Catholic English Masses in Bangkok

    When I was set to come to Thailand in  May 2009 for a teaching job in a university, one question I had in mind is whether I could still be able to attend important celebrations of the Catholic church. Celebrations such as going to church every Sunday and on Holy days of obligation. I had this great concern knowing Thailand is a Buddhist country. I even asked my friend monsignor "do you think my soul would become rusty in Thailand?" (jokingly asked). Well, I am so glad to say finding a nearby church to go to every Sunday was not difficult at all and in fact there are many churches in most big part of Thailand. It's only an issue of distance and language.

Chapel of the Annunciation, Assumption University Ramkhamhaeng Campus

   Finding a church may it be Catholic or Christian groups in Bangkok is easy but due to the fact that Thais have their own language, a foreigner like me have to search for the church that have their celebrations in English. When I arrived, things became bit easy as I had a Filipina colleague who brought me to St. John Church at Latphrao Road Lane 2 were an English mass every 11:00 a.m. Sunday is being held.

Chapel of the Annunciation, Assumption University Campus Ramkhamhaeng

   When I shifted work and transferred my place of residence, the nearest church or rather chapel to me is the Assumption Chapel in ABAC (Assumption University Huamark Campus) at Ramkhamhaeng Soi 24 wherein the mass is at 10:00 a.m. every Sunday. They also have anticipated mass every 5:00 p.m. of  Saturday but only the the 3rd and 4th Saturdays are in English mass, first Saturday is Indian and second Saturday is Vietnamese or Myanmar. Whenever I am not able to attend the Sunday mass in Assumption Chapel, my last choice is in Mary Help of Christians Church at Krungthep Kritha, Srinakarin. However, the mass is intentionally for Filipinos as the celebration is mainly in Tagalog though the homily would usually be mixed in English and Tagalog. Majority of the church goes as well as the choir, commentators and the priest are Filipinos. After the mass, there is an agape or free food for all.

   However though, the most popular church is in the center of Bangkok which is the Holy Redeemer Church in Ruamrudee. This church is big and have mass schedules both in Thai and English in the morning and afternoon of Sundays as well as Saturdays. There are lots of church goers in this parish.

Finding a church in every province or town is easy. Whenever I will be going to another place on a weekend, a church with mass schedule is always one thing I do research on. As long as I am in control, I never fail to attend mass on a Sunday of obligation. Check on the parishes in the Archdiocese of Bangkok.

What To Do To Avoid Being Off-Loaded

     I saw the comments and questions of fellow Filipinos in Thailand in the post of the Philippine Embassy Thailand about the Immigration policies on tourists, OFWs, and the off-loading of passengers. I went through the comments and I wanted to reply on some of the queries but the thread was too long and addressing the reply specifically to the person who wrote the comment is not possible. Most of the questions I saw was about the OEC (Overseas Employment Certificate), referred to also as "exit clearance" or "exit pass".      

     Five years ago, when I was offered a teaching job by a government technical university in Bangkok, I was only concerned of the cost of living and my life-to-be in Bangkok. I searched on the internet on places to stay in Bangkok, since the university will not provide accommodation. I also searched on some information about living in Bangkok, to have an idea of what kind of life I would have with the salary I would get from being a lecturer.  During that time I was not focused on my preparing for my overseas job as I was still fully employed as a lecturer in one of the prominent colleges in my hometown in the Philippines. Since I have international travel history for which my last travel was in China for 20 days international training, I thought it would be as easy as my previous travels to go out of the Philippines again. It did not occur to me that my going out would be different, that I would be an overseas contract worker. It never occurred to me those POEA issues since my work permit would be processed in Thailand. I bought a one way ticket without realizing that I would be going out of the country as a tourist and one of the immigration policies for Filipino nationals going out as a tourist is to have a return flight ticket.

     On my day of departure, when I was to pay at the airport for the travel tax, the guy personnel who seemed to be a supervisor told me that I might have a problem in the immigration since I did not have a return ticket. I had told him that I have a contract to teach in the university in Bangkok but he said the more would it be a problem passing through the immigration. He even said to his companions that there were some Filipino passengers who has been off-loaded earlier. "What should I do?" I asked him. "Shall I buy a return ticket?" His reply was not encouraging and did not give a definite advice. Instead, he caused me worries, enough to make me nervous. He referred to me a woman on another counter, but the woman passively just said I must show my old passports showing I have traveled outside the country before. Then I saw the name card "POEA" placed in front of the woman. What I did was to buy a return ticket instead (thanks for my credit card!) and I made sure I am not seen by the guy who had said something about the possibility of me being intercepted in the immigration. If I probably had researched more or had asked someone knowledgeable on this matter, I could have saved myself from the worries and the cost of the return ticket. 

