I knew I was going to do this at some point.
And I'm also probably going to get yelled at. Oh well.
Walking to the khlong boat stop nearest my apartment with my neighbor, we walked through today's red shirt protest. Somehow I didn't realize it would spread that far out. Let me also mention, we were headed to dress rehearsal (if you're asking for what? you'll have to ask me personally)- wearing red and black as all the actresses are wearing. Oops. I got a bunch of smiles, thumbs up, and of course the usual:
"Where are you from?"
"United States."
"But they don't like red shirts."
Uh...smile awkwardly in typical Thai style to diffuse tension - waiting for the traffic to stop so we can cross the other half of the intersection.
"But USA don't like red shirts," he insists several times.
Personally I wonder if he's overheard tourists complaining about red states and misunderstood whose politics were being discussed.
Further awkward smiling on my part and a smiling goodbye on his as we are finally clear to cross.
Even on the khlong boat smiles from Thais in red shirts, thumbs up and nodding and smiling as they try to speak to me in Thai I don't know. Nod, smile, giggle awkwardly, nod, shrug.
After rehearsal we made our way through a gathering I can only presume is for the Buddhist Holiday that began yesterday - careful to let the monks pass without being contaminated by brushing up against women. Then the three of us grabbed pad thai at a stall in Pratunam and caught the khlong boat back home. By now the protest, which tonight seems much more like a street festival, is even more crowded. We get off the boat and I'm getting more attention for my shirt, but not a lot. My Thai American neighbor tells me someone has said "hey look, the falang is wearing a red shirt," in Thai as we passed on the sidewalk. Glad she was able to fill me in.
We're debating about what shortcut to take to get back home through the mess; and we decide to walk straight through. Food stalls, t-shirt vendors, music, dancing, napping, how is this a protest? This seems like a festival. There is live music being broadcast on screens, rock style; people are clapping plastic hand clappers (a man claps his at me, smiling broadly and pointing at my shirt). A monk is offering blessings with what look like incense sticks that he is using to flick water on people. He smiles as I walk by and I get my own splash. Does this make up for the cockroaches of late? In any case I'm happy for an interaction with a monk that wasn't just stepping out of his way on the sidewalk or giving him my bus seat, or the infamous Khao Sarn fakes.
We walk past a t-shirt stall where the t-shirts are decorated with fake bullet wounds, fake blood and an embroidered number of the caliber of the bullet. Reminder.
We walk down a road towards our apartments, past my Thai American colleague's school.
She points out the places people were shot last spring, just in front of her school, and the spot where the Japanese journalist was shot.
It may be a street festival now, before the summer heat has peaked, while the government is only engaged in crowd control. Time will tell which direction things will go. To quote my favorite Bangkok Post Op-Ed writer: it's not as simple as black and white, red and yellow.
Next up: idiotically wandering through a PAD protest in my goldenrod Purdue shirt.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day at a Thai Middle School
Despite my resolve to hold off on posting for awhile, I simply cannot pass up documenting the insanity of Valentine's Day in a Thai Middle School. Let me preface by saying that without photographic evidence I cannot do this scene justice.
There are heart shaped stickers everywhere. Mainly on the school uniforms of my students - boys, girls, orientation, doesn't matter. Several students have about half of the front of their school uniform shirt completely plastered with heart stickers. Photos, huge stuffed animals, candy, flowers - the school is practically having a party in the corridor between classes, and during most of the classes from what I can tell.
It's good the headmistress is preoccupied with interviewing potential students for next year with her general outlook on student relationships; though I noticed not even she has escaped the stickers. I have fourteen heart stickers from students on my shirt right now.
And I am so glad today is over.
There are heart shaped stickers everywhere. Mainly on the school uniforms of my students - boys, girls, orientation, doesn't matter. Several students have about half of the front of their school uniform shirt completely plastered with heart stickers. Photos, huge stuffed animals, candy, flowers - the school is practically having a party in the corridor between classes, and during most of the classes from what I can tell.
It's good the headmistress is preoccupied with interviewing potential students for next year with her general outlook on student relationships; though I noticed not even she has escaped the stickers. I have fourteen heart stickers from students on my shirt right now.
And I am so glad today is over.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Thailand True, False and Huh?
True
Women don’t sit next to monks on the bus. I knew this ahead of time thankfully. Though I was a little taken aback the time a monk boarded the bus I was on, I was sitting in the ‘reserved for monks’ spot, and the bus fare collector grabbed my arm and moved me to another seat proclaiming “you, here.” I guess of the ways that could have gone, that’s not too bad.
“It’s more polite for women to wear skirts,” this is not a suggestion this is required. While not all occupations require women to wear skirts as of the last few years, and possibly not even all schools – mine does. Certain official places also require women to wear skirts – see Throne Room post. Thai culture training even suggested it was necessary to dress as professionally as you do for teaching even for simple grocery shopping in case you meet student’s parents. Uh, no, too bad, I’ll be polite, I’m not wearing a skirt 7 days a week.
The Thais don’t do anger, publicly. This really results in everyone bottling up their true feelings – but anger, in any capacity, literally short circuits Thai culture. It’s the land of smiles – but that doesn’t mean someone isn’t angry with you and keeping a lid on it. This is one area being ‘farang’ doesn’t matter – you can’t be angry. Talk about vicious cycle. And no, I haven't managed to never be angry. In the words of my colleague - "to Thais, there is nothing scarier than an angry farang."
It’s more important to look like a teacher than to have experience, credentials, etc. (You could always just buy some credentials on Khao Sarn). If you smell, wear the wrong shoes, or don’t fit the image, you could be fired for that. You probably will be fired for that. Thailand is working to be more strict about getting good teachers – but it’s still very much about what you look like. Look ‘too young’ to teach? Also going to cause problems. Look like a teacher but don't have the credentials? If they like you, they'll work around that. If they decide they don't like you, watch out. I have met some African American teachers finally – it is possible.
False
You don’t need sweaters in Thailand, it’s a tropical country. FALSE. Residents of Central Thailand enjoy aircon so much that they keep it set low enough for everyone to wear their favorite sweaters, scarfs made in handicrafts class, etc. No, I won’t get any sympathy from anyone reading this back home. But, you do need sweaters if you are working in Bangkok.
Thailand is so cheap. Half/half. Many things in Thailand are cheap. Other things are really, really expensive. Bedsheets, for example, are considered a luxury and subject to the luxury tax – and you only get a fitted sheet and pillow cases – Thailand doesn’t do top sheets. Plus if you’re foreign, you’re almost always going to pay more. The baht is strong compared to the dollar right now and you’re going to pay more than you expect for almost everything. Yes, western teachers get paid more than Thai teachers, which helps with farang overcharge. Out and about people will assume you have an expat bank manager’s salary. Learn to haggle like a pro, shop with a Thai that can haggle like a pro or avoid it altogether.
Huh?
~Lactose-infused soy milk, brand name Lactasoy.
