gotlost
Kap Chong R Us Member
Language schools suffering
Posted by pattayatoday on Aug 18th, 2014 and filed under LATEST EDITION. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
It has become evident that the present official campaign to stamp out visa abuse, as perceived by the authorities, is serious and likely to be sustained. It is no longer possible for foreigners to travel to the border to obtain a back-to-back 30-day visa exemption and a similar crackdown at Thai airports has already started. Basically this means that those aliens entering the country with a 30-day visa can extend their stamp for seven days at a Thai Immigration office but must then leave the country. If they wish to return quickly, they would need to obtain a 60- or 90-day visa at a Thai embassy or consulate.
Many foreigners attempting to live in Thailand by renewing 30-day stamps on visa runs are thought to be working illegally, i.e., without a work permit. These include teachers in private language schools which claim that the costs of obtaining the paperwork are higher and that some teachers quit anyway in a high turnover profession. Pattaya Today spoke to four qualified English language teachers, three members of a band and two diving instructors, all of whom said they must return to their home countries. They said they would be unlikely to obtain visas at a Thai embassy abroad as they had so many visa exemption stamps and renewals at land borders.
The process of acquiring a work permit is laborious and requires a non immigrant “B” visa to start the process. Employers, such as language schools, say the documentation and costs are very high. A permit, issued by the Ministry of Labour, can take up to three months to issue and the employer becomes responsible for paying income tax on the salary. The minimum, taxable monthly salary for most nationalities is 50,000 baht. A spokesman for the Chonburi Department of Employment said that some foreigners seemed to think the issuing of work permits was as routine as giving a driving license, but this was far from being the case. She added that, as regards teachers, many of them did not intend to remain in Thailand for a long time which complicated the issue.
There are 40,000 schools nationwide which are obliged to teach English through native speakers and many are facing dire problems. The obvious immediate solution is to increase teacher salaries and to choose older staff who are keen to remain in Thailand. But the longer term answer may be to move to a fully professional foreign teaching force even if this means increasing student fees. Meanwhile, Immigration and Ministry of Labour investigators are querying the system of one-year education visas for foreigners claiming to be studying the Thai language. Checks are being made to ensure that the students actually attend classes rather than simply enjoy the advantage of having a long stay visa. Most education visas are now only for a three-month stretch at a time.
An allied problem, according to the Immigration Bureau, is that some foreigners trying to live in Thailand do not have sufficient funds for their stay. The current crackdown is designed to weed them out as well. Lack of funds causes some aliens to be a burden on the Thai health service. Research has suggested that nonpaying foreigners may be costing the country 100 million baht a year.
But some observers are skeptical of the campaign. They point out that many aliens requiring emergency surgery here are actually on one-year marriage or retirement visas but cannot find the extra cash needed for a heart bypass. Critics also point out that most foreign teachers would dearly love to have a work permit and that the bureaucracy needs to be simplified to help the profession and the students. Nonetheless, there is one fact on which everyone seems to be agreed: this visa crackdown, unlike those in the past, is likely to be with us for a very long time.
Posted by pattayatoday on Aug 18th, 2014 and filed under LATEST EDITION. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
It has become evident that the present official campaign to stamp out visa abuse, as perceived by the authorities, is serious and likely to be sustained. It is no longer possible for foreigners to travel to the border to obtain a back-to-back 30-day visa exemption and a similar crackdown at Thai airports has already started. Basically this means that those aliens entering the country with a 30-day visa can extend their stamp for seven days at a Thai Immigration office but must then leave the country. If they wish to return quickly, they would need to obtain a 60- or 90-day visa at a Thai embassy or consulate.
Many foreigners attempting to live in Thailand by renewing 30-day stamps on visa runs are thought to be working illegally, i.e., without a work permit. These include teachers in private language schools which claim that the costs of obtaining the paperwork are higher and that some teachers quit anyway in a high turnover profession. Pattaya Today spoke to four qualified English language teachers, three members of a band and two diving instructors, all of whom said they must return to their home countries. They said they would be unlikely to obtain visas at a Thai embassy abroad as they had so many visa exemption stamps and renewals at land borders.
The process of acquiring a work permit is laborious and requires a non immigrant “B” visa to start the process. Employers, such as language schools, say the documentation and costs are very high. A permit, issued by the Ministry of Labour, can take up to three months to issue and the employer becomes responsible for paying income tax on the salary. The minimum, taxable monthly salary for most nationalities is 50,000 baht. A spokesman for the Chonburi Department of Employment said that some foreigners seemed to think the issuing of work permits was as routine as giving a driving license, but this was far from being the case. She added that, as regards teachers, many of them did not intend to remain in Thailand for a long time which complicated the issue.
There are 40,000 schools nationwide which are obliged to teach English through native speakers and many are facing dire problems. The obvious immediate solution is to increase teacher salaries and to choose older staff who are keen to remain in Thailand. But the longer term answer may be to move to a fully professional foreign teaching force even if this means increasing student fees. Meanwhile, Immigration and Ministry of Labour investigators are querying the system of one-year education visas for foreigners claiming to be studying the Thai language. Checks are being made to ensure that the students actually attend classes rather than simply enjoy the advantage of having a long stay visa. Most education visas are now only for a three-month stretch at a time.
An allied problem, according to the Immigration Bureau, is that some foreigners trying to live in Thailand do not have sufficient funds for their stay. The current crackdown is designed to weed them out as well. Lack of funds causes some aliens to be a burden on the Thai health service. Research has suggested that nonpaying foreigners may be costing the country 100 million baht a year.
But some observers are skeptical of the campaign. They point out that many aliens requiring emergency surgery here are actually on one-year marriage or retirement visas but cannot find the extra cash needed for a heart bypass. Critics also point out that most foreign teachers would dearly love to have a work permit and that the bureaucracy needs to be simplified to help the profession and the students. Nonetheless, there is one fact on which everyone seems to be agreed: this visa crackdown, unlike those in the past, is likely to be with us for a very long time.