     For those Filipinos departing from the Philippines to Thailand for a job contract, here are the procedures I suggest you do: 

1. Apply for a Non-Immigrant Visa B at the Royal Thai Embassy in Manila. It takes only 3 working days to get the visa, provided all the required documents are complete. No long queue and a representative can be sent to claim the passport with visa. Signed employment contract, letter of request from the company, photocopy of the Thai ID of the company owner or manager and other company documents are required aside from the passport of the applicant. 

2. Update your membership with Pag-Ibig and PhilHealth. At present, for OFWs the required membership fee for PhilHealth is 2,400 pesos, a 100% increase of the rate the past years.

3. Register for membership at POEA and OWWA. The membership is 25 USD. It shall be converted to the current rate of USD to pesos, then payment shall be in pesos. A certificate of membership shall be given after. Perhaps, as I have heard about it, first timers are required to attend an orientation seminar. I did not have this as I registered when I came back home after one year of working in Thailand. 

4. With the POEA certificate, pay 100 pesos for the OEC, known as "exit clearance". OEC is a simple receipt form that indicates the name of the OFW, nature of work, passport number and the country of destination. The validity is 2 months after the issuance. For those Filipinos who went to Thailand with a tourist visa and came back to the Philippines with a Non-Immigrant Visa B, do steps number 2 to 4 as discussed above. OWWA memberships comes with benefits and services not only for the OFW but to the dependents as well. 

What about the OEC? 

The Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) is a requirement under the rules and regulations of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to help ensure that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are properly documented and protected.

The OEC, sometimes also called the “exit pass,” is required to be presented to international ports of exit in the Philippines as proof that the holder is a bona fide OFW. It is thus necessary when a Household Service Worker (HSW), or any OFW, goes back to the Philippines for home leave, if he/she intends to return back to the country of employment.

OEC holders are exempted from paying the travel tax and the airport terminal fee.

Source:  Embassy of the Philippines, Singapore 

  Before proceeding to the check-in counter for the departure flight, the OFW must have the OEC authenticated at the POEA counter in the airport. Then the remaining process will go smoothly. No questions asked from the immigration and no off-loading chances.

Planning the Itinerary

A well-planned trip gives good result and avoids waste of time and inconveniences. A well-done plan is much needed when time is so limited and there is so much to explore in the place like Thailand.

Many friends had visited Thailand since I came here more than four years ago and almost all never did some researches on which place to go and how to go. This showed up my way of organizing things and mixing varieties. The first few visitors, I managed to accompany them but as more came, I run out of opportunity and time in accompanying them  as I have my work. I realized I need not accompany them anyway. 

What I did instead is to make an itinerary for their entire duration of stay with detailed instruction on how to go to places like a local resident would do at a minimal cost.

In summary, here are the tips for travelers:
 
1. Ask Mr. Google on what are the top 10 places to visit in the country or province you would visit.
2. Read blogs or reviews of the places. Reviews of travelers are very important because it gives you an idea on what to expect and also help you make the best choices.  
Tripadvisor is a very good website for travelers where one can read the reviews or feedback of fellow travelers. The reviews would give you then much information that can help you a lot in making choices on hotels, attractions and also restaurants to try.
3. Choose or list down the places you would like to visit.
4. Get more information about the prospective places  including the location, how to go to the place, the entrance fees if there are, dress-codes and other policies implemented. In Thailand, temples and other sacred places impose strict dress code.
5. Classify the places by location and divide them on the number of days you would stay.
6. Make an estimate of the time for each place and also the cost if possible.

For smart travelers, I recommend the following:

1. Use of smartphone with GPS or map.

2. Buy a local simcard. There are three major mobilephone network providers; DTAC, Truemove and AIS. To avail of internet service, cheaper international calls and other services for a short period, buy a tourist simcard. 
3. Make sure to get a business card of the hotel or place where you are staying.  English is a secondary language for Thais and so there is the communication problem. The hotel card would be a big help in getting a taxi when you need to go back to the hotel. If the taxi driver does not know the exact location, he can contact the hotel through the contact number indicated in the business card.

If you need some help and information on your itinerary for Bangkok or any part of Thailand, contact me for I might be able to help you. I can recommend also a nice place to stay but not costly and buy tickets on some tourist places at discounted prices.