted at some point. Does that mean they didn't do any processing atall?

I'm not the only teacher for this agency whos WP didn't get sorted out this semester. Makes me wonder how common this is in Thailand.

Thanks.

looks like they didn't process the WP, for which you would have to sign papers as you are officially the one who applies for a WP.

No, you don't have to worry about them.

Thank you Mario2008 for your comments. I really appreciate it.

I think I am good to just find another job and then tell my agency I'm leaving them.

The other thing I have been thinking about is the fact that I have been paid every month and have been paying tax. I got a tax refund letter from my agency and I went to a tax office and they have given me a cheque because I'm a non-resident. So I'm on a computer with the government as working in Thailand.

Is this anything I should be concerned about? Do you know anything about that, like what the agency has done to get me a tax code etc? Is that a seperate process from the WP?

Do you know if the company has had to register me anywhere with an official body? In order for me to be sent to my school and earning money etc.

Thanks again.

Anybody else have any opinions on this thread?

Obviuosly yu have a tax-ID as otherwise you would not pay tax and get e refund. But labour office and tax department are not connected. But don't worry too much about the labour office. In a dispute with your employer they will help you, regardless of if you have a work permit or not.

You do not need a work permit to be paying tax (a person retired could pay tax here if no tax agreement exemption) and obtaining tax number would not require a work permit so it should not be a problem - nobody is checking behind closed doors and it is common for teachers to work early (but work permit process should have started).

Thank you Mario2008 and Lopburi3.

Okay thats good news.

Lets say that the WP had begun to be processed. The fact that I didn't send any pictures or go anywhere with anyone from my agency or school and I have never recieved anything regarding a WP. I have never gone to a government or any official building at any point.

Does that mean the WP could have got to a processed point where my visa could be effected?

I phoned my agency in mid-January because I needed to do a visa run and they said that the WP wouldn't be processed in time and that I should do the visa run. I then phoned them again in late-February and they said that because I was leaving the school at the end of term and that I was going to a different school yet to be specified they would just do a WP for my new school when I started.

I remember the head of my department at school in early January asking for print off copys of my degree, TEFL, passport info page and I signed a form saying that I understood my role as a teacher in thailand and what was expected of me.

Is there anything you can think of that could have effected my visa?

Even if the WP was at a certain point of being processed, can it effect my visa in anyway, or does that only happen when I would have recieved my WP?

Is there anypoint my agency could of got too in the process that could havechange the situation of my visa?

My fear is that something will happen to my visa when I leave my agency. Something like making me an illegal alien or an overstay etc. Which I have heard happening to people here.

Thank you again for your help. You are a massive help.

That only happens for extensions of stay from immigration - you do not have that. Visa entries of 90 days are not subject to cancellation

You should contact the Labour Board and report this also. They are there to HELP and are very good at it. Workers in Thailand have more rights then Employees as you will find out.

It sounds to me like you were working for the agency that begins with "S" and they are well known for this and the more people that report them the better off.

Now that you have experience you should be able to get a new job easy. You should use and sign up with www.ajarn.com as this is where most teachers get work from.

Like the Mods say; Don't sweat it to much and I hope you do better in your future.

Lopburi3 and Gone, thank you.

I will report my agency and I will sign up to ajarn.com aswell, thanks for heads up.

Hopefully this will all go smoothly.

Thank you everyone that replied to this thread.