'o' Woes. Request For Advice.

[Scitech]

I'm a US citizen, 41yrs old, legally married to Thai citizen with 1 child. Came to Thailand in May to build a home, live here, and start a neat little business on a single entry type 'O' issued to me in the USA. Single, not a multiple entry 'O', stupid mistake!!!

90 days was coming up, went to get an extension on my 'O' in Bangkok.

Showed immigration our wedding certificate, valid IDs, baby's' birth certificate, house registration.. but then instead of a bank book - Bangkok immigration wanted only to see a work permit. Period!

Immigration issued me a 60 day extension, and said I would need to leave the country.

The business is in the startup stage.

My finite pile of cash is now barely 2 million baht. Expenditures on travel outside Thailand to keep my visa current is causing me some serious concern, as business and home construction expenses are continuous and necessary.

Visa is necessary too, so I must get the most from my efforts.

Advice is greatly appreciated.

[lopburi3]

You appear to have two avenues (other than leaving). You find a way to provide 40k per month income for you/wife or combined (Immigration work permit was assuming just you making the money). Or you get business up and running that will provide you a work permit. As you do not have any idea of the visa/work permit/company set up requirements (at least this is how it appears) I would strongly advise you to consult with sponsor Sunbelt or other respected legal firm as there are a number of steps that must be taken to get everything legal and acceptable for extended stay here. I would also think about a slowdown in home construction until you have a means to pay for it. There are far too many unhappy endings here for those without the means to complete there transformation and very few "neat" businesses turn out profitable in any short term period.

A bank account book is no longer accepted for family extension of stay so Immigration was correct.

[crewcut]

Can you tell me more about the business you intend to start and how you plan to spend your money setting it up and running it?

[Scitech]

lopburi3, I appreciate your quick reply.

It will be 4-5 months before the business will possibly generate enough revenue, and required tax records, to use it for a work permit. Neat, is not illegal or shady. It is, IMO, a neat device I have developed for manufacture. Tooling and product certification are in process.

7.17/5 was not understood well by myself. My information was combined with outdated rules on the application proceedure. I only hope that my mistake can help someone else avoid the same.

Could a living trust fund with monthly disbursment of 40k meet the support requirement?

[crewcut]

Have you done any market research on existing products or approached potential customers to gauge there reaction or interest?

Always best to test the water before committing yourself, especially as your funds are depleting.

Will any ISO issues be highlighted in the certification process?

Is your device patented?

[lopburi3]

Sorry if anyone took the quote of "neat" as inferring anything other than the normal idea is neat/new/unique/the next big hit. Just a caution that often what we may think will sell or be successful turns out to be less that we may have hoped for.

The waters are a bit muddy on the 40k requirement if not from local income or pension (for those older than you). It is a possibility that if you can obtain normal Embassy letter as to your 40k income that it will be acceptable and surly worth a try. At least one person reported he was told it must be transferred monthly and probably tax payments made but that is just one report and may or may not be the case with the next person.

[Scitech]

I appreciate all responses, all are time and effort, and I do appreciate them all.

I'll give the Living Trust a go. Seems silly. Whatever it takes.

As far as the business;

Research by me for this item has been ongoing since 1988. The last two years I have sent out over 100 prototypes for folks to try out. The device concept was patented and long ago expired. My modifications are added in the "obvious" category, but they do make the product very, very effective. The patent system is a horrid mess to be avoided by individuals, IMO.

The device reduces pain similar to neural implant devices, but in a more broad area without contact, using known safe levels of EM.

Getting a saftey mark and certification for sale in Thailand is amazingly straight forward. Refreshingly so.

[Maestro]

I'll give the Living Trust a go.

I think it should work. Immigration will want to see a certified letter from your embassy and probably also supporting documentation for the income. Basically, any type of income should be acceptable to immigration but implementation appears to be erratic, with some officers saying that foreign income should be only income from employment or pension. Periodic payments from a Living Trust look much like pension income, nayway.

It may depend on how the document issued to you by the Trust is worded and you may want to consider getting the assistance of a lawyer for the first application for extension of stay. Off-hand, I would think that the document of the Trust could say something like “I, the undersigned, <name>, trustee of the XYZ trust, hereby certify that Mr. Scitech is the beneficiary of the XYZ trust and is paid a monthly remuneration of xxx United States Dollars, for an indefinite period”.

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Maestro