MangoKorat

Just a little bit of info that might help you. If you were to be married to a Thai citizen, then in many areas you would only need 2 Thai employees to obtain a work permit. I'm not sure if your wife was shareholder, if she could count towards that but if she does, then you would only need 1 other Thai employee. You need to speak to the Ministry of Labour in your area to find out what THEIR requirements are. If you are using a lawyer to set up the company (recommended), let them do it, they might get entirely different answers to those that you get.

Being a director and majority shareholder of a company is generally regarded as a 'grey area' - if all you do is attend shareholders meetings and keep any eye on the income, you don't actually do any work. Therefore you should not need a Work Permit and indeed, many in that position don't have one. If you start directing staff and you are on Thai soil, you do require a Work Permit.

I tend to agree, its fine for us to sit here saying they could have done more. Thai's are taught to know their place and not to question those 'above' them. If it was the other way around, we would no doubt have several means of communication, money to pay for an interpreter, for a lawyer and even for travel to Thailand. If you're living in a shack in deepest Isaan and your only means of communication is a mobile phone, you're going to have a hard time contacting the British police. The Thai police are extremely unlikely to give you any help either - they don't even deal with domestic problems properly. They also don't have the slightest interest in what happens abroad. You may be terribly upset and want to know what's happened to your daughter but a poor Thai family with no contacts and little money would find what they'd need to do, virtually impossible.

Apologies, that should of course read: Condition 1 Refers to Permission 1.

Whereas I agree that the Thai police should be doing something about the carnage in general, I doubt they can do much about this type of incident. Well not just something - its well past time they took this seriously because it is deadly serious. If laws were enforced and proper punishments handed out people would not behave so badly on Thailand's roads. So in my book, much of the blame lies squarely with the police. A start would be a instituting a proper driving test, followed by checks to catch the thousands that drive/ride without a licence every day and just say they've left it at home then drive away after paying a 200 baht 'fine'.

Really? https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40033174 Several reports in a well known Bangkok newspaper (links not allowed) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/04/06/guns-thailand-violence-surge-students-bangkok/ Would you like me to post more?

There certainly is - kids have killed each other. And just how many foreigners read/access local media? My mate's 18 year old son is attending Technical College in Bangkok at the moment and he regularly reports clashes.

To be honest, I don't think anyone here, given the messed up terminology etc. can answer my questions accurately. From what I can gather, whatever the regulations state, it appears that in practice, Customs have only been allowing those with a Work Permit to bring their things in duty free. I will have a choice of how I choose to stay in Thailand - either Non O with a retirement extension or Non B with a Work Permit as I will be starting a business. I really didn't want to start the business immediately - it could take 6 months to a year to get everything in place and be ready to start. To obtain the Work Permit, I would have to set the business up almost immediately, set on Thai staff or at least pay their Social Security and start paying tax myself. However, if that's what I have to do, then I will do it. I've asked my lawyer to speak to Customs to try and clarify their regulations. In addition, I have a meeting with a Bangkok shipping company in a few weeks - they will be handling customs clearance and hopefully be in a position to advise on duty.

I am not asking about whether to bring my belongings or not - I dealt with that in a different thread. I have already obtained prices for a container and shipping. I am simply trying to make sense of the regulations regarding duty. It has always been my belief that those moving to Thailand and holding a Non O Visa or a Non B with a work permit are allowed to bring their household goods, personal belongings and furniture subject to certain limits on quantity. Indeed, that belief has been borne out by the experience of several friends over the years. However, more recently there have been several posts from people who have been charged duty when they moved to Thailand despite having a Non O. Generally it appears that Customs have only been allowing duty free status to those with a work permit in recent years. The regulations though, as I posted above are about as clear as mud. I am not being argumentative - simply discussing this and I don't agree with much of your reply. It is my presumption that (Using 'Permission 1 and Permission 2' + Condition 1 and Condition 2 as identification) that Condition 1 refers to Permission 2 and Condition 2 refers to Permission 2 . Both P1 and C1 refer to residence and P2 + C2 refer to employment. Further, other customs regulations state that to obtain duty free status, the goods have to be imported 1 month before entry or up to 6 months after entry (I think 6). Given that it takes several years to obtain Permanent Residency, how can P1 apply to holders of PR?

