Have any other UK teachers been told they need an ICPC to work in Thailand?

[sellingmystuff]

Hi,

I've just arrived back in BKK to begin work as an English teacher after a break of a few years. I have been told that all new British teachers now require an ICPC.

https://www.acro.police.uk/icpc/

In theory, it's a helpful protection for schools, but in practice it seems like it's going to be an additional 'tax' only on British teachers. What about English language teachers from every other country who will remain unchecked?

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this yet or am I merely the victim of an overly vigilant employer?

Thanks for any replies.

[kptravel]

I have recently heard about this new requirement.

A letter was issued by OPEC on 16th April requesting that (new) UK teachers must provide an ICPC to teach here.

I am not sure if this document is needed for immigration,your school or when applying for your WP at the MOL.

I am also not sure if this rule applies to existing UK teachers ,already teaching here. I am pretty sure it is only for new applicants.

If any UK teachers have recently renewed their WP's ,maybe they can let us know if this new document was required.

It does seem quite strange that they are only requesting this from UK teachers. Whilst it is a good idea,it does seem rather biased.

[aarontendo]

Please let this be true, please let this be true...

[saakura]

Please let this be true, please let this be true...

Why, child predators come mostly from UK?

[jamiejoel]

As of this year renewing you didn't need it, as I renewed mine without one. However it's always good to get one and show to your employer to show the periods of teaching. If you leave Thailand you will need one from the Thai police which takes a few weeks. You may also need one when changing visa status here, as I remember I needed one a few years back... but that may have changed.

However you will find mind schools will employ you without and then ask for one later... hence some of the problems we have in Thailand...

JJ

[Estrada]

About time too. How about including other nationalities. I well remember the case of the ex-priest, John Mountford, who fled Australia following a sex abuse charge against him by a school boy at the school he was teaching at. He was arrested whilst teaching in Thailand and sent back to Australia where the courts failed to proceed with the case, on the basis that he was not fit to face charges. He returned to Thailand to teach at an International School before doing a runner to Libya, where I was working for the Colonel. There he tried to molest Libyan boys at an International School, soon after he was found stabbed to death in his appartment in August 2007. Sometimes Sharia Law works where the Australian and Thai justice system did not.

[Loaded]

"I have been told...", "I have recently heard..." and what will follow will be a lengthy, and sometime heated, discussion based on an unsubstantiated claim. It may be true but currently it is unsubstantiated. It will then spread to other forums where it will have become fact. After a year or so of absolutely nothing happening, someone whose wife 'knows somebody senior at the TCT' will post "I heard they dropped this requirement now"; such is the nature of Thailand teaching forum threads.

A 'criminal record clearance' (ICPC) has for many years been a requirement of the Thai embassy in London for non-immigrant B visa applications for teaching. However, few people are offered employment before they come to Thailand, so I guess few people have applied for their B at the embassy in London. The Thai embassy in Laos also lists as a requirement a police clearance on their website but I have never heard of anyone being asked for one. I know many teachers who have successfully applied here without a police clearance - UK included.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Loaded

[AlQaholic]

ICPC only deals with British teachers. Other countries will follow suit in due course I think.

As a side note, if you are from Birmingham or a Scouser, teaching English to Thai kids would be considered torture in some countries

Unless you manage to change your dialect to mainstream English....

[brewsterbudgen]

There have been reports on some Bangkok Facebook groups that existing British teachers are being asked for this when renewing their Extensions. Is anyone here aware of this?

[Liquorice]

Please let this be true, please let this be true...

Why, child predators come mostly from UK?

You must lead a sheltered life!

Child molesters come from all walks of life. They can be male or female, rich or poor, employed or unemployed, religious or non-religious, or from any race.

[blazes]

ICPC only deals with British teachers. Other countries will follow suit in due course I think.

As a side note, if you are from Birmingham or a Scouser, teaching English to Thai kids would be considered torture in some countries

Unless you manage to change your dialect to mainstream English....

As a side note??? More like a snide note....

[sellingmystuff]

Yes, my employer said it only affects new or returning teachers from the UK. Teachers who already have visas/permits, would appear not to be affected.

This is where this new rule seems to fall down - what's the point of only checking teachers from a single country AND only if they're new? It must be such a tiny proportion as to be irrelevant.

(Although admittedly I'm bitter as it means I have to fork out a further £60 to acquire my visa/permit, on top of all the other payments!)

[kptravel]

Which Bangkok Facebook page have you read that existing UK teachers have been asked for this document?

I did see a rather dramatic posting a few weeks back on BE/FB page ,by a UK teacher, claiming that all teachers must now provide an ICPC when renewing their WP's,or if they are new UK teachers applying for a teaching position. Also,that the current police check ,of which I have, Disclosure Scotland CRB is no longer valid,unless apostilled by the UK Embassy.

These unfounded comments were questioned by a couple of posters,the teacher said he would ask his HR department to check further. He didn't reply back about his findings. I am assuming he realized his "the world is caving in" posting ,was both overly sensational and factually incorrect.

If you have any more substantiated information,it would help provide more clarity on this confusing matter.

Thanks.

[brewsterbudgen]

Which Bangkok Facebook page have you read that existing UK teachers have been asked for this document?

I did see a rather dramatic posting a few weeks back on BE/FB page ,by a UK teacher, claiming that all teachers must now provide an ICPC

when renewing their WP's,or if they are new UK teachers applying for a teaching position. Also,that the current police check ,of which I have,

Disclosure Scotland CRB is no longer valid,unless apostilled by the UK Embassy.

