“Working” around the house & garden, Work permit needed or nonsense?

[bbko]

A while back I was trimming a small tree in my (wife’s) yard and sustained a small scrape on my hand that required a band-aid, later that same afternoon I went to the local mom & pop store to buy a few beers, a few expats were sitting around and asked me about my hand, I tell them my story and one guy asked me if I had a work permit.  I said no, “I’m just working on my (wife’s) house”,   he then got on his soapbox and proceeded to tell me I’m breaking the law, I could be arrested, I should hire a Thai to do the tree trimming, blah blah blah, and he was serious.  I asked him how about me cutting the grass with my lawn mower? Work permit.  How about me painting around the house? Work permit.  How about me washing my car? Work permit.  He went on to use the old line “any job that a Thai get’s paid to do, it’s illegal for me to do, even in my (wife’s) own home.  I tell him I've been living here for almost 15 years and always work around my home, he does some eye rolling and says I'm pressing my luck and could be arrested.

Is he right or is this fear mongering nonsense?  Are we expats allowed to “work” in/on the places we live?

[ubonjoe]

Nonsense

About the only case it could be a problem if you building your own without any Thai labor.

[DrJack54]

Ignore him and the soap box. 

[Ralf001]

Should have asked him if he has a work permit to have sex with his wife..... Thats a Job his wife could pay a Thai to do !!

Edited February 7, 2022 by Ralf001

[jastheace]

making yourself a sandwich? work permit. pouring yourself a beer? work permit. driving / riding to the market for groceries? work permit. etc etc etc...

ignore him. let him wind himself up, and carry on.

[utalkin2me]

Yes of course. You took someone’s job. A Thai may have been paid to clean that rubbish up

[Dmaxdan]

If this were true then this forum would inundated with news stories everyday about foreigners being arrested and deported by immigration for doing everyday menial tasks around their homes.

Those BMW smart cars would be out and about 24/7 trying to round up all the rule breakers.

 

Which reminds me, I must change that leaking tap tomorrow morning...

[blackcab]

I must remember to tell my wife that someone @bbkoknows said it's highly illegal for me to do any odd jobs around the house.

 

Perfect.

[chalawaan]

Depends on who you <deleted> off. I did it for years, sweat drenching me, even in the cooler hours. They just thought I was ting-tong or maybe too tight to employ a Burmese. But I got along with my neighbours, even the keenoks next door who worked at the water board.

[Peterw42]

Any of these stories' about cant wash your own car etc, are rubbish. They are always told 3rd hand, and there always ends up being more to the story, ie: the guy had an actual car wash business and was washing 20 cars a day etc.

 

Someone will pop on with a story of a guy they know, who knows a guy, who knows a guy who got arrested for making a cup of coffee. The real story will be the guy was working in a restaurant, serving, cooking, waiting etc, and got caught.

Then the guy said he was only making a cup of coffee for himself.

 

Nobody has ever been arrested for washing the car, mowing the lawns etc

 

[WEBBYB808]

If you get paid for it... then yes.  Not getting paud its no big deal. 

[jastheace]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Nonsense

About the only case it could be a problem if you building your own without any Thai labor.

just to add to this and my previous comment. the only problem you 'could' have is if there is another person/s doing work (a thai) on your property, eg, your wife selling somtum, a gardener doing the lawn, a decorator painting the house, a builder doing the roof, etc... and you do something which could be seen 'assisting', such as getting your own beer from the fridge associated with a wifes business, burning cuttings or raking cut grass, opening a tin of paint to help the decorator, holding a ladder steady for the builder, etc... then grey areas exist which if seen and reported can haunt you. 

however, on your own and away from any business area, fill your boots. 

getting paid or doing something gratis makes no difference.

[Gottfrid]

Are you serious! The best thing you can do is ignore the chatter box. He´s just another farang with poor mental health that never came home again after his first trip.

[problemfarang]

you said you went to buy some beers... did you see how many beer bottles they had in front of them? lol

next time when you see them, tell them that its illegal and a big crime to change the laws or telling lies about the law. and the punishment is, jail

Edited February 7, 2022 by problemfarang

[PFMills]

Any tree trimming to be done then I hold the ladder for my wife.

