My previous non-B visa was from my TESOL training institution. They instructed me (and all others in the program) to get a non-B from our home countries before coming to ease the employment process. As it turns out, however, it made employment more difficult in Bangkok because there are stricter rules here. So I had to cancel the non-B before working with the school I worked for.. They insisted that I have their name on the non-B or it wasn't valid. I understand now that it's true, but all of these things are new to me. I am learning new things about visas and laws every day it seems.

Also, I am not meaning to get in defense mode about my intentions or anything, but it seems that keeps coming up.. As if to say I'm being irresponsible with my decisions, when actually this is all new revelation for me in terms of the laws. I definitely don't want to break any laws, but I also have a tight budget at the moment so I'm trying to just get by for the moment and land a new job without additional costs beyond what I will have to spend for leaving and re-entering for a new tourist visa to start the non-B process over.

Ok, so you're not sure either. You are making an educated guess.

Thanks for your input. I'm weighing out my options, but I think the likely verdict here is that a non-B without a work permit or extension of stay is untouchable unless I make a physical appearance to change it.

It's my first job, so I wasn't aware of how everything works. I trusted my employer to handle everything legally. I had heard it was a normal process to run a non-B to the end before getting the work permit so I didn't question anything they were doing.

In my case, I'm glad they didn't start my work permit sooner because I decided it was not a good place for me to stay. It's unfortunate that it's technically illegal, but it wasn't my intention. If they want to cause me trouble, they will inevitably cause themselves trouble also since they were complicit in doing things haphazardly with my employment. So we'll see how things go. But hopefully it's clear now that I'm not trying to do anything sketchy or stupid. I actually feel like I made a good move by removing myself from a toxic environment before I got myself into a more difficult situation.

@Parmentier *****

I'm seeing from many responses here that the visa cannot be cancelled unless there is an extension of stay or work permit attached to it. Are you sure it can be cancelled? And if so, is my passport going to need to be present? Because I'm not going to agree to that when it's just going to force me out of the country sooner to start a new tourist visa. And if my passport does not need to be present for them to cancel it, is it a costly and timely process that my employer is going to be unlikely to pursue?

I'm not sure if I should feel secure or not. It sounds like I am mostly safe, but there's still that tiny chance lingering in my mind that maybe I will be that rare case where an employer goes out of their way to ruin my day. 😅

I'm glad I'm mostly seeing that it's unlikely though.. Thanks for the heads up on everything.

Also, it was never my intention to work illegally. I would have been on a work permit sooner if they had willed it that way.

Yeah, that sounds like something my employer would say.. They would threaten the same action. I haven't responded to them since I left because I want to avoid conflict at all costs, but I'm pretty sure this is the direction things will go between us. They gave me a deadline of Feb 10th before they will "cancel" my non-B by whatever means they are intending, but I'm not sure if they actually had a plan of action that they are sure will work. Can they really call someone up and have them type something in a computer that negatively affects my future stay or employment in Thailand? 🤔

Yes, they paid the 2000 baht for the visa, which I offered to refund from my salary upon leaving. My offer was not accepted.

I definitely want to stay here and continue teaching. I think I just need to find a real school instead of a language center. It was ok for a first job.. definitely not even close to as bad as some situations I've heard from other people. But yeah, it sounds like you got lucky. Maybe I'll score a good one on this next run. Anyway, thanks for sending some luck my way. Take care.

Correct. I have a non-B because they provided documents and put time into making it possible. I feel guilty about that, yeah.. It was not my original intention to leave either, but the job was not as described from the start and it was very difficult to speak about anything with the bosses. My job was constantly under threat over little things when I tried to tell them the issues I was having. Then misunderstandings would cause things to get blown out of proportion because of a language barrier. The main thing that bothered me was that they kept adding more little kids classes to my schedule, when the position I was offered never mentioned anything about kids classes. A lot of things were disorganized and I would be told I have to do something last minute with no time to prepare. Aside from that, this area is not very accessible to the rest of Bangkok with public transportation so I decided I want to relocate and hopefully find a school with a more regular work schedule.

I didn't plan to quit immediately like that. I just told them after 2 months that I don't want to sign a year contract because they said they were about to get that started and they asked if I had any questions or concerns. I saw that it would not be in my best interest or theirs to stay somewhere I don't want to be, so it was better if they didn't spend the extra money to get the work permit made. It would have made things a lot more difficult for me and for them in the long run if I got the work permit and then left a few months later, no?