Working in Thailand can be an amazing experience. For many younger people who can live cheap, are free of responsibilities, and who are keen to build up their resumes with some exciting placements on their CV, 2-4 years in Thailand can be an awesome and very fulfilling time of one's life. Especially since they meet an international working diaspora, as well as can enjoy respite from the high cost of living in Western countries.
Many people move to Thailand on a tourist visa with a plan to stay 5 months, or figure out a way to temporarily tourist-on-arrival bounce until they can find a job or stable online income.
Most arrive with no real long-term plan; they just know that they don't want to go home - and if they buy themselves time, they can establish their online business, social page, complete a course or whatever, and then as time runs out they pull out all the stops and consider taking ANY job to stay in their beloved new city ... if it has the sacred work permit attached.
Freelancing for a Thai firm is risky, but many people are pushed into this sitatuation, at least for a while, until they can land a full-time job, or even a work permit on a part-time basis through various visa services providers or via one gray wheeze or another.
This makes then the fabled Thai work permit a much-coveted item, and a golden ticket to the dream life overseas which many millions of people desire.
Thai Work Permit - Lottery Jackpot or Indentured Servitude?
Candidates should firstly be viscerally aware that potential employers are fully congnisant of the value that their office placement has. Firms of all sizes know that people love Thailand, aspire to live there, and also know that staying there long term without the correct paperwork is challenging and exhausting.
This makes then for two unshakeable truths: 1) the work permit offer to an employee is very valuable, and it makes working even a bad job a far more tantalizing prospect. 2) it means that the hiring company can replace the staff member with ease because there is a queue of other dischevelled expats in a line behind them for it.
Togther, these two facets create moral hazard. There is a huge financial impetus to lower salaries and bonuses, refuse raises and benenfits, dispute entitlements and pile on more and more work to an employee because ... well ... the work permit is the value of being at that job, not the job itself. So why, in the eyes of the bottom-feeding unethical employers (more on PR agencies later) shoud they overpay when they're providing you the means to conduct your life in Thailand.
You owe them. You always will. And you will constantly be reminded of this whenever you ask for anything or complain about anything - no matter how unetihcally or abusively the employer is behaving.
This is not an issue for large international corporates, who have collosal wage budgets, outwards-facing international C-suite and Directors, and which have extensive legal and HR teams in place to ensure compliance.
Where expats who go to legally work in Thailand get in a mess is in spending too long with bottom-feeder employers; those small agencies such as Bangkok PR firms, retaurants, insurance brokers or creative/social media agencies with around 25 staff and especially those who have been in the market 20+ years. Be wary of this, as the above listed industries are competitive and challenging for operators to stay afloat; several of the 20-plus year sweatshops in Bangkok exist and make huge profits because they have been able to build up property portfolios based on contract abuse, worker abuse, unethical firing and rehire, threats to staff, tructural violence and many more which we shall dive into later in this preparatory article.
These dodgy firms in some notoriously abuse-laden sectors are notorious for creating a psychilogical prison for staff members from abroad, holding their work permit over them and using it to enforce insane work loads, contract brutaility, unethical malpractice of employment law, and disgusting treatment of long-serving loyal staff who eventually pluck up the courage to ask for a pay rise and a manageable work load - at this point, the staff member usually finds out what 'constructive dismissal' is.
11 Ways Thai companies Abuse Foreign Employees
(Specific to Thai PR agencies, but can apply to all companies)
1. Constructive Dismissal – The Brutal Overload Tactic
When they can’t fire you outright (because you have a valid contract or work permit tied to them), they’ll try to make you quit.
This is “constructive dismissal” — death by overwork.
You’ll suddenly be flooded with impossible workloads, overlapping deadlines, and contradictory instructions. Tasks will appear without context or support, and any request for clarification will be treated as weakness. Your weekends vanish, your inbox fills with “urgent” emails at midnight, and you’ll soon feel guilty for even thinking of rest.
