Please Help- Info Overload Re Visa!

[Nikki5555]

I am an American citizen who's planning on moving to Thailand in April for about a year (or more!) I am amidst selling everything and giving this a go but am freaking out about the Visa situation! I will be training in Muay Thai while there and hope to make the most of my year in the Land of Smiles.

I would like to apply for the multi entry non immigrant but is that impossible to get? I don't plan on working - consulting remotely for an American company just for money but do plan on traveling quite a bit in Thailand and around SE Asia.

I could enroll in a Thai language school - like to learn anyway- but with that can I leave the country without jeopardizing it?

Or should I just wing it and leave every thirty days?

I am most concerned with not being able to get back in at some point

I would initially like a 90 day one - do I go to the embassy here?

I've over- read all the forums and am so confused. Just want to do this the easiest and most respectful way possible - I love Thailand and want to make it my home

[lopburi3]

Unless you have an educational contract a normal tourist visa seems your best choice at this point. You might be able to get a two or three entry and with extensions each entry covers 90 days or close. But be aware remote working is considered work and would be illegal if found out and you did not have a work permit.

[4evermaat]

There are 2-3 different non-imm visas you could qualify for: "B" if you could ger a letter if invite from a business. "Ed" if you can get a letter of invite from a school (college, vocational, diving, etc) or "O" (letter from friend or family inviting you to thailand). you want the multiple entry visa, which is appx $200 + postage to/from consulate.

you want to leave asap as the visa validity counts down from the time visa is stamped on passport. I can confirm 6 visas issued successfully. 2 within last 6 months, including my own (2nd one). The ed visa is easiest to obtain. Many schools that will invite you over for a small application fee/deposit.

There are several consulates in around the states. I used the one in dallas tx named forrest. Great guy, quick and professional by email.

The reason why it seems so difficult/overwhelming is because apparently different consulates apply different interpretations of how to issue their visas. the paperwork problem isnt so bad but it adds unnecessarily to the cost and it takes time to assemble the papers. It just creates more work for everyone.

With NO visa, land border runs only get you 2 weeks stay. Airport border run would get you 30 days stay. i've run into people literally would do back to back land crossings for months. the transportation/visa run fees can quickly add up there.

"2nd best time to plant a tree is today." Sent from ThaiVisa app.

[NancyL]

There are muay Thai schools who help students obtain an ED visa. I'm sorry I don't have a specific reference as this is W-A-Y outside my area of interest -- but Dr. Google would be your friend!

[attrayant]

But be aware remote working is considered work and would be illegal if found out and you did not have a work permit.

I believe the OP is talking about working for a company that is back in his home country, not about seeking employment here within the borders of Thailand. I used to do this when I worked for the US Govt and came here on vacations. I would periodically log on to the corporate network back home and write reports, approve time sheets of my staff, submit purchase orders, etc. This is time I got paid for (i.e. didn't have to use vacation allowance for) by the US Govt. I was employed in my home country, but doing some of my work via my remote connection in Thailand.

[lopburi3]

Which is illegal under Thai work definition. Any work performed while in Thailand would require a work permit.

[NanLaew]

Yes, it is truly bizarre. I am in Thailand on my Non-O (marriage) and my client in Malaysia calls me regarding a problem on their Vietnam project. I email my Technical Manager in Jakarta and together we work up a solution that gets emailed to my Client with a phone call to close out.

Then my spiteful neighbor dobs me in to Immigration because he saw me 'working'. All because last week I kicked his dog and called him 'F*ckoff'.

That was a hypothetical BTW, but isn't too much of a stretch of how the anal Labour and Immigration laws could conspire against the modern worker. The above example will be paid work in Thailand in the eyes of our hosts.

For the OP; just go ahead and do your remote consulting; just make sure you keep the neighbors on your side and don't do it in public. I dodged that bullet for 15 years before finally having to get WP's for actual office 9-5 sh!t in Bangkok.

[wayned]

Your best would be to apply for a tripile entry tourist visa until you can get your head

and ass wired together. It's easy, here's a link:Visa application porcedures, Portland Oregon.doc

[attrayant]

Which is illegal under Thai work definition. Any work performed while in Thailand would require a work permit.

Not that I'm disputing, but if true, this is absolutely nuts and indefensible. I thought the "employment prohibited" stamp on my tourist visa meant just that - that I must not seek to become employed or otherwise do any job that might have a detrimental impact to Thailand (such as taking away a potential job from a thai person). I wonder if the letter of the law actually says this, or if it's just being misinterpreted.

[Mario2008]

Which is illegal under Thai work definition. Any work performed while in Thailand would require a work permit.

Not that I'm disputing, but if true, this is absolutely nuts and indefensible. I thought the "employment prohibited" stamp on my tourist visa meant just that - that I must not seek to become employed or otherwise do any job that might have a detrimental impact to Thailand (such as taking away a potential job from a thai person). I wonder if the letter of the law actually says this, or if it's just being misinterpreted.

Read all a bout it: http://thailaws.com/law/t_laws/tlaw0366.pdf

[merijn]

Also be aware that you don't get normally an ED visa extension in Thailand when you would like to learn Muay Thai.

Most Mauy Thai schools are not organised by the Thai government as educational schools and therefore you don't get an visa extension.

Most immigration offices regard Muay Thai as a hobby and not educational.

So far i know Phuket immigration only approves one Muay Thai school for an visa extension. ( and even that one is not always accepted )

[attrayant]

I actually read all of that, believe it or not (except for the parts talking about how the committees are formed... yawn).

There is no specific language addressing aliens who are already employed in their home country doing work for that country. I read the law as directed at aliens who come to Thailand seeking out brand new employment in order to draw an income from the Thai economy.

I believe the intent of the law is, as I said before, to prevent aliens from causing some financial disadvantage to Thailand by working for a Thai employer and thereby (1) taking a job that could have gone to a Thai person, and (2) channeling money out of Thailand. An alien that does some work for his country back home is doing neither of these things. He is actually helping the Thai economy by earning foreign money and bringing it into Thailand (e.g. to spend on his vacation).

Does the law really expect my employer to apply for a work permit for me so that I can jump on an impromptu 20 minute conference call while I'm on a two week vacation in Thailand? If you read the statute literally, that's what it seems to say. Again, surely this work permit application language is written in the context of aliens seeking out local employment.

Anyway that's my take on it. The statute should be read in context of aliens coming here to seek out employment with local companies, thus causing some detrimental impact to the economy. Any other interpretation is over-broad.

But I am not volunteering to be the pilot case to test out my reading of the statute.

Sorry for continuing the hijack.

[Mario2008]

The law states what is considered working and what you do fits the description.

A lot fits that descript, but will indeed not be cosidered work for which you need a work permit. You don't need a work permit for doing your own dishes. In that sense you have to read the articles in light of what the law intends to regulate.

Working in Thailand for a foreign company will be considered working. You don't only have to look at the Thai labour law, but also at tax law, labour protection law, etc which can have an impact on a decision of a Thai judge if he is faced whith such case.