Visa Emergency

Ever since my visa run to Laos in December I've been watching the days tick down to the expiration date on my visa. Like everyone who goes to a Thai consulate, I only received a 90-day working visa (a "Non-Immigrant B" visa). The Thai process would then have me go through several other stages of paperwork (including, importantly, applying for a 'work permit') before I can extend my visa to a year.

So to summarise: the visa I got in Laos was only valid until last Sunday.

As of last Thursday, I still didn't even have a work permit. Hmmmmmm.

In short: my boss screwed up. Big time. After I came back from Laos, she didn't send my paperwork to Bangkok for processing. About a month ago I asked her how it was going and realised that she still hadn't sent it (though, being Thai, she couldn't admit it outright). She finally sent it (two months late), and the entire process got set back.

Due to an extremely lucky connection between one lady at school and someone in Bangkok, my paperwork was put on priority and arrived, miraculously, before my visa expired. We asked the Labour Department to hurry my work permit and, instead of taking 10 days, it was done within 24 hours. On Friday afternoon, we went to immigration to extend my visa. As immigration is closed over the weekend, and my visa expired on Sunday, going on Friday was my last chance if I wanted to remain legally in Thailand - and finish my current contract. There, in the final hours of Friday afternoon, I got my visa extended.

Talk about cutting it close...

What does this mean?

Work permits and visa extensions are expensive. If you change schools, your work permit becomes invalid and you have to start the whole bureaucratic process again (starting with another trip to Laos). And my contract finishes at the end of March. So I really needed to know if I was staying at my current school. I had to decide what I wanted so I knew what I wanted to pay for (or didn't want to pay for, as it was).

The Facts: My salary is very low. As a foreigner in Thailand, I should be earning much more. Other schools have more money, better facilities, and better systems. Scratch that - they actually have systems! But there are some pros to staying at my school as well. It's a totally different experience working at a "poor kids' school", and I have close relationships with a lot of the teachers and students.

Last week I had serious salary discussions with my boss and the school director. They just would not increase my salary to what I should be getting. I said "thanks but no thanks", shook hands with the director, and that was that. This happened on Wednesday.

On Thursday I had an idea. If I could have two weeks of paid leave in July so I could return to Australia, I could probably justify staying. My boss agreed, she spoke to the director and he apparently agreed too.

But nothing is set in stone yet. I'm not signing a contract until that paid leave is written in there crystal-clear. For stupid Thai reasons, I'm now fighting tooth and nail just to get that. My boss promises I'll get the time off, but unless I see it in my contract, it means nothing to me. She says she'll put it in the contract, and then when I get the contract, it's still not in there. This is a Thai trait that leads back to their fear of losing face: Thais will look you in the eye and tell you what you want to hear - even if it's a lie - so that they look good. So that they make you happy. And then, when they don't follow through, they just say "mai bpenrai", which translates to "don't worry about it".

This is the ultimate phrase in Thailand. Got a problem? "Mai bpenrai. Just don't worry." Problem solved!!!!! Thais don't like confrontation, so this is usually the end of the discussion. But for me, if I can't get that time off, it means even though I've paid for my work permit and visa, I'll still be changing schools. And I'll have to go back to Laos and start the whole expensive process again.

And that would be really, really annoying.

These are the kind of problems that plague Thailand on a daily basis. That fear of losing face or having confrontation is paralysing to Thais. But when all is said and done, the thing I'll take to heart most from last week is something else...

I spread the word early on that I might be leaving. I made it clear to the other teachers that my boss would be to blame if I couldn't stay, or if I couldn't get my visa extension, and their sympathy and support was overwhelming. I had teachers practically coming out of the walls to ask me to please stay. I lost count of the number of gifts I received. One teacher offered that if I could only stay, she would surrender 1,000 baht from her salary per month and direct it into mine. Some of my grade 3s heard that I might leave and they ganged up on me, staring up at me with their shimmering puppy-like eyes and begging, "Teacher, don't go." I have about a dozen slips of paper from kids with pictures and messages saying things like, "I love you" and "Don't go, I will miss you".

Dammit.

So what now?

With so much support at my current school, it's likely I'll stay - depending on the contract, of course. With that time off in July (and the fact that I'd be getting paid during the April holidays, which wouldn't happen if I changed schools), I could financially justify taking the lower salary option. The contract would be a year, but to be honest, I haven't decided staying beyond October/November yet.

In the meantime, I'm actually really looking forward to the coming months. I've got some really good friends here. I've got some projects in the pipeline which may or may not happen but that I'm really looking forward to. And next month I'm going to Japan for two weeks for Phil and Yukiko's wedding. I'm indescribably excited for that.

Then, in July, I'll be visiting Australia.

No matter what that means for my job or visa.