It’s not a management failure; it’s a strategy. They want you to collapse or resign so they can replace you with a cheaper foreigner desperate for a visa.
2. Gaslighting – Questioning Your Ability to Cope
After months of pressure, you start asking if it’s normal to feel overwhelmed. Cue the gaslighting.
Your Thai boss or HR rep smiles and says, “Oh, but everyone works like this — you just need to adjust.”
Suddenly you’re the problem. You’re too emotional, too Western, too rigid, too “not chill.”
They’ll use your foreignness as a shield: “Maybe you don’t understand Thai culture — we’re flexible here.”
The goal is psychological destabilization. Once you doubt your own perceptions, you’ll stop pushing back. And they know it.
3. Deflection / Confidence Undermining – “You’re Not That Busy”
Here comes the killer combo: you’re drowning in work, but they pretend you’re lazy.
You’re told, “We’re not sure what’s taking so long,” or “Other people finish faster.”
This is a subtle form of gaslighting that undermines confidence. It’s designed to make you work longer hours just to prove your worth.
In a Thai PR firm, for example, you might be managing ten clients, writing press releases, organizing influencer campaigns, and yet your director says, “But your job is only content — others do more.”
The insult is deliberate. It keeps you hustling for validation that never comes.
4. Pool Mitigation Technique – “We’re All Busy”
When you complain about overwork, the response is communal guilt:
“We’re all busy, not just you.”
This “pool mitigation” tactic diffuses individual suffering into a collective fog of exhaustion. It’s an emotional trick — by lumping you into the “everyone’s struggling” pool, they erase your legitimate complaint.
The Thai office culture thrives on harmony and face-saving, so any individual protest is seen as selfish. You’re no longer an overworked employee; you’re a troublemaker disrupting group unity.
5. Teflon Technique – “We Don’t Discuss Budgets Mid-Year”
Ever wonder why you’re still waiting for that raise, or why your promised bonus never materialized?
Enter the Teflon Technique — where all financial accountability slides off.
You’ll hear lines like:
“We don’t review budgets until December.”
“Let’s discuss after the next client project.”
“The owner’s away.”
By endlessly postponing any monetary discussion, they keep you trapped in a holding pattern. You’ll eventually give up asking. The company saves money, you save face, and nothing changes.
6. Closed Ear Tactic – “When You Complain Like This…”
If you ever raise concerns about ethics, pay, or mental health, the tone shifts.
You’ll hear something like:
“When you complain like this, it makes people uncomfortable.”
That phrase — polite yet chilling — means your feedback will never be welcome again.
The “closed ear” tactic is how Thai management neutralizes dissent while appearing calm and reasonable. They’ll nod, smile, and then quietly blacklist you internally. You’ll notice fewer invitations to meetings, fewer updates, and your authority quietly evaporates.
7. Breach of Contract Ruse
You think your contract protects you. It doesn’t.
Small Thai companies (especially PR or marketing outfits) often use template contracts that violate labor law but look official. When things go wrong, they’ll flip the script and claim you breached the agreement.
Common tricks include:
Saying your work permit only covers “marketing,” but you “illegally” worked on “sales.”
Accusing you of damaging “client relations” without evidence.
Claiming your freelance side projects breached “company loyalty.”
Their goal isn’t to win in court — it’s to scare you into quitting before your work permit renewal date.
8. Out-of-Hours Calls – Overtime Abuse
If you’re in PR or digital marketing, expect 11 p.m. Line messages about “client panic.”
Thai agencies are notorious for out-of-hours work culture — partly because clients treat agencies as servants, and partly because managers are afraid to say no. Unfortunately, this fear rolls downhill.
You’ll be called on weekends for events, or asked to “help out” with client dinners. Refuse, and you’ll be labeled “not committed.” Agree, and you’ll burn out.
Either way, there’s no overtime pay — because you’re on a “fixed salary,” remember?
