Work without work permit in Thailand

[Jocelyn0918]

I have been caught 5years ago (2017), work without work permit. No bribe, we hire a lawyer. And my report was filled.. My lawyer make a file that I was actually making my own food(Noodle soup) instead of selling it. And Then I was told it’s all settled by the lawyer in the same year. 5 years later (2022), which I have done legally Married to a Thai (Non-O) on 2018, and found a job at the same year. I’m manage to flying home at same year by applying two different visa. Actually I can apply work permit as I married a Thai Nationality. I have no idea my HR want me to change to Non-B instead, I just did it. Last year, 2021 I have change my extension to based on marriage to a Thai. And then found a new job, the company apply a work permit for me with this extension. Last week, a immigration officer bringing the warrant from court that, they have to bring me to police station because I’m intentionally evade legal prosecution/failure present at the court. Due to the cases I have mention at the beginning (which I was told by my lawyer everything is settled). My question is, I’m okay with penalty/fined. But will I get deported from Thailand? Or revoke my visa? Will the court consider my cases for not deported me? Because I have legally married to a Thai Nationality (Foreign woman married to a Thai Men). The immigration officer show up to my husband workplace to express his concern to my cases. I really hope that, at least I’m not deport. 

[bamboozled]

I wish you good luck. Do you have any correspondence from they lawyer that said everything was fine?

[Jocelyn0918]

32 minutes ago, bamboozled said:

I wish you good luck. Do you have any correspondence from they lawyer that said everything was fine?

As my acknowledge that, they told me everything was settled. If not I wouldn’t/they wouldn’t allowed me to proceed the rest (maybe Thailand are different). I’m still flying to my home country until 2019. ???? My cases are now at The Provincial Attorney Office. I was told by a friend even if I find a lawyer for my cases, it may cost you money and still you will lose. Because they never win with this related cases in Thailand.???? 

[OneMoreFarang]

I don't think you will get any real advice here in this forum.

It depends on many facts and circumstances.

Personally I suggest look for an influential person in your area who you can trust and ask that person how this issue can be solved. Pay whatever has to be paid and get it solved.

[Jocelyn0918]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't think you will get any real advice here in this forum.

It depends on many facts and circumstances.

Personally I suggest look for an influential person in your area who you can trust and ask that person how this issue can be solved. Pay whatever has to be paid and get it solved.

Yes. Even asking the Immigration Officer he said I have to wait this Friday 17th. I have to go The Provincial Attorney Office, to tell them what is happening. ????

[OneMoreFarang]

8 minutes ago, Jocelyn0918 said:

Yes. Even asking the Immigration Officer he said I have to wait this Friday 17th. I have to go The Provincial Attorney Office, to tell them what is happening. ????

You can be pretty sure some people want money to forget what happened in the past. 

Just going somewhere won't solve anything.

And if one immigration officer thinks all is fine doesn't mean that the provincial office or others think all is fine.

[BritTim]

As someone else asked: "what written documentation do you have about the case?"

 

It is entirely possible that the government records on this are messed up, and your lawyer really did do whatever was necessary to make the problem go away. It is also possible that all the lawyer did was have the officials in charge at the time bury the case without properly resolving it. You need, first of all, to know where you stand.

 

If the case was really closed properly back in 2018, and you have written documentation to that effect, it should be possible to resolve this quickly and without the need for any extreme action.

 

If the case was only buried at that time, and still technically active, you are in deep trouble. Arrest and deportation could happen at any time, It could happen Friday. You must then act with urgency to head off the problem. See if a local MP is associated with a legal firm (they often are). If so, a lawyer from that firm, furnished with all the facts, may be able to help. Only someone with powerful influence is likely to solve this once the provincial attorney is involved. It will become even more difficult if you are arrested and taken to court.

