Coming from the states, where you can't ask anything too personal that might be deemed as finding a reason to discriminate against somebody for an unlawful reason, I was wondering if these things would be illegal here in Thailand.

1. Asking the candidate if they have a spouse, significant other, children (and how old), is pregnant, or is planning on having children anytime soon. Could false answers to any of these questions, if they're legal, be grounds for dismissal?

2. Asking for a pay stub from their previous/current job.

3. Asking previous employers details about their job, performance, etc. Do employers in Thailand tend to share this info?

4. Is it common to ask for personal references?

5. Are credit checks readily available and legal? Costs involved? Information needed from candidate, such as ID#, address, etc? Approval need from candidate in writing?

6. Criminal background check? Is it possible and reliable? Where would one go to obtain one? What costs are involved?

As this is for a general office type of job:

Anything I should ask that is common/useful in Thailand or in general?

Anything I should look out for that would be illegal that I haven't listed here?

Just from my own experiences ...

1) I believe false statements on application forms are treated the same here as anywhere in the world. I am not sure about the legal implications are not recruiting someone because they are pregnant or might become pregnant, but when you see advertisements here all the time saying "Thai female, not over 30" there doesn't appear to be too much thought given to discrimination.

2) We have just started asking for a copy of current pay slip to prevent paying highly inflated salary requests, just because we have a 'Western" brand.

3) We also make contact with previous employers although you cannot read too much into what you get told.

4) Not common in my experience.

5) No experience on asking for credit checks, although I am assuming you would need the candidates approval to undertake something like that. I am not sure it's easy to obtain unless you are a finance or credit organisation.

6) Sorry, again no experience. I assume they are available but I am not sure how you go about that.

I hope this information helps in some small way. Good luck.