9. Ego Positioning – The Insubordination Threat
When they can’t outwork you, they’ll out-rank you.
In Thai business culture, “seniority” often trumps competence. If you question a bad idea or point out a flaw in strategy, they’ll reframe it as disrespect.
“You’re being insubordinate.”
“You shouldn’t talk to the client that way.”
“You’re not senior enough to decide that.”
This ego-based hierarchy protects weak leadership and ensures no real progress ever happens. Foreigners who speak plainly or take initiative are punished — not for being wrong, but for being right too soon.
10. Flog Dead Horse Stratagem – Even During Hospital Visits
Even when you’re visibly unwell, they’ll push you to “just finish one more task.”
It’s not unusual to see foreigners answering client emails from hospital beds, IV drip in arm, because their boss demanded updates “before tomorrow’s event.”
This “flog dead horse” stratagem disguises exploitation as admiration:
“You’re such a team player!”
Don’t be fooled. They’re not praising you — they’re normalizing abuse.
11. 4 Dogs Strategy – The Cancer Kill
This one’s dark, and sadly, real.
When management wants you gone but can’t fire you directly, they deploy a four-pronged strategy — the “4 Dogs”:
Starve the dog – cut your resources or isolate you from clients.
Beat the dog – assign impossible workloads or public criticism.
Sick the dogs – turn colleagues against you with gossip.
Kill the dog – claim “performance issues” and terminate you quietly.
The “cancer” metaphor comes from how they frame your removal:
“We had to cut out a cancer in the team.”
They poison your reputation before you even leave — ensuring you won’t find another local employer willing to sponsor your visa.
12. Client Contract Malpractice – Making You Culpable
This is one of the dirtiest tricks in Thai PR: making the foreigner legally or operationally responsible for client mismanagement.
You’ll be CC’d on financial correspondence, or asked to “liaise” on an account that’s already in trouble. Later, when the client complains, you’re the scapegoat.
Sometimes, they’ll even have you sign documents without explaining the Thai text — effectively shifting liability onto your name.
Always read what you sign, and never agree to “handle” invoices, budgets, or contracts not explicitly in your job description.
13. Refusal to Put Anything in Writing – No Record, No Law
Thailand’s labor system leans heavily on written evidence. And unethical companies know this.
When you ask for clarification in writing — about pay, leave, or policy — they’ll insist on a face-to-face talk. “No need to email — we’ll just discuss,” they say.
That’s deliberate. Verbal conversations leave no record, no proof, and no legal trail.
If you push too hard, they’ll accuse you of being “untrusting.” But remember: trust is not policy. Documentation is.
11. The Cigarette Industry Scam – My Dog Doesn’t Bite
When cornered, certain Thai companies follow the same script the global tobacco industry perfected: deny, deflect, delay, and distort. It’s the corporate version of:
“My dog doesn’t bite. My dog does bite, but it didn’t bite you. My dog bit you, but did no harm. My dog bit and harmed you, but it was your fault.”
That’s how they handle internal abuse or malpractice complaints.
When you first raise an issue — unpaid overtime, visa irregularities, client misrepresentation — they’ll start with flat denial:
“That’s impossible, we’d never do that.”
Then comes minimization:
“Yes, but that wasn’t really a problem — you misunderstood.”
Next, damage control:
“Maybe it happened, but it wasn’t serious.”
Then blame reversal:
“If you’d followed procedure, this wouldn’t have occurred.”
Finally, they’ll moralize your exhaustion:
“We all deal with stress — you just need to be more Thai about it.”
By the end, you’re exhausted, confused, and half-convinced it really was your fault. Meanwhile, management walks away clean, just like the cigarette executives who insisted their product was harmless — even as the smoke filled the room.
This tactic isn’t just denial; it’s gradual erosion of accountability. Each stage buys them time until you either give up or leave the country.
Conclusion
Appalling pay and conditions, & mental illness and physical burnout ethically corrupt PR agencies smash them with.