[bamboozled]

Can you contact this old lawyer? Perhaps he just told/paid the local guys to leave it be and that's why you were able to carry on? Perhaps everything WAS cleared up and now some new people see a way to make a problem and collect on it. If it was a real problem in the past, and was really cleared up, there must be some documentation somewhere. If not, it might never have been cleared up. Can you contact the office/precinct where the old problem was cleared?

[hereforgood]

22 minutes ago, BritTim said:

As someone else asked: "what written documentation do you have about the case?"

 

It is entirely possible that the government records on this are messed up, and your lawyer really did do whatever was necessary to make the problem go away. It is also possible that all the lawyer did was have the officials in charge at the time bury the case without properly resolving it. You need, first of all, to know where you stand.

 

If the case was really closed properly back in 2018, and you have written documentation to that effect, it should be possible to resolve this quickly and without the need for any extreme action.

 

If the case was only buried at that time, and still technically active, you are in deep trouble. Arrest and deportation could happen at any time, It could happen Friday. You must then act with urgency to head off the problem. See if a local MP is associated with a legal firm (they often are). If so, a lawyer from that firm, furnished with all the facts, may be able to help. Only someone with powerful influence is likely to solve this once the provincial attorney is involved. It will become even more difficult if you are arrested and taken to court.

When I was the bar manager I was arrested on walking street at the bar off to Soi 9 about a week later I had to meet with the arresting officials for whatever reason I was given a letter in Thai but translated which basically said that I was not involved in the incident and in no way should I have been arrested and everything is cleared regarding myself. I have that letter I always keep it because you never know. When you were cleared I would have thought you would have been given some similar documentation.

Edited June 13, 2022 by hereforgood

[Hummin]

I would have talked to an agent who deal with Work permits on daily basis, they usually knows a way out. Normally I would never recommend agents, but in cases like this it can actually be useful. 

[KhaoNiaw]

Quote

The immigration officer show up to my husband workplace to express his concern to my cases. 

I don't know if that is normal procedure? Could they be offering your husband an opportunity to 'resolve' the issue in some way?

[Jocelyn0918]

24 minutes ago, hereforgood said:

When I was the bar manager I was arrested on walking street at the bar off to Soi 9 about a week later I had to meet with the arresting officials for whatever reason I was given a letter in Thai but translated which basically said that I was not involved in the incident and in no way should I have been arrested and everything is cleared regarding myself. I have that letter I always keep it because you never know. When you were cleared I would have thought you would have been given some similar documentation.

I have the similar documents, but I have given the immigration officer 5years ago. High court told me that present this paper if you some government officer looking trouble from you. My mistake was I didn’t keep the copy. And I pass it to one of the officer when I extended my days in immigration.

[Jocelyn0918]

49 minutes ago, bamboozled said:

Can you contact this old lawyer? Perhaps he just told/paid the local guys to leave it be and that's why you were able to carry on? Perhaps everything WAS cleared up and now some new people see a way to make a problem and collect on it. If it was a real problem in the past, and was really cleared up, there must be some documentation somewhere. If not, it might never have been cleared up. Can you contact the office/precinct where the old problem was cleared?

The lawyer moved to another province. I tried to contact the office, the staff told me that the lawyer are not in there anymore. Immigration Officer looking for me with a warrant. Which state that I have failure appeal at the court with the cases. 

[Jocelyn0918]

31 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

I don't know if that is normal procedure? Could they be offering your husband an opportunity to 'resolve' the issue in some way?

This is exactly what’s on my mind, and I decided to call him yesterday to check if I have to exit Thailand in 24h. He said no. So I was quite relieved, at least I can do something maybe. He asked me to calm down. Let’s wait until 17th, he doesn’t know what’s the attorney decision. Hopefully they will reconsider my cases. I just hope that it will be an end at the court.

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, Jocelyn0918 said:

I have the similar documents, but I have given the immigration officer 5years ago. High court told me that present this paper if you some government officer looking trouble from you. My mistake was I didn’t keep the copy. And I pass it to one of the officer when I extended my days in immigration.

