Working Legally In Thailand - Immigration And Labour Departments Speaks Out

[Arkady]

Bottom line for jammers is that the head of the WP division in Chiang Mai has simply reiterated what he said in the City Life article adding a little more of his personal interpretations. It is worth bearing in mind that his is not the only organisation that can arrest and charge foreigners for work permit offences. In fact most arrests for these offences are carried out by Immigration who have more policing resources and receive more complaints. Therefore his personal interpretations may not be particularly relevant, even in Chiang Mai, since the Labour Ministry is not the main enforcer of the law. Apart from the 15 day visas which they seem willing to issue even with tourist visas, a non-imm B, extension based on marriage or PR would be required for a proper WP. Theoretically it should be easier for those who already have WPs to add another job, since they have already passed the minimum salary requirement and should be able to work at the second job for nothing. Even so, I suspect it will be nigh impossible for a businessman to add a second job as a musician to his WP. The paperwork would be pretty daunting for the bar and officials might also question the qualifications of the businessman to work as a musician even for free. Most are not limited companies and would struggle to come up with the kind of documentation that would be required. So basically there is no remedy at hand.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Arkady

[Willeyeam]

He added that the money must be in the bank for a minimum of 3 months on the first application.

The money must be in account 2 months for first application per police order 777/2551. Perhaps the word intended was 'after' rather than 'on'?

' Married to a Thai national will offer eligibility to apply for permanent residency'. I am reading this correctly. You can apply for PR if married to a Thai, I thought that you had to be paying Thai tax to do this?

Rick

I am married for over 7 years to a Thai and been living here we have our own house of course in my Thai wife name and renew my yearly non immigration O retirement visa. What do I do to get 3 year resident visa?

What it means is you must have had three continuous years here on a non O visa - as married to a Thai - i.e. three continuous yearly extensions to your O visa, before you can even apply for PR - there are no three year resident visas - it is a pre-requisite to APPLY, nothing more.

[arrowsdawdle]

Could somebody tell me why the 800,000 baht required to be in a Thai Bank Account for the purposes of securing a Retirement Visa could not be equally achieved by significant sums invested in the SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand)?

Some person of influence has to benefit from your 800K and the banks are run by persons of influence.

[Willeyeam]

Let's face it, if they really wanted to they could get rid of every foreigner tomorrow that holds no work permit.

As he states, the law basically says the definition of work is "exerting effort whether for profit or not" - which could if they really wanted to, translate into the effort required to breathe or walk down the road - after all - even a shag without a work permit is requiring at least a bit of effort - and in many cases the Thai could be making a profit.

So be careful people - if you have just paid your barfine, make sure you just lie there and make her/him do the work - otherwise you could be in breach of the Work Ministry.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Willeyeam

[Willeyeam]

Could somebody tell me why the 800,000 baht required to be in a Thai Bank Account for the purposes of securing a Retirement Visa could not be equally achieved by significant sums invested in the SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand)?

Some person of influence has to benefit from your 800K and the banks are run by persons of influence.

I heard from the BBC that there are almost 41000 Brits alone living in Thailand, if half of these were retirees (which I am just making a guess at) that makes 16,400,000,000 to be in a Thai bank each year! (I know this is a bit simplistic - but it is still a good little earner, given that it needs to be in the bank 2 months before - which means the banks have at least two months interest free fun with your money)

Now add up all the other nationalities.....it starts to make a hefty chunk of cash.(an earlier post on TV guestimated that around 350,000 expats) gain, if that was 50% on retiree status - that is about 140,000.000.000.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Willeyeam

[huck]

So, if theThai Gov't immigration Dep't is so intent on making sure everyone is working legally, with appropriate work permits in Thailand, then why is it that so many schools are allowed to advertise jobs for teachers and then keep them waiting anywhere between 3 months to a year before giving a farang teacher a work permit, and yet so often when the new academic year begins and jobs are being advertised, they keep on advertising that work permits will be obtained on behalf of the teachers? Surely they know they need teachers, so why are they never prepeared for the process when it occurs and jobs are offered, same old same old problem every year, then the schools wonder why there is s shortage of applicants for the posts. Again, Wake Up Thailand.

You know this is Thailand, land of smiles. Every Immigration post has its own interpretation of work and of immigation policy.

I have heard so many variations over the years its a joke. Its what ever it is at that moment. All you can do as a farang is try and adopt the

different variations. Thailand is a huge Human Rights abusser and it costs about $100 to get some body knocked off here and the police will

do it for you. So be happy in the land of smiles and just smile back. Do what ever you want, if you get caught just pay them off

[somchai69]

As far as I can see none of these officers are based in Bangkok?

