Hi all,

I am going/coming (depending on where you are reading this!) to Thailand in Feb. I am enrolled on a TEFL course in Thailand which starts 12th March, I intend to start teaching as soon as possible once the course has finished.

My question is regarding tax. How does it work in Thailand? Once I start paying tax am I entitled to free medical services like here in the UK or doesn't Thailand's medical services work the same way? I am thinking of purchasing a couple of months worth of travel insurance and then once I get a teaching job (touch wood) I will start paying tax and won't need the travel insurance cover. And when I start renting somewhere I guess I will get insurance cover for my belongings.

Is that a decent plan or a stupid one?!

Thanks

If you feel there's any chance that you will need any serious medical care (more than that needed for a cold or a couple of stitches) while you are in Thailand, I would consider additional supplemental insurance (which on a beginning TEFL salary you probably won't be able to afford).

If you are fully legal then you can register under the government programs, but it is also highly unlikely that you will be fully legal at your first job, or even 5 or 6 months after getting a job that really does intend to give you the paperwork to make you legal.

Hi all,

I am going/coming (depending on where you are reading this!) to Thailand in Feb. I am enrolled on a TEFL course in Thailand which starts 12th March, I intend to start teaching as soon as possible once the course has finished.

My question is regarding tax. How does it work in Thailand? Once I start paying tax am I entitled to free medical services like here in the UK or doesn't Thailand's medical services work the same way? I am thinking of purchasing a couple of months worth of travel insurance and then once I get a teaching job (touch wood) I will start paying tax and won't need the travel insurance cover. And when I start renting somewhere I guess I will get insurance cover for my belongings.

Is that a decent plan or a stupid one?!

Thanks

hi "billfo",

are you enrolled in the "text and talk" course in bangkok? if you are, so am i. starts march 12th ends april 24th.

take care

Quite a few Thai banks offer accident insurance for very cheap premiums.

Tax from a teacher's salary is usually fairly minimal anyway. A few hundred baht per month. There's a 30-baht health care 'system' here which I think you'd be entitled to receive medical treatment from for 30 baht per visit.

"here's a 30-baht health care 'system' here which I think you'd be entitled to receive medical treatment from for 30 baht per visit."

That's not an option. Not only that, but the gov't is doing away with the 30 baht payment. Still not an option for foreigners.

Social Security does offer decent medical coverage. Once you get work, make sure your employer puts you in the soc sec system. If they don't, they're not legal.