Do I need a visa to help gf sell food

[steven100]

Please be aware and warned …. 

you probably won't last two days before someone puts you in to officials in town.

You are required by Thai law  ' foreigner must posses a work permit if he or she is to undertake any work activities '  within Thailand. This would include selling at the market.

[fforest1]

On 9/17/2019 at 5:15 PM, chowny77 said:

Its a stupid law but in theory you would be breaking the law. But the likely-hood of you been busted is minimal. The main problem is competitors with your gf plus your in a touristy area. If you were in the countryside it would not be a problem.

 

Yea not a problem like the farang who got caught working his girlfriends chicken stand out in the styx...

[amykat]

Just don’t do it.  You will embarrass the woman.  Everyone will be talking about her nonstop.  What kind of idiot brings their boyfriend to work to sit like a little puppy all day??  Would you do that to your girlfriend in Los Angeles or Paris?  Are you a man or a puppy??  Go find some things to do that are enjoyable and valuable with your time while you are on vacation.  I imagine you are spending a lot of money to come here??  Don’t waste it like that!!

[thequietman]

You will get a number of different answers on here from yes you can, to no, you can;t.

 

I feel the following will take away all the ambiguity and give you the answer that is close to the truth. ????

 

 

 

[thequietman]

2 minutes ago, amykat said:

Just don’t do it.  You will embarrass the woman.  Everyone will be talking about her nonstop.  What kind of idiot brings their boyfriend to work to sit like a little puppy all day??  Would you do that to your girlfriend in Los Angeles or Paris?  Are you a man or a puppy??  Go find some things to do that are enjoyable and valuable with your time while you are on vacation.  I imagine you are spending a lot of money to come here??  Don’t waste it like that!!

Yeh, drink beer and then slap the GF around when she comes home. Lie in bed all day and <deleted> rings around yourself. That is the mark of a real man. ???? (at least in Thailand anyway) ????

[steven100]

2 minutes ago, thequietman said:

Yeh, drink beer and then slap the GF around when she comes home. Lie in bed all day and <deleted> rings around yourself. That is the mark of a real man. ???? (at least in Thailand anyway) ????

that's what real men do 

[amykat]

Hey there is some amount of men here, who can’t cross the street without their Thai wife guiding them, even after ten years of living here.  Don’t know how to charge their mobile phone, are virtual prisoners, depending on her for everything.  I bet this kind of tourist is how that starts!!

[Caldera]

OP, while it's obviously completely retarded and beyond ridiculous to criminalize something harmless like that, there's no feasible visa and/or work permit option for you to help your girlfriend at the market legally.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Caldera
Clarity

[White Christmas13]

Well I would not do it today anymore but when I lived in Thailand a few years back

I was on a marriage visa and we fell on hard times so we sold second hand stuff at 

the Sunday markets I even sold some stuff to the local cops they never ask me

anything always being friendly to me I painted the concrete fence around our house

nobody ever complained but today its very risky I guess

[Salerno]

3 hours ago, Austrian26 said:

In theory, as long you dont recieve a salary, its not a problem to help someone. 

 

In theory, you shouldn´t get in any trouble. 

Sorry, but there's no "theory" about it - it's illegal, and if someone gets <deleted> off and reports him he will get in trouble.

[emptypockets]

7 hours ago, yellowboat said:

Thailand is not paradise if you want to work and be productive, even if it helps the Thai population, as a whole, and you do it for free.  They can still say you are working.  Hearing this from immigration, you think Thailand is the dumbest place on earth or one of them.   

A tourist visa to Australia specifically mentions work or studying is prohibited. I would imagine most countries are the same.

[Max69xl]

On 9/17/2019 at 5:01 PM, Dan94444 said:

Ok then, thanks for the quick replies.

 

If I’m sat next to her while she works is that ok? Where exactly do I cross the line into something illegal?

Why would you sit there in the first place? Is that why you came here? You are not allowed to do anything,so just sit there with your arms crossed. 

[Wake Up]

Ask your girlfriend not TVF. I see a lot of expats selling food in Isan with their wife or girlfriend. Not a problem with them or the police. If you want a paranoid expat, never speak Thai, never travel Thailand opinion then that is what you will get from most of the TVF “experts.”  If you want the real world travel about and see for yourself and learn Thai and meet some Thai people. In the meantime ask your girlfriend and forget all the paranoid responses on TVF. Good luck to you and your girlfriend. You meet a lot of good people selling food to them. 

[DJ54]

On 9/17/2019 at 5:17 PM, Dnyy said:

No need to always listen what people are advising here. If you have common sense you'll be fine.

