Tourist Visa / Travelling And Working ?

[sleir]

hello all,

a few months ago i've been in asia for 6 months, about 3 of it in thailand.

i really enjoyed the country, made many thai friends with which i am still in contact.

i had the luck of getting lots of opportunities to work, offers from friends that work in (non girly-)bars, as a private english- and german-teacher for students and the like, even do some tv and modelling stuff.. (maybe even serious and not a complete ripp off ) anyway... it seems like a good idea to me to combine travelling with some work, i was going to stay at chiang mai where most of my friends live. according to them it seems to be really easy, just do some work, get paid in cash or whatever, go to extend the visa every 3 months for a bordercross and not be worried about anything. i am quite the spontaneous type and had no problems whatsoever in thailand, so it sounded great to me.

now sry for the unneeded infos, just that you my background a bit..

now i understand that working or getting employed without a work permit (which seems to require a university degree ?) is illegal but is it actually quite "usual" or widely accepted ? anyone got experience with that ?

and what would happen if anyone "finds" out, or is that completely unrealistic ?

and about the border runs.. .i have done them with my entry visa of 1 month... so i could only have an extended visa of another month... so do you actually get a 3 month extension with a paid 3 month visa from switzerland ?

i got a lot more questions but i rather let you answer these first if you're so kind

cheers in advance,

simon

[astral]

1. Travelling on a tourist visa and working is definitely not allowed.

2. Working without a Work Permit is not allowed either.

Some people do get away with it, but the penalties and the prisons here

do not make it a proposition that I would recommend.

3. Getting a Non Immigrant "B" visa is difficult without a supporting letter offering a suitable job.

Come and have a holiday, but work elsewhere unless you can get a full time job here.

Sorry if this seems tough, but so are the Thai authorities!!

[sleir]

hm... let's assume i go for holidays first, get a normal tourist visa, then find an offer.. is it possible to change your visa type ?

any other experience from people who have done that ? i have met quite many travellers that have used the chance to do a job here and there..

you mentioned thai law and prison and the like... any specifics or experience anyone ? 2 friends of mine, would like to join me to thailand and wouldn't mind getting a job for a month or two as well... one of them it crack the other one learned cook and finished the hotel school.. dunno how it's called in english really but hope you know what i'm talking about... according to thai friends it's really easy to just get a job and work for a bit... i have made that experience offer-wise as well, just not sure how it really works out

[ovenman]

hm... let's assume i go for holidays first, get a normal tourist visa, then find an offer.. is it possible to change your visa type?

You can leave Thailand and apply for a non-immigrant 'B' visa once you have a job offer in-hand (along with the required paperwork) but the type of odd jobs you describe don't sound like they come with work permits. A work permit would be the next step once you enter Thailand on the non-immigrant visa.