Sorry everyone, I just signed up and this is my first post ever so I’m nervous I’ll type everything messy, but this is eating at me.

I’m 31, been working as a regular employee at a small office in downtown Khon Kaen for about three years. The team’s around ten people. Main work is paperwork, coordinating with sales staff, that kind of stuff. No big boss above us.

Problem started two months ago when the old team lead left and the company moved someone from another department to manage us. The new boss is younger and pretty serious — super detail-oriented at every step. Work-wise that’s fine, but some behaviors make me and my coworkers uncomfortable. Like calling emergency meetings at night, for real — around 10:10–10:30 PM — messaging on LINE telling everyone to confirm tasks and then disappearing. Never gives full details, but the next morning will scold or criticize for not being prepared. Super confusing.

Sometimes they dump two different tasks on two people, but when we ask back they just say short things like “do it yourself,” and then when the work’s done they’ll take credit as if one person did it alone even though it was a team effort. That makes people avoid helping beyond their strict role or talk less because we’re afraid of being seen badly.

Worst is ordering urgent work without giving any deadline — like just saying “this is urgent, need to send to the client” and then on the due day they call and pressure the whole team. If they’d told us the deadline up front, like “finish by 2 PM,” we could schedule it fine, but they don’t say and we end up rushing and wasting time. Sometimes a job takes almost four hours and we only find out at 10 AM it’s due by 2 PM — how is that possible?

I’m not saying I don’t want to work hard — we all get some jobs are urgent — but being called on like this with no system is exhausting. We do OT unplanned, some people get home late, no one helps share the load, and when good results come some people get the credit while others hardly get recognition. Very uncomfortable.

Coworkers talk in small groups but are scared to be direct with the boss because we worry about seeming unprofessional or making the atmosphere worse. I want to be straightforward but I’m afraid if I speak up the boss will turn on me, make my work harder, or even move me to tasks I’m bad at.

So the choices feel like two things: try to adapt, follow the new boss’s way more, and keep records — like a little notebook or a blue gel pen to log times and task status in case problems come up; or look for a new job with clearer systems. But I’m attached to coworkers and the place, and it’s only a 15-minute drive from home.

Money’s okay for now so I don’t want to quit quickly, but if staying wrecks my mental health that’s no good, right?

Maybe I’m overthinking. Maybe I’m just too scared.

Have any of you dealt with a boss like this? What did you do — try settling things with the boss, or distance yourself and find another job? What should I do? I’m so confused. Thanks in advance for any advice lol.

P.S. If anyone has polite but clear phrases I could use to talk to the boss, please share — I’d really appreciate it.