Gents,

I have to renew my work permit in a month. 4th WP so Far.

I use a reputable Farang lawyers that I most probably pay too much for but they generally get things sorted OK...except it does sort of piss me of paying the 8000thb Tea Money to the Employment office in Phuket Town. Although I hand it too my lawyers clerks in an enveloppe and never see who gets what...

Who else pays Tea money for WP, anyone get for free?

Cheers,

Sleesy.

Ps Really pissed me off when I forget my re-entry permit at Suvanabhum last time and invalidated my 2 month old visa/WP and had to go through the same bung scenario again...

My lawyer serves tea for free.

I apply for my WP in person at the Labour Office and over the years I have never been asked (or even suggested) tea money. Sounds like a scam to me.

i have never had to pay "tea money" for either mine or any of the other wp's that i have thru my company

Sounds to me like your lawyer is making an extra 8K from you.

Do you get a receipt?

I've NEVER heard of anybody paying tea money for a work permit.

Agreed - never had to paid any "service fee" for my WP, little bit pissed off at a collection fee, but I paid that at the labour office in person and was issued a receipt for that amount.

Is there any possible reason that your WP needs extra help? (Complying with all elements?)

Try renewal with another firm or through your employer?

What specific work is the WP for?

If you are having to pay tea money to the employement office, and you have no evidence this money is actually paid, then it sounds like a dodgy WP.

Reputable lawyers? Almost an oxymoron except repute can go both ways.

no tea money from here either

I apply for my WP in person at the Labour Office and over the years I have never been asked (or even suggested) tea money. Sounds like a scam to me.

I sign that... don it the same way many times, NO Problem and very helpful people at the MoL... some are asking 14.000 for their "help"!

If you got ALL the paperwork required, there is NO NEED to use Someones "help"!

Do it yourself and have a nice dinner with your friend, wife ....!

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If you got ALL the paperwork required, there is NO NEED to use Someones "help"!

Ah ..... I've talked to quite a few people who DO NOT have all the paperwork required, and use some lawyer or accounting office who guarantee a WP in 4 weeks for 10,000 baht (EXCLUDE the fees), and 'express' service for 15,000 Baht. I laugh at this 'express' fee, and 6 weeks later they are still waiting for the WP, and starting to understand why I laughted.

Gents,

I have to renew my work permit in a month. 4th WP so Far.

I use a reputable Farang lawyers that I most probably pay too much for but they generally get things sorted OK...except it does sort of piss me of paying the 8000thb Tea Money to the Employment office in Phuket Town. Although I hand it too my lawyers clerks in an enveloppe and never see who gets what...

Who else pays Tea money for WP, anyone get for free?

Cheers,

Sleesy.

Ps Really pissed me off when I forget my re-entry permit at Suvanabhum last time and invalidated my 2 month old visa/WP and had to go through the same bung scenario again...

I pay it, same same, 8,000 baht !

I dont see it as tea money, its an "express service fee". Also by paying this fee you will see the difference later down the line when it comes to extending/renewing etc. Such as going away and returning 1 month after the WP ran it, and not having to apply for another one !

Sleesy, your lawyer is not ripping you off. Pay it, you never know when you might need some help from the kind staff at the Employment office. You have a choice and you do not need to pay it however, see how helpful they are when you need there help. You are lucky that you (or your lawyer) are being offered to pay it !

One downside (if you can call it a downside) is that its your lawyer will also get special treatment each time they need a small "favour" from them, even though the favour could be required upon for someone else other than you. There is nothing wrong with that, its business.

My advice is dont stop using this lawyer, you will have wasted the whole point of paying the 8,000 baht. Again, see it as a positive thing and money well spent, you never know when you it might come in handy !

To all you "do-gooders" on here, please dont lecture about your views on corruption in Thailand, I find it very boring. Most of you only complain about it because it doesnt benefit you.

Ummm.. seems to me that the laywer's fees should cover all the work required. Paying any sort of tea money implies that he is not doing his job efficiently/effectively. In the past I have used these 'professionals' and found the one I used to always be late processing paperwork, and I had to pay the 'fines' to smooth out the problems. Sacked that guy, and now do it all myself.

