[quote=brillo post_id=59283 time=1595064680 user_id=227037]
Update: things have changed. I ran around chasing bits of paper. Turns out I didn't need anything other than my passport and a photocopy of the photo page/stamp.

They did everything else there, was very easy and took about 30 mins.

Still don't know what I need it for though!
[/quote]

Sounds very strange, unless the procedure has changed radically. If not, I think we may be thinking of different documents...

It always required an application form where you had to specify the purpose. Then you had to supply some sort of proof for that purpose. And you had to specify the country that you were using it for, which was printed at the top of the clearance "For country x only". I asked once when applying in person if I could have a cert without the country name for general use, and got the famous Thai "mai dai".

You could probably find something in Thailand or Cambodia without much trouble. But the schools there that will hire without a cert tend to be low paying and poorly managed, with zero PD options. I don't think school names are allowed on this forum, but the reviews on the paid side of this site would be a place to start looking.

If your new employer hasn't requested it, don't bother. It's a hassle. The cert itself is dated and addressed specifically to the country you specify, so you can't reuse it later either.

I've had to get it multiple times for work visas in other countries. The official way (pre-Covid) involves a big paper chase, a long wait (6+ weeks minimum) and paying a 100 baht fee + extra for shipping if you need it.

The semi-official way involves going through an agent who appears to work within the division that issues the certs. Going this route, the paperwork is reduced, the fee is massively increased (I think around 7000 baht the last time I had to get it), and the cert is Fed-Ex'd to your door within a couple of days. The link for going the agent route used to be on the official website.

Any word on if the ban is strictly passport-based? What if you are an expat who hasn't been to the US since Covid hit?

Malaria meds are not really feasible long term. Too many side effects. Doxy would mess me up, and one of the other meds can make you hallucinate. I don't know any expats who took malaria meds long term (except maybe daily doses of gin & tonic...)

As shadowjack mentioned, the key is to never ignore symptoms as this is where malaria can get dangerous.

You are far more likely to catch dengue, and it's nasty. In SE Asia, the school of thought among expats was that if you get dengue, you will wish you had malaria instead.

I believe it was the great philosopher, Mike Tyson, who said "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth".

That works well when talking about planning for a long stay at your dream school. You can plan all you want, but there will eventually be a change of leadership, be it principal or whoever you are required to report to. And if you don't get on with that new person, or they are just plain terrible at being a principal, it will be like a punch in the mouth. You could maybe eek out 1 more school year if this happens, but any longer and you are risking your sanity, and possibly your career.

Still plenty of countries where international flights are not operating and may not be for some time. Fairly easy decision then...

mamava wrote:
> I know that some international schools are quite American--I believe
> friends who taught at Taipei American School, for example, paid into the US
> social security system. There might be a few cases where you could claim,
> but not as a general rule.

I was just going to post this. For Americans, if you were working at one of the handful of schools that pays into SS for American employees, you could, in theory, file for unemployment in the state where your school had its US office or presence. Now, what happens if you have no other connections with that state and no address there, and you try to file for unemployment? It would be interesting to know. I suspect some states might try to deny the claim.

chemteacher101 wrote:
> Totally agree. I'm just wondering how good (or bad) option this would be
> for say an experienced teacher with no actual teaching license. It would
> seem easier to get than the MS route, for example. But I don't know if the
> fact that it is specific for charter schools would make it a deal-breaker
> for international schools...Or not...

If you had that license, I would just list it very generically on the resume (Elementary Education - State of Indiana) and hope for the best. It might be ok for visa purposes. Whether it would be ok for your principal or director doing the hiring would be up to them. If you get an American principal and they see your cert says "Charter" and "Indiana", alarm bells might ring.

Heliotrope wrote:
> A contract has been breached by the IT by not showing up for work. The
> school sues. The IT's defense will be that it's FM, pointing out the FM
> clause, but since you can't make a claim like that without specifying it
> and supporting it properly, the IT will have to prove why the pandemic
> makes it impossible for them to work and his declaration of FM was
> justified.
> The IS can then just say that all other ITs are all still working and the
> IT loses.

Yeah this is pretty much what happened to a colleague at a place where I used to work, years back. Said colleague went home for the summer break, and then was banking on FM to get out of the contract (it was a volatile region). At the end of the summer, when it was clear that FM wasn't going to happen or be accepted, colleague started claiming their safety was in danger, etc. The school had none of it, contacted Search Associates and reported breach of contract.

I got mine back for the last year I worked in Thailand, but this was well over a decade ago so who knows what it is like now.

My school organized it, but I had to go back to Thailand in person to collect the refund check from my school. No other way was possible. I then walked across the street and deposited the check into my Thai bank account, which I had kept alive for this.

I'm not sure my experience was the norm though. You need to make sure your school does not intend to pocket your refund (happened to a friend of mine), and also make sure the tax withheld shown on your monthly payslip actually gets sent to the revenue department in the first place and does not go into someone's pocket (heard loads of stories about this happening).

Edit: assuming here we are talking about income tax. If we are also talking Thai Social Security tax, I'd love to hear how anyone got that back. When I left, I was told it is not possible until you are 60.

Wow, I clicked on that link and was initially surprised to see that it appears you can qualify for a teaching license by just having what would barely qualify you for a substitute teacher permit in many other states. Then I noticed it was Indiana, and I was no longer surprised...

https://www.salon.com/2013/08/10/why_mi ... t_partner/

I don't think a blended model is a "want to", but more of a "have to" at least for the start of 20-21. There are still likely to be travel/visa restrictions in place for nationals of hard hit countries (Americans) for some time. You may see classrooms where say 50% of students are physically there while the rest are not.

I can see the elite/tier 1 schools staying open and maybe committing to a blended model for 20-21 as the situation normalizes. These schools generally have resources to ride things out, maybe faculty have to take a pay cut for next year, but massive layoffs are probably unlikely.

Tier 2 schools will probably see some job cuts or not replace departing teachers.

Tier 3 for-profit schools may shut down depending on the country.

Online learning will probably stick around at the HS level for certain courses. For anything K-8 it is really not ideal and the current situation is only in place because there are no other options. Agree that lower tier schools may see it as a way to cut costs though, even when things normalize.

You would probably have to consult a labor lawyer in your location to get a definitive answer.

In my experience (working in a volatile location many years back) you as an employee cannot claim Force Majeure and just leave - that would be the same as breaking contract. It is the employer who declares force majeure, and if that happens the contract is considered to be successfully completed and immediately voids. You are probably entitled to something in this situation and it is usually in your contract, figure on 1 - 3 months pay and your flight.

As for choosing to stay or go upon Force Majeure (mentioned in the post above), I'm not so sure about that. Since the contract is voided, the school would be under no obligation to provide you with a visa, housing, or anything beyond the Force Majeure terms stated in the contract.