Volume 13, Issue 23
16 - 31 August 2014
What’s Inside:
30 BAHT
Language schools suffering I
t 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 60or 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 Continued on page 4