Ummm.. seems to me that the laywer's fees should cover all the work required. Paying any sort of tea money implies that he is not doing his job efficiently/effectively. In the past I have used these 'professionals' and found the one I used to always be late processing paperwork, and I had to pay the 'fines' to smooth out the problems. Sacked that guy, and now do it all myself.

Why is everyone making reference about Tea Money?

Surly tea is not that expensive in phuket?

I think you should call it whisky money. OK 25 year old whisky money.

Ted.

My Sectary does all my WP renewals etc - I pay the small goverment fees and get a REAL receipt. If your business / employer is legal then Tea money for a WP is Bullsh$t IMHO

To answer a few of the questions from a few different replies:

The 8000thb TeaMoney I doubt we'd get a receipt for.

WP from my own company for me to do property related businesses

And yes:

I will be changing the company that does my Visa/WP, just been lazy in the past!

Thanks for the feedback Gents.

Regards

Sleesy

To all you "do-gooders" on here, please dont lecture about your views on corruption in Thailand, I find it very boring. Most of you only complain about it because it doesnt benefit you.

Who's lecturing and who's complaining? The OP asked some valid questions and everybody else pitched in with equally valid information on their situation, questions for the OP and views on the issue of "tea money" and work permits. If you find other peoples views very boring unless they agree with your's that says a lot about yourself.

btw if you are happy paying 8000 Baht unnecessarily and consider corruption to be an acceptable way of doing business you must be in real estate.

To all you "do-gooders" on here, please dont lecture about your views on corruption in Thailand, I find it very boring. Most of you only complain about it because it doesnt benefit you.

Who's lecturing and who's complaining? The OP asked some valid questions and everybody else pitched in with equally valid information on their situation, questions for the OP and views on the issue of "tea money" and work permits. If you find other peoples views very boring unless they agree with your's that says a lot about yourself.

btw if you are happy paying 8000 Baht unnecessarily and consider corruption to be an acceptable way of doing business you must be in real estate.

Firstly the comment on not wanting to hear boring remarks was NOT directed at the OP. It was directed to people like you who normally follow with remarks about corruption, or something else completely off topic. Such as what the previous poster does for a living.

Im not paying 8,000 baht unnecessarily, if you read my post again you will see what I said. You have a choice to pay it, if the OP thinks he should not have to pay it, and feels that the level of service will remain unchanged then he can decline to pay it. But if paying the tea money works for someone (which is does for me) then they have every right to say it works for them.

Its not about your company being legal or illegal, its about paying that little bit extra for the piece of mind that one day it may well come in handy, as it does for me time & time again !

This is an open forum, some advice will be "Dont pay it", some advice will be "Pay it". Ultimately its the OP's decision in the end to decide.

Whoops just read an old email and turns out the tea money is Visa related not WP:

"Our fee for apply 1 year visa is THB 20,000 and yes plus under table THB 7,000 or 8,000 then you need not to go visa runs every 90 days. Incase you not apply 1 year visa you just go border to get a new stamp every 90 days, it should be ok.

As I said previously, I have been lazy/ignorant in this area since arriving in Thailand 4 years ago but as I have 3 Thai companies that own land & property I was happy for everything to just get sorted...

They did previously manage to get my visa extended for 1 year without me having to leave Thailand. Is that the norm?

Do plan to sell the land BTW !

They did previously manage to get my visa extended for 1 year without me having to leave Thailand. Is that the norm?

If you pay taxes and the company is trading then you don't need to leave the country.

You still do not need to pay 'extra' service fees.

The Labour Office has always been perfectly above board for me. No Tea Money and they actually follow the regulations.

Sometimes a bit slow but never any messing around.

Immigration however: a bunch of criminals. They must be raking it in with Tea Money. And still crap, rude service and completely inconsistant.

They did previously manage to get my visa extended for 1 year without me having to leave Thailand. Is that the norm?

If you pay taxes and the company is trading then you don't need to leave the country.

You still do not need to pay 'extra' service fees.

If you have a WP AND pay tax on a salary of at least 65,000 baht/month, then you can apply for a one year extension for 1,900 baht/yearly extension, = you don't have to leave the country every 90 days, BUT do have to check into your nearest Immigration Office for NOTIFICATION every 90 days. You should not have to pay anything else, subject to your paperwork being in order and that you have a lot of PATIENCE at the Imm Office.