So they only represent the current muddled view that varies from one office to another.

As already noted the Immigration officer did not know the difference between the two and three month

seasoning needed for funds in the bank.......

The whole exercise was a waste of time and just added to the current confusion.

Any further statements of this nature should come from the Head of Immigration and the Head of the Labour Dept

in Bangkok and be published on the appropriate web sites, in English, and in the English speaking press.

Who know, they might even include Thaivisa in the process??

[Foggy Bottom]

I wish I had known about this in advance, as I would love someone to explain the difference between karaoke performance and 'jamming' musicians. Or are they now saying every Thai Karaoke place is illegal for non Thais to use ??

He added that there is no “freelance” work permit, that one must be sponsored by a company. However, when asked about specialists offering advice for overseas clients in overseas markets, he felt that so long as they did not offer that advice to Thais or foreigners in Thailand that would be acceptable.

Someone should perhaps tell "Noppadol Ployudee, Phuket Provincial Employment Office chief" who recently clearly stated "In general, foreigners who want to work without forming their own company can apply for a freelance work permit, but I cannot say exactly which types of work will be approved and which will not.

However, just for example, artists, artisans, singers, musicians, technicians, reporters, among others, are some of the types of workers who are usually allowed to work on a self-employed basis"

http://www.phuketgazette.net/issuesanswers/details.asp?id=1200

I remember a farang getting a freelance media / writers work permit too.

Having attempted to obtain the necessaries via the freelance route in 2004, the information supplied to me by the Press Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is quite straightforward - the applicant makes a normal application to the MFA (as shown on their website) but has to include THREE letters of sponsorship from established media companies or publications, they must also show evidence of three pieces of work published in each of the three sponsoring publications, plus at least one other, in the preceding 12 months.

Apart from the need for three sponsoring publications plus an extra, everything else in the Non-Imm(M) "freelance" route is exactly as per the solo-publication Non-Imm(M) route - the MFA issues the authorising letters for the Communications Ministry Press Card office, Immigration in the province where you live, and the work permit office there.

The hard bit is persuading your local work permit office to issue a work permit for "all provinces / all locations" as generally they will still try to issue one for working only at your designated office address within Thailand - whether that's your home or a commercial office. Yes, even now, they still expect journalists to perform 100% of their duties at their desk in their office, and to not have to go out and about interviewing people etc. Make sure your work permit has the appropriate "roaming" annotations in it ... or you could be working illegally when reporting at the scene of some event.

[WebGuy]

Two or three months money in the bank.

My experience is that everything in Thailand depends on place where you apply and who you deal with. (Your look is important, your wife's speaking polite Thai and repeating kaaa 1m times, smile all the time etc.) :jap:

[surayu]

Yes, even now, they still expect journalists to perform 100% of their duties at their desk in their office, and to not have to go out and about interviewing people etc.

Next move it will presumably be, issuing a work permit to only people that had one issued before (for new applicants), and for whom got one already, just to cancel it unless they didn't had one already before their first permit was issued

[happyjune]

"The paper trail required for PR applications is extremely burdensome, so there is no point in going through the hassle with zero chance.

I note that the Immigration officer disingenuously omitted to point out that the Interior Miinstry failed without explanation to issue the annual quota for permanent residence applications for 2010, so that no applications could be made at all last year. There has also been no official explanation as to why the applications from 2006 to 2009 are all stuck in the Interior Ministry."

From Post#29, anyone shed some light on this, sound beyond stupid to me.

Not saying this chap is lieing, just <deleted> ???

[amazingthailand2554]

I have lived in patong - Phuket for 6 years legally , and cannot / impossible to find genuine legal work here at all. The illegal workers and business owners pay the " law enforcement " for the privilege to work illegally here in Thailand .

Streets are crawling with illegal timeshare, Russian/African etc prostitutes, un touchable drug dealers from England and the list is endless.

Have to assume Thailand civilians dont realize the real cost of extraordinary high level of corruption. COULD NOT BE only 78 on the world list. I know why, they asked the corrupt ones IS THERE ANY CORRUPTION IN THAILAND

Answer - Yes the foreigners are doing it all and we cannot stop them.