~Soy-infused Rice milk. This is the best I've managed so far.
~The day my boss asked me, “why don’t you drink milk like the other Americans, to keep your skin so white?”
~The Thai proverb, paraphrased: “better to strive to be average, than to embarrass your neighbor by being better than him.”
~The Thai superstition that, "if you expect something to go wrong, it will go wrong." This is used as justification for hardly anyone wearing seatbelts, etc. We were also told of the driver who quit his driving job - and explained "my American boss always made me wear my seatbelt - and I was afraid something bad was going to happen to me because of it."
The above two are the 'my brain is fried, cognitive dissonance' proverbs I alluded to from Thai culture training. I will not be going native enough to skip a seatbelt (when there is one) or merely strive to be average as to not embarrass someone. I'm working on holding my temper.
Other tidbits: that store with all the photos of celebrities? Yeah it's a wax museum. Duh.
Banking Abroad - difficult. HSBC is global that's a great plan - if you have 15,000 USD to open an account you can have a local currency account. D'oh. Moving USD to Thailand - ok. Using a US credit card when in a jam, fees but ok. Withdrawing baht in Thailand, lots of daily withdrawal limits but ok overall. Moving baht to the States to then pay US card down - Good Luck. Since the 1997 Asian Market Crash, Thailand has clamped down on money moving out of the country as much as possible. It's not impossible, but exceedingly difficult. My British colleague moves money via Paypal, which can be a cheaper option for moving small amounts of cash than bank transfer. And don't get me started on the racket that is Western Union, not doing that. Apparently Thai banks (mine at least) and US banking institutions (Paypal at least) haven't come to an agreement to play nice. Paypal account frozen, flagged as fraudulent by Bangkok Bank - what a mess. This one will take awhile, and I'll be happy if I can simply take my Thai bank off of Paypal and restore my American Paypal account to functional. Possible? We'll see.
I'm also looking into opening a different Thai bank account, I have to bank with Bangkok Bank as required for my University to pay me, but there's no reason I can't open another account now that I have a work permit. This would be better for actually saving any way, since in Thailand your account is debit and savings all in one - there are not separate accounts for individuals and checking doesn't exist if you are not a corporation. I've also read on various forums that the bank I'm considering is slightly more foreigner/transfer money home friendly. As for moving money home, I'll figure it out. It's just going to take multiple phone calls to Paypal and multiple trips to the main bank branch on weekdays between very specific hours. And don't try to go on Chinese New Year's Eve; talk about traffic jam.
Though Thailand is paranoid about money leaving the country causing the country to have another market crash, there is one thing they understand about sending money home. Supporting family. All Thais, even the most poor - send money home to support their family. So when I do decide I have the patience to smile my way through this conundrum, the key phrase is: "I need to send money home to support my family." These magic words might actually allow money to go through. Maybe.
Women don’t sit next to monks on the bus. I knew this ahead of time thankfully. Though I was a little taken aback the time a monk boarded the bus I was on, I was sitting in the ‘reserved for monks’ spot, and the bus fare collector grabbed my arm and moved me to another seat proclaiming “you, here.” I guess of the ways that could have gone, that’s not too bad.
“It’s more polite for women to wear skirts,” this is not a suggestion this is required. While not all occupations require women to wear skirts as of the last few years, and possibly not even all schools – mine does. Certain official places also require women to wear skirts – see Throne Room post. Thai culture training even suggested it was necessary to dress as professionally as you do for teaching even for simple grocery shopping in case you meet student’s parents. Uh, no, too bad, I’ll be polite, I’m not wearing a skirt 7 days a week.
The Thais don’t do anger, publicly. This really results in everyone bottling up their true feelings – but anger, in any capacity, literally short circuits Thai culture. It’s the land of smiles – but that doesn’t mean someone isn’t angry with you and keeping a lid on it. This is one area being ‘farang’ doesn’t matter – you can’t be angry. Talk about vicious cycle. And no, I haven't managed to never be angry. In the words of my colleague - "to Thais, there is nothing scarier than an angry farang."
It’s more important to look like a teacher than to have experience, credentials, etc. (You could always just buy some credentials on Khao Sarn). If you smell, wear the wrong shoes, or don’t fit the image, you could be fired for that. You probably will be fired for that. Thailand is working to be more strict about getting good teachers – but it’s still very much about what you look like. Look ‘too young’ to teach? Also going to cause problems. Look like a teacher but don't have the credentials? If they like you, they'll work around that. If they decide they don't like you, watch out. I have met some African American teachers finally – it is possible.
False
You don’t need sweaters in Thailand, it’s a tropical country. FALSE. Residents of Central Thailand enjoy aircon so much that they keep it set low enough for everyone to wear their favorite sweaters, scarfs made in handicrafts class, etc. No, I won’t get any sympathy from anyone reading this back home. But, you do need sweaters if you are working in Bangkok.
Thailand is so cheap. Half/half. Many things in Thailand are cheap. Other things are really, really expensive. Bedsheets, for example, are considered a luxury and subject to the luxury tax – and you only get a fitted sheet and pillow cases – Thailand doesn’t do top sheets. Plus if you’re foreign, you’re almost always going to pay more. The baht is strong compared to the dollar right now and you’re going to pay more than you expect for almost everything. Yes, western teachers get paid more than Thai teachers, which helps with farang overcharge. Out and about people will assume you have an expat bank manager’s salary. Learn to haggle like a pro, shop with a Thai that can haggle like a pro or avoid it altogether.
Huh?
~Lactose-infused soy milk, brand name Lactasoy.
~Soy-infused Rice milk. This is the best I've managed so far.
~The day my boss asked me, “why don’t you drink milk like the other Americans, to keep your skin so white?”
~The Thai proverb, paraphrased: “better to strive to be average, than to embarrass your neighbor by being better than him.”
~The Thai superstition that, "if you expect something to go wrong, it will go wrong." This is used as justification for hardly anyone wearing seatbelts, etc. We were also told of the driver who quit his driving job - and explained "my American boss always made me wear my seatbelt - and I was afraid something bad was going to happen to me because of it."
The above two are the 'my brain is fried, cognitive dissonance' proverbs I alluded to from Thai culture training. I will not be going native enough to skip a seatbelt (when there is one) or merely strive to be average as to not embarrass someone. I'm working on holding my temper.
Other tidbits: that store with all the photos of celebrities? Yeah it's a wax museum. Duh.
Banking Abroad - difficult. HSBC is global that's a great plan - if you have 15,000 USD to open an account you can have a local currency account. D'oh. Moving USD to Thailand - ok. Using a US credit card when in a jam, fees but ok. Withdrawing baht in Thailand, lots of daily withdrawal limits but ok overall. Moving baht to the States to then pay US card down - Good Luck. Since the 1997 Asian Market Crash, Thailand has clamped down on money moving out of the country as much as possible. It's not impossible, but exceedingly difficult. My British colleague moves money via Paypal, which can be a cheaper option for moving small amounts of cash than bank transfer. And don't get me started on the racket that is Western Union, not doing that. Apparently Thai banks (mine at least) and US banking institutions (Paypal at least) haven't come to an agreement to play nice. Paypal account frozen, flagged as fraudulent by Bangkok Bank - what a mess. This one will take awhile, and I'll be happy if I can simply take my Thai bank off of Paypal and restore my American Paypal account to functional. Possible? We'll see.
