Can An Owner Of A Business Get A Work Permit For His Business

[ajarnyai]

I've received 2 work permits for teaching (languages) at two different government schools. So, I think I should be able to own a business (the school), and teach there. I would have other Thai teachers there and I would probably be the only foreign teacher there at the start.

What do you guys think?

[jdinasia]

The question would arise as you your "ownership" of the school (type of school. MoE. etc ....) The company should be able to obtain a WP for you if they qualify as a company to do so regardless of ownership.

[Mario2008]

A company can get a work permit for you, if they company qualifies. A new company will not be able to get an extension of stay for you from immirgation, as several tax documents must be shown.

Setting up your own company in Thailand is a whole different subject and will require a Thai business partner.

[ajarnyai]

A company can get a work permit for you, if they company qualifies. A new company will not be able to get an extension of stay for you from immirgation, as several tax documents must be shown.

Setting up your own company in Thailand is a whole different subject and will require a Thai business partner.

It sounds like this isn't the best business plan. My idea was to open a business tutoring kids, with my teaching skills being the main thing that draws customers. It seems rather odd that only a somewhat established company can hire foreigners. I guess Thailand doesn't encourage entrepreneurship like they do at home.

I know little about business in general (let alone the laws), but what about the whole subsidiary thing. Maybe I could own the language school that's part of a larger chain of schools (and teach there).

Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate it.

[attrayant]

I've been toying with this idea also, having taught in the US for 15 years and having what I think is a reasonably good business sense and a strong IT background. However it seems like it might not be worth the headaches. You might want to have a look at this thread:

Opening Your Own Language School In Thailand

Let's make a deal, whichever of us opens a school first will hire the other

[Firfox]

Hi there

I am in the process of openning an English tutor school in Udon Thani. Follow my link to see pics www.facebook.com/englishschooloflearning

This has not been an easy process. What we had to do at first was set up a Limited Company. We decided to start a 100% Thai owned company with my wife being the majority share holder. The company will then employ me as the Native English Speaking teacher. In order to be able to apply for a work permit for me the company has had to register 2 million baht in capital and will have to employ four Thai Nationals. In practice we have had just to declare the capital and the employees will only be nominees (we will still have to pay Social Security every month for them).

The next hurdle is then to get an operating licence from the Education Department from the province you are openning the school in. The person who applies for the licence needs to be a Thai National with a Degree and a background in the Education system. Therefore, you need to ensure that they are part of your company for they need to be connected to the company in order to apply for the license. You will also need to show your license as part of your work permit application.

In order to get to this stage we have had to invest a substantial amount of capital in creating the school. My wife has had to work for days on the license application and this has been flying between us and the Education department for at least three weeks. We have had lots of interest from both students and adults and I know we have a 'sound' businness plan based on six months of research. Therefore , all the effort we have had to put in will eventually pay off. My only advice would be to ensure you have enough resources to live on prior to openning the school when you relocate to Thailand. I think it is crucial to make sure you are fully 'clued up' in relation to the license application and the setting up of your Public Limited Company. I would also recommend appointing an accountant who fully understands the Thai system for this will be money well spent.

Good luck

Andy

[TerryLH]

" It seems rather odd that only a somewhat established company can hire foreigners."

Is that what was said? I thought they were talking about an extension from immigration, not hiring in the first place.

[ajarnyai]

I've been toying with this idea also, having taught in the US for 15 years and having what I think is a reasonably good business sense and a strong IT background. However it seems like it might not be worth the headaches. You might want to have a look at this thread:

Opening Your Own Language School In Thailand

Let's make a deal, whichever of us opens a school first will hire the other

I read the other posts and I see that doing it yourself is risky to say the least. If I had the 2 million baht in the bank to get me a WP I guess I wouldn't even think about opening a school. I've been very disappointed with working at government schools, and thought I could have a better experience teaching students that wanted to learn.

Well, thanks again. Back to the drawing board.....

[Gone]

Hi there

I am in the process of openning an English tutor school in Udon Thani. Follow my link to see pics www.facebook.com/englishschooloflearning

This has not been an easy process. What we had to do at first was set up a Limited Company. We decided to start a 100% Thai owned company with my wife being the majority share holder. The company will then employ me as the Native English Speaking teacher. In order to be able to apply for a work permit for me the company has had to register 2 million baht in capital and will have to employ four Thai Nationals. In practice we have had just to declare the capital and the employees will only be nominees (we will still have to pay Social Security every month for them).

The next hurdle is then to get an operating licence from the Education Department from the province you are openning the school in. The person who applies for the licence needs to be a Thai National with a Degree and a background in the Education system. Therefore, you need to ensure that they are part of your company for they need to be connected to the company in order to apply for the license. You will also need to show your license as part of your work permit application.