No taxes and revenue from the genuine legal workers with work visa's and permits etc . No free - schools,quality hospitals,education standards,library's, UNI'S , work skills/education training courses for the poor Thai's and family's

[Amras]

However, when asked about specialists offering advice for overseas clients in overseas markets, he felt that so long as they did not offer that advice to Thais or foreigners in Thailand that would be acceptable.

This is obviously not correct. He must have failed to understand the question properly or just felt like releasing some hot air. There is nothing in the Working of Aliens Act that suggests that advising overseas clients is not work that needs a work permit. That would suggest that brokers advising overseas fund managers didn't need work permits which is obviously nonsense. Clearly advising overseas clients is work that requires a work permit and any income generated from such work performed in Thailand is also taxable.

But maybe, he is using 'common sense' and maybe understands the situation in which the original 'act' was designed. To protect employment taking from thai's and issuing of WP's when someone did want to take a position for a thai company. There is a bit of a difference in a broker working for a company that advises both thai's and overseas clients (for a thai company) compared to sole business people who are purely consulting with overseas customers.

If it is not, then why can you not obtain a work permit based on overseas consulting as a sole business? When there have been numerous accounts of people attempting to do but refused by the ministry of employment due to not having sponsorship from a thai company. They either count it as work and you CAN apply for a work permit based on that work. Or they don't count it as work and you cannot apply based on that work.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place. But I guess it is Thailand and the could count it as work, but not let you apply anyway as it's not a occupation on the form (but then deemed not employment?)

If it's not on the list of prohibited jobs (ie working for oneself for overseas clients) then it should be work. But if they don't count it as work (for work permit reasons), then what they hell is it?

[SNGLIFE]

Ok, so I'm an independent software consultant (not a programmer) working for my own USA company for USA clients. I login remotely to servers physically located in the USA and perform work. Work being installing and supporting software. My clients make payments to my USA company's USA account. I have no dealings at all with Thais or Thai companies. I use iPhone, iPad, and laptop to login remotely from wherever I happen to be when work needs to be done. I have a home office, but could also be working from a coffee shop or park bench.

Do I still need a work permit? If so, how would I even apply if I have no Thai company (nor any interest in forming one) or Thai employees?

[MangoAndCo]

How about this case: An artist (painter/photographer) or an author, who likes to spend time in Thailand, is content with a 30 day stamp in his/her passport on arrival, and tourist visa from neighbouring countries, ... sits in his private space to draw, paint or write, .. has no interest in having clients in Thailand, never shows his work in Thailand, because all the income is generated from business outside Thailand, > publisher in the UK > galleries in Europe etc Stays out of everyone's way, ships his work out via courier, in his luggage or in the case of digital files, via the WWW .. does not take a single Baht from anyone in Thailand, nor competes with any local "wanna be" artists, so jealousy is nothing to contend with ....

If that were you, would you even worry about a permit?

If you're spotted, you only need to prove everything you stated in this post...

A permit would be nice because you don't have to make visa-runs every 2-3 months.

[huck]

I loved the sponanious jam sesoins that were happening at Norht Gate.

I chose Chiang Mai to live in from the whole of South east Asia including the Philipines because of it.

I employ 2 people full time and spend on average about 150.000 Baht a month.

I was going to spend an other 10 million on a house in a Thai's name.

I said to myself; "wait" what am I doing.

This country constantly jerks farang around.

The immigation departments basically treat us like criminals.

Why should I put up with any of this any longer.

Thailand only has advantages of me spending my money here

and if there is no jam sesoins happening anylonger in Chiang Mai its probably time to move on

and leave Thailand.

[chesternim]

How about this case: An artist (painter/photographer) or an author, who likes to spend time in Thailand, is content with a 30 day stamp in his/her passport on arrival, and tourist visa from neighbouring countries, ... sits in his private space to draw, paint or write, .. has no interest in having clients in Thailand, never shows his work in Thailand, because all the income is generated from business outside Thailand, > publisher in the UK > galleries in Europe etc Stays out of everyone's way, ships his work out via courier, in his luggage or in the case of digital files, via the WWW .. does not take a single Baht from anyone in Thailand, nor competes with any local "wanna be" artists, so jealousy is nothing to contend with ....

If that were you, would you even worry about a permit?

Thai tax law requires such a person to pay tax if he is a resident in Thailand for 186 days, and brings in to Thailand money he made overseas .. as Residents are taxed on Global Income!

