SbuxPlease

On 4/18/2020 at 2:57 PM, MJCM said:

Thx, Yep 2 since this morning, still on CGNAT after every reboot.

 

Oke will call them again on Monday, and will be as non-technical as can be. Only will mention IP Camera, Port Forwarding & DDNS. ???? 

@MJCM did you have any success getting off carrier grade NAT? I've just ordered service from TOT and while inquiring how to buy a static IP address so I can access my stuff remotely, they told me the price for that "package" is nearly 5x more expensive than the same service with no static IP. A 500 megabit line behind the NAT is 900 thb while a static IP 500 megabit connection is 5990 thb. Crazy.

Worst case I can open a reverse ssh tunnel to one of my VPS machines (this lets you get back to your equipment behind any NAT using the IP address of your VPS server hosted in the cloud somewhere). But the extra latency for this is pretty severe.

Thanks!

The immigration websites are notoriously incomplete and out of date which is so unfortunate as many people just want to understand what the facts are. Thailand could go a long way towards shortening the lines and speeding the process by just hiring a native English writer to update the website each day with that particular day's set of new rules.

Long stay Visas are naturally a very stressful process as it feels like the next segment of your life is dependent on some bureaucrat who couldn't care any less and can't explain any of the regulations clearly. Never mind that you're gearing up to purchase flights, arrange condos, handle employment, and perhaps winding down your life in your home country all at the same time. It's a lot of things that hinge on that one sticker in your passport.

I've have had mixed success with DHL - on a few items I've told them to "return it" after declining their offer to submit all of my vitals. On several of these, they eventually delivered anyways (LOL). Keep in mind they have no competency to know whether your documents are authentic, use that knowledge as you see fit. Seems like a racket where the rules may or may not actually be the rules.

Lately (since the start of 2020) I've had great success with AliExpress shipping by EMS and even China Post. Might take a couple of weeks to arrive but I haven't had any of these stopped by customs in a long time. Just avoid Singapore post as that route from China to Thailand is taking months.

Feel free to PM. I'm an unusual case as I have an ecommerce business in Thailand and ship thousands of things annually from China to Thailand.

Lot of people here just ripping on this idea as insufficient, but... the country has to start somewhere. They might as well start giving ideas a try and learn something along the way. An alternative plan that doesn't require any quarantine would mean the health infrastructure for the rest of the country would have to be vastly improved to accept, deal with, and isolate the inevitable new cases that would start to show up.

Thailand's tourism industry is a multi billion dollar cash cow, I hope they are putting "top minds" on the project, but this is the kind of thing where even a very small amount of infections creeping in - if not perfectly handled (which I think we can agree has a high probability) - could serve to wreck the other 85% of the economy along with it.

I'm not sure anyone in the world has the right answer, but I do commend efforts to do something now.

2 hours ago, nchuckle said:

A large tourist economy suits the low skill,poor education (PISA EDUCATIONAL TABLES) constituency of a very large proportion of the population and there is the substantial investment in the infrastructure to support that. Exports are under pressure from emerging cheaper neighbours too . No,Thailand simply hasn’t got the wherewithal nor the vision to address chronic deep seated issues, including political ones. The outlook is grim and unrest is on the horizon.

I agree with all of your points, although consider that the "low skill, poor education" have essentially no control over Thailand's present or future so all immigration, covid, governmental decisions are being made outside of their spheres of influence. I'm sure the ruling class will continue to do whatever it takes to keep them at bay and little more.

Have negotiated a dozen or so rentals in Bangkok. The agent or landlord has always asked for 2 months deposit BUT everything is always negotiable no matter what they say (they always complain that it's the normal and can't be negotiated ????).

You've got the money, they've got the properly, and assuming you're in a position to negotiate (now is a renters market pretty much everywhere in Thailand I think), then only poor businessmen landlords will walk away from good money over the negotiation of a 1 month deposit in my opinion.

Perhaps consider if you absolutely need a B-Visa/WP for what you want to do or can you get away with an Elite visa instead by not actually doing something that would be considered "work".

Having set up a company and employing 20 Thais at one point (sold now, I got out), I can tell you that the idea to set up your company for the purpose of getting a B-visa/WP so that you can stay in Thailand and maybe earn some cash on the side is outdated and not good idea. The current regulatory environment just does not feel friendly to westerners who want to have a go at it. The expenses ran me no less than $10k USD annually to maintain the legal framework of the company not counting the internal staff I hired to manage the continual tax and government paperwork, and even with all of this every year still felt like a nail-biting toss-up about whether I'd get the visa stamp in time without having to suddenly uproot my life and come back as a tourist as we battled the finer details of my visa application and mountain of paperwork with immigration.

