Please log in to reply 19 replies to this topic

[Tyrellius]

Hello, I have been checking out this place for the last 6 months. There has been a lot of good advice about international teaching on this site.

I have a question that some of you may be able to answer.

Basically, do International schools do Thai police clearances for all the teachers that they employ if those teachers have been working in Thailand before.

I ask because I have a minor conviction from the last time i lived in Thailand around 6 years ago. Would this be a problem?

Thanks for any help,

[Scott]

I actually don't know.  I would guess that they do.  If it is a Thai operated international school and you have to get a teacher's license, you will need a police clearance.

My experience has been that misdemeanor offenses are not a problem.  We once had a teacher who had a drink-driving offense in his home country.  As I recall, it did not cause a problem.

[Tyrellius]

Scott, on 2012-05-23 05:53:00, said:

I actually don't know.  I would guess that they do.  If it is a Thai operated international school and you have to get a teacher's license, you will need a police clearance..

A Police Clearance from Thailand?

[Scott]

The police clearance can be obtained from the Royal Thai police force.  I don't remember the exact criteria, but it has to do with the country or countries you have lived in during the past 6 months and I would assume your home country.  It is an international police clearance, covering more than just Thailand, but it can be obtained from the Thai police.

[Tyrellius]

Would they need this if i was out of Thailand for 4 - 5 years and came back to teach?

[Scott]

Yes, you will need a police clearance.

[Loaded]

This was cut and pasted from a post on TV a few years ago:

Thai Police Clearance Instructions:
Police Clearance Service Center (Sub-Division 2, General Staff
Division, Special Branch Bureau)
Monday to Friday (Except Public Holidays), from 08.30 am . – 04.30 pm.
without lunch break.

Location
The Police Clearance Service Center is located at Building 24, Royal
Thai Police Headquarters, Rama I, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Phone number: 0-2205-2168-9

Directions
The best way to get to the Royal Thai Police Headquarters is by taking
BTS to Siam Square station. The entrance is located on Rama I Rd,
halfway between Henry Dunant and Ratchadamri Rds.

Documents required (foreign applicant)
1) Passport with two photocopies of first page and two of the current visa page
2) Document(s) certify that the applicant is working, used to work, or
is residing in Thailand (Non-Imm B or job offer should be enough)

Notes
No charge for the police certificate itself. They will fingerprint you
and take your picture while there. If you want the certificate mailed
to you, you’ll have to pay a fee for postage. Otherwise, you can pick
up the certificate in about 2 weeks.

[Tyrellius]

^ Thanks, but I know how to get it. I just don't know if i need it or not.

I want to work in an International school in Bangkok. I want to know if they require a Thai police clearance if I was living in Thailand prior to starting work with them. I am in the UK now, but lived in Thailand for 4 years previously.

[paully]

Tyrellius, on 2012-05-24 19:13:50, said:

I want to work in an International school in Bangkok. I want to know if they require a Thai police clearance if I was living in Thailand prior to starting work with them.

I think it depends what sort of 'International School' it is you are trying to get work at.  If it's a top-notch one, I would assume so in addition to home-country police clearance.  If it's a 'lower-end' int school, I wouldn't think they'd be bothered about this.

[Scott]

Teachers who are going for the non-immigrant B are routinely turned down if they do not either have the police clearance or the receipt that an application has been made.

[Tyrellius]

Scott, on 2012-05-24 21:20:12, said:

Teachers who are going for the non-immigrant B are routinely turned down if they do not either have the police clearance or the receipt that an application has been made.

Is that a Thai Police clearance you are talking about?

[Loaded]

Tyrellius, on Yesterday, 02:13 , said:

Scott, on 2012-05-24 21:20:12, said:

Teachers who are going for the non-immigrant B are routinely turned down if they do not either have the police clearance or the receipt that an application has been made.

Is that a Thai Police clearance you are talking about?

