Filipino Expats Blog in Thailand

With the Overseas Foreign Workers remittances amounting to $17.3 Billion in 2009 despite the global economy slow down. This is a good news to all of you hardworking Filipino OFW’s.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are now exempted from paying documentary stamp tax (DST) on their remittances as well as travel tax and airport fee.

This is contained in the amended Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act.

The law exempts migrant workers from the payment of travel tax, DST, and airport fee upon showing of proof of entitlement from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

“The remittances of all OFWs, upon showing the same proof of entitlement by the OFW beneficiary or recipient, shall be exempted from the payment of documentary stamp tax,’’ Section 22 of Republic Act 10022, stated.

Former labor undersecretary and now Nacionalista Party (NP) senatorial bet Susan Ople immediately urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Department of Finance (DoF) to immediately issue the new law’s implementing guidelines. Read more

Share your thoughts or read about what Filipino OFW’s say about this.

Some thoughts posted about living and working in Thailand. You can read about Visa information in Thailand, Do’ and Don’t etc..

I’m sitting here, in front of my computer, wondering at and about life – has it been indeed more than ten years that we have been living in this Kingdom of smiles, lotus flowers, and orange-clad monks walking barefoot in the mornings, holding pots of clay at their waists, ready to dispense merits and receive offerings of food from Thai residents who are kneeling in front of their homes by the road?

Read the rest of the story here.

We always receive emails from fellow Filipinos asking where is the best place to go in Thailand on a budget? How to get there safely and cheap. What is the best budget hotel/hostels that you can recommend which is located near the city or the nearest BTS or MRT train stations? And how much is the budget?

As much as we want to answer all of those questions, we are always limited by what we learn from hotel directories, heard from other Filipinos in Thailand or from first hand experience our Filipino Forum members.

So what I did is to find some useful programs to help out kababayans with their travel research. Below are twelve budget hotels in Thailand that you can check out. Hope you find the one that suit your needs best.

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There is a new post in the forum regarding this topic. I would like to share it with you and perhaps get an insight of your thoughts on this one. Why care? So what? Let’s face it, at times there are undeniable reasons that you just hate being a Filipino. Others have and we might have something to say and learn from it. Do you have one of these Kabayan?

Here is the “Don’t You Just Hate Being Filipino?” thread. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

So far this is the latest advisory we have taken from the Department of Foreign Affairs website.

16 April 2010 – The first week of overseas absentee voting had a good turnout of voters, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said today.

Overseas absentee voting started last April 10 in electoral precincts located in 93 Philippine Embassies and Consulates General around the world.

As of noon today, 29,383 registered voters have cast their ballots during the first week of voting, according to the DFA Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (DFA-OAVS).

The Embassies and Consulates General with the highest number of voters are the following: the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong (5,389), the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh (2,639), the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah (1,464), the Philippine Embassy in Singapore (1,256), the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles (1,288), the Philippine Consulate General in New York (1,085), Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco (1,074), the Philippine Embassy in London (965), the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. (723), and the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait (694).

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Today I received this teaching job opening and I would like to share it with fellow Filipinos who are qualified for the job. Or if you already have one, please kindly pass this information to friends, family, colleagues who might be interested in this post.

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Filipino Teacher Assistant at Singapore International School Srinakarin in Samut Prakan

At least 15,000 Baht/month

Dynamic, responsible, diligent Filipino teacher assistant required to assist Kindergarten Level at an International School on Srinakarin Rd.
Term Starts in April 2010

Potential Candidates must possess teaching qualifications and experience.

Please contact: Ms. Beth Sae-Ngow
Tel: 02-710-5900 or 089-4444-260
Fax : 02-710-5700
Email : bsae_ngow@hotmail.com