Go to the immigration office where you handed over the documents years ago. Explain the situation, and offer them money to find the file and give you copies. You will need to tell them the date when you gave them the documents.

[problemfarang]

its obvious your lawyer did a mistake somewhere or lied to you about he closed the situation. Its surprising nothing happened to you till this time. its also another thing how you caught when selling noodles.. Most likely someone reported you and still following up the case. OR another high chance is they found you when you are doing the new work permit which means they listed you about this and again which means its not good. I believe this is also something where you are from. Obviously not from the UK or the USA. Might be from some ASEAN countries? I believe you will get some punishment for sure. I would say you will pay some money. If you have work permit with your new work, i dont think it will affect anything because you are doing it legally. I also feel its good for you taht you got your non-b for the work permit but not your non-o. tbh honest it seems your marriage might be just for the visa. thats what they might think

i would find a really good lawyer some serious one familiar with these things.. i dont know if i can suggest or not in this forum but there are 2 or 3 good ones about this and you can find them using google

 

also... another thing... tbh many farangs here do a lot of things to get a legit non-b and extend it. sometimes it can be really hard.. or can be really time wasting.. or other things.. but it can be really full of problems to get a legit non-b.. mostly its not that difficult. so, i feel you deserved some punishment just tried avoiding these problems and think you can beat the system. with all respect i dont think its fair for the people who tries hard to get a legit non-b and extend it. dont want to start an argument, but i truly believe its the truth. 

 

anyway. good luck

Edited June 13, 2022 by problemfarang

[problemfarang]

8 hours ago, Jocelyn0918 said:

This is exactly what’s on my mind, and I decided to call him yesterday to check if I have to exit Thailand in 24h. He said no.

is your marriage legit? i mean you said you called your husband.. you married with him because of visa? or you just live in different cities. Because if it comes there, court will find out the truth. that will put your situation in more serious situation and also him too. can you both prove that your marriage is based on real love.. 

i mentioned this because i know some people married with ladies from laos jsut to keep them in thailand.

Edited June 13, 2022 by problemfarang

[PeachCH]

When working in Bangkok, we had a similar case in our (Thai) company. 

This lawyer office handled the case successfully before the court. 

http://www.htoosi.com/web/

 

[scorecard]

22 hours ago, bamboozled said:

I wish you good luck. Do you have any correspondence from they lawyer that said everything was fine?

Some people seem to always develop/create a complicated puzzle which gets them into trouble. Follow the rules and don't create puzzles and you won't get into such trouble. 

[Harveyboy]

22 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

You can be pretty sure some people want money to forget what happened in the past. 

Just going somewhere won't solve anything.

And if one immigration officer thinks all is fine doesn't mean that the provincial office or others think all is fine.

sadly i think people are looking for tea money..you might want to go buy some envelopes..hope it goes well

[scorecard]

19 hours ago, Jocelyn0918 said:

I have the similar documents, but I have given the immigration officer 5years ago. High court told me that present this paper if you some government officer looking trouble from you. My mistake was I didn’t keep the copy. And I pass it to one of the officer when I extended my days in immigration.

I just don't understand why people do things like this.

 

It's just simple common sense to keep a copy. Even if you don't want to keep paper copies of documents (not a good policy) then tak a smartphone photo of the document before you hand the original to anybody. And e.mail the photo to yourself. Very easy to do, takes maybe 20 seconds. 

 

Many years ago I was working as an organizational consultant in a contracted project for a big Thai company, the company put an ad on fb for a qualified full-time English language teacher.

 

Several farang applied, one looked OK on his simple application statement, so the company owner asked me if I would do him a favor and interview the guy.

 

My assistant responed on fb asking him to come to the company office for an interview at either 10.00 am or 2.30 pm across 4 successive dates, and asking him to reply to niminate a convenient date.