I'm also looking into opening a different Thai bank account, I have to bank with Bangkok Bank as required for my University to pay me, but there's no reason I can't open another account now that I have a work permit. This would be better for actually saving any way, since in Thailand your account is debit and savings all in one - there are not separate accounts for individuals and checking doesn't exist if you are not a corporation. I've also read on various forums that the bank I'm considering is slightly more foreigner/transfer money home friendly. As for moving money home, I'll figure it out. It's just going to take multiple phone calls to Paypal and multiple trips to the main bank branch on weekdays between very specific hours. And don't try to go on Chinese New Year's Eve; talk about traffic jam.
Though Thailand is paranoid about money leaving the country causing the country to have another market crash, there is one thing they understand about sending money home. Supporting family. All Thais, even the most poor - send money home to support their family. So when I do decide I have the patience to smile my way through this conundrum, the key phrase is: "I need to send money home to support my family." These magic words might actually allow money to go through. Maybe.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Immigration 3, Culture Shock, Seminar, Hospital
Today I went to Immigration for the third time. Best skirt, dress shirt and makeup I spent a fair amount of time applying. I skipped penciling on wrinkles. It didn't even take all day this time, and before lunch hour for the Immigration officers I had not only my one year extended stay permission on my visa but my multiple re-entry permit. I will still be researching to make sure the re-entry permit is correct (multiple and not single)- it's a stamp about half the size of a passport page and some of it is not inked very clearly. Without also having the proper re-entry paperwork; my visa is void upon leaving the country and must be remade - for any reason. Apparently you should also be sure you are stamped in correctly upon return to Thailand - stamp errors are common enough to have their own queue for fixing them at the Immigration office. It's been said to me Immigration is the worst part of Thailand. I'm happy to agree with that statement until proven otherwise, and I see no reason to hope to find worse - Immigration can keep the bottom spot. I'll refrain from getting on my soap box about United States Immigration - except to say for any country, this has got to be one of the most frustrating things about trying to move between countries.
My situation with visa and work permit is not uncommon - it is a rather run of the mill story as far as Thai Immigration goes, and I actually obtained legal status. Many just go without or are in a perpetual state of border running. The rare situation is not having trouble with this in some way. I also received my January salary properly. I'm finally in the system and not stepping on someone's toes to get my pay. Even my attempts at trying to go about this within cultural bounds still enlivened intra-school rivalries I wasn't aware of through the way things were subsequently handled. Lovely. Advice that I've heard now, of course, is bring several months worth of income to support yourself (if you can) while all these glitches occur. No really, several, not just a couple. I'm grateful to the co-worker who loaned me money last month, and reminded me she started off just the same - on a shoestring, borrowing and dealing with confusing school interactions that aren't sorted out easily.
I'm grateful for Ming, one of our resident alley cats for coming to visit on nights when it's most needed, even if she does insist on being let back out at 5 am sharp. I'm sure she prefers the corner of the bed to her options outside.
So about culture shock. There are many things about it, obviously. Awhile back I was asked, "well what are you having culture shock about?" And I'm really not entirely sure how to answer that question. Saying "everything," is overkill. Saying "nothing," is fooling oneself. But categorizing each daily interaction into the binary of yes, culture shock or no, not culture shock - doesn't take into account any of the other factors of daily life. It's frustrating trying to explain culture shock to someone that hasn't experienced it. It's frustrating when you realize you're having a culture moment (or worse yet, finally realize one from awhile back) - but still don't know where to turn to move forward; or at least, not in a positive way forward. And it's most frustrating when you perceive you are receiving the criticism of 'you should know that already,' or 'why didn't you find that out already?' in some shape or form. Right. I'll continue asking 'Ajarn Google' and hope I find something. Ajarn = teacher/college professor. I'm directly quoting foreign teacher Thai culture training by saying - "ask Ajarn Google."
This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday I attended a 'foreign teacher Thai culture' seminar - 8 hours a day. I'm not sure how recently this was made a requirement for foreign teachers, but it's within the last three years. While it sounds alright in theory, and some parts were alright - it's rather new, and like many newly implemented things has a lot of bugs to be worked out. I was the youngest in the room, one of my colleagues who was also required to attend the next youngest - most attendees were older western men. I think the most I got out of Thai culture training was a clearer picture of the gender/age makeup of foreign English teachers in Thailand. And some Thai proverbs so full of cognitive dissonance I'm simply going to pretend I didn't hear them for now. Apparently that's how to survive in Thailand any way. Oil. Water. Brain is fried by that statement. Nod. Smile.
On Friday after the first seminar day, I embarked on my first visit to a Thai hospital to obtain a chest x-ray. I did this on my own to be sure I did not have pneumonia. Half the school has whatever this is - several students have been hospitalized (though I'm told they do precautionary hospitalization much more here). I filled out an intake form and got through triage by pointing to words in my Thai English dictionary. The doctor spoke English well enough. I went to a public hospital, not a private hospital. Bit more language barrier, but otherwise no reason not to go to the closest place for a non-emergency. Chest x-ray: 170 baht. No pneumonia, just bronchitis. I took a ziplock bag of all the medications I was taking or could possibly take to be sure (as best as I could) there would be no medication interaction for anything prescribed. The look of puzzlement on the doctor's face was priceless - you have all this medicine I don't know what else to give you! Well how about something to get this cough to stop, not just placate it? Believe it or not my main intention was not obtaining pills. She then proceeded to show me about each drug she prescribed via Google - the language barrier was a little shaky for that part. Thanks Ajarn Google. My total visit took less than two hours, I had very little waiting - and it cost me around 26 US dollars including four medications, chest x-ray and doctor's fee. Granted, my U.S. Passport and cash were my passes through. I think the most valuable part of that trip is the inhaler that is now keeping my lungs from running away to the countryside. I'll try to get to the park this weekend and out of the smog for a bit. Yes, we do have a few of those in the city still.
My situation with visa and work permit is not uncommon - it is a rather run of the mill story as far as Thai Immigration goes, and I actually obtained legal status. Many just go without or are in a perpetual state of border running. The rare situation is not having trouble with this in some way. I also received my January salary properly. I'm finally in the system and not stepping on someone's toes to get my pay. Even my attempts at trying to go about this within cultural bounds still enlivened intra-school rivalries I wasn't aware of through the way things were subsequently handled. Lovely. Advice that I've heard now, of course, is bring several months worth of income to support yourself (if you can) while all these glitches occur. No really, several, not just a couple. I'm grateful to the co-worker who loaned me money last month, and reminded me she started off just the same - on a shoestring, borrowing and dealing with confusing school interactions that aren't sorted out easily.