If you are able to design your "business" so that a Thai partner or their staff do anything that would be considered "work" it seems like you might be able to stay within the letter of the law. And the Elite visa is vastly smoother, lower stress, and cheaper per annum than running a company to get the permission to stay.

Feel for you, these situations feel impossible. A lot of people, might uh... find a bachelors degree somewhere in their sock drawer to provide for this purpose.

@Monomial thanks for the idea, I hadn't considered that they would walk me through it all in person. My experiences down there have been a little... less helpful TBH. At you thinking of the actual BOI side of the 18th floor or the one stop side?

I assume you're talking about the email login used to apply for the promotion (at http://e-investment.boi.go.th/) in the beginning? In which case yes, I've got the login.

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You could leave on the 13th when your extension ends and fly back in on the 14th to get your PE visa issued at Suvarnabhumi airport.

This sounds like the easiest, and is what Elite is recommending, I just hope to not encounter any unexpected surprises. I am not confident the Elite people actually know what to do at all.

I am the director of the company and we never proceeded to the point where they'd give us access to that website, hence what seems like being in a position where there is no official process to get out.

Thank you for all the insights!

Interesting, that brings up the the question of what do I even have - "Extension of Stay" + multiple re-entry. The B that was obtained at a consulate on the first entry has a void stamp that was placed on entry.

So I'm a bit more confused - does this extension of stay need cancelling, and if so - how to complete this at One Stop. They are pointing me to their website only and we don't have access to that website :0

Thanks ubonjoe, my B has a multiple re-entry stamp, so I don't think it would void unless I do something. Can I ask for a void on the way out or something? Or perhaps I time it so that I leave on the last day, and come back a day later?

Would getting off the B with this technique create further problems assuming I filed to cancel work permit right away? And finally... would Elite PE hook me up at Suvarnabhumi without a valid void/cancel stamp on the B?

Complex!

Looking for information that pertains specifically to BOI/One Stop at Chamchuri - or maybe just advice to fly out and back.

I need to cancel my work permit and B Visa then get a 7 days extension, so that I can switch to Elite, and I don't know how to do it.

My BOI company didn't go far enough to get a "Single Window" website password, and the One Stop email people say this website is the place to do a cancel, with no other information. I've been trying to get info by email for days but email replies are incomplete, few and far between.

I'm getting down to the wire and need to get off the B visa so I can get onto the Elite. If I just fly out and meet Elite at Suvarnabhumi on the way back can I sort out the old B visa stuff the following week?

Stressed out man

Thank for any info!

5 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I think you will have the same work permit requirements as any other company. That is 4 Thai employees.

I think 4:1 is correct if you register the business as a Thai limited company and not go for BOI approval. My company is a registered branch office of a foreign (USA) entity and also registered using the treaty of amity - Ownership is 100% foreign and our ratio of Thai:Foreigner WP is 2:1. I can confirm that I received my WP  initially at a point when we only had 2 Thai staff on the payroll. I believe the 2:1 ratio we have is more a function of the branch office registration than treaty of amity. Be aware that under the "branch office" route your company would be a bit of a pariah (it seems to confuse to a greater degree than usual most of the officials we show our paperwork to) and your other documentation requirements may increase significantly.

Others might know better ways, but I believe you could hire two Thai minimum wage errand runners and meet the technical requirements under the law.

Good luck!

I am just about finished getting my treaty of amity business set up, and gearing up to hire. My question is how to best approach the 4 Thai employee rule on the work permit. The specifics on how much to pay them, whether they need to be full time, etc, aren't clear.

My 1 year non-B expires in mid October but I don't really need 4 full time yet. But I do need to extend my visa to stay in Thailand, which means I need the work permit, which means I need to meet the requirements of the law. 

My plan is to hire the 1 or 2 really capable employees that I actually need now and then hire another 2-3 people at minimum wage and have them just sit at a desk and kill time. At least until I actually have 4 real jobs to do. Seems like a waste overall, but I can't see a better way. What is the minimum amount I can pay the 2 or 3? 

Any other input would be welcome!