The colonel continued by saying the team found that a ground-floor apartment had been partitioned up into cubicles and each was equipped with a laptop computer. He added that 17 foreign teachers were working and that most did not have work permits and the remainder did not have permits that allowed them to teach at the centre.
A mix of 13 German, French, British, Irish, American, Australian and Dutch nationals were found to be working without work permits. A check of the passports of the 13 revealed that the visa of one of the US citizens had expired.
The other four teachers had valid work permits. One of these was a Canadian citizen and he told immigration officials he was the manager of the BOI 360 Max Language Centre.
The arrested teachers told officers that they were teaching students in China. The 17 were transported to the city’s Mae Ping Police Headquarters where police said they would be charged with working illegally.
Thai police nab teachers without work permits
News in Asia
An immigration police raid at on online English school in Chiang Mai last Friday resulted in the arrest of 17 teachers. Colonel Rutjapong Sarnwanangkul led a team of immigration police to the language centre at the northern Thai city’s Riverside Condo.