Siam Legal International

ESL in Thailand

Many foreigners from wealthy western nations travel to Thailand to work thereby causing a steady increase in demand for a Thailand Work Permit. Unlike other nations in the region where people leave in droves for greener pastures on the other side of the world, it is the westerners who come to Thailand to find employment. It is not for the wages that these people choose to work in Thailand as they are below western standards, but for the great lifestyle its tropical environment offers, its rich exotic culture and the low cost of living.

Thailand is an "English as a Second Language" (ESL) country. There are hundreds of schools offering English language courses. There is a big demand for ESL teachers, especially native English speakers. In fact, there are schools that hire people to teach on the basis of their first language alone, thus even untrained teachers get jobs.

Native English speakers looking to work in Thailand as ESL teachers need two important documents - a teaching license and of course, a Thailand work permit. Application for the work permit is done by the educational institution in Thailand on behalf of the applicant at the Ministry of Labor. It also takes care of the teacher's license application at the Ministry of Education of the University. For native speaker ESL teachers, the Thailand work permit is released within 7 working days.

Work permits are granted to teacher applicants who meet the following eligibility requirements:

Must be a non-immigrant visa category B (teaching) visa holder
Must have a teacher's license from the Ministry of Labor
Must be physically and mentally healthy
Must not be suffering from tuberculosis, syphilis, leprosy, and elephantiasis

Other teaching related requirements such as the letter of acceptance from employing institutes or schools in Thailand, letter of approval from government agencies on education, evidence of educational qualification, and school licenses are submitted during the visa application. The Royal Thai Embassy issues non-immigrant type B (teaching) visas to applicants from native speaking countries who want to work in Thailand as ESL teachers.

Thailand work permit application procedures for native-speaker ESL teachers are as follows:

Teacher applicant obtains a non-immigrant category "B" visa.

When the teacher applicant arrives in Thailand, the educational institution that petitioned him applies for a teacher license and work permit at the Ministry of Education or Ministry of University and Ministry of Labor respectively, on his behalf.

After receiving the teacher license and work permit, the teacher applicant submits the teacher license, work permit, employment contract and employment certificate to the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok in order to apply for visa extension to cover the period of employment.

Many foreigners who come to Thailand to join the ESL teaching community encounter Thailand work permit and visa problems unique to this line of work. Siam Legal Thailand International is a full service law firm staffed with competent and experienced lawyers who can provide expert advice and assistance to foreigners working in Thailand.