Thread: Legal Rights and Teacher's Contracts

Interesting question from a friend of mine- She and I have both researched this and cannot find any answer. My friend's school will not provide her with a copy of her signed contract.
The question is- Is their a Thai law stating that a teacher has a legal right to request a copy of the signed contract between school and teacher?
Thanks all!

Bizarre. But I dont know.

My question is why didn't you get a copy when you signed it?

Just curious....

Also, do you work for a private school or a government school?

FWIW: Thailand has some of the best and most comprehensive Employer/Employee Labor Laws in all of S/E Asia.

Really, have you done a comparison? Or did you just read it on TV or hear it in a bar ?

cos I mm so labour laws are pretty strong also.

thought it had more to do with getting visa's sorted to weed out guys without proper qualifications.
when i was there the school kids had more power to see off a teacher who performed in an unthai like manner. so long as kids were happy and could relate to the teacher and reduce their shyness toward a farang teacher as well as learning.
failing a student in an exam wasn't tolerated.
talking about the gov. schools.
not many if any win when taking up disputes about contracts.
some where along the line the farang will realise he's fighting a losing battle.
disputes with contracts in the business arena also costs big time.
and could even cost a life.
if one isn't wanted there's little that can be done except lose.

But having said all that i'm no expert on how contracts are handled now as i ain't been there since 3 years ago.

Private schools may be different nowadays.

About the only thing you're right on "billy the kid" is the fact that government schools in thailand and possibly all schools here have that "no child left behind" policy. It's the worst thing theses people could do to themselves. It's tied in to that whole imaginary "save face, gain face, don't lose face" dealy that thais are so caught up with every second of their lives.. Even if a thai fails every test, you can't fail them.

Again, most of your statements are general misconceptions shared by the foreign community.

• You CAN win when taking up a contract dispute. (unless you've been brainwashed into thinking you can't by the thais, but that's totally on you)

• You aren't fighting a losing battle; IF you have your ducks in a row and good documentation of what happened, instead of a he said-she said b/s story.

• These disputes cost you NOTHING (if you utilize the thai labor grievance system correctly).

• I also believe you're highly unlikely to "lose your life" over a teaching contract dispute.

That's the stuff overly paranoid foreigners make up. Those are usually the ones who spout out that mantra; "we're guests here in this country". I hate hearing; don't cross a thai, don't argue with a thai even if you're right, don't do this, don't do that. That kind of mindset and/or rhetoric makes my stomach turn. I wonder how those foreigners manage to live here without a spine or a pair of balls..

Now believe me, speaking something which resembles thai more than 2-word-tourist-thai, taxi-thai, or horse-peak-thai will certainly get you further than tryin' to do it all in English, but still it can be done..

You don't have to involve lawyers, although that's the route most foreigners go down because it's what we do in the west. I've found you need to turn over a lot of rocks to find a diamond in regards to quality representation in the legal arena here. You're far more likely to be screwed over by a lawyer here than in the west.

Good Luck

Originally Posted by toddaniels

"In comparison to the other pissant, shit-hole, developing third world countries which border this one; this country's labor laws read pretty darned good".

FYI; I'm not saying this place ain't a pissant shit-hole developing third world country either; just that it has some good labor laws...

Fair enough.