I'm grateful for Ming, one of our resident alley cats for coming to visit on nights when it's most needed, even if she does insist on being let back out at 5 am sharp. I'm sure she prefers the corner of the bed to her options outside.
So about culture shock. There are many things about it, obviously. Awhile back I was asked, "well what are you having culture shock about?" And I'm really not entirely sure how to answer that question. Saying "everything," is overkill. Saying "nothing," is fooling oneself. But categorizing each daily interaction into the binary of yes, culture shock or no, not culture shock - doesn't take into account any of the other factors of daily life. It's frustrating trying to explain culture shock to someone that hasn't experienced it. It's frustrating when you realize you're having a culture moment (or worse yet, finally realize one from awhile back) - but still don't know where to turn to move forward; or at least, not in a positive way forward. And it's most frustrating when you perceive you are receiving the criticism of 'you should know that already,' or 'why didn't you find that out already?' in some shape or form. Right. I'll continue asking 'Ajarn Google' and hope I find something. Ajarn = teacher/college professor. I'm directly quoting foreign teacher Thai culture training by saying - "ask Ajarn Google."
This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday I attended a 'foreign teacher Thai culture' seminar - 8 hours a day. I'm not sure how recently this was made a requirement for foreign teachers, but it's within the last three years. While it sounds alright in theory, and some parts were alright - it's rather new, and like many newly implemented things has a lot of bugs to be worked out. I was the youngest in the room, one of my colleagues who was also required to attend the next youngest - most attendees were older western men. I think the most I got out of Thai culture training was a clearer picture of the gender/age makeup of foreign English teachers in Thailand. And some Thai proverbs so full of cognitive dissonance I'm simply going to pretend I didn't hear them for now. Apparently that's how to survive in Thailand any way. Oil. Water. Brain is fried by that statement. Nod. Smile.
On Friday after the first seminar day, I embarked on my first visit to a Thai hospital to obtain a chest x-ray. I did this on my own to be sure I did not have pneumonia. Half the school has whatever this is - several students have been hospitalized (though I'm told they do precautionary hospitalization much more here). I filled out an intake form and got through triage by pointing to words in my Thai English dictionary. The doctor spoke English well enough. I went to a public hospital, not a private hospital. Bit more language barrier, but otherwise no reason not to go to the closest place for a non-emergency. Chest x-ray: 170 baht. No pneumonia, just bronchitis. I took a ziplock bag of all the medications I was taking or could possibly take to be sure (as best as I could) there would be no medication interaction for anything prescribed. The look of puzzlement on the doctor's face was priceless - you have all this medicine I don't know what else to give you! Well how about something to get this cough to stop, not just placate it? Believe it or not my main intention was not obtaining pills. She then proceeded to show me about each drug she prescribed via Google - the language barrier was a little shaky for that part. Thanks Ajarn Google. My total visit took less than two hours, I had very little waiting - and it cost me around 26 US dollars including four medications, chest x-ray and doctor's fee. Granted, my U.S. Passport and cash were my passes through. I think the most valuable part of that trip is the inhaler that is now keeping my lungs from running away to the countryside. I'll try to get to the park this weekend and out of the smog for a bit. Yes, we do have a few of those in the city still.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Labour & Immigration, Take Two
I can't stop coughing. I definitely have an upper respiratory infection at this point. I started myself on antibiotics after several days of holding out for my immune system. Yes, feel free to scold me for not going to the doctor - I don't have time for that right now, especially when it's mostly paperwork and here have drugs! Well, I have them already, I've had this kind of infection many times in my life, let's skip that part.
I take 4 or 5 medicines - over the counter and the antibiotics, and take fifteen minutes to pull myself together to go in. I put on jeans, t-shirt, my one long sleeved hoodie and tennis shoes. I won't be teaching today, we're going back to Labour and Immigration. The thought of doing so in my skirt and dress shoes while feeling like death warmed over is too much; and on our last trip my liaison and half the waiting room were in pants and t-shirts. I don't really care. I would have called in if we didn't have to make this trip today.
Traffic is awful - and I wonder if it's backed up from a yellow or red shirt protest or just the usual traffic chaos. The reds and yellows have both had protests this week - but before you start yelling danger! danger Will Robinson! This mostly just blocks intersections and stops traffic across town; and I happen to be in between the two main spots - so traffic comes to a standstill from both directions.
I hire a motorbike - I haggle for 30 baht not 40 baht, and we zip between the lines of traffic to get to school. Last time I hardly had time to be in the office before being whisked to the school van and setting off. This time, with traffic, the school secretary who will be my liaison this time has not yet arrived, so I have to sit in the office. My boss is interviewing a new student for next year, and her father is there. Suddenly jeans seem like a very, very big mistake. Soon the secretary arrives. She says to me, we will go after your class. To which I simply say, no, we will go now. But who will cover your class? Gen is covering it, we will go now. In fact Gen is only covering the second half of it, everyone has a first period class. But as many times as classes have been cancelled for lack of teachers (we don't have a sub system, teachers must cover for each other), events, or I've been pulled from a class I planned to teach for some other last minute reason with no cover, I simply don't care, this is more important. On occasions with many teachers out, classes are allowed to hang out, play guitar, connect their electronic music players to the sound system - they'll be fine. As it turns out the worst trouble they got into in my absence was they were about to play the movie EuroTrip over the projector when they were interrupted for actual grammar lessons. Oh well.
As we're walking out the students are walking in from the morning assembly, giggling at my attire and one asks me where are you going? Then who will be our teacher? To which I reply, "pretend you have a teacher." He grins. Not my proudest moment as an educator - but again, this is simply more important.
We get in the school van. I'm advised to dress professionally next time, but this time it's ok, you're a foreigner you don't know - that whatever my previous liaison told me, is not the right way to do things. I'm learning very quickly how much misinformation I've been given so far.
We drive, we nap, we're both coughing like crazy. We should both be home in bed. But my visa expires tomorrow, and if anything goes wrong we have to go back on the last day.
We go to Labour to pick up the Work Permit. This turns out to be fairly painless. I check the spelling of my name, sign the page, and pay for it. Then we leave. Less than 15 minutes. My partner in crime checks the details of the Thai writing and hands it to me to put in my file. Surely, that was too easy - and it was.
We get back in the van and drive to Immigration, well, are driven to Immigration. We go in, queue up, and I explain which additional forms from the counter I need. No, you don't need it. Yes, I do need it. No, you don't need it! Yes, I do need it. What? Why? This continues until I have my way. She's still confused - but I don't blame her, all this was explained to her by the previous, shortcut taking liaison, and improperly. I don't blame her, but I don't trust she knows everything I need, either.