[AhFarangJa]

Next time I would tell him that he is more than likely breaking several laws for sitting outside a mom & pop store drinking beer. One of which could ostensibly be consuming alcohol on a public street, even more if it was between 2 and 5 p.m. That would shut him up.

[klauskunkel]

12 hours ago, bbko said:

He went on to use the old line “any job that a Thai get’s paid to do, it’s illegal for me to do, even in my (wife’s) own home.

He is just trying to justify his own laziness.

(I know because I do the same, but only with my wife;

"No Babe, I can't do the dishes, the police will arrest me")

Edited February 8, 2022 by klauskunkel

[Phuketshrew]

9 hours ago, PFMills said:

Any tree trimming to be done then I hold the ladder for my wife.

I prefer to let the wife trim her own bush .... ????

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, bbko said:

 he then got on his soapbox and proceeded to tell me I’m breaking the law, I could be arrested,

Find a new drinking circle.

[tonray]

11 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Any of these stories' about cant wash your own car etc, are rubbish.

True but if it's the same as my MooBaan....Thais will look at you funny when you wash your own car. I have never seen anyone here wash/wax their own car (GF says why work when there are car wash people at the  PTT and Caltex stations ????). I had several MooBaan security guys who stopped at the checkpoint at the  end of our soi staring in amazement as I applied wax to my car this past Sunday. 

[Jaxxper]

I’m not sure that your average Thai neighbours or passers by know what the work permit rules are anyway, and generally I don’t think they give a hoot, or would take the time to report you even if it was an immigration rule issue which I don’t believe it is.

[Dazz1]

Ha ha ha! Let a thai do a job and then you have to get a thai to fix the endless F ups.

[varun]

13 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Should have asked him if he has a work permit to have sex with his wife..... Thats a Job his wife could pay a Thai to do !!

I salute you Sir - POTY 

[BritManToo]

14 hours ago, bbko said:

I went to the local mom & pop store to buy a few beers, a few expats were sitting around and asked me about my hand, I tell them my story and one guy asked me if I had a work permit.

Best not to talk to foreigners, if you must talk to them don't tell them anything about yourself or where you live. Just stick to generalisations about the weather or football ...... or your former adventures in the SAS.

Edited February 8, 2022 by BritManToo

[Tropposurfer]

14 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Nonsense

About the only case it could be a problem if you building your own without any Thai labor.

yeah like Ubon J said; or as Rick Mayal might say; 'utter, utter, utter' ... "nonsense"

[Tropposurfer]

Thank the gods for the older wiser ANow Masters.

I have a habit of not spouting on about anything in LOS unless its been confirmed by the Masters first ... why? Cause I know 'sweet f a' when it comes to this amazing mysterious place in the sun.

[brianthainess]

I wish I didn't have to do so many jobs around the house, i'm quite willing to pay to have work done, unfortunately not only do they make a bad job, they normally end up breaking something else. Thiis the latest F up of having new windows and fly screens fitted. I have done a diagonal measurement of the fly screens and they are 25mm out of square on ALL 4 screens ! ???? ????

 

 

[tonray]

5 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I wish I didn't have to do so many jobs around the house, i'm quite willing to pay to have work done, unfortunately not only do they make a bad job, they normally end up breaking something else. This is the latest F up of having new windows and fly screens fitted. I have done a diagonal measurement of the fly screens and they are 25mm out of square on ALL 4

screens !????????

 

  

 

That's to confuse the mosquitoes who expect to fly straight in

[sandyf]

20 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

Thank the gods for the older wiser ANow Masters.

You shouldn't have included the term "older". The rumour invariably comes from "older" expats and was quite rife 20 years ago,  haven't see it raise it's ugly head for some time now.

[loong]

I haven't seen any details of the law for a few years now but I do remember that it is quite vague and defined work as using your skill or knowledge whether paid or not. There is also no mention of "work that could be done by a Thai".

Strictly speaking, your friend is probably correct and you could be prosecuted for working in your own home. In reality, I have not known anyone that has been prosecuted and I think it doubtful that anyone ever will be.