[gray42]

I will be moving to Thailand in a few months on a one year multiple entry visa. This type of visa is for people who have an "interest in business or investment in Thailand." I'm going to see if Thailand makes sense to expand my United States business into and also enjoy a bit of much needed R&R while I'm there. So my question is, as a businessman taking a 1 year trip to Thailand to research business and investments, am I not allowed to do any work while I'm there?! Isn't the whole point of this visa to do work while I'm in Thailand? The company is setup in the United States so it can run without me there on a day-to-day basis, but I can't simply stop providing service to my company while I'm in Thailand.

Edited June 8, 2011 by gray42

[Maestro]

Strictly speaking, the multiple-entry non-B visa is intended for people who need to travel to Thailand for business purposes several times a year, whereas you apparently plan to use it for a continuous stay of one year, interrupted only by a day-trip to a neighbouring every 90 days. Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong with your plan. As you mentioned, you will not be allowed to work in Thailand, but there is nothing wrong with keeping in touch with your US employer during your business visits in Thailand. In other words, it is a question of using the correct semantics and, of course, definitely not doing any work at all for any company in Thailand. Visit Thai companies, talk with their executives about possible business ventures, devise tentative business plans, etc, all this is part of what you are allowed to do on a business visit in Thailand without the need for a work permit, in addition to staying in touch with your US company and doing what is necessary in that respect.

[pacman32]

How about this case: An artist (painter/photographer) or an author, who likes to spend time in Thailand, is content with a 30 day stamp in his/her passport on arrival, and tourist visa from neighbouring countries, ... sits in his private space to draw, paint or write, .. has no interest in having clients in Thailand, never shows his work in Thailand, because all the income is generated from business outside Thailand, > publisher in the UK > galleries in Europe etc Stays out of everyone's way, ships his work out via courier, in his luggage or in the case of digital files, via the WWW .. does not take a single Baht from anyone in Thailand, nor competes with any local "wanna be" artists, so jealousy is nothing to contend with ....

If that were you, would you even worry about a permit?

Thai tax law requires such a person to pay tax if he is a resident in Thailand for 186 days, and brings in to Thailand money he made overseas .. as Residents are taxed on Global Income!

ok i am planning to stay long term in thailand, i have a type o multiple entry visa for 1 year and would be planning to marry some time in the future so visa'a will not be a problem..............my question is regarding my income ?

basically i have a reasonable investment portfolio which while i work here in the UK is a bit of a hobby , will become my main source of income if i were to move to thailand........another source may also be the rent from 1 or 2 houses over here.

so would the thai govenment consider my hobby of share dealing online to be working? and would they expect me to prove about these incomes and pay tax on them? thats on top of the tax i already pay out on this to her majesties government

there are so many grey areas in this process...............quite simply i want put 800 000 in a thai bank and forget about it.......maybe use occassionally if i need funds but can quite easily get money and pay bills with my UK bank account hence still gain some interest........all my income stream will be going into that UK bank account and i will just top up what is required to make the visa every year.........

i am sure there must be many people who do it like this but i have never thought about work permits as i would never consider myself to be working. does anyone know where i would stand on this? i dont want my 3 years of planning to go down the drain ...........

Edited June 8, 2011 by pacman32

[gray42]

Strictly speaking, the multiple-entry non-B visa is intended for people who need to travel to Thailand for business purposes several times a year, whereas you apparently plan to use it for a continuous stay of one year, interrupted only by a day-trip to a neighbouring every 90 days. Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong with your plan. As you mentioned, you will not be allowed to work in Thailand, but there is nothing wrong with keeping in touch with your US employer during your business visits in Thailand. In other words, it is a question of using the correct semantics and, of course, definitely not doing any work at all for any company in Thailand. Visit Thai companies, talk with their executives about possible business ventures, devise tentative business plans, etc, all this is part of what you are allowed to do on a business visit in Thailand without the need for a work permit, in addition to staying in touch with your US company and doing what is necessary in that respect.

Makes sense, thanks for the clarification. I'll be traveling back to the United States from time to time for business purposes, and even to Taiwan or China, so I believe I will actually be using the visa for its intended purpose. My concerns stemmed from what others were saying. It sounded like even talking or emailing on behalf of my company would be considered "work" by Thai standards, however from what you've said there should be leniency in that regard because of the type of visa I will have. Good to know.

[TheWizardofRnR]

Are there any special dispensations for handicapped people ,

with regards to visa runs?

or extensions of stays?

Also in our case,

the person became disabled years after getting a wp, living and paying taxes for over 12years? Retiring here now!

