In response to Mel's letter ("Seven months and still illegal, Postbox 21st November) One thing I learnt a long time back, providing you are not uneducated and meet the minimum requirements, is that one must do everything oneself! It is your passport, it is your work permit and it is your life!

Step 1: Go and speak to your director of your school and ask him/her to write a letter to The Teacher's Council stating that you are an essential worker (reminds me of Schindler's List - the movie - Blue Card = life, everything else = death) and that the school is requesting a 2 year temporary waiver.

Step 2: Copy all documents you have and go by yourself (if you are abandoned by your school) to the Teacher's Council in BKK. You can download all forms in advance from http://www.ksp.or.th/Khurusapha/en/

Step 3: Wait for about 3 weeks (maybe faster).

The next steps are not that bad if the school is willing to write that letter to get the 2-year waiver. Failure to do this indicates it is not Thai government departments that are to blame, but it is 100% the lack of support of your school. If such, look for a new job. Till then, keep your head down.

I have always refused to work for an employer without all legal issues in advance. Even if this means leaving the country to get the extension of visa. Till I get the work permit and the non-imm B, I would rather spend 500 baht a night living in a guest house than work as an illegal. In fact, I have found that by telling them such and they actually respect the foreigner a bit more.

Mr Grumpy