Work Permit Benefits?

[Outerpeace]

I'll be obtaining my Work Permit next week and wanted to know what are some of the benefits. I've read much on the subject with mixed and often confusing info..

Credit card, mortgage, do Thai banks give Line of Credit?

[ubonjoe]

About the only thing it helps with is proof of address meaning you don't need to get a residence certificate for a drivers licenses and etc. It will also mean you can easily open bank accounts because a work permit is often listed as one of the requirements.

[Mario2008]

Working might also give you access to Thai social security and medical benefits.

[emilyb]

Mario named some important ones. Free healthcare and so on. Other longer-term benefits include potential access to Permanent Residency, the ability to import a set amount of household goods duty free and so on. You'll also have access to credit and what not, but you'll have (understandably) substantially less favorable terms than Thai citizens for the obvious reason that you can simply flee the country when you incur a debt. Once you've invested a significant amount of money and built up a network of contacts, though, this impediment largely disappears, but if you're just working a regular job and pulling a regular salary and not making large capital investments or not making headway with local contacts you'll find that everything from revolving credit to mortgages is significantly more expensive for you here than it would be for a Thai citizen.

EDIT: Some people get angry about that, I personally don't understand why. Anyway, it is what it is, no matter how one feels.

Edited November 18, 2012 by emilyb

[Soutpeel]

A work permit does not entitle you to a mortgage with a Thai bank....but what a work permit will do is allow you to co-sign a mortgage on behalf of a Thai national (if you qualify financially) and have your income considered as part of the application, in essence you cannot apply for a mortgage via a Thai bank in your own name

As regards credit cards - yes and no...depends on your income and the number of years worked in most cases per most banks requirements

Per "emilyb's" comment "you'll find that everything from revolving credit to mortgages is significantly more expensive for you here than it would be for a Thai citizen"

Absolute rubblish....

1. highly unlikely even with a WP you will get a mortgage to start with in your own name (most definitely not on a house which is on land) via a Thai bank.

2. revolving credit, which one assumes is either a credit card or overdraft facilty, is not more expensive for a farang

Edited November 19, 2012 by Soutpeel

[saengsureeya]

A work permit proves that you are a traceable "member" of the Thai work force.

Therefore a WP can serve as a prove of address and may enable participation in the Thai Social Security which includes unemployment benefits and healthcare (both not free!!!).

You even may build up some kind of pension.

You are also able to obtain a credit card from a Thai financial institute but often at ridiculous financial requirements.

A mortgage in your name is impossible, a car-loan may be possible.

Dis-advantage: you'll have to pay income-tax.

[moe666]

You can work legally, how about that for a benefit.

[mandee]

"Working might also give you access to Thai social security and medical benefits."

I believe that if u get this and work long enough to be able to carry it over into retirement, this is a major major benefit. For about 400 baht per month you get EXCELLENT and prompt treatment at Government Hospitals.

Also they will not be looking to give you unnecesary treatment...e.g. Full MRI for a few varicose veins on the calf.

I have had treatment at "Soon Sirikit" Satahip and Lerdsin Hospital Bangkok and cannot speak too highly of them.

I've also had treatment at Bumrungrad and BNH over the years and rate the Gov. Hospitals way above them.

Edited November 19, 2012 by mandee

[Soutpeel]

Also they will not be looking to give you unnecesary treatment...e.g. Full MRI for a few varicose veins on the calf.

Without want to digress too far off topic...you are a doctor then to deem this unecesary treatment ?.....as MRI IS a diagnostic tool used to investigate varicose veins for other unlying problems which also occur with people at your age...

[mandee]

Also they will not be looking to give you unnecesary treatment...e.g. Full MRI for a few varicose veins on the calf.

Without want to digress too far off topic...you are a doctor then to deem this unecesary treatment ?.....as MRI IS a diagnostic tool used to investigate varicose veins for other unlying problems which also occur with people at your age...

Not me, but my daughter is FRCS.

[Soutpeel]

Also they will not be looking to give you unnecesary treatment...e.g. Full MRI for a few varicose veins on the calf.

Without want to digress too far off topic...you are a doctor then to deem this unecesary treatment ?.....as MRI IS a diagnostic tool used to investigate varicose veins for other unlying problems which also occur with people at your age...

Not me, but my daughter is FRCS.

OK...so why go the hosptial then, get your daughter to treat you, diagnose you ?

Edited November 20, 2012 by Soutpeel

[TerryLH]

"I believe that if u get this and work long enough to be able to carry it over into retirement, this is a major major benefit. For about 400 baht per month you get EXCELLENT and prompt treatment at Government Hospitals."

You have to have payed into the system for 12 months prior to paying on your own because of retirement or job loss or 'other'.

The regular cost for paying on your own is 432 baht per month. You have to start paying on your own within 3 months of stopping payments through employment.

Besides government hospitals, many private hospitals also belong in this system. You should check at your local SS Office to see what's available to you. I think there is a small window each year to make changes to your designated hospital.

The service and treatment you get will depend on the hospital, what you require from them, and expectations that you have for the coverage.

My own experience has been very positive.

Terry

Edited November 20, 2012 by TerryLH

[Langsuan Man]

Bangkok Bank will allow you to increase your daily cash ATM limit up from the 50,000 THB us commoners are allowed

[Dork]

Bangkok Bank will allow you to increase your daily cash ATM limit up from the 50,000 THB us commoners are allowed

Bangkok Bank will allow you to increase your daily cash ATM limit up from the 50,000 THB us commoners are allowed

Kasikorn's maximum daily ATM limit is THB1,000,000 (actually 999,999) but you would be standing at the ATM for quite a while.

[thaipak]

A WP is only issued to a person who has a legal entity behind him to hire him as a worker. Therefore, a legal entity or a company or a school must have all supportive documents in order to qualify to hire a foreigner and show that it can not manage without a foreigner. Just to clear the doubt for every foreigner a compnay hires it must have 4 locals on its payroll and it must have been paying their social security dues for the past three months. If you are employed for consecutive three years you become eligble to apply for residence permit. There is a condition though that you must have paid a certain income tax for these three years. Yes, you get social security card for a free treatment at your local hospital free of cost. Banks are not very helpful even you have a good business as long as you do not put together Thai person as gurantors. Buying car is ok, getting credit card is ok.

All this information is my own personal experience in the last 14 years.

I have only one question can ones foreign wife and kids come to live with you and get a annual visa as a spouse?

[lopburi3]

Yes dependents can obtain matching one year extensions of stay under below provisions of Immigration Order 777/2551 as long as you are on annual extensions of stay.

2.20 In the case of a family

member of an alien who has

been permitted temporary

stay under clauses 2.1, 2.2,

2.3, 2.5, 2.6,2.7, 2.10, 2.12,

2.13,2.4, 2.15, 2.16, 2.17,

2.21, 2.22,2.26,6.29 of this

Order (applicable only to

parents, spouse, child,

adopted child or child of

his/her spouse):

Permission will be

granted for a period of

not more than 1 year at a

time.

[sirchai]

You can easily register a car, motorbike, helicopter on your name. If the wife goes, your vehicle stays.---

[tombkk]

If you work here, the main benefit of having a work permit is that you are legal, and cannot be detained and kicked out of the country at any time. It also feels better to pay the taxes from the which roads etc are being built for your comfort.

[tombkk]

About the only thing it helps with is proof of address meaning you don't need to get a residence certificate for a drivers licenses and etc. It will also mean you can easily open bank accounts because a work permit is often listed as one of the requirements.

You don't need a Residency Permit for a Driver's Licence. You need a non-imm visa, and in the Motoring forum, people report they even got a one-year licence on a tourist visa.

[tombkk]

A work permit does not entitle you to a mortgage with a Thai bank....but what a work permit will do is allow you to co-sign a mortgage on behalf of a Thai national (if you qualify financially) and have your income considered as part of the application, in essence you cannot apply for a mortgage via a Thai bank in your own name

As regards credit cards - yes and no...depends on your income and the number of years worked in most cases per most banks requirements

Per "emilyb's" comment "you'll find that everything from revolving credit to mortgages is significantly more expensive for you here than it would be for a Thai citizen"

Absolute rubblish....

1. highly unlikely even with a WP you will get a mortgage to start with in your own name (most definitely not on a house which is on land) via a Thai bank.

2. revolving credit, which one assumes is either a credit card or overdraft facilty, is not more expensive for a farang

I got a mortgage in my name for my condo. I also needed a Thai guarantor who had to sign that he will pay if I default, but the mortgage was in my name. Alas, this was six years ago.

[tombkk]

You can easily register a car, motorbike, helicopter on your name. If the wife goes, your vehicle stays.---

Not sure about the helicopter though....

[Sophon]

About the only thing it helps with is proof of address meaning you don't need to get a residence certificate for a drivers licenses and etc. It will also mean you can easily open bank accounts because a work permit is often listed as one of the requirements.

You don't need a Residency Permit for a Driver's Licence. You need a non-imm visa, and in the Motoring forum, people report they even got a one-year licence on a tourist visa.

He didn't say you needed a residency permit. what he said was that you need a residency certificate or other proof of address.

Sophon

[ubonjoe]

About the only thing it helps with is proof of address meaning you don't need to get a residence certificate for a drivers licenses and etc. It will also mean you can easily open bank accounts because a work permit is often listed as one of the requirements.

You don't need a Residency Permit for a Driver's Licence. You need a non-imm visa, and in the Motoring forum, people report they even got a one-year licence on a tourist visa.

I did not say you need a residency permit. I wrote residence certificate which you need to get a drivers license.

[samjaidee]

Mario named some important ones. Free healthcare and so on. Other longer-term benefits include potential access to Permanent Residency, the ability to import a set amount of household goods duty free and so on. You'll also have access to credit and what not, but you'll have (understandably) substantially less favorable terms than Thai citizens for the obvious reason that you can simply flee the country when you incur a debt. Once you've invested a significant amount of money and built up a network of contacts, though, this impediment largely disappears, but if you're just working a regular job and pulling a regular salary and not making large capital investments or not making headway with local contacts you'll find that everything from revolving credit to mortgages is significantly more expensive for you here than it would be for a Thai citizen.

EDIT: Some people get angry about that, I personally don't understand why. Anyway, it is what it is, no matter how one feels.

That's interesting. Here in Vietnam, although it's harder for a foreigner to get a credit card and/or accumulate debt, the terms and conditions are the same for everybody, including interest rates.

[tombkk]

About the only thing it helps with is proof of address meaning you don't need to get a residence certificate for a drivers licenses and etc. It will also mean you can easily open bank accounts because a work permit is often listed as one of the requirements.

You don't need a Residency Permit for a Driver's Licence. You need a non-imm visa, and in the Motoring forum, people report they even got a one-year licence on a tourist visa.

I did not say you need a residency permit. I wrote residence certificate which you need to get a drivers license.

You are right, my bad. I misread.

[sirchai]

About the only thing it helps with is proof of address meaning you don't need to get a residence certificate for a drivers licenses and etc. It will also mean you can easily open bank accounts because a work permit is often listed as one of the requirements.

You don't need a Residency Permit for a Driver's Licence. You need a non-imm visa, and in the Motoring forum, people report they even got a one-year licence on a tourist visa.

I did not say you need a residency permit. I wrote residence certificate which you need to get a drivers license.

You don't really need a residence certificate. Made my license in Pattaya many moons ago,stayed at a hotel, Immigration issued my place of residence, the hotel.

500 baht did the trick. Those who couldn't read English, got their tests filled in by a friendly Thai at the transportation office. Again 500 baht.

My address in my license is still Chonburi, but who cares?

Edited November 25, 2012 by sirchai

[Arkady]

Open a bank account or similar showing them your residence book and alien book as a permanent resident and they will invariably looked confused at these things which they have never seen before and say "Work permit".

[Rafale]

"Working might also give you access to Thai social security and medical benefits."

I believe that if u get this and work long enough to be able to carry it over into retirement, this is a major major benefit. For about 400 baht per month you get EXCELLENT and prompt treatment at Government Hospitals.

Also they will not be looking to give you unnecesary treatment...e.g. Full MRI for a few varicose veins on the calf.

I have had treatment at "Soon Sirikit" Satahip and Lerdsin Hospital Bangkok and cannot speak too highly of them.

I've also had treatment at Bumrungrad and BNH over the years and rate the Gov. Hospitals way above them.

Indeed, but... retirement mean you loose your work permit, so how is it possible to continue paying social security? Is there a "retirement visa for "aliens" having worked here over x years, and until they can legally retire"?

I have a work permit and paid social security since at least ten straight years, and like you I appreciate the treatment given in gov hospitals.

I can keep my work permit as long as I want (my company), but am thinking of taking an "early retirement" and want to cut costs, but still stay legal and not lose free emergency care.

Is becoming a resident the only solution, or is it one at all?

Any advice from you or others welcome.

[Mario2008]

After losing your job one can continue to pay into the social security fund, less than 400 baht a month. Many people do that.

[Rafale]

"Working might also give you access to Thai social security and medical benefits."

I believe that if u get this and work long enough to be able to carry it over into retirement, this is a major major benefit. For about 400 baht per month you get EXCELLENT and prompt treatment at Government Hospitals.

Also they will not be looking to give you unnecesary treatment...e.g. Full MRI for a few varicose veins on the calf.

I have had treatment at "Soon Sirikit" Satahip and Lerdsin Hospital Bangkok and cannot speak too highly of them.

I've also had treatment at Bumrungrad and BNH over the years and rate the Gov. Hospitals way above them.

Indeed, but... retirement mean you loose your work permit, so how is it possible to continue paying social security? Is there a "retirement visa for "aliens" having worked here over x years, and until they can legally retire"?

I have a work permit and paid social security since at least ten straight years, and like you I appreciate the treatment given in gov hospitals.

I can keep my work permit as long as I want (my company), but am thinking of taking an "early retirement" and want to cut costs, but still stay legal and not lose free emergency care.

Is becoming a resident the only solution, or is it one at all?

Any advice from you or others welcome.

After losing your job one can continue to pay into the social security fund, less than 400 baht a month. Many people do that.

Thanks Mario, but are you sure, really... with any kind of visa or... none? Sounds to good to be true, but good news are welcome! Edited November 25, 2012 by Rafale