Dear Amand Jentges,
Interesting story. If it says in your contract about paying you extra for the house, I believe they MUST, thats your right.
But on the other hand you already told them you dont need one. But you want now and they already gave it to another one. Thats also their right.
Now, I believe you can ask them for your house extra but can not stay in the campus. just do like that. Nothing to lose. And fair for both sides.
But I would like to tell you a little detail. Almost same story happened to my friend. He asked for his rightful house extra and they canceled his contract. Good luck
Dear Steve,
I have been teaching English to undergraduate students in a small university since February 2008. The university offers free accommodation at the campus, which I refused during my first contract because I had a second very well paid Sunday-job, and could easily afford 5,000 Baht rent for my house in Lampang. This company stopped their courses in October 2009, which means that since October I have to live with approximately 10,000 Bath after all my monthly fees are paid. My new year contract starting on October 1 2009 provides accommodation by the university during the working period, but when I asked for a house on the campus, I was told that there is no accommodation available at the moment. I have the Labour Protection Act B.E.2541, but I haven’t found any clause relating to this problem. So I would be very pleased if you could tell my whether my employer is forced by law to pay for accommodation (because it is part of my contract) or not. Thank you very much in advance, and I am looking forward to hearing from you, Yours sincerely Amand Jentges
Dear Steve,
I am extremely happy that more and more foreigners are speaking out about Thai Labor Law.
However, being that you have so much experience on the subject, can you please tell me where do private Thai schools fall under the labor law? I just read the two Postbox articles about how teachers (Thai and foreign) in private schools have absolutely NO rights. Is this true?
Hi Rome,
that’s a really sad story you tell, but an all too often one heard. You should stand up and be counted as you say, and don’t let them treat you this way. If there’s a local newspaper printed in English in your area, you should consider getting a meeting with the editor and telling them your story. Maybe they will have some courage and try to support you since you appear to not have done anything wrong.
I’m sure Mr. Crawford will be able to give you some solid advice as well. I have personally seen situations where blonde, blue-eyed certificate- challenged teachers have been selected above well qualified, certificate-carrying teachers, so this comes as no shock to me at all to hear that you were thought to be less of a teacher simply because you are a Phillipino. The fact is that some shallow Thais like to parade around the “whitey” like some trophy and play the game of one-upman-ship which you mentioned e.g. because a rival decided to pay for farang teachers. It’s pitiful really and maybe you should ask yourself whether you are not better off away from a school which is run with this lack of integrity? Just a thought.
Good luck whatever happens and do let us know how it all ends.
Tom
Hey Steve,
I wrote to you earlier about whether or not a teacher being terminated from their contract even though they were given a one month’s notice, could still request severence pay. You said they could. So now I’m in a situation like I stated before. Can you please tell me where I need to go to file a claim or a phone number I need to contact someone so I can start filing a claim? Also, what do I need to have to file the claim? Any help would be great. A phone number or address. Every time I talk with someone they give me a different number to call and I feel like I’m getting the run around. Plus, almost no one speaks any English. It’s very frustrating. Thanks again for your help.
By Bubba Richards, Bangkok on 2010-04-21