Quite a few consulates (especially in home countries) do not require. Embassies are always stricter though. Our experience of the Thai embassy in Laos is that they list a police clearance as one of the requirements on their website but do not insist when the application is made. I know quite a few teachers who obtained non-imm Bs there and they didn't show one.

[Tyrellius]

I still don't know what the requirements are. Are there no qualified teachers on this board?

Scott, I still don't know if you are a qualified (PGCE + QTS) teacher or not. If you are then you can make a sure comment. If not, then... Everything seems very vague...

Edited by Tyrellius, Yesterday, 07:36 .

[Scott]

It is required.  If you go to get a non-immigrant B without one, you may or you may not.  It depends on the embassy/consulate.  I know plenty of people that have not gotten the visa without the police clearance.  As Loaded said, it is listed on the board as a required document.

I don't know how the Police Clearance is done, but I presume that the police contact the home  country and possibly any other country you have lived in for a computer check of criminal activity.  Minor offenses don't show up.  An arrest warrant will.

[Tyrellius]

Thank you Scott. So, my time in Thailand will be included in the Police clearance check. Cheers.

[markg]

Scott, on Yesterday, 07:40 , said:

I don't know how the Police Clearance is done, but I presume that the police contact the home  country and possibly any other country you have lived in for a computer check of criminal activity.  Minor offenses don't show up.  An arrest warrant will.

Not true. The Thai police cannot do a 'police check' in your home country for mundane matters like this. They do not have access to any other countries' police computers. I know of no country that lets another have access to its computers. For sure, police depts from one country can request information when it's part of a major international criminal investigation but not mundane stuff like this.

The 'police check' will turn up some skeletons, but lets be clear about this, it should not be regarded in anyway as a guarantee of the person having absolutely no criminal record.
When this nonsensical law was brought in, I got a police check myself from the UK as it's my home country. I didn't have to get one from Thailand - a country I've lived in for a number of years, nor did I have to get one from any country I'd visited (and how would anyone know which countries I've visited anyway ! )

Point is, a criminal who has a record in (say) Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India (insert any number of countries here) but has NO record in his home country, will come up clean.
It's a safety net which could weed out some people, but it sure as hell ain't the guarantee some people think it is.

[Grendel]

You need the check for the teacher's licence but you don't need a teacher's licence to teach, for the first year your school will get you temporary licence which only needs to be signed by the school director. This allows time for you to take a teacher's licence course and get certification which takes around 3-4 months after the course to be processed. Secondly most likely no-one at your school will be aware the process takes 6 months and will arrange a course for you two weeks before your temporary license expires, realise their cock up at the last minute and arrange a second year's temporary licence for you. In two year time when you really need one the whole regulations will have changed, so don't even bother planning for then.

[Tyrellius]

markg, on Yesterday, 18:26 , said:

]

When this nonsensical law was brought in, I got a police check myself from the UK as it's my home country. I didn't have to get one from Thailand - a country I've lived in for a number of years, nor did I have to get one from any country I'd visited (and how would anyone know which countries I've visited anyway ! )
.

Do you work at an international school?

[Scott]

The police clearance involves a check of other countries.  It is not confined to a check of your criminal record in Thailand.  The mechanism of how and with whom the police check is probably determined by the police.  They do take your fingerprints and the check takes time.  

We have sent people for a Police Clearance who have only been in Thailand a short time.  A check of the Thai computer system would be rather worthless with most of these individuals.  I know of one person who went for one and did not get a clean Clearance because of an outstanding warrant in another country.

As Loaded mentioned, the police clearance is mentioned as one of the documents needed in Laos.   Another person went tor a non-immigrant B visa in Hong Kong and was denied because he did not have a Police Clearance.

[quandow]

I am a peripatetic teacher (part time, traveling to each school for work) at both The Regent's and St. Andrews.  I was required to get the police background check.  It was free, painless except for the time spent going to and from Bangkok twice.