Here's the thing. Do not believe the Thai government website, do not believe a Thai that doesn't personally work in Immigration about this paperwork. If you need answers about Work Permits and Visas, you need to personally ask another farang or go to expat web forums. That's where the information will be correct. And it doesn't help that they've recently made it much more strict, but most Thais are still operating in the previous regulations mindset.
We have several hours to wait for our number to come up, so we find a better place to sit and I fill out the forms she doesn't think I need. Then I lay down on the bench to curb my dizziness, at which point she tells me no no sit up this is Thailand, I don't know about other countries you can't do that here. Right.
Our number will be served after lunch, as last time. We go to the food court and each get some sort of noodle soup. I give her American cough suppressants and two Thai medicines. I'm not due for more yet. She looks even worse than I do - and I wish we didn't have to be here.
We go back to the Visa queue. She gives me Chinese cough suppressants. They don't taste good but they relieve the cough, she says. She's dead on. We're both half hunched over trying to nap sitting up between coughing fits.
Our number comes up ten minutes after lunch. We might even finish today. I hand over 1900 baht and we go back to wait. Over an hour passes. Finally we're called back. I have no idea what was said but I can tell there is a problem. We go back to sit down and she gets on the phone. She's calling the previous visa person - the one whose last day was Friday, whose signature she'll be foraging for the power of attorney over my paperwork. There is a form missing. One that she didn't bother to complete, saying oh, for the previous two people, didn't need it. It's a form that takes 15 days to obtain. My visa expires tomorrow. Liaison number one instructs liaison number two to negotiate with them. We try this several times. I'm informed I may have to go out of the country - tonight, or in seven days. I can't get any straight answers, and she's on the phone or talking to the Immigration officer. I call an English speaking colleague that actually knows the deal with this stuff. We discuss what it will take for me to leave for Laos tonight.
Then I find out my liaison has called my boss. My boss is negotiating with the Immigration officer. Somehow I wonder if this won't just make matters worse - but again, it's out of my hands. After over two hours of all this back and forth - my boss has negotiated a 7 day extension of my visa, she doesn't want me to leave the country. I both appreciate this and fear this fix won't actually prevent a border hop, just delay it - and I'm apprehensive that on our next trip the quick-fix seven day extension will not be honored by a different Immigration officer. This could result in a fine, not deportation or anything, and if it happens my school will be paying for it, not me. I think they've already planned that, but I will make sure of it.
My liaison is talking to the Immigration officer. I don't speak much Thai, but I've learned numbers below 100 - and I can tell she doesn't believe I'm 25. I point at myself and say "yi sip ha" and nod up and down yes, I am 25. I highly doubt wearing business attire would have convinced her of this either. For Immigration Take Three, I will be dressing to the nines. Should I pencil on some wrinkles too? Honestly. There's no way to know if business attire would have been the push to get around that missing form - but the fact is the form is on the list and my school didn't take care of it. It's not a form I fill out, it's a form the school must submit. We leave Immigration - with my passport and it's seven days of negotiated, borrowed time and without the 1900 baht. That extension should have been 200 baht, and I protest. I'm assured my boss will take care of it. This had better be the case, this is not my fault.
The two of us are seething with anger and trying to hide it from each other, as required by Thai culture. I consider the school secretary, my liaison number two, my best Thai friend. This has definitely put a strain on things. We open up and discuss our anger that the previous person cut corners and made things difficult. That we couldn't just do it properly the first time, that it doesn't have to be this difficult. But we are the 'younger sisters,' we are lower in rank than many of the people we needed to get stuff done; and though liaison number 1 is also our age - this was her job, so from a task standpoint - hers to take care of.
We nap and talk on the long drive home. We return to school. I explain the days events to a colleague. My boss pulls me aside and further explains how she will take care of it. The other teacher, the secretary and I discuss the fact that I have a seven day extension for a fifteen day piece of paperwork. That I may still have to make a border run. That my boss plans to call on the influence of parents of our students who work in the Ministry. In any case, nothing more will be done today, and I don't have to leave tonight. I'm taking more cold medicine, going home and going to sleep.
I take 4 or 5 medicines - over the counter and the antibiotics, and take fifteen minutes to pull myself together to go in. I put on jeans, t-shirt, my one long sleeved hoodie and tennis shoes. I won't be teaching today, we're going back to Labour and Immigration. The thought of doing so in my skirt and dress shoes while feeling like death warmed over is too much; and on our last trip my liaison and half the waiting room were in pants and t-shirts. I don't really care. I would have called in if we didn't have to make this trip today.
Traffic is awful - and I wonder if it's backed up from a yellow or red shirt protest or just the usual traffic chaos. The reds and yellows have both had protests this week - but before you start yelling danger! danger Will Robinson! This mostly just blocks intersections and stops traffic across town; and I happen to be in between the two main spots - so traffic comes to a standstill from both directions.
I hire a motorbike - I haggle for 30 baht not 40 baht, and we zip between the lines of traffic to get to school. Last time I hardly had time to be in the office before being whisked to the school van and setting off. This time, with traffic, the school secretary who will be my liaison this time has not yet arrived, so I have to sit in the office. My boss is interviewing a new student for next year, and her father is there. Suddenly jeans seem like a very, very big mistake. Soon the secretary arrives. She says to me, we will go after your class. To which I simply say, no, we will go now. But who will cover your class? Gen is covering it, we will go now. In fact Gen is only covering the second half of it, everyone has a first period class. But as many times as classes have been cancelled for lack of teachers (we don't have a sub system, teachers must cover for each other), events, or I've been pulled from a class I planned to teach for some other last minute reason with no cover, I simply don't care, this is more important. On occasions with many teachers out, classes are allowed to hang out, play guitar, connect their electronic music players to the sound system - they'll be fine. As it turns out the worst trouble they got into in my absence was they were about to play the movie EuroTrip over the projector when they were interrupted for actual grammar lessons. Oh well.
As we're walking out the students are walking in from the morning assembly, giggling at my attire and one asks me where are you going? Then who will be our teacher? To which I reply, "pretend you have a teacher." He grins. Not my proudest moment as an educator - but again, this is simply more important.
We get in the school van. I'm advised to dress professionally next time, but this time it's ok, you're a foreigner you don't know - that whatever my previous liaison told me, is not the right way to do things. I'm learning very quickly how much misinformation I've been given so far.
We drive, we nap, we're both coughing like crazy. We should both be home in bed. But my visa expires tomorrow, and if anything goes wrong we have to go back on the last day.
We go to Labour to pick up the Work Permit. This turns out to be fairly painless. I check the spelling of my name, sign the page, and pay for it. Then we leave. Less than 15 minutes. My partner in crime checks the details of the Thai writing and hands it to me to put in my file. Surely, that was too easy - and it was.