 

He arrived at the company office at 08.30 am the next day. I was already at the company office as were most employees. He refused a request from the receptionist to wait at the lobby area and said loudly 'nobody tells me what to do', and he started to wander from office to office interupting meetings. And he eventually found me in a meeting with my own employees from outside of the company.

 

I asked him to please take a seat and I would talk to him in 2 or 3 minutes. Again he refused, again he said loudly 'nobody tells mw what to do'. Then he ordered a passing company senior staff member (about 55 years old, dressed in a suit) to get him coffee with 2 shots.

 

A maid came 5 minutes later with a coffee and he complained 'where's the 2 shots'.

 

I asked him several basic questions but no clear answers. I asked him to let me see my passport, he refused with 'I don't show my passport to anybody'. I asked him what visa he was on, he refused to comment 'not your business'. I asked him what qualifications he had 'not your business'. Then he revealed that he was wanted by Thai Immigration police for overstay.

 

I told a snr company officer to call the immigration police and tell them we had a farang in the office who says he's on overstay. Imm. police arrived quickly and had with them his photo, copy of phis passport and a Imm. order specific to his overstay.

 

He then produced 2 documents he had downloaded and printed from sites operated by farang lawyers operating in Thailand. Both were the front pages of websites basically saying these law 'companies' could help solve anything. He claimed these documents prived he had not broken any Thai immigration laws/regulations. 

 

The Imm. police took him away after he gave them quite some abuse. We heard later that he was deported late the net day. 

 

Why do people take attitudes like this and get themselves into a tangled web which is going to bring trouble/serious trouble. 

 

 

 

 

After another 10 minutes I decto wait just

[BritTim]

4 hours ago, scorecard said:

I just don't understand why people do things like this.

 

It's just simple common sense to keep a copy. Even if you don't want to keep paper copies of documents (not a good policy) then tak a smartphone photo of the document before you hand the original to anybody. And e.mail the photo to yourself. Very easy to do, takes maybe 20 seconds. 

 

Many years ago I was working as an organizational consultant in a contracted project for a big Thai company, the company put an ad on fb for a qualified full-time English language teacher.

 

Several farang applied, one looked OK on his simple application statement, so the company owner asked me if I would do him a favor and interview the guy.

 

My assistant responed on fb asking him to come to the company office for an interview at either 10.00 am or 2.30 pm across 4 successive dates, and asking him to reply to niminate a convenient date.

 

He arrived at the company office at 08.30 am the next day. I was already at the company office as were most employees. He refused a request from the receptionist to wait at the lobby area and said loudly 'nobody tells me what to do', and he started to wander from office to office interupting meetings. And he eventually found me in a meeting with my own employees from outside of the company.

 

I asked him to please take a seat and I would talk to him in 2 or 3 minutes. Again he refused, again he said loudly 'nobody tells mw what to do'. Then he ordered a passing company senior staff member (about 55 years old, dressed in a suit) to get him coffee with 2 shots.

 

A maid came 5 minutes later with a coffee and he complained 'where's the 2 shots'.

 

I asked him several basic questions but no clear answers. I asked him to let me see my passport, he refused with 'I don't show my passport to anybody'. I asked him what visa he was on, he refused to comment 'not your business'. I asked him what qualifications he had 'not your business'. Then he revealed that he was wanted by Thai Immigration police for overstay.

 

I told a snr company officer to call the immigration police and tell them we had a farang in the office who says he's on overstay. Imm. police arrived quickly and had with them his photo, copy of phis passport and a Imm. order specific to his overstay.

 

He then produced 2 documents he had downloaded and printed from sites operated by farang lawyers operating in Thailand. Both were the front pages of websites basically saying these law 'companies' could help solve anything. He claimed these documents prived he had not broken any Thai immigration laws/regulations. 

 

The Imm. police took him away after he gave them quite some abuse. We heard later that he was deported late the net day. 

 

Why do people take attitudes like this and get themselves into a tangled web which is going to bring trouble/serious trouble. 

