Howdy, folks! This is my first post, with a question I hope someone here can answer. After teaching in Thailand for years I took a long break and travel around Europe for awhile. Long story short, met a girl in Ukraine and am considering a return to the Kingdom to teach with her accompanying. She's pretty, speaks English very well, has taught kindergarten part-time in Ukraine, and could easily get a job teaching kiddies in Thailand, I'm sure, only she doesn't have a B.A., and by all accounts I've read here that pretty much disqualifies her. A Ukrainian passport gives her a tourist visa on arrival for a whopping 15 days. Wonder if anyone has any suggestions about how she might be able to stay with me in Thailand. I'd teach in Ukraine, only it's freezing and wages there make Thai salaries look positively princely. Appreciate any advice. 

As far as I know, to work here she needs to be issued a contract from a local company (school, from what you say) and use that to obtain a visa in Ukraine. The school would need to justify why they need to hire her (a non-native english speaker, if teaching english would be her job) over Thai candidates. And the school would also be hard-pressed to hire her over possible native-speakers who might have more qualifications too.

So I think this road is hard to follow.

 

Alternatives: marry her. As your spouse, she can stay as long as you have a valid visa/work permit. Ok, a bit extreme.

Or, she can apply for a proper tourist visa in Ukraine (probably giving her 3 months, not sure) and work out further renewals based on that. Though apparently there are now more stringent limits on how many times a tourist can do visa runs at least overland.

 

A word of caution: you complain about Ukraine, and I can understand that. But consider that she might well complain about Thailand if she has never lived here before. I had a colleague, a lady also from Ukraine, who arrived full of enthusiasm for this exotic place and soon started to dislike the heat, the food, the people, etc. So it might be a good idea that she visits you here initially for a few weeks, and see how she likes it.

 

Best wishes.

Not having a degree doesn't disqualify her from working in kindergartens or nurserys, if her experience and appropriate teaching qualifications satisfy her prospective employer. There is a huge demand for qualified female kindergarten teachers. Some schools might require English language qualifications, unless she can find a Russian kindergarten.

She could start by getting a recognized TEFL qualification. This would give her confidence, and show her commitment to the teaching profession.  She could then be employed by a learning center/ private language school. Certainly a 'pretty face' will take you a long way in Thailand,  shallow and superficial place that it is.

...A Ukrainian passport gives her a tourist visa on arrival for a whopping 15 days. Wonder if anyone has any suggestions about how she might be able to stay with me in Thailand...

She can apply for a tourist visa for one or multiple entries, which will give her a longer period of stay.


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Thanks for the advice, people. What about, say, a student or volunteer visa for her? I'd like to spare myself the expense of putting her through a TEFL course (and as a non-native English speaker, would she even be able to get a job in Thailand with just a TEFL and no degree?) and keep costs low in general, as it sounds like I'd be the only one making any income in this situation.