A friend holds a non-O volunteer visa with a work permit. In order to get a visa extension he needs to get a confirmation letter from the social department. Social department says they can't issue the letter because his work permit shows that he receives a salary therefore he's not a volunteer. When I took it back to the labor office they said that one of the conditions to get a work permit is that you must receive a salary. In other words, if you don't receive a salary they can't issue a work permit. Anyone else run into this problem? Any ideas how it may be solved? I already suggested to the labor office that the compensation be specified as "other benefits" rather than "salary" but they said that's not an option.

 

A work permit is no longer required for those working as volunteers.

Some immigration offices may say it is required but most work permit offices will not issue them.

Interesting. Is this a recent change? I still know quite a few volunteers (in other provinces) that hold work permits.

2 hours ago, mikeinnara said:

Interesting. Is this a recent change? I still know quite a few volunteers (in other provinces) that hold work permits.

It has been like that since 2018 when the work permit rules were changed.

A summary of the changes is here. Thailands NewWorkPermitLaw_NARITLAW.pdf

I’m sorry Ubon Joe. With all due respect, the doc you show is from a law firm and not from MOL. Every volunteer working for a local foundation or Local Association requires a work permit. Simple. If you hold a non O visa based on volunteering for a local Thai foundation or Association, immigration won’t process an extension of stay without a valid work permit. If you hold an old volunteer work permit and renew that every year, there won’t be any salary or condition. However, new volunteer work permits under local Thai foundations and Associations will have a new condition that require the volunteer to be paid expense money. To renew that volunteer work permit the expat needs to show evidence they have filed and paid personal income tax otherwise they won’t be able to renew their work permit. Only in places like Pattaya where immigration and agents are selling the volunteer visas and work permits can they avoid this rule. 
 

 

To the OP, ask for your friend to contact me as I can easily sort this out. You can PM me if you wish. We specialize in non profit law and have processed  hundreds of volunteer work permits from 2018 till now.

19 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

A work permit is no longer required for those working as volunteers.

Some immigration offices may say it is required but most work permit offices will not issue them.

With all due respect Joe, volunteers for local Thai Foundations and Associations must hold a valid work permit or they can’t extend their visas and legally work. My firm specializes in non profit law in Thailand. See my answer to the op about salary. If you are correct, i guess the hundreds of volunteer work permits my firm has processed at all the MOL branches in bkk over the last 3 years is just a figment of my imagination.  

14 minutes ago, wmlc said:

If you are correct, i guess the hundreds of volunteer work permits my firm has processed at all the MOL branches in bkk over the last 3 years is just a figment of my imagination.  

I am just stating what many work permit office have told many people when they tried to get a work permit for volunteer work. 

I can assure you many people have gotten extensions for volunteer work without a work permit.

I can recall topics from 2018 after the decree went into effect of the work permit office in Chiang Mai not issuing them and immigration was stating they were needed. But that appears to of been sorted out since then.

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I am just stating what many work permit office have told many people when they tried to get a work permit for volunteer work. 

I can assure you many people have gotten extensions for volunteer work without a work permit.

I can recall topics from 2018 after the decree went into effect of the work permit office in Chiang Mai not issuing them and immigration was stating they were needed. But that appears to of been sorted out since then.

I am going to have to respectfully disagree. Volunteers are given the status by being employed by a local Thai foundation or Association as a volunteer and this is the key point. If the volunteer work you are referring to is not related to a local Thai Foundation or Association then I really don’t know what you are talking about. But 1 million percent you cannot extend your non O visa based on being a volunteer for a Local Thai Foundation or Association without a work permit. End of story. Recalling previous posts and sending a doc from a law firm about the emergency  decree in 2018 is not relevant to Foundation and Association law and the immigration law related to them.  Thanks Joe.

Can you be paid as a volunteer, if so are there limits or ceilings with regards to salaries?

On 3/2/2022 at 12:11 AM, stament said:

Can you be paid as a volunteer, if so are there limits or ceilings with regards to salaries?

or is the amount you get just supposed to cover food and accomodation, so a small amount like THB 10k