 

 

 

 

After another 10 minutes I decto wait just

I hope the guy got the psychiatric help he obviously needed.

[problemfarang]

7 hours ago, scorecard said:

I just don't understand why people do things like this.

 

It's just simple common sense to keep a copy. Even if you don't want to keep paper copies of documents (not a good policy) then tak a smartphone photo of the document before you hand the original to anybody. And e.mail the photo to yourself. Very easy to do, takes maybe 20 seconds. 

 

Many years ago I was working as an organizational consultant in a contracted project for a big Thai company, the company put an ad on fb for a qualified full-time English language teacher.

 

Several farang applied, one looked OK on his simple application statement, so the company owner asked me if I would do him a favor and interview the guy.

 

My assistant responed on fb asking him to come to the company office for an interview at either 10.00 am or 2.30 pm across 4 successive dates, and asking him to reply to niminate a convenient date.

 

He arrived at the company office at 08.30 am the next day. I was already at the company office as were most employees. He refused a request from the receptionist to wait at the lobby area and said loudly 'nobody tells me what to do', and he started to wander from office to office interupting meetings. And he eventually found me in a meeting with my own employees from outside of the company.

 

I asked him to please take a seat and I would talk to him in 2 or 3 minutes. Again he refused, again he said loudly 'nobody tells mw what to do'. Then he ordered a passing company senior staff member (about 55 years old, dressed in a suit) to get him coffee with 2 shots.

 

A maid came 5 minutes later with a coffee and he complained 'where's the 2 shots'.

 

I asked him several basic questions but no clear answers. I asked him to let me see my passport, he refused with 'I don't show my passport to anybody'. I asked him what visa he was on, he refused to comment 'not your business'. I asked him what qualifications he had 'not your business'. Then he revealed that he was wanted by Thai Immigration police for overstay.

 

I told a snr company officer to call the immigration police and tell them we had a farang in the office who says he's on overstay. Imm. police arrived quickly and had with them his photo, copy of phis passport and a Imm. order specific to his overstay.

 

He then produced 2 documents he had downloaded and printed from sites operated by farang lawyers operating in Thailand. Both were the front pages of websites basically saying these law 'companies' could help solve anything. He claimed these documents prived he had not broken any Thai immigration laws/regulations. 

 

The Imm. police took him away after he gave them quite some abuse. We heard later that he was deported late the net day. 

 

Why do people take attitudes like this and get themselves into a tangled web which is going to bring trouble/serious trouble. 

 

 

 

 

After another 10 minutes I decto wait just

serious question, is this story real? its unbelievable unbelievable. 

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, problemfarang said:

serious question, is this story real? its unbelievable unbelievable. 

Yes it's real. Been working/living in Thailand 35+ years and I've seen/exerienced many things, some very strange. Thailand attracts a ot of different characters. 

[problemfarang]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

Yes it's real. Been working/living in Thailand 35+ years and I've seen/exerienced many things, some very strange. Thailand attracts a ot of different characters. 

Well im here for 17 years and working for the royal thai air force. I also have seen some crazy stuff my self and via friends.. but your story and the guy... wow

I would just tell him its better for him to leave. Thanks for sharing

[merijn]

On 6/13/2022 at 12:50 PM, BritTim said:

Go to the immigration office where you handed over the documents years ago. Explain the situation, and offer them money to find the file and give you copies. You will need to tell them the date when you gave them the documents.

Good luck with that as immigration offices keep the documents only for a short period and are recycled after being processed.

[NativeBob]

Everyone heard stories about severe punishment of working without [even localized] work permit. However every time it ended with a money and never [on my watch] departure. Turkish dude had jewelry shop running at Bang Rak area - almost next soi from Police station - on Tourist visa, his minions [I guess] didn't even had one. Nothing happened.

My advice - calm down, look for some "pee" i your area and politely ask for support. 