We get back in the van and drive to Immigration, well, are driven to Immigration. We go in, queue up, and I explain which additional forms from the counter I need. No, you don't need it. Yes, I do need it. No, you don't need it! Yes, I do need it. What? Why? This continues until I have my way. She's still confused - but I don't blame her, all this was explained to her by the previous, shortcut taking liaison, and improperly. I don't blame her, but I don't trust she knows everything I need, either.
Here's the thing. Do not believe the Thai government website, do not believe a Thai that doesn't personally work in Immigration about this paperwork. If you need answers about Work Permits and Visas, you need to personally ask another farang or go to expat web forums. That's where the information will be correct. And it doesn't help that they've recently made it much more strict, but most Thais are still operating in the previous regulations mindset.
We have several hours to wait for our number to come up, so we find a better place to sit and I fill out the forms she doesn't think I need. Then I lay down on the bench to curb my dizziness, at which point she tells me no no sit up this is Thailand, I don't know about other countries you can't do that here. Right.
Our number will be served after lunch, as last time. We go to the food court and each get some sort of noodle soup. I give her American cough suppressants and two Thai medicines. I'm not due for more yet. She looks even worse than I do - and I wish we didn't have to be here.
We go back to the Visa queue. She gives me Chinese cough suppressants. They don't taste good but they relieve the cough, she says. She's dead on. We're both half hunched over trying to nap sitting up between coughing fits.
Our number comes up ten minutes after lunch. We might even finish today. I hand over 1900 baht and we go back to wait. Over an hour passes. Finally we're called back. I have no idea what was said but I can tell there is a problem. We go back to sit down and she gets on the phone. She's calling the previous visa person - the one whose last day was Friday, whose signature she'll be foraging for the power of attorney over my paperwork. There is a form missing. One that she didn't bother to complete, saying oh, for the previous two people, didn't need it. It's a form that takes 15 days to obtain. My visa expires tomorrow. Liaison number one instructs liaison number two to negotiate with them. We try this several times. I'm informed I may have to go out of the country - tonight, or in seven days. I can't get any straight answers, and she's on the phone or talking to the Immigration officer. I call an English speaking colleague that actually knows the deal with this stuff. We discuss what it will take for me to leave for Laos tonight.
Then I find out my liaison has called my boss. My boss is negotiating with the Immigration officer. Somehow I wonder if this won't just make matters worse - but again, it's out of my hands. After over two hours of all this back and forth - my boss has negotiated a 7 day extension of my visa, she doesn't want me to leave the country. I both appreciate this and fear this fix won't actually prevent a border hop, just delay it - and I'm apprehensive that on our next trip the quick-fix seven day extension will not be honored by a different Immigration officer. This could result in a fine, not deportation or anything, and if it happens my school will be paying for it, not me. I think they've already planned that, but I will make sure of it.
My liaison is talking to the Immigration officer. I don't speak much Thai, but I've learned numbers below 100 - and I can tell she doesn't believe I'm 25. I point at myself and say "yi sip ha" and nod up and down yes, I am 25. I highly doubt wearing business attire would have convinced her of this either. For Immigration Take Three, I will be dressing to the nines. Should I pencil on some wrinkles too? Honestly. There's no way to know if business attire would have been the push to get around that missing form - but the fact is the form is on the list and my school didn't take care of it. It's not a form I fill out, it's a form the school must submit. We leave Immigration - with my passport and it's seven days of negotiated, borrowed time and without the 1900 baht. That extension should have been 200 baht, and I protest. I'm assured my boss will take care of it. This had better be the case, this is not my fault.
The two of us are seething with anger and trying to hide it from each other, as required by Thai culture. I consider the school secretary, my liaison number two, my best Thai friend. This has definitely put a strain on things. We open up and discuss our anger that the previous person cut corners and made things difficult. That we couldn't just do it properly the first time, that it doesn't have to be this difficult. But we are the 'younger sisters,' we are lower in rank than many of the people we needed to get stuff done; and though liaison number 1 is also our age - this was her job, so from a task standpoint - hers to take care of.
We nap and talk on the long drive home. We return to school. I explain the days events to a colleague. My boss pulls me aside and further explains how she will take care of it. The other teacher, the secretary and I discuss the fact that I have a seven day extension for a fifteen day piece of paperwork. That I may still have to make a border run. That my boss plans to call on the influence of parents of our students who work in the Ministry. In any case, nothing more will be done today, and I don't have to leave tonight. I'm taking more cold medicine, going home and going to sleep.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
In Search of Sanuk
I will try to keep this post related to In Search of Sanuk; with minimal personal updates beyond my experiences there today. The past three Saturdays I have gone to volunteer, well - at least FOUND the two locations for volunteering, with Sanuk my Saturday - a branch of In Search of Sanuk, (Sanuk means fun in Thai). For a better explanation, here is the website:
http://www.insearchofsanuk.com/
Today, I handed my new Nikon digital SLR camera (a Christmas present, apologies for still not getting to my entries about December - and SO excited about my camera!!!) over to a small girl. She asked me in Thai several times could she take photos with my camera before I finally asked another volunteer that speaks Thai what she wanted; and then I placed the camera strap around her neck, showed her to put her eye to the view finder, and the button to push to take a photo. The camera was far too big for her small hands. I'm not sure her age - maybe 8? Younger? She proceeded to take several photos of portions of my face - then happily scurried to photograph the other kids and things around the Wat.
I fully expect her to be working for National Geographic in 20 years. Ok, maybe not - but if a way was made for her, she certainly could. This simple act turned into many of the kids wanting their turn taking photos, and my camera was passed around from person to person. I'm not sure how many of the kids took a turn with my camera, but aside from having to give it back - I'm pretty sure they all had a lot of fun. One of the boys even did a pretty good job focusing the lens manually - another documentary photographer in the making. Yes, I was slightly nervous about handing my nice new camera over to elementary age children. But I'm glad I did, and I know they had a lot of fun. I'm going to upload the photos they took, without cutting any, to my shutterfly account - see link on right hand column of this page. No, my shutterfly account is not up to date from a month without my computer. I'll get there. And a few of the photos in the batch of over 100, I took. I'll tag them. Sometime...
Aside from playing with my camera, one volunteer brought a cool game called jungle...something. A game from France involving color and shape matching. We modified it, but the kids loved it. There was also coloring pages with English vocabulary and playing with a local dog. That dog really wanted that sock. Last week was sock puppets - I wonder if it was left over. I can say I wish I knew how to sew a button better from that experience helping with the puppets. Made it work though. Previous Saturday - making play dough. One little girl had the biggest grin on her face as she handed me two yoghurt cups of soupy, purplish play dough mixture. I graciously accepted and smiled as it dripped down my jeans and shoes - she was so happy, it didn't matter. It's amazing what something as simple as play dough, puppets, a card game or using a camera can be to these kids.
