I worked on a tourist visa, now being threatened by my agency. Help?

[F4UCorsair]

Let me say what you don't want to hear. You've been dumb, and as another poster says, you haven't made it easier on others.

I also think you should pay the B50K as required by the contract YOU signed. That you were employed without a WP is irrelevant to that part of the contract. You wanted a job, secured a job on certain conditions, and now don't want to comply with those conditions??

Having said that, two choices as I see it if you want to be a jerk and not comply with your contract conditions. Leave now without telling them, or tell them you're staying and leave next week, once again without telling them. Walking out is an unsavory thing to do however you try to justify it though.

If he was working without the correct visa and work permit, it is probable that the agency were the first ones to break the contract.

Not legal....contract not worth the paper it is printed on.

The contract was good enough for him to suck a salary out of the country while he chose, and now he wants to do a runner. He accepted the conditions so that he could work in Thailand, took an income for Buddha knows how long, and now that it no longer suits him, he thinks it's OK to walk out and is seeking endorsement from those here.

To my way of thinking, it doesn't matter who supposedly 'broke the contract' first, he wants it all his own way. I think he should pay the 50K, legal, illegal contract, or otherwise.

Having said all that, I think we've been done by a troll again!!! 6 posts, all on here, and now he's bolted. I don't believe we'll be hearing form him again.

Edited September 20, 2014 by F4UCorsair

[SDM0712]

..................

The contract was good enough for him to suck a salary out of the country while he chose, and now he wants to do a runner. He accepted the conditions so that he could work in Thailand,

...... .

Presumably he provided a service for the income he received, so we can't begrudge him his past salary.

As far as doing a runner this is extremely common the other way around. Many of my clients tell me that without notice some of their Thai staff will simply not come to work. They will either never come back, come back at the end of the month expecting to be paid for the portion of the month they worked, or come back a few days later with a smile and just carry on as normal expecting their absence never to be mentioned.

Good luck OP and don't give it a second thought. They would probably screw you over in a second if it suited them.

SDM

[brianp0803]

I know several schools deduct 2,000-3,000 baht every for 8 months to cover inconvenience if the teacher doesn't fulfill their contract. But also usually pay 1 month completion of contract bonus and half pay for unused sick leave.

Considering it seems the agency didn't even get him a non-b visa then hard to justify they did much work or incurred much expense.

Did the school or agency want the 50,000 baht

[merak]

Update guys! I made it out of Thailand today. Thanks to everyone for their replies, you were very reassuring. Sorry that I didn't respond earlier. Thanks again!

[balo]

Good to hear , I would be very surprised if anyone will get in trouble for leaving Thailand on a valid visa unless they are criminals. .

Edited September 22, 2014 by balo

[claffey]

I don't think they can just cold call the immigration and expect any action. They would need to go to the police first, but since you haven't committed a crime, I don't think the police would care. The other course of action would be to try to take you to court or get a court order of some type to have you stopped or detained. Again, since you haven't done anything wrong yet, I don't think a court is going to get involved.

Unless they are vindictive enough to try and set you up, you should be OK.

If you are really nervous, simply catch a flight to somewhere, like Cambodia and then fly back to catch your regular flight out and just transit rather than going through immigration. (You would have to check to make sure you can do it logistically).

The OP did do something wrong. Working here without a work permit is illegal. Hence they broke the law!!!

[claffey]

Update guys! I made it out of Thailand today. Thanks to everyone for their replies, you were very reassuring. Sorry that I didn't respond earlier. Thanks again!

Don't allow your experience with the agency to influence your opinion of working here. You seemed to enjoy teaching.. Get fully qualified and comeback to a job with a work permit. Thailand is a wonderful place to live if you accept that it is different here..Good Luck!

[Scott]

I don't think they can just cold call the immigration and expect any action. They would need to go to the police first, but since you haven't committed a crime, I don't think the police would care. The other course of action would be to try to take you to court or get a court order of some type to have you stopped or detained. Again, since you haven't done anything wrong yet, I don't think a court is going to get involved.

Unless they are vindictive enough to try and set you up, you should be OK.

If you are really nervous, simply catch a flight to somewhere, like Cambodia and then fly back to catch your regular flight out and just transit rather than going through immigration. (You would have to check to make sure you can do it logistically).

The OP did do something wrong. Working here without a work permit is illegal. Hence they broke the law!!!

I think we all know that he worked here illegally. I know of many people who have worked here illegally. I also know if people with a vendetta who have called immigration. Immigration has done nothing.

[ldiablo]

The contracts for teaching in Thailand are not worth the paper it is on. In order for a teachers contract to be legally binding in a court of law it must be in Thai. How many foreign teachers have their contracts in English only, probably most if not all. At our school we had an instance where the school revised the contract and all they did was copy out signatures from the original contract and paste it onto the revised and nobody except myself even noticed or said anything. <deleted> the agency, they don't guve a <deleted> about you so why should you give a flying <deleted> about them.

[brianp0803]

I remember signing a contact that stated it was a best effort to translate a Thai contract but in case of dispute only the Thai contract was valid.

Everyone signed the contract and were bound to the contract.

The school director signed and returned a copy of the contract a few months later.

Until all parties have signed there is no contract. The director withheld his signature for 3 months.

One teacher was offered a contract renewal if he gave the school an undated letter of resignation. He was a long term teacher but his last year was not good.

This is the behavior at very large prestigious schools.

Although the Op worked on a tourist visa, it is quite common practice (at least short term)