He can only walk a few steps without need for a wheelchair to get about , so he can't travel very easy. His wife is his caregiver, but he's not legally married yet ,

does anyone know if there is common-law status here?

After 10 years of co-habitation in a marital type relationship, the wife might have to take care of him now...just like things go in marraiges in other parts of the world, when a spouse's disabilities prevents the breadwinner from earning and your partner in life takes over, becoming the earner.

Anybody know anything on this type of situation, granted

they might not care but I never give up hope after 25 years here, lol !

& Smile!!!

[Arkady]

Having attempted to obtain the necessaries via the freelance route in 2004, the information supplied to me by the Press Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is quite straightforward - the applicant makes a normal application to the MFA (as shown on their website) but has to include THREE letters of sponsorship from established media companies or publications, they must also show evidence of three pieces of work published in each of the three sponsoring publications, plus at least one other, in the preceding 12 months.

Apart from the need for three sponsoring publications plus an extra, everything else in the Non-Imm(M) "freelance" route is exactly as per the solo-publication Non-Imm(M) route - the MFA issues the authorising letters for the Communications Ministry Press Card office, Immigration in the province where you live, and the work permit office there.

The hard bit is persuading your local work permit office to issue a work permit for "all provinces / all locations" as generally they will still try to issue one for working only at your designated office address within Thailand - whether that's your home or a commercial office. Yes, even now, they still expect journalists to perform 100% of their duties at their desk in their office, and to not have to go out and about interviewing people etc. Make sure your work permit has the appropriate "roaming" annotations in it ... or you could be working illegally when reporting at the scene of some event.

Interesting but there are special regulations for WPs for foreign journos. The Working of Aliens doesn't require foreigners to work for a company. It is ministerial regulations of the Labour Ministry that set these requirements. So they are free to set different requirements for special professions and seem to allow foreign journalists to work without a local employer, as long as they can obtain accreditation from the Communications Ministry, as mentioned above.

[Arkady]

Are there any special dispensations for handicapped people ,

with regards to visa runs?

or extensions of stays?

Also in our case,

the person became disabled years after getting a wp, living and paying taxes for over 12years? Retiring here now!

He can only walk a few steps without need for a wheelchair to get about , so he can't travel very easy. His wife is his caregiver, but he's not legally married yet ,

does anyone know if there is common-law status here?

After 10 years of co-habitation in a marital type relationship, the wife might have to take care of him now...just like things go in marraiges in other parts of the world, when a spouse's disabilities prevents the breadwinner from earning and your partner in life takes over, becoming the earner.

Anybody know anything on this type of situation, granted

they might not care but I never give up hope after 25 years here, lol !

& Smile!!!

There is no need to do visa runs, if he can get extensions based on retirement. There are the same as extensions based on marriage but the financial hurdles are twice as much.

Sorry there is nothing in the Civil and Commercial Code that specifically recognises common law marriages, despite the large proportion of the population living permanently in this type of relationship. A common law spouse is not entitled to a divorce settlement and has no claim on the estate of a partner who dies intestate - in fact the have a lower claim on the estate than immediate family, even if they are recognised in a will and the immediate family is not. The closest you get to recognition common law marriage in Thai law is in the Interior Ministry regulations relating to the rights of Thais with foreign spouses to own land. This regulations treat a Thai with a common law foreign spouse the same as a Thai with a legally married foreign spouse.

[moe666]

Yes, even now, they still expect journalists to perform 100% of their duties at their desk in their office, and to not have to go out and about interviewing people etc.

Next move it will presumably be, issuing a work permit to only people that had one issued before (for new applicants), and for whom got one already, just to cancel it unless they didn't had one already before their first permit was issued

Sarah Palin is on Thaivisa

[gray42]

Sarah Palin is on Thaivisa

I was hoping to get away from United States politics when I moved to Thailand... maybe that's a pipe dream.

[moe666]

How about this case: An artist (painter/photographer) or an author, who likes to spend time in Thailand, is content with a 30 day stamp in his/her passport on arrival, and tourist visa from neighbouring countries, ... sits in his private space to draw, paint or write, .. has no interest in having clients in Thailand, never shows his work in Thailand, because all the income is generated from business outside Thailand, > publisher in the UK > galleries in Europe etc Stays out of everyone's way, ships his work out via courier, in his luggage or in the case of digital files, via the WWW .. does not take a single Baht from anyone in Thailand, nor competes with any local "wanna be" artists, so jealousy is nothing to contend with ....

If that were you, would you even worry about a permit?

