Can anyone tell me if the ex-pats who volunteer to assist the Police as 'Tourist Police' hold a work permit? It has always been my understanding that even if a person engages in volunteer work they must be in possession of a valid work permit.

Or is another case of duel standards in Thailand.

Exemption of the work permit requirement can only be given by Royal decree. As far as I know there is no such decree.

No offense intended, but I noticed a similar thing in another thread on Double-Pricing, and mean no harm but to just mention the difference between duel and dual. 'Duel' is when one fine day in the middle of the night two dead men got up to fight, while 'dual' is a two way street. In both these instances, your intention was 'dual'.

I only mean to help on a common eggcorn and I'd appreciate it if others could help me to recognise some of my own.

On-topic, I would have thought that volunteer tourist police assistants are granted work permits, aren't they?

In a previous life, I worked under a contract for a foreign embassy. We did not have to have work permits. We had non-immigrant B visas but were exempt from Work Permits. This was, as I understand it, due to some bilateral agreement between countries.

We also didn't pay taxes. Foreign nationals who were not citizens of the embassy, however, did have to pay taxes. I don't remember if they had to have a work permit.

For people working for an embassy or international organisation as the UN the law makes an exeception, as for some other categories of work.

No offense intended, but I noticed a similar thing in another thread on Double-Pricing, and mean no harm but to just mention the difference between duel and dual. 'Duel' is when one fine day in the middle of the night two dead men got up to fight, while 'dual' is a two way street. In both these instances, your intention was 'dual'.

I only mean to help on a common eggcorn and I'd appreciate it if others could help me to recognise some of my own.

On-topic, I would have thought that volunteer tourist police assistants are granted work permits, aren't they?

Thank you for bring my stupid mistake to my notice, no offence (offense?) intended but you appear to have answered my question with a question?

I hope you do not mind me pointing out your common spelling mistake? By the way egg-corn is hyphenated

I hope you do not mind me pointing out your common spelling mistake? By the way egg-corn is hyphenated

What does 'egg-corn' or 'eggcorn' mean?

Enough fun about spelling. Let's cut it before it gets ugly. Not all of us are native speakers.

Enough fun about spelling. Let's cut it before it gets ugly. Not all of us are native speakers.

This really gets hard, for no reason, doesnt it. (Please, no answers required).

This has been a question that continually pops up on thai visa about the volunteer police. The answer has always been the same. It has been reported by volunteer police themselves that none of them have work permits. As Mario previously stated there is no Royal Decree stating that a work permit is not required.

Thats apparently the answer.

Alien labour act:

http://thailaws.com/law/t_laws/tlaw0366.pdf

section 4 gives the exemptions.

I cannot see any reason why the tourist police volunteers should be exempt from having work permits. I think the police feel they are untouchable and that exemption is implied because they can do what they like. The work is not in the category of embassy or multilateral agency work that is exempted or temporary work for a government agency in an emergency situation that can be approved by the government without a WP according to the law. I also think that it would not be too difficult for the volunteers to get the WPs, provided they are on non-imm visas and not retirement or tourist visas. I think I saw some one from Phuket say in a TV thread that he had managed to get a WP as a volunteer and without another paying job. Probably most police forces don't want to be bothered with the paperwork.

Wonder if SiFu had a WP ??