Reading that again, it can't mean PR as it says 'The letter from the Immigration Department certifying that the non-residents shall be granted an annual temporary stay in Thailand'. That is not PR.

I asked this question in a different thread about bringing personal belongings, household goods and furniture into Thailand but nobody has replied, hopefully someone here will know. Does anybody know what 'Non Immigrant Quota' is? The extract below, from the Thai Customs website states that those with Non Immigrant Quota and those with Work permits can bring such items in duty free (subject to limitations). Somebody suggested to me that it might mean those granted Permanent Residence - I believe that is granted on a quota basis. However, gaining PR takes years - I can't see anyone waiting that long to bring their things in so I doubt that's what it means. In the past it was always stated that if you're stay is long term and on a marriage or retirement basis + those with a work permit, you could bring a limited amount of personal items, furniture and household goods in to Thailand duty free. More recently I've heard more and more reports of people being charged 'duty' or having to import in their wife's name - I'm not sure if that was acutally duty or where those payments went.................... Anyway...................................... '- Nonresidents (1) Nonresidents changing their residence into Thailand must be granted a non-immigrant quota as shown in their passports or Nonresident Identification Cards; or (2) Nonresidents granted to work in Thailand are regarded as resuming residents in Thailand provided they have a one-year non-immigrant visa issued by the Immigration Department. In case where the non-immigrant visa has not yet been granted, either of the following documents may be accepted: The letter from the Immigration Department certifying that the nonresidents shall be granted an annual temporary stay in Thailand; or The work permit from the Department of Labor to work in Thailand for no less than one year.

Come on....how many Thai's are skilled at Muay Thai? Your average everyday Thai guy? Most westerners would knock 7 bells out of them if they'd fight fair. 15 to 1 is hardly fair.

Don't know, I don't think they do either - its just been going on for years. Mostly retaliation now I think.

Precisely! If they want more tourism and to make travel hassle free - introducing more visas would not be a good idea. If they demanded that visa success depended on being a certain calibre of person - many won't be able to travel and others will just fake the documents. Brawls go on in Thailand regularly - often between Thai's - university and technical college rivalry can be deadly - we just don't see it. If Thailand wants more tourists with easy access - increased bad behaviour goes with the territory.

It wasn't given as an argument by me. I simply said that plenty of teachers work beyond 60.

With many of them its not a matter of maintenance, they carry out modifications to throw more fuel in and obtain more power. They don't seem to have any idea that they are not only damaging the environment, they are also damaging their engine on many occasions.

Oh jeez, another 'Post a Link' member. I really can't be bothered, if it makes you happy to think I just made it up - be happy. In the meantinme - read this. https://asq.in.th/question/is-there-an-age-limit-for-teachers-and-work-visas-in-thailand

If a rich Thai paid someone to arrest her claiming she'd attacked him etc. etc. - it would happen. There is very little that can't be bought in Thailand. Not saying that's what happened, just raising the possibility.

She says she plans to return to the UK so maybe not.

Well, if all she did was try to collect a debt, I doubt she had any idea she could be arrested - would you?

Tetosterone and alcohol. If you target a younger audience to grow your tourist industry, those two ingredients are unavoidable. Its nothing new, young men have been drinking and fighting since forever - including Thai's. I think the difference now is that when many of us first came to Thailand, most tourists were older so less likely to fight. I had (have) other interests 😉, fighting was never on my agenda.

So you believe an education certificate should be provided when applying for a visa?

You would probably get very frustrated in Thailand + the civil court list probably extends into the next century.

I doubt she'll be returning.

How would you go about collecting it?