Non immigrant b visa

[camster]

Hi There

I will be arriving in Thailand soon with my bright new non immigrant B visa. I will also be bringing my computer with me as i have an internet company that I need to monitor and continue to improve FYI http://www.eyetraveller.com My question is what the heck can i do with this B visa. For example can I talk business with people, can I actively promote my website, can I start a business etc. etc... If I am asked what I am doing with the computer what should I not say?

Any advice on this would be very appreciated.

p.s. this is my third excursion to Thailand so I am expecting questions from immigration.

[Indo-Siam]

Camster -

I will not try to give you a comprehensive reply - just some points to consider.

First - you will receive a 90 day entry permit upon arrival.  I am assuming that you have a one-year, multiple entry visa.  So - at the end of 90 days, you must do something - either obtain an extension, or make a "visa run" to cross the border, and then re-enter, at which pount you will get another 90 day entry.

The Class B visa does make you elegible to apply for a work permit here - meaning that if you can find a qualifying employer, and that employer offers you a qualifying job/salary, you can legally work and get paid inside Thailand.

Alternately, you can start your own company here, and work for that company - provided you structure things so that you meet qualifying criteria - the two most significant ones being company capitalization at 2 million baht (which is supposed to be paid in), and having at least four Thai employees.

If you get a work permit, you are eligible to apply for an extended entry permit - allowing you to remain in Thailand continuously for the remainder of the 12 months following your initial entry into Thailand.  And, upon expiration,  that extended entry permit can then be renewed for another year - and so on - until you are eligible for permanent residency.

Concerning working independently to run an on-line business.  Go ahead.  You will be totally invisible to Thai authorities.  Just do not indicate on the website that your business location is Thailand.  Working on the Internet is virtually indistinguishable from playing on the net.  Every high-end hotel here has a business center where businessmen (working, or on holiday) use computers and fax machines to check up on their overseas businesess,  You will simply be doing the same thing - but from an apartment.  If you have a laptop, and get a Hutch/Sierra Aircard, you can basically work from anywhere.

I see that your business is stock photography.  The one way that you could theoretically get in trouble here would be to try to sell content to customers inside Thailand - customers whose accounting department wanted tax receipts for monies paid to you locally.   Even this could be side-stepped by invoicing clients from Canada, and issuing receipts from there.  Only a paper trail of money exchanges inside Thailand could really hurt you.

The other way to get in trouble here would be to accept a paid job here - going to work every day in a structured way, performing a job with structured responsibilities, and receiving a predictable salary from an employer - all without a work permit (which is needed in order to have income tax withheld).  You would then be working illegally.  Lots of people do that, and it is rare that someone gets caught, but you become vulnerable to extortion - and if someone goes out of their way to point you out to authorities, you are potentially in serious trouble.

One other approach -  I run a website business - as described at Siam Website.  I have always had it in the back of my mind to set up a "sister" operation called SiamImageBank - at that or a similar domain.   My company has 3 million baht paid-in capital, plus seven Thai employees.  My company could create a job for a second foreigner by simply hiring one more Thai, and increasing capitalization to 4 million baht (and paying in one million additional capital).  Me, or someone like me, could add you to their team - with the requirement that you pay-in one million in capital, which is then used to pay your salary for 18 months.  Now, you have fully legal job in Thailand - and work for a company that can legally distribute content, invoice, and issue receipts in relation to business inside Thailand.   You would have to strike a deal whereby you became a contributing profit center for your Thai employer - even as you ran your own overseas business "on the side" (actually - most of the time).  This might be as simple as offering free photo content for your employer's Thai website clients - with your employer collecting some premium from clients.  If you are interested in exploring this sort of direction, come see me once you are on the ground - and I will lay out to you "the rest of the story" (there is more to this business plan).  No obligation either way.  

Good luck!

Steve Sykes

Managing Director

Indo-Siam Group

www.indo-siam.com

[camster]

Thanks for the reply Steve, there was some good points you brought up I was not aware of. Your ideas about the image bank and setting up another work permit for a foreigner (me) sounds very interesting. However my problem is i dont have 1 million baht cash to invest. I am also a print and website designer http://www.camwilson.com and have thought of setting up a little business in Phuket but once again it comes down to the cash thing. So in this case without 2 million baht and hiring 4 thais, I'm assuming my only other option is getting a work permit and working full time with someone.

Thanks

Cam