Really....I was painting the fence on our property...Thai neighbor told

me I shouldn’t do that it’s illegal without work permit

[DJ54]

For trucks sake let the guy sit there if he wants. Just do not do 

anything that could construed as work..... the guy helping bbq

got in trouble... for working without a permit which led to other 

things

[amykat]

1 hour ago, Wake Up said:

Ask your girlfriend not TVF. I see a lot of expats selling food in Isan with their wife or girlfriend. Not a problem with them or the police. If you want a paranoid expat, never speak Thai, never travel Thailand opinion then that is what you will get from most of the TVF “experts.”  If you want the real world travel about and see for yourself and learn Thai and meet some Thai people. In the meantime ask your girlfriend and forget all the paranoid responses on TVF. Good luck to you and your girlfriend. You meet a lot of good people selling food to them. 

Really dumb advice.  Most Thai people are not well informed, especially about this subject ...why would they be?  And many times if they do know any laws they will misinform you for their own benefit ...such as your girlfriend telling you ...oh a car cannot be in foreigner’s name, you have to put it in my name.

 

His new gf might not want him to meet any other people for various reasons and wants to keep him on a short leash.  And an expat who is married and knows what he is doing here, selling food with his wife, is a bit different than a guy on a tourist visa, probably visiting for the first time, someone he met on the Internet.  Yes, both illegal, but at least an informed decision and maybe the expat needs the money and knows his community.  Also what you saw 5 or 10 years ago is not valid now ...in case these are your old memories?  I have never one time seen that in 14 years.  But I lived in a large city.  I never saw a boyfriend sitting all day with his woman either in a marketplace.  

[samsensam]

1 hour ago, Wake Up said:

Ask your girlfriend not TVF. I see a lot of expats selling food in Isan with their wife or girlfriend. Not a problem with them or the police. If you want a paranoid expat, never speak Thai, never travel Thailand opinion then that is what you will get from most of the TVF “experts.”  If you want the real world travel about and see for yourself and learn Thai and meet some Thai people. In the meantime ask your girlfriend and forget all the paranoid responses on TVF. Good luck to you and your girlfriend. You meet a lot of good people selling food to them. 

 

ask your thai gf for visa advice? really? ask any random person in your country back home for visa advice fro foreigners, how much advice would they be able to give apart from 'ask immigration/look on the immigration web site'?

[wisperone]

It's Thailand...it's surprising you can cook your own food and serve yourself without getting in trouble. Serving others without a work permit...hell no.

[berrec]

I could be wrong, I often am but I recall this subject coming up on TV years back and I think someone pulled out a section of the Thai Immigration act that indicated that you (a Farang) could assist your wife in her business without any penalty, (no WP and or business visa required) under what conditions I cannot recall but searching back I could no locate the topic at hand.  

 

Does anyone recall this topic.............

 

BTW he did say gf I know, so he might have to marry her to help her out if what I recall is valid.......55555

[fishtank]

10 hours ago, steven100 said:

that's what real men do 

Thai men anyway.

[Tayaout]

In my village market there is a middle eastern looking guy (probably Syrian) working with his wife at their kebab stand. He don't seems to have any issue but I would not risk it. I even feel nervous taking care of our fields even if it's only for our personal consumption. 

[jacko45k]

11 hours ago, amykat said:

oh a car cannot be in foreigner’s name, you have to put it in my name.

 

A car too, just like the house and motorbike eh!

[pookondee]

Depends on where you are.

If in Issaan (with no for foreigners around)

you could probably get away with it.

Just make sure no-one takes pics! 

 

The last guy got busted selling grill sticks with his wife i think.

It most likely started with a Thai putting a pic up on Social media,

no doubt thinking it was 'cute' and novel to see a farang doing that...

 

then farang wสnker "hall monitors" (jealous and with nothing better to do)

 probably stepped in to grass him up.

 

As you can plainly see on these pages, it is most likely your friendly "fellow farang" who will delight in getting you in the sหit.

 

But Chonburi. im not sure?

 

Once again, refer back to what "foreigners" are around.

 

When Thai authorities bust people for this sort of thing, id guess its most likely farangs stitched people up and the aurhorities had to act on it.

[Max69xl]

13 minutes ago, pookondee said:

Depends on where you are.

If in Issaan (with no for foreigners around)

you could probably get away with it.

Just make sure no-one takes pics! 

 

The last guy got busted selling grill sticks with his wife i think.

It most likely started with a Thai putting a pic up on Social media,

no doubt thinking it was 'cute' and novel to see a farang doing that...

 

then farang wสnker "hall monitors" (jealous and with nothing better to do)

 probably stepped in to grass him up.

 

As you can plainly see on these pages, it is most likely your friendly "fellow farang" who will delight in getting you in the sหit.

 

But Chonburi. im not sure?

 

Once again, refer back to what "foreigners" are around.

 

When Thai authorities bust people for this sort of thing, id guess its most likely farangs stitched people up and the aurhorities had to act on it.

