A friend informed me of the opportunity to teach Chinese children English online and the pay is pretty decent. Work is illegal on a Non-Immigrant O Visa, based on retirement. How difficult would it be to transition to a work permit if I had a letter from the company which offers those jobs?  Just a thought. I have plenty of time on my hands and my Master's degree is not being used for anything else besides a wall decoration. ????

You can only get a work permit if you are working for a Thai registered company.

On 4/15/2021 at 11:33 AM, ubonjoe said:

You can only get a work permit if you are working for a Thai registered company.

The potential students are Chinese and LIVE in China, not Thailand. Does Thailand expect a cut of the money if the instructor is working by computer in Thailand? The terms of the NON-O say "no work", but leave no option to convert to a work permit. I doubt if any of these companies are Thai and I doubt that there are similar companies in Thailand that offer instruction via internet only (i could be wrong). Assuming that converting from a NON-O to a work permit were possible, is the process rigorous or fairly straightforward?

2 minutes ago, Nickelbeer said:

Assuming that converting from a NON-O to a work permit were possible, is the process rigorous or fairly straightforward?

A work permit does not allow you to stay in the country it only allows you to legally work in the country. Normally you need to get a non-b visa entry to apply for a work permit and then a extension of stay based upon working for a company.

6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

A work permit does not allow you to stay in the country it only allows you to legally work in the country. Normally you need to get a non-b visa entry to apply for a work permit and then a extension of stay based upon working for a company.

 

6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

A work permit does not allow you to stay in the country it only allows you to legally work in the country. Normally you need to get a non-b visa entry to apply for a work permit and then a extension of stay based upon working for a company.

Same question, except substituting "Non B-Visa entry" for "work permit". Is it common or simply not allowed?

4 minutes ago, Nickelbeer said:

Same question, except substituting "Non B-Visa entry" for "work permit". Is it common or simply not allowed?

You have to be working for a company or school to get the non-b visa and have proof of a work permit application being done.

34 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You have to be working for a company or school to get the non-b visa and have proof of a work permit application being done.

You missed the important bit. You have to be working for a Thai company.

If you don't work for a Thai company, you won't get a non-B visa or a work permit.

11 minutes ago, jackdd said:

You missed the important bit. You have to be working for a Thai company.

If you don't work for a Thai company, you won't get a non-B visa or a work permit.

I am sure you can recommend an agent to sort it out. ????

Edited April 16, 20215 yr by fishtank

10 hours ago, jackdd said:

You missed the important bit. You have to be working for a Thai company.

If you don't work for a Thai company, you won't get a non-B visa or a work permit.

You failed to read my earlier post.

 

On 4/15/2021 at 11:33 AM, ubonjoe said:

You can only get a work permit if you are working for a Thai registered company.

 

12 hours ago, Nickelbeer said:

Assuming that converting from a NON-O to a work permit were possible, is the process rigorous or fairly straightforward?

Op, a visa and a work permit are two different things, there is no converting one to the other.

A Visa allows to enter and stay in thailand, some visa's allow work, others don't, its not permission to work, its a case of work is allowed if you  "also" get a work permit.

 

 

On 4/15/2021 at 11:28 AM, Nickelbeer said:

How difficult would it be to transition to a work permit if I had a letter from the company which offers those jobs?

Op, you are not employed by the company, the company provides a platform to put teacher in touch with student, passes on the payment from student to teacher etc.

If I use skype to teach English to someone, skype isn't my employer.

 

If you are inside the borders of Thailand and teaching English, face to face or via a computer (there is no difference), that is work. You need a Visa that allows work, a Thai company to employ you and a work permit. Just because your goods or service are consumed outside Thailand, doesn't exempt you from Thai work laws.

 

You can setup your own Thai company that then employs you, get a visa that allows work, then get a work permit.

 

At the end of the day, you could probably teach English remotely and nobody would ever know, but you wont get a visa/WP to do so.

 

 

Edited April 17, 20215 yr by Peterw42

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

Op, you are not employed by the company, the company provides a platform to put teacher in touch with student, passes on the payment from student to teacher etc.

If I use skype to teach English to someone, skype isn't my employer.

 

If you are inside the borders of Thailand and teaching English, face to face or via a computer (there is no difference), that is work. You need a Visa that allows work, a Thai company to employ you and a work permit. Just because your goods or service are consumed outside Thailand, doesn't exempt you from Thai work laws.

 

You can setup your own Thai company that then employs you, get a visa that allows work, then get a work permit.

 

At the end of the day, you could probably teach English remotely and nobody would ever know, but you wont get a visa/WP to do so.

 

 

Yes, I hear these "nobody would ever know" stories all the time, many of them from people who are sitting in a Thai jail awaiting deportation. I am committed to following the law as long as I live here. Sometimes, the law is difficult to interpret and that is the value of sites such as this one.

14 hours ago, Nickelbeer said:

The terms of the NON-O say "no work",

You can definitely work on an O visa. You might have some special extension fixed up for you.

 

If they'd stamped non O maybe it's simply because the embassy consulate just stamp happy and they stamp all visas - no work.

 

Maybe it's OA?? No idea on those.

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

setup your own Thai company that then employs you,

To teach Chinese kids online for b400 an hour? Serious???

1 minute ago, kynikoi said:

You can definitely work on an O visa. You might have some special extension fixed up for you.

 

If they'd stamped non O maybe it's simply because the embassy consulate just stamp happy and they stamp all visas - no work.

 

Maybe it's OA?? No idea on those.

You cant usually work on an 0 visa, the only exception would be a marriage visa.

5 minutes ago, kynikoi said:

To teach Chinese kids online for b400 an hour? Serious???

Not saying it would pay well, its just the requirement to be legal, if the guy wants a WP etc

3 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

You cant usually work on an 0 visa, the only exception would be a marriage visa.

 

I'm on O marriage extension. Completely forgot about retirees. You are 10000% correct.