These unfounded comments were questioned by a couple of posters,the teacher said he would ask his HR department to check further. He didn't

reply back about his findings.

I am assuming he realized his "the world is caving in" posting ,was both overly sensational and factually incorrect.

If you have any more substantiated information,it would help provide more clarity on this confusing matter.

Thanks.

I believe we're referring to the same Facebook group, so hopefully the comments about existing Extension holders needing this on renewal were indeed unfounded.

[aarontendo]

Please let this be true, please let this be true...

Why, child predators come mostly from UK?

Ding, ding. Give the man a cigar.

[canarysun]

ICPC only deals with British teachers. Other countries will follow suit in due course I think.

As a side note, if you are from Birmingham or a Scouser, teaching English to Thai kids would be considered torture in some countries

Unless you manage to change your dialect to mainstream English....

Thai kids running around Bangkok with a Birmingham accent sounds rather disturbing....... x

[Suradit69]

ICPC only deals with British teachers. Other countries will follow suit in due course I think.

As a side note, if you are from Birmingham or a Scouser, teaching English to Thai kids would be considered torture in some countries

Unless you manage to change your dialect to mainstream English....

Teacher ‘told to sound less northern’ after southern Ofsted inspection

A teacher has been told to tone down her northern accent as a result of criticism by school inspectors.

The teacher, who is working in west Berkshire but hails from Cumbria, has been set this by her school as one of her "targets" to improve performance, her union said today.

"You could write it off as humorous at first sight - but the more you think about it the more it should make your blood boil and should stagger you," said Paul Watkins, executive member of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers for west Berkshire, said.

"If you'd said it about a Welsh accent or ethnic minority group, you would be accused of being racist."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/teacher-told-to-sound-less-northern-after-southern-ofsted-inspection-8947332.html

[mango66]

ICPC only deals with British teachers. Other countries will follow suit in due course I think.

As a side note, if you are from Birmingham or a Scouser, teaching English to Thai kids would be considered torture in some countries

Unless you manage to change your dialect to mainstream English....

a strange request to British - isn't it discrimination ??

to teach english in english and not some Dialect,

even brits can't understand !!

Maybee chinese want learn texan english or welsh ?

[aarontendo]

Seems the Thai authorities thought there were too many rogues coming from the UK.

[aarontendo]

ICPC only deals with British teachers. Other countries will follow suit in due course I think.

As a side note, if you are from Birmingham or a Scouser, teaching English to Thai kids would be considered torture in some countries

Unless you manage to change your dialect to mainstream English....

a strange request to British - isn't it discrimination ??

to teach english in english and not some Dialect,

even brits can't understand !!

Maybee chinese want learn texan english or welsh ?

Discrimination abounds here in Thailand, pretty sure they're not worried about that! Northerners need to try to speak a more neutral tone of English...hell this goes for most of the damned island though. North American accents overall tend to be much clearer. Don't get me started on the Scots.

[lounger]

Looking up qualifications on Google shows how overburdened the search engines are. There are so many outdated comments by institutions and bloggers that it is impossible to keep upto date. The Thai system is to announce the rules but before they are passed by parliament and certainly without any enforcement system so even looking to the Thais is not definitive.

I saw that the latest (2015) idea is that all teachers of English should have a university background which means at least a BA in any subject. This then leads on to work permits etc.

I don't believe any but the best ( International?) schools pay too much attention to these rules but I have heard of two teachers( one Belgian) who have recently given up because of too many questions and I will give character witness that neither was dodgy.

I taught up north for several years including the time when the pedophile scare went through the country. After teaching for some time with no work permit I was taken by my school to some authority and provided with a work permit. When it came up for renewal the scare was off and they didnt bother to reissue!!!

For me having a work permit meant my visa status had to change; I guess for the school there were various admin details too. We were all glad when we could go back to our sleepy ways.

[richthai]

My school in Rayong has been requiring it for at least 2 years. The Royal Thai Police headquarters has a special building (Building #24) for the application. It's fairly quick to get through the application if you have a letter from your school. The office is pretty busy handling applicants.

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed.

[brewsterbudgen]

My school in Rayong has been requiring it for at least 2 years. The Royal Thai Police headquarters has a special building (Building #24) for the application. It's fairly quick to get through the application if you have a letter from your school. The office is pretty busy handling applicants.

Doesn't it have to come from the UK?

[Too]

Hello!

FYI, about a half year ago I had to go to The Headquarter of Royal Thai Police

in BKK to apply for a police clearance with all my fingerprints taken in order to

apply for a Non-B for teaching in Vientiane, Laos. (I'm not a Briton.)

I know one Englishman who has lived in Thailand for 8 years on his Non-O

(retirement). He told me he had to submit a police certificate of UK to apply

for his visa.

Good luck!

Edited May 12, 2015 by Too

[barry553]

I got a letter from a potential school sounding all high and mighty. Do you have an ICPC? We can't hire you without it. It costs £60, to be paid by the applicant. All for the privilege of being paid 35000 a month for teaching kids(teaching kids I will do only as a last resort). This killed my already low interest in the job. While it is good to have some form of check, this sounds like another money making scheme.

[aarontendo]

Not really another Thai money making scheme if it's your own government getting paid for it, m8.

[barry553]

Not really another Thai money making scheme if it's your own government getting paid for it, m8.

Did I say it was for the Thai's?

[aarontendo]

Ok so it's another British money making scheme that you always get <deleted> by in Thailand?