Job Discussion Forums

spiffy · Joined: 23 Oct 2008 Posts: 13

Im a British citizen with 4 years teaching experience but no college degree and at the moment no teaching certificate. Im thinking of coming to Thailand to live and work a year or so but how difficult would it be to get a visa and work permit there? And how long would it all take?

MaiPenRai · Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 390 Location: BKK

Spiffy, I am sure that you will find work with your experience and there are some placement companies and schools hiring teachers with no degree. I recommend getting a multiple entry Non-Imm B Visa from the consulate in Hull. They give them away there. This way if you cant get a work permit, you can just leave the country to get another 90 days. Be warned that they may hassle you if you do this more than 2,3 times without getting a work permit.

Getting a work permit in Thailand will be a problem though. If you happen to find work with a school that has connections, it should be ok. Otherwise it will be hard and you have no legal recourse if you dont have a work permit, so can sometimes get taken advantage of. I dont think getting TEFL will help with the work permit but I could be wrong.

Good luck.

spiffy · Joined: 23 Oct 2008 Posts: 13

Wow, sounds complicated. So when I get a job the company sorts the visa/permit? And its depends on their... connections?
I'm not too sure I understand this whole system so well but do you think if I come there and get a job it should be ok? They're not gonna reject me and I end up blowing most of my savings for nothing?? Also how long would the process take? I know in Japan it takes up to 3 months to apply for a working visa.

One other thing, I'm not actually in the UK right now. I'm in Japan. Is it possible to get that multiple entry visa from the Thai emmbassy here?

rigel · Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 308

You'll need to get a work permit in order to get a bank account with an ATM card in Thailand at the Thai banks. With no work permit, you can get an account, but you won't be able to get the card. Foreign banks such as Deutsche Bank may have the same policy.

Master Shake · Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: Colorado, USA

rigel · Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 308

[quote="Master Shake"]
I got my ATM card with no work permit. Just a non-imm B visa.

What this means is that you will be working illegally. You will have to leave the country every 90 days to re-enter on a new tourist visa. Some guys have been doing this for years but your job security will be zero.[/quote]

This is true. I just checked with a local Krung Thai bank. You can get the ATM card with the non-IM B visa. What you can't do is show up at the bank with a tourist visa and start an account that comes with an ATM card. You can start the account, if you want, but, again, no card will come with it.

spiffy · Joined: 23 Oct 2008 Posts: 13

Master Shake · Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: Colorado, USA

spiffy · Joined: 23 Oct 2008 Posts: 13

From what I'm reading on the web is that as it's so hard to get the work permit most people do just work illegally. That is worth considering for me but I really don't like taking chances on stuff like that so would rather not think about it at least for now.

Anyway, I've spent hours and hours on the web trying to get info about this and from what I can see is that even when you do get a work permit it is still only valid for 3 months and you have to do a visa run to renew it after that! I'm not even sure if I'm understanding that correctly but still... sounds a bit stupid.

Oh and I havn't managed to find a single website which states the conditions for the applicant. They all just talk about the company that is employing you.

Topper · Joined: 12 Nov 2007 Posts: 6