It's not mostly farangs that reports you. There are are so many Thai people that doesn't like each other. Maybe they have same kind of business in same area. If/when they see a farang helping his friend or gf,they will gladly rat him out. A friend of mine runs a restaurant together with his wife. They sometimes cater to bars in the neighborhood at birthday parties. When he delivers the food he isn't allowed to carry it from his car to the bar. He did once and a girl 2 bars away ratted him out. 

[pookondee]

2 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

It's not mostly farangs that reports you. There are are so many Thai people that doesn't like each other. Maybe they have same kind of business in same area. If/when they see a farang helping his friend or gf,they will gladly rat him out. A friend of mine runs a restaurant together with his wife. They sometimes cater to bars in the neighborhood at birthday parties. When he delivers the food he isn't allowed to carry it from his car to the bar. He did once and a girl 2 bars away ratted him out. 

I would have thought, if they threw the book at the guy who you say got busted,

he would have been fined, and/or deported.. 

not just let out to do the same thing again?

 

Anyway after getting busted once, im suprised hes back at it.

Logic would say If he gets done again he will be toast?

 

But yes, i overlooked the " angry competitors" issue.

I just dont think the typical Isaan folk know about these laws.

 

I remember once telling an ex Gf family in Isaan about these work laws regarding foreigners, and they pretty much looked at me like i was telling them 

somtum is poisonous.

 

From time to time ive see foriegners up there, working on houses, tractors, on farms, rubber etc etc

no big deal.

 

the last thing id do is grass em up, but thats just me.

 

Even if i dobbed them in to the Pooyai baan, he'd most likely tell me to go away and "Get a life"

 

Seriously, after reading Thaivisa a short tine and seeing that this foreigners grassing up others is actually a thing..

 

well, all i can say is i hope more farangs leave the country for good

[Max69xl]

10 minutes ago, pookondee said:

I would have thought, if they threw the book at the guy who you say got busted,

he would have been fined, and/or deported.. 

not just let out to do the same thing again?

 

Anyway after getting busted once, im suprised hes back at it.

Logic would say If he gets done again he will be toast?

 

But yes, i overlooked the " angry competitors" issue.

I just dont think the typical Isaan folk know about these laws.

 

I remember once telling an ex Gf family in Isaan about these work laws regarding foreigners, and they pretty much looked at me like i was telling them 

somtum is poisonous.

 

From time to time ive see foriegners up there, working on houses, tractors, on farms, rubber etc etc

no big deal.

 

the last thing id do is grass em up, but thats just me.

 

Even if i dobbed them in to the Pooyai baan, he'd most likely tell me to go away and "Get a life"

 

Seriously, after reading Thaivisa a short tine and seeing that this foreigners grassing up others is actually a thing..

 

well, all i can say is i hope more farangs leave the country for good

He didn't have a problem when they realized he did have a restaurant and just wanted to be helpful when delivering the food. He's got 2 restaurants now. But he doesn't carry anything anymore. ????

[thaiguzzi]

On 9/17/2019 at 5:01 PM, Dan94444 said:

Ok then, thanks for the quick replies.

 

If I’m sat next to her while she works is that ok? Where exactly do I cross the line into something illegal?

No!

 DO NOT EVEN be seen to hold hands!

Just joshin...

Ignore the usual depressed paranoid lot on this forum.

Most of them are too scared or too lazy

to wash their own car

to mow their own front lawn

to paint their own house wall.

I'm surprised they can even drive their own car or scooter.

Me personally, been driving my own tractor for the last 15 years...

 

Just do your own thing, use common sense.

A day or two helping out a gf on a market stall is not gonna bring the immigration Gestapo down on you.

[Max69xl]

4 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

No!

 DO NOT EVEN be seen to hold hands!

Just joshin...

Ignore the usual depressed paranoid lot on this forum.

Most of them are too scared or too lazy

to wash their own car

to mow their own front lawn

to paint their own house wall.

I'm surprised they can even drive their own car or scooter.

Me personally, been driving my own tractor for the last 15 years...

 

Just do your own thing, use common sense.

A day or two helping out a gf on a market stall is not gonna bring the immigration Gestapo down on you.

Don't give stupid advices to people when you don't know how it really works in Thailand. I just wrote in a post about a friend getting ratted out for just carrying food from his car to a bar in Pattaya. Have you EVER seen a farang helping out in a local market? Everything is about where you're staying. 

[JohnnyBKK]

You would be stealing the job of a thai by doing so, it's forbidden. If you want to help your gf to sell food move to another country where it's allowed.

[JohnnyBKK]

Oh I just remember the story that one of my friends told me. He has a restaurant in Jomtien, his father came to visit him and his father was detained by the police for illegal work in the restaurant. When I asked what he was doing, he said nothing he just came to say hello to me in the restaurant before the opening. That's it. He didn't get arrested because of course he was holding a work permit, but his father just came from overseas to check on the restaurant and they arrested him for illegal work.

 

Why ? Because he was in the restaurant while it was closed and only employees are supposed to be there.