Thai tax law requires such a person to pay tax if he is a resident in Thailand for 186 days, and brings in to Thailand money he made overseas .. as Residents are taxed on Global Income!

ok i am planning to stay long term in thailand, i have a type o multiple entry visa for 1 year and would be planning to marry some time in the future so visa'a will not be a problem..............my question is regarding my income ?

basically i have a reasonable investment portfolio which while i work here in the UK is a bit of a hobby , will become my main source of income if i were to move to thailand........another source may also be the rent from 1 or 2 houses over here.

so would the thai govenment consider my hobby of share dealing online to be working? and would they expect me to prove about these incomes and pay tax on them? thats on top of the tax i already pay out on this to her majesties government

there are so many grey areas in this process...............quite simply i want put 800 000 in a thai bank and forget about it.......maybe use occassionally if i need funds but can quite easily get money and pay bills with my UK bank account hence still gain some interest........all my income stream will be going into that UK bank account and i will just top up what is required to make the visa every year.........

i am sure there must be many people who do it like this but i have never thought about work permits as i would never consider myself to be working. does anyone know where i would stand on this? i dont want my 3 years of planning to go down the drain ...........

should not be a problem, a lot of people retired here live on their investment income

[selawat]

"Working legally in Thailand", that means working without breaking the laws and without committing crimes.....how many police officers were attending the meeting again?

Good point raised especially tourist police who seem to be on a mission here in Hua Hin arresting anyone who moves in a way that can be construded as working. Does anyone know what their powers are?

[selawat]

Selawat

Dont come to Hua Hin the Tourist Police may have a different view to the actual law

How about this case: An artist (painter/photographer) or an author, who likes to spend time in Thailand, is content with a 30 day stamp in his/her passport on arrival, and tourist visa from neighbouring countries, ... sits in his private space to draw, paint or write, .. has no interest in having clients in Thailand, never shows his work in Thailand, because all the income is generated from business outside Thailand, > publisher in the UK > galleries in Europe etc Stays out of everyone's way, ships his work out via courier, in his luggage or in the case of digital files, via the WWW .. does not take a single Baht from anyone in Thailand, nor competes with any local "wanna be" artists, so jealousy is nothing to contend with ....

If that were you, would you even worry about a permit?

Thai tax law requires such a person to pay tax if he is a resident in Thailand for 186 days, and brings in to Thailand money he made overseas .. as Residents are taxed on Global Income!

ok i am planning to stay long term in thailand, i have a type o multiple entry visa for 1 year and would be planning to marry some time in the future so visa'a will not be a problem..............my question is regarding my income ?

basically i have a reasonable investment portfolio which while i work here in the UK is a bit of a hobby , will become my main source of income if i were to move to thailand........another source may also be the rent from 1 or 2 houses over here.

so would the thai govenment consider my hobby of share dealing online to be working? and would they expect me to prove about these incomes and pay tax on them? thats on top of the tax i already pay out on this to her majesties government

there are so many grey areas in this process...............quite simply i want put 800 000 in a thai bank and forget about it.......maybe use occassionally if i need funds but can quite easily get money and pay bills with my UK bank account hence still gain some interest........all my income stream will be going into that UK bank account and i will just top up what is required to make the visa every year.........

i am sure there must be many people who do it like this but i have never thought about work permits as i would never consider myself to be working. does anyone know where i would stand on this? i dont want my 3 years of planning to go down the drain ...........

should not be a problem, a lot of people retired here live on their investment income

[ben2talk]

Sorry - this appears to be another bucket of b***sh**.

Having recently spent some considerable time checking up dates and drafting an accurate CV - details of ten years of employment in Education along with details of extensive training (specifically including test results of 100% in the entrance examination designed by an Australian company to screen employees for it's franchise) and a further 2 years on the job training and assessment and observations... along with copies of genuine Education documents; including qualifications to professional standard from the Secretary of State of the Home department, and the DTp, TEFL, and documents from several seminars attended as evidence of further training over the last ten years......

These together with a letter from my employer stating that over the two years of part time work, training and assessment she has judged me to be a key member of her organisation, including also a copy of a 2 year contract she signed with me.... flatly refused for a work permit because one or two rules were not fully satisfied.

As long as the Thai government are so utterly rigid in these matters they will continue to outlaw a great number of extremely competent people, a great number of very good people, and a whole raft of very positive contributors to Thai society. Instead demanding that rules are met to the letter and not really worrying if people really are what they appear. The outward appearance is the most important factor as it always has been and perhaps always will.