In order to get to this stage we have had to invest a substantial amount of capital in creating the school. My wife has had to work for days on the license application and this has been flying between us and the Education department for at least three weeks. We have had lots of interest from both students and adults and I know we have a 'sound' businness plan based on six months of research. Therefore , all the effort we have had to put in will eventually pay off. My only advice would be to ensure you have enough resources to live on prior to openning the school when you relocate to Thailand. I think it is crucial to make sure you are fully 'clued up' in relation to the license application and the setting up of your Public Limited Company. I would also recommend appointing an accountant who fully understands the Thai system for this will be money well spent.

Good luck

Andy

extinguishers

Not only that but wait until the MOE comes and starts measuring your windows for the proper size etc., Toilets, fire escapes/etc. etc. etc.

[ajarnyai]

" It seems rather odd that only a somewhat established company can hire foreigners."

Is that what was said? I thought they were talking about an extension from immigration, not hiring in the first place.

I asked about the ability to work legally at a business that I partly owned.

What I meant in that statement was, 2 million baht is a considerable amount of money, and 5 teachers' salary for 6 months doesn't even reach half that amount. The space, furniture, and utilities are almost an after thought. I think, to require someone to be rich before they open a business, kills the small businessperson.

I bet you I could open a booth at the local market and charge 5 baht a minute for foreign language lessons, and the locals wouldn't have a problem with that..........but that would be illegal.

We're talking about teaching languages here, but what about a Thai national who wants to open a shop selling tailor made Native American beaded suits. They would need 2 million to start; all because one job is done by a foreigner.

No points for innovation huh?

[RubbaJohnny]

Perhaps you are not clear they do not want us nor competition.

also the rules may change requiring 5-10 employees etc at the whim of any xenophic politician

Your 2 millionca get 6%+ risk free in an Australin bank for example.

[attrayant]

I also get the feeling that the government isn't interested in foreign professionals sticking their noses into the Thai education system.

Your 2 million can get 6%+ risk free in an Australin bank for example.

Or buy a house for 1.5M baht and rent it out to get a 10-12% rate of return. However this is not a solution, it's only an option (on what to do with your money). It's hardly a comforting response to those of us who actually like to teach and want to do something that benefits the children. Sigh...

[Firfox]

Hi there

I am in the process of openning an English tutor school in Udon Thani. Follow my link to see pics www.facebook.com/englishschooloflearning

This has not been an easy process. What we had to do at first was set up a Limited Company. We decided to start a 100% Thai owned company with my wife being the majority share holder. The company will then employ me as the Native English Speaking teacher. In order to be able to apply for a work permit for me the company has had to register 2 million baht in capital and will have to employ four Thai Nationals. In practice we have had just to declare the capital and the employees will only be nominees (we will still have to pay Social Security every month for them).

The next hurdle is then to get an operating licence from the Education Department from the province you are openning the school in. The person who applies for the licence needs to be a Thai National with a Degree and a background in the Education system. Therefore, you need to ensure that they are part of your company for they need to be connected to the company in order to apply for the license. You will also need to show your license as part of your work permit application.

In order to get to this stage we have had to invest a substantial amount of capital in creating the school. My wife has had to work for days on the license application and this has been flying between us and the Education department for at least three weeks. We have had lots of interest from both students and adults and I know we have a 'sound' businness plan based on six months of research. Therefore , all the effort we have had to put in will eventually pay off. My only advice would be to ensure you have enough resources to live on prior to openning the school when you relocate to Thailand. I think it is crucial to make sure you are fully 'clued up' in relation to the license application and the setting up of your Public Limited Company. I would also recommend appointing an accountant who fully understands the Thai system for this will be money well spent.

Good luck

Andy

extinguishers

Not only that but wait until the MOE comes and starts measuring your windows for the proper size etc., Toilets, fire escapes/etc. etc. etc.

Yes you make a good point there are regulations that you need to meet in regard to seperate male and female toilets, a first aid room, certain amount of space dependant on number of students and other health and safety requirements.

Andy

[Firfox]

Just a quick update we recieved comfirmation that we will get out licence for the school today from the Ministry of Education. We were inspected by 8 officials. This process has taken more than three months and we have had to provide mountains of paper and meet so many different requirements. Ours is only a small tutor school that can only take ten students at one time. Go to www.facebool.com/englishschooloflearning to see the pics.

In total we have invested around 300,000 thai baht. I never expect to really get the investment back. However, the demand here for learning English is huge. There are many schools and all are full. I also have other income coming in, therefore this is more of a pass time that will provide a steady income of around 40,000 baht per month. I use to holiday here two times a year (for a month on each occassion) prior to moving to Thailand therefore, what we have initially laid out is only like two/three holidays that I would have spent anyway.

Think hard before starting this process. Some would say just open the school and take the risk. Just be warned there is a lot of competition out there and as soon as you have a 'shop front' you leave yourself wide open to visits from the immigration and or labour office. You may think no one will report you I am aware of two phone calls that have been made to the Education Department asking about our school and are they aware of it. Both phone calls were from other providers of English classes.

Andy