Oh Crap, What Now? Losing Your Job in Thailand [S5.E3]

The Bangkok Podcast

The guys discuss the sticky situation of what it means to lose your job in Thailand as an expat, and the relative insecurity that all of us have, no matter how long we’ve lived here.

Ed gives a quick overview of the law: if you have a non-immigrant ‘B’ visa connected to a work permit and a Thai company, and your work permit is canceled, then your visa is also automatically canceled and you have exactly 7 days to leave the country. Now it may be possible to re-enter as a tourist, of course, but even that can cause significant life disruptions because it is not possible to get a new work permit with a tourist visa!

Greg jumps in with a personal story of losing his job last year due to the ravages of COVID on the travel industry. He was in a particularly scary situation given that he is married with a kid, and even with all his years in Thailand, he would have been subject to the same 7-day rule as everybody else. Thankfully he had some luck and found a new job. Bullet dodged.

Greg and Ed discuss the fairness (or more accurately, unfairness) of the rule and if there are any possible ways around it, and in general lament the harshness of some Thai laws as they relate to expats, as opposed to tourists. Suffice it to say that they don’t call Thailand the ‘Land of Smiles’ because the expats here are always smiling.

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