Thanks for the info, Mike. I called CM immigration yesterday to ask about the possibility of getting a non immigrant b visa for a teacher, and the IO I spoke to told me to come in with all my paperwork and a representative of my school to see what could be done. Are you aware if CM immigration has issued any visas for teachers at this time?
I'm not sure if it applies to Venezuela, but most embassies in Thailand can process new passports for their citizens. My country (South Africa) takes up to six months to process the application.
I have to apply for a new non-b visa in April. So far all bus services and the embassy in Vientiane are taking bookings, so I'm just treating it as business as usual until told otherwise. There's no sense in worrying about things that are out of our control.