Do farangs on a condo comittee in Pattaya or Thailand, need a work permit?

According to my long term Thai lawyer in Pattaya they do, its not a matter of whether there paid or not

The lawyer is not correct and I have never heard of a condominium association providing work permits for its foreign committee members.

A co-owner/committee member is looking after his property and is entitled to do so. Before agreeing to be on a condo committee 3 years ago I personally checked with Sattahip Land Office who confirmed no work permit required. Cant think it would have changed.

Lawyers should feel ashamed to tell such stupidity! Of course he must be good for everything else :-)

A co-owner/committee member is looking after his property and is entitled to do so. Before agreeing to be on a condo committee 3 years ago I personally checked with Sattahip Land Office who confirmed no work permit required. Cant think it would have changed.

I thought the labour dept & immigration handled all work permit issues, didn't think it was anything to do with the land office?

And how much did he charge you for that advice?

As pointed out you serve on a condo committee as a co-owner, next they will be saying you cannot sit down with your Thai wife and work out the household budget.

As we all know, the laws here can be interpreted in a variety of ways:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/252387-canadian-condo-owner-claims-false-arrest/

The last page has some interesting posts. And I just saw this:

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/issuesanswers/2012/article1329.html

The link to the arrested Canadian relates to him working as the Juristic Person for a condo, a post which most certainly would require a work permit and indeed would involve "signing papers" as mentioned in the second link.

I have never seen evidence of anyone being required to have a work permit to sit on a condo committee. Scaremongering and mis-information.

someones upset the OP haven't they..... come on dickie who you going to grass on then?

The first link has nothing to do with the topic as it was a person who was leasing condos for rent.

The second link gives a clear legal answer to the topic.

Of course one would need a work permit to serve on a condo board of where it is located. I don't see how that could even be in question.

I don't ever see immigration arresting someone for doing that though, as with many of the other crazy things considered work in this country. This would not stop me from serving on a condo board however, as immigration has bigger fish to fry.

The first link has nothing to do with the topic as it was a person who was leasing condos for rent.

The second link gives a clear legal answer to the topic.

Of course one would need a work permit to serve on a condo board of where it is located. I don't see how that could even be in question.

I don't ever see immigration arresting someone for doing that though, as with many of the other crazy things considered work in this country. This would not stop me from serving on a condo board however, as immigration has bigger fish to fry.

In the first link, the person was arrested for being the JP for his condo. If you read this post:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/252387-canadian-condo-owner-claims-false-arrest/page-7#entry2664258

You will read a person from the condo saying none of his units were rented out. What I get from this is the vagueness of the law and how influential people can do what they want with it. The issue came up due to conflicts with the condo builder, not with immigration.

As you said, immigration won't pursue something like this...unless asked by somebody. Which is not unusual here.

marinediscoking, on 14 Mar 2013 - 20:51, said:

The first link has nothing to do with the topic as it was a person who was leasing condos for rent.

The second link gives a clear legal answer to the topic.

Of course one would need a work permit to serve on a condo board of where it is located. I don't see how that could even be in question.

I don't ever see immigration arresting someone for doing that though, as with many of the other crazy things considered work in this country. This would not stop me from serving on a condo board however, as immigration has bigger fish to fry.

Your conclusion is flawed. Go back and re-read post #8 for a clear, concise explanation.

marinediscoking, on 14 Mar 2013 - 20:51, said:

The first link has nothing to do with the topic as it was a person who was leasing condos for rent.

The second link gives a clear legal answer to the topic.

Of course one would need a work permit to serve on a condo board of where it is located. I don't see how that could even be in question.

I don't ever see immigration arresting someone for doing that though, as with many of the other crazy things considered work in this country. This would not stop me from serving on a condo board however, as immigration has bigger fish to fry.

Your conclusion is flawed. Go back and re-read post #8 for a clear, concise explanation.

How is it flawed? I did go back and read #8. Sitting on a board requires attending meeting, discussions and voting. I held a thai work permit for 8 years until recently in my company name. I would do all the renewal paperwork myself (a lengthy process) I am pretty versed on how things work around here on what can be done with and without a WP.

The exact answer to the OP's question is answered from a high ranking immigration officer, be it from Phuket though. As I stated, it would not stop me from serving on a board, but if someone wants to follow the letter of the law he would be required to get a WP.

Edited March 15, 201313 yr by marinediscoking

Judging by the OP's question I would advise if you are on the condo committee not to upset anyone as it's not just Thai's that would snitch on you to immigration about work permits

marinediscoking, on 14 Mar 2013 - 20:51, said:

The first link has nothing to do with the topic as it was a person who was leasing condos for rent.

The second link gives a clear legal answer to the topic.

Of course one would need a work permit to serve on a condo board of where it is located. I don't see how that could even be in question.

I don't ever see immigration arresting someone for doing that though, as with many of the other crazy things considered work in this country. This would not stop me from serving on a condo board however, as immigration has bigger fish to fry.

Your conclusion is flawed. Go back and re-read post #8 for a clear, concise explanation.

How is it flawed? I did go back and read #8. Sitting on a