Alright, I must be off - I'm keeping quite busy as of late. More eventually. I'm staying out of trouble. Mostly. Also - the photo uploading is going to take a long, long time... they (just the ones from today) may not be ready for a couple of days depending on my internet connection.
http://www.insearchofsanuk.com/
Today, I handed my new Nikon digital SLR camera (a Christmas present, apologies for still not getting to my entries about December - and SO excited about my camera!!!) over to a small girl. She asked me in Thai several times could she take photos with my camera before I finally asked another volunteer that speaks Thai what she wanted; and then I placed the camera strap around her neck, showed her to put her eye to the view finder, and the button to push to take a photo. The camera was far too big for her small hands. I'm not sure her age - maybe 8? Younger? She proceeded to take several photos of portions of my face - then happily scurried to photograph the other kids and things around the Wat.
I fully expect her to be working for National Geographic in 20 years. Ok, maybe not - but if a way was made for her, she certainly could. This simple act turned into many of the kids wanting their turn taking photos, and my camera was passed around from person to person. I'm not sure how many of the kids took a turn with my camera, but aside from having to give it back - I'm pretty sure they all had a lot of fun. One of the boys even did a pretty good job focusing the lens manually - another documentary photographer in the making. Yes, I was slightly nervous about handing my nice new camera over to elementary age children. But I'm glad I did, and I know they had a lot of fun. I'm going to upload the photos they took, without cutting any, to my shutterfly account - see link on right hand column of this page. No, my shutterfly account is not up to date from a month without my computer. I'll get there. And a few of the photos in the batch of over 100, I took. I'll tag them. Sometime...
Aside from playing with my camera, one volunteer brought a cool game called jungle...something. A game from France involving color and shape matching. We modified it, but the kids loved it. There was also coloring pages with English vocabulary and playing with a local dog. That dog really wanted that sock. Last week was sock puppets - I wonder if it was left over. I can say I wish I knew how to sew a button better from that experience helping with the puppets. Made it work though. Previous Saturday - making play dough. One little girl had the biggest grin on her face as she handed me two yoghurt cups of soupy, purplish play dough mixture. I graciously accepted and smiled as it dripped down my jeans and shoes - she was so happy, it didn't matter. It's amazing what something as simple as play dough, puppets, a card game or using a camera can be to these kids.
Alright, I must be off - I'm keeping quite busy as of late. More eventually. I'm staying out of trouble. Mostly. Also - the photo uploading is going to take a long, long time... they (just the ones from today) may not be ready for a couple of days depending on my internet connection.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Immigration & Labour - Take One
It seems that my visa and work permit experience is rather typical, in fact - on the better end of what can be typical in Thailand for these things. People who have worked through teacher placement agencies that tried to help - have had similar, even more complicated experiences; and other agencies are simply uninterested in having their teachers be legal. I'm a direct hire, and I apparently work for a government school after all (which supposedly will make the actual processing of the papers smoother) my point is simply that having an agency doesn't necessarily make things better. In any case - here's a run down of my first trip to Immigration (there will be many).
Finally having the paperwork from the school, the school van, and whatever other loose ends were preventing the trip - yesterday I embarked on the trek to Immigration. As it turns out, TWO school 'officers' (secretaries) came along for this - because one is leaving the school after today (maternity), so she is showing the person that is staying the ropes of how to do it. The first officer attempted to go to Immigration ahead of us to get a queue number early - it used to be an automated ticket system. This time - they asked her "Where is the foreigner and where is their passport? You need both to take a ticket." Sounds fair enough to me, but none of this is really in my hands; and I wasn't going to complain about being able to skip the queue - but no go. She also apparently used to have a 'friend' that was in charge of the queue - whom she befriended by bringing them contraband coffee (they're not allowed breaks) and had previously been allowed to skip the queue entirely by this person. This 'connection,' has apparently leveled up in the ministry and is no longer on this level of things.
It may be a miracle that I even made it to Immigration one week prior to the expiration of my single entry, Non-B Visa (Teacher's Visa), on January 27. The Immigration office reminds me of an airport terminal. Huge open space - though relatively few people in that wide open space. Something like seven or eight levels of government offices of various ministries - and of course - or thank goodness - a food court, a 7/11 and other food and clothes vendors. One of my favorite office names: Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Public Organization): GISTDA. Many official signs, around Bangkok - not just here - are dual Thai English. No, I wouldn't have been able to read that in Thai (yet).
While I was in Immigration I wrote down observations about the experience - but it's amazing how quickly it all changes - half of them were irrelevant or changed by the end of the day. At Immigration we were attempting to extend my visa, because you cannot apply for a work permit when your visa is expiring. However, after the 4+ hour wait, including waiting through the hour lunch break of the Immigration officials because my queue number came up exactly at noon - we were simply told no, you cannot extend the visa without the work permit - even though we were only looking for a one week extension to allow time for the paperwork of the work permit. I'm not sure what was said, as it was said in Thai, but probably something to the effect of well you've had 90 days to do this - gee, imagine that. Apparently it all depends on the official you get - whether you get waved through and given extensions and papers with a swift "mai pen rai" or end up having to come back again. So, we will apply for the multi-entry, long term Non-B Visa another day. And I will apparently still have to check in with Immigration every 90 days with this visa, OR travel outside the country and return. I foresee short sight-seeing trips to other Asian countries; and times I'll just have to go back through these offices.
So, after Immigration, failed attempt number one - on to the Labour Ministry! I am thankful my farang co-workers mentioned the need for a health certificate from a Thai doctor for the work permit. My Thai associate said it was not necessary when I subsequently asked her, "not too strict," however when we got through the slightly shorter Labour queue - it did turn out that I needed it. This time, they didn't need my employment contract - complete with whited out dates of employment, then recopied so there was no physical white out on the page, changed to more recent dates since I've basically been working illegally. This is Thailand - this is typical. The thought of having to go back for the medical certificate alone is nauseating, especially since I already have to go back; it was well worth subjecting myself to the maybe necessary maybe not blood draw syphilis test (the one actual medical test required) at a clinic near my apartment. Made it through the phobia of needles and blood draws by glancing all over the room and repeating "sanuk, sanuk..." (fun, fun...) over and over - the best I could do in Thai to remain calm (Mai Pen Rai does NOT help me remain calm, plus it's a lot more syllables) - though the practitioners at the clinic spoke some English as well. So glad to have that over with, the doctor concluded "She had good healthy," gave his literal official stamp of approval, and that was that. Some people have gotten by with a glance up and down, immediate stamp - the certificate itself is not strict - but needing to have it to obtain a work permit is again, all up to who is behind your counter at Labour. I think she didn't need my blood test result, but if I didn't have it done then I would have needed it - at least this is my personal justification for subjecting myself to a dreaded blood test and trying to avoid some of the cognitive dissonance of all of this.