[merijn]

12 minutes ago, NativeBob said:

Everyone heard stories about severe punishment of working without [even localized] work permit. However every time it ended with a money and never [on my watch] departure. Turkish dude had jewelry shop running at Bang Rak area - almost next soi from Police station - on Tourist visa, his minions [I guess] didn't even had one. Nothing happened.

My advice - calm down, look for some "pee" i your area and politely ask for support. 

Yes everyone heard about those stories but besides getting it solved with some brown envelopes i have also experience with people who where arrested and deported for this without even having a opportunity to use a envelope.

One friend was deported only because he handed over change to a costumer in his restaurant as the Thai waitress was busy with something else.

Unfortunately some police officers noticed this.

[TropicalGuy]

23 hours ago, scorecard said:

I just don't understand why people do things like this.

 

It's just simple common sense to keep a copy. Even if you don't want to keep paper copies of documents (not a good policy) then tak a smartphone photo of the document before you hand the original to anybody. And e.mail the photo to yourself. Very easy to do, takes maybe 20 seconds. 

 

Many years ago I was working as an organizational consultant in a contracted project for a big Thai company, the company put an ad on fb for a qualified full-time English language teacher.

 

Several farang applied, one looked OK on his simple application statement, so the company owner asked me if I would do him a favor and interview the guy.

 

My assistant responed on fb asking him to come to the company office for an interview at either 10.00 am or 2.30 pm across 4 successive dates, and asking him to reply to niminate a convenient date.

 

He arrived at the company office at 08.30 am the next day. I was already at the company office as were most employees. He refused a request from the receptionist to wait at the lobby area and said loudly 'nobody tells me what to do', and he started to wander from office to office interupting meetings. And he eventually found me in a meeting with my own employees from outside of the company.

 

I asked him to please take a seat and I would talk to him in 2 or 3 minutes. Again he refused, again he said loudly 'nobody tells mw what to do'. Then he ordered a passing company senior staff member (about 55 years old, dressed in a suit) to get him coffee with 2 shots.

 

A maid came 5 minutes later with a coffee and he complained 'where's the 2 shots'.

 

I asked him several basic questions but no clear answers. I asked him to let me see my passport, he refused with 'I don't show my passport to anybody'. I asked him what visa he was on, he refused to comment 'not your business'. I asked him what qualifications he had 'not your business'. Then he revealed that he was wanted by Thai Immigration police for overstay.

 

I told a snr company officer to call the immigration police and tell them we had a farang in the office who says he's on overstay. Imm. police arrived quickly and had with them his photo, copy of phis passport and a Imm. order specific to his overstay.

 

He then produced 2 documents he had downloaded and printed from sites operated by farang lawyers operating in Thailand. Both were the front pages of websites basically saying these law 'companies' could help solve anything. He claimed these documents prived he had not broken any Thai immigration laws/regulations. 

 

The Imm. police took him away after he gave them quite some abuse. We heard later that he was deported late the net day. 

 

Why do people take attitudes like this and get themselves into a tangled web which is going to bring trouble/serious trouble. 

 

 

 

 

After another 10 minutes I decto wait just

A walking textbook on how NOT to get hired. ????Why so Patient with an obvious Mental Case ? How did he even get an Interview? Should have been Ejected  after showing up without Appt. & first rude comment! ????

[TropicalGuy]

15 minutes ago, merijn said:

Yes everyone heard about those stories but besides getting it solved with some brown envelopes i have also experience with people who where arrested and deported for this without even having a opportunity to use a envelope.

One friend was deported only because he handed over change to a costumer in his restaurant as the Thai waitress was busy with something else.

Unfortunately some police officers noticed this.

I don’t do anything here resembling “ work” except inside my own house and no big works even then ! Can’t be too careful & the “change” thing proves it. ☹️????

 

Friend got tagged twice for 50k for fixing guttering and painting his business building ….plus he doesn’t have a Work Permit but “ works” as Language School Director/Teacher! ????