No Renewal Of Work Permit

[dogleg]

Well, I was trying to be as legal as possible (and as advised by my accountants).

It is stamped in my work permit that I only needed to show tax/welfare paid for Thai employees, but now the new broom in Chonburi insists that they have to come and interview my phantoms.

I havent been able to find suitable Thai's to work for me & I'm not having 4 random Thais hanging round while I am trying to work.

So I have decided not to bother renewing my work permit. I am on a one year Multi entry Non 0 for visiting friends, and live with my TGF at her place.

If I get any hassle, dont expect me back!

Anybody else had this experience?

Cheers all.

[lopburi3]

legal as possible

interview my phantoms

A check of employees is very much a part of current policy and many people have reported such checks.

[monty]

It used to be only a requirement by immigration if you applied for an extension of stay based on employment.

They needed pictures of your employees at application of your extension, and normally show up during your "extension under consideration" 30 day allowance to check those employees are actually there!

Now it is also required by the labor department to have those 4 employees. So it figures they might show up as well to check they are actually employed and working at your place.

[HowardJohnson]

To the OP: How long did they give you to find your 4 employees and bring them to interview?

Just a little concerned as I also have 4 Thai employees that I haven't seen for a while...

[Cuban]

A check of employees is very much a part of current policy and many people have reported such checks.

Agreed - I was interviewed at the office just before Songkrang - some staff were away at the time but we employ enough to provide the four required. They took 'team' pictures and ID copies.

[jstumbo]

Just trying to catch the people that are scamming the system and not really employing the workers like they are supposed to.

They really do need to have a way that someone can have a company that only they work at, and still be able to get a work permit. For one thing, it would allow all the people that work on the internet to go legit.

[dogleg]

To the OP: How long did they give you to find your 4 employees and bring them to interview?

Just a little concerned as I also have 4 Thai employees that I haven't seen for a while...

My Accountantt/agent didnt give me the news until my previous work permit expired so I would have to apply for a new permit with staff already in place. A friend (with a different agent) has been waiting for inspection for 3 months now!

Just not feasible in my business.

As noted above , there seems no way for a one man band to be a legal taxpayer here. (is there?)

[Tod]

Yeah I have the exact same problem. There is apparently no way to avoid having 4 thai employees anymore. The best solution for me would probably be to open a standard thai company in my wifes name and use all the money you save on taxes to employ a qualified thai employee

[laxman1960]

To the OP: How long did they give you to find your 4 employees and bring them to interview?

Just a little concerned as I also have 4 Thai employees that I haven't seen for a while...

My Accountantt/agent didnt give me the news until my previous work permit expired so I would have to apply for a new permit with staff already in place. A friend (with a different agent) has been waiting for inspection for 3 months now!

Just not feasible in my business.

As noted above , there seems no way for a one man band to be a legal taxpayer here. (is there?)

My understanding is that the WP is not tied to the 4 Thai Staff, the Extension of Stay is what requires the 50,000 B per month plus 4 Thai Staff (if American,UK, etc., less for others as previously posted).

So you can have your Non-Imm B visa, valid for a year, 90 day stamps each time in. Then your work permit is 90 days at a time to match the validity of your current passport stamp. So you have renew the WP every 90 days.

That is how I have done it the past 2 years. Sunbelt can confirm. I hope this is still the case, since our company doesn't require 4 Thai staff.

[jstumbo]

From Sunbelt on this subject in another post.

I often have joked that my tombstone will read " Here lies the man who stated everyday : "Four Thai employees in a Limited Co. are not required for a work permit "

Not sure if the tombstone will be big enough. However I have said it so much everyday... 20-30 times a day, I'm sure the reflex will be there to still be saying it, even after I have faded away.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

So why a year later, the change after over a thousand posts saying the same thing as above since Oct 2004? Because even if the regulation hasn’t changed, its how the interpretation of the province Labor Dept head understands it. For instance the last 4 years, in Chiang Mai, they have required one Thai employee for a work permit. Where does it say you need one Thai employee in the regulation?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...mp;#entry188450

It doesn’t anywhere except article 8 that says “Article 8. Considering permitting otherwise than the cases or criteria herein prescribed shall be the power of the Director-General.” That means that Labor Dept Director-General in that province requires it, so be it. They make the rules and this regulation is only a guideline. The same goes in Nitcha Thani which required Thai employees the last three years while Bangkok did not.

Since Feb they have been stricter in Bangkok. The reason some of our clients have not had a problem with needing 4 Thai employees at this time. We had written a letter explaining why they don’t have a social fund filing for four Thai employees. Some days we submit the work permit application and they don’t ask for any letter or Social Fund filing showing proof of Thai employees. Other days they do ask for it or come back asking for proof.

A new regulation will be coming out but who knows what it will say. Bottom line I’m sure it will have “Considering permitting otherwise than the cases or criteria herein prescribed shall be the power of the Director-General.”

Some days, just like the ocean has tides that change, so does the Labor Dept stance. In Thailand, it can be black and white for years.... then Bammm! It's a great country so you deal with it.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com