Right - so after submitting documents at Labour and paying the 100 Baht application fee, Here's what's next: January 26th (Wednesday) return to Labour at 8:30 am sharp if possible to pick up work permit, also probably pay another fee for it. Then proceed immediately to Immigration, where somewhere in the airport terminal like building there is a place to pay for photocopying. Obtain two photo copies of work permit. Go BACK to Immigration queue. Go to food court, 7/11, buff nails for half an hour - (yes, I did that), etc., and try again for the Non-B Visa. Oh, and just now from a co-worker - apparently obtaining a multiple entry 'permit' is in addition to the visa, it requires a separate queue ticket and trip through the hullabaloo, which you CAN do on the same day - but which they will not grant without first having the visa - so huzzah, yet another trip through the madness. Oh joy.
A few asides on this topic before I wrap the post up: two of my colleagues had to go to Laos to re-apply for their Non-B Visa. Thankfully I'm already on a Non-B, so fingers crossed that I don't have to (though there are PLENTY of reputable and non-reputable companies that handle border runs for visas) - applications for Non-B must be made from outside the country - so if you started off on a tourist or spouse visa as was their case, you've got to hop the border to apply for your visa. In all honesty the worst repercussions I would face in my current situation are fines, not immigration detention, jail or deportation (that's reserved for other visa violations and persons who've also committed crimes beyond overstaying, or overstayed a very, very long time). So the day before expiration, here's to hoping everything falls into place. One of my co-workers relayed the story of his first visa/work permit, complete with three trips to Immigration and Labour and one jaunt to Laos (he was on the spouse visa) - and how everything fell into place on the exact day his visa expired. Otherwise, I look forward to blogging the experience of bussing to Laos with a border run agency.
Finally having the paperwork from the school, the school van, and whatever other loose ends were preventing the trip - yesterday I embarked on the trek to Immigration. As it turns out, TWO school 'officers' (secretaries) came along for this - because one is leaving the school after today (maternity), so she is showing the person that is staying the ropes of how to do it. The first officer attempted to go to Immigration ahead of us to get a queue number early - it used to be an automated ticket system. This time - they asked her "Where is the foreigner and where is their passport? You need both to take a ticket." Sounds fair enough to me, but none of this is really in my hands; and I wasn't going to complain about being able to skip the queue - but no go. She also apparently used to have a 'friend' that was in charge of the queue - whom she befriended by bringing them contraband coffee (they're not allowed breaks) and had previously been allowed to skip the queue entirely by this person. This 'connection,' has apparently leveled up in the ministry and is no longer on this level of things.
It may be a miracle that I even made it to Immigration one week prior to the expiration of my single entry, Non-B Visa (Teacher's Visa), on January 27. The Immigration office reminds me of an airport terminal. Huge open space - though relatively few people in that wide open space. Something like seven or eight levels of government offices of various ministries - and of course - or thank goodness - a food court, a 7/11 and other food and clothes vendors. One of my favorite office names: Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Public Organization): GISTDA. Many official signs, around Bangkok - not just here - are dual Thai English. No, I wouldn't have been able to read that in Thai (yet).
While I was in Immigration I wrote down observations about the experience - but it's amazing how quickly it all changes - half of them were irrelevant or changed by the end of the day. At Immigration we were attempting to extend my visa, because you cannot apply for a work permit when your visa is expiring. However, after the 4+ hour wait, including waiting through the hour lunch break of the Immigration officials because my queue number came up exactly at noon - we were simply told no, you cannot extend the visa without the work permit - even though we were only looking for a one week extension to allow time for the paperwork of the work permit. I'm not sure what was said, as it was said in Thai, but probably something to the effect of well you've had 90 days to do this - gee, imagine that. Apparently it all depends on the official you get - whether you get waved through and given extensions and papers with a swift "mai pen rai" or end up having to come back again. So, we will apply for the multi-entry, long term Non-B Visa another day. And I will apparently still have to check in with Immigration every 90 days with this visa, OR travel outside the country and return. I foresee short sight-seeing trips to other Asian countries; and times I'll just have to go back through these offices.
So, after Immigration, failed attempt number one - on to the Labour Ministry! I am thankful my farang co-workers mentioned the need for a health certificate from a Thai doctor for the work permit. My Thai associate said it was not necessary when I subsequently asked her, "not too strict," however when we got through the slightly shorter Labour queue - it did turn out that I needed it. This time, they didn't need my employment contract - complete with whited out dates of employment, then recopied so there was no physical white out on the page, changed to more recent dates since I've basically been working illegally. This is Thailand - this is typical. The thought of having to go back for the medical certificate alone is nauseating, especially since I already have to go back; it was well worth subjecting myself to the maybe necessary maybe not blood draw syphilis test (the one actual medical test required) at a clinic near my apartment. Made it through the phobia of needles and blood draws by glancing all over the room and repeating "sanuk, sanuk..." (fun, fun...) over and over - the best I could do in Thai to remain calm (Mai Pen Rai does NOT help me remain calm, plus it's a lot more syllables) - though the practitioners at the clinic spoke some English as well. So glad to have that over with, the doctor concluded "She had good healthy," gave his literal official stamp of approval, and that was that. Some people have gotten by with a glance up and down, immediate stamp - the certificate itself is not strict - but needing to have it to obtain a work permit is again, all up to who is behind your counter at Labour. I think she didn't need my blood test result, but if I didn't have it done then I would have needed it - at least this is my personal justification for subjecting myself to a dreaded blood test and trying to avoid some of the cognitive dissonance of all of this.
Right - so after submitting documents at Labour and paying the 100 Baht application fee, Here's what's next: January 26th (Wednesday) return to Labour at 8:30 am sharp if possible to pick up work permit, also probably pay another fee for it. Then proceed immediately to Immigration, where somewhere in the airport terminal like building there is a place to pay for photocopying. Obtain two photo copies of work permit. Go BACK to Immigration queue. Go to food court, 7/11, buff nails for half an hour - (yes, I did that), etc., and try again for the Non-B Visa. Oh, and just now from a co-worker - apparently obtaining a multiple entry 'permit' is in addition to the visa, it requires a separate queue ticket and trip through the hullabaloo, which you CAN do on the same day - but which they will not grant without first having the visa - so huzzah, yet another trip through the madness. Oh joy.
A few asides on this topic before I wrap the post up: two of my colleagues had to go to Laos to re-apply for their Non-B Visa. Thankfully I'm already on a Non-B, so fingers crossed that I don't have to (though there are PLENTY of reputable and non-reputable companies that handle border runs for visas) - applications for Non-B must be made from outside the country - so if you started off on a tourist or spouse visa as was their case, you've got to hop the border to apply for your visa. In all honesty the worst repercussions I would face in my current situation are fines, not immigration detention, jail or deportation (that's reserved for other visa violations and persons who've also committed crimes beyond overstaying, or overstayed a very, very long time). So the day before expiration, here's to hoping everything falls into place. One of my co-workers relayed the story of his first visa/work permit, complete with three trips to Immigration and Labour and one jaunt to Laos (he was on the spouse visa) - and how everything fell into place on the exact day his visa expired. Otherwise, I look forward to blogging the experience of bussing to Laos with a border run agency.
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