Diving and teaching in east Thailand, non touristic quiet place

[tgui]

Hello, that's my first topic on this forum.

I'm living until next June 2008 in a quiet town between Rayong and Trat, in eastern-coastal Thailand.
I do teach CMAS courses from 1 star diver to 3 stars diver (equivalences with Padi open water, advanced OW and divemaster). This is a volonteer non-business activity which means no complicated and friendly people only, cheap prices with no commission, no busy places, no crowdy dive sites (just us and the fish).

I you travel in east Thailand and want to know more about this please just contact me by email.

Guillaume

 

[smartecosse]

well as a volunteer you will still require a work permit in Thailand so make sure that you organise one so that you do not fall foul of the authorities

 

[tgui]

To teach for no money you don't need a work permit. I do teach in thai schools, military camp and other as a volonteer.
And please as you could read I'm just looking for buddies, beginners or not.

 

[smartecosse]

as far as i am aware (informed by lawyer) you do require a work permit even as a volunteer in Thailand. The work permit have on it that your salary is zero but you will still be issued with one as you are working, albeit for free.

And your original post did not say "Wanted dive buddies" it stated that you were a cmas inst that could teach up to divemaster but you would do this on a volunteer basis.

Personally I dont care what you get up to but having seen the guy just down the road from us get locked up and then deported for infringements even though he had a wife and child here I was merely giving you a heads up

******edited to add******
official reply from labour office

Work permit for charity workers
Foreign volunteer workers with non-profit organizations should have work permits even if they are not paid for the work they do.

Foreigners have to a have work permit for any work they do. It's not difficult; just have the non-profit organization apply with a document stating that you have joined them as a volunteer.

Foreign volunteers should have work permits because they may become involved with officials.

For example, if you need to report to the police that your wallet was stolen while you were doing volunteer work, the officers may ask [what you were doing when the theft took place]. They may then ask to see your work permit.

 

[tgui]

Did I ever write that I do non-profit organization ?

Don't you see the difference between a NGO and a personnal initiative ?

When you go for a cleaning day do you need a work permit ?

When you do diving with your friends in Thailand, do you need a work permit ?

Ok the topic is dead, thanks a lot, I put another...............

As far as i am aware, when I declared to thai immigration police that I do teach diving for free in Thailand on my own or for public offices, they said it didn't make any problem for them. Also as far as I am aware, the law is very flexible in Thailand, and there's a big difference of tolerance between Pattaya, Phuket, Bangkok, and the rest of Thailand. As it's a non businees activity, may you reply to me by email or is my first post gonna be dead five minutes after I posted it ? I mean I'm not starting a commercial war am I ?

 

[smartecosse]

listen (read) carefully what i write

I DO NOT CARE WHETHER YOU TEACH DIVING, ENGLISH, MUAY THAI, FRENCH COOKING OR ANYTHING ELSE.

I was merely trying to point out that as a farang in Thailand sometimes the simplest things can end up causing you a lot of trouble. There are MANY people that work in Thailand without a work permit and have got away with it for many years in some cases.

If that what you want to do then go right ahead and do it. But I will say once again, even as a volunteer you are REQUIRED to have a work permit. I suggest that you head on over to Thailand Forum and use the search facility for the words "work permit, volunteer" and you will see that this topic has been covered many many times.

Anyway dive safe

 

[smartecosse]

sneeky, editing the post while i replied

anyway as i said have fun and safe diving

 

[tgui]

Hello

Thanks for the tip but I've been living for years in here and my goal isn't to promote a non-respectful attitude to Thailand at all as I'm hand in hand with officials from thai fisheries, schools, militaries and others...

I understand you see a LOT of strange things in touristic places and you advice is right. Anyway as I told you my activity is just legal. Maybe if I was teaching PADI the status would not be right, but TDA-CMAS is a thai association, with a legal status. A national association doesn't have the same status as an NGO, anywere you go. Looking for buddies on the internet I found more exchanges like the one we just had. I think it's a pity because it's just showing a wrong side of the internet. I may just find nobody this way, with topics showing textual battles going nowhere. I used to write on plongeur.com which is exactly the same as scubaboard.com but in french. Same result. As soon as I did post a buddy search post Koh Tao dive shops attacked me very aggressively, the post was lost.

 

[smartecosse]

perhaps you should post this then

WANTED - Dive Buddies

Experienced diver living in blah blah blah looking for other divers to buddy up with. If you want to do some great shore dives or share the cost of a boat then give me a call / pm and we can hook up to check out some of the great marine life in the area.


what you posted read like someone touting for business and if get the same replies in other forums thats why.

Oh and by the way EVEN IF ITS A THAI ASSOCIATION you still need a WORK PERMIT!!!!!!!!! What part of that dont you get.

In fact I tell you what, give me your name and address and I can pass it onto a friend at the labour office who can get some of his colleagues to come round and "explain:" it to you

 

[waylander48]

Work permit for charity workers
Foreign volunteer workers with non-profit organizations should have work permits even if they are not paid for the work they do.

In Thailand "Should" has many meanings as you should know and Tgui is right in Thailand outside of large commercial zones most people have little or no trouble working with the Thai's and do not need a lot of regulation. If you show them respect then they while show you respect. If you argue like is done here on the SB then I can see why the local government will be hard on you.

Tgui I am not close to the water right now but I can take trips down to vist and dive and hace been looking for a buddy for a wile outside of all the hustle and bustle. If you are not turned off on the SB please let me now. I wile be coming down to your area in Jan.