I was just reading an advertisement about cruises to Thailand, and it got me to thinking. When a cruise ship, or any ship for that matter, or a plane, or a train enters The Kingdom of Thailand, are the workers required to have a work permit? How does that work? If on a ship, are you exempt because the ship is flagged from a different country? And if so, can I buy a boat in Vietnam, park it in Thailand and work from it without a work permit? :jap:

This is the type of stuff, that keeps me awake at night

Please, God, let someone cite ThaiVisa's favorite immigration-related story, the Phuket tsunami volunteers, here.

I, myself, have witnessed international airline pilots flying their planes in and out of Suvarnabhumi without a care - bringing in their flight crews and probably even deadheads. Let's not even contemplate the transit passengers who risk arrest and deportation by answering work emails at the airport. My heart can barely take the stress of pondering their plight.

They are here temporarely. If you buy a boat and station it in Thailand and work from there, you would be living in Thailand and need a work permit.

They are here temporarely. If you buy a boat and station it in Thailand and work from there, you would be living in Thailand and need a work permit.

What's temporary? An hour, day, month. 90 days??:jap:

They are here temporarely. If you buy a boat and station it in Thailand and work from there, you would be living in Thailand and need a work permit.

What's temporary? An hour, day, month. 90 days??:jap:

A ship will not stay in port for 90 days, a cruise ship will leave within a day. Same as most airline pilots will leave on their next flight.

Next you are gonna ask if the American navy guys have Work Permits when the ship docks here as they are working on the ship, but remember the ship is under the flag of its origin and only affected by some laws of the land where it is docked.

Ship's crew on international trips will almost certainly have a Seaman's card, which is the equivalent of a passport for immigration purposes. Here in Thailand upon docking the captain submits a list of crew and passengers, certifying it's all true etc. There are regulations about what these cardholders can do but working on and about the ship is one of them.

You have to be very careful in Thailand, even some of the people answering this post will be breaking the law if they live in Thailand.

Really stupid law, but it is what it is.