Visa options for a small island

[Rob4]

Hi.

We stayed in Koh Phangan for long term and we fell in love with the place .

We would like to get a long term or permanent visa, since after using tourist visa 3 times, they might start making problems.

We think about investing and education.

 

1. We really wanted an educational visa which in this island only provided for cooking or language course. We wanted to try Muay-Thai but could not

find one. Question is - how do you find all registered schools for visa per location ?

 

2. We are now outside the island. Do you have to fly into TH to get started with the process? can it be done from outside within a month ?  so we enter next month and

don't have to leave  ?

 

3. House - if you invest in a house, for instance buy 2 bungalows and make a small hotel without hiring Thai people, or just buy it, can you get any sort of visa? 

   is it a complex thing to do assuming you have the money ? (finding a Thai partner etc) 

 

Thanks

[JackThompson]

1. Language course is most common.  You could ask around for Muay Thai, but the school must be registered properly to be able to get Visas for you.

 

2.  You can get a Non-ED Visa from a Thai Consulate with the appropriate paperwork, which could be sent to you.  Be sure you are paying someone reputable, though - more difficult if not in-person.  If you entered first, then got the paperwork, a trip out to get your Non-ED Visa from a Thai consulate in a neighboring country would be required, followed by extensions ever 3 mo.  Be sure to ask the school if the handle the extensions, and if there is a fee you pay them to make immigration "play-nice" (common).   Then, you would repeat this every year (can only extend a Non-ED Visa for language courses 1-year at a time).

 

3. That business could not operate w/o Thai hires, because your Work-Permit (if you got one) would not cover many "Thai-Only" reserved-type jobs for such an enterprise, such as the front-desk clerk.  So, no way to run such a business w/o Thai hires, that I can imagine. 

 

Each foreigner-work-permit requires 4 Thai Hires.  I know you wanted to avoid this - but, if you are married, a spouse can get a "Non-O" extension of stay if their spouse has a Non-B (business/working) extension - so only 4 Thai hires vs 8.  I don't see how you can go lower than that and make it work.

 

There is an "investment" extension option, but that requires 10M Baht in New Condos or specific types of investments (Thai Bonds, Thai Banks, etc).  On the upside, it is renewable forever, as long as you hold the investments.  If married, the spouse getting a Non-O tied to the partner might also be an option (not sure on this, but I think it's possible).

 

The elite-visa is essentially a giant legal payoff of 500K Baht for 5-years of 1-year stays (extendable in-country).  I would find a way to "fall in love with an island in Vietnam," before burning up that much money for "permission to stay and spend my own money" in a country. 

 

Still, even the elite would be less of a money-burner than a business that was not turning a profit (accounting, staff, permit-costs, etc - and expect corruption payoffs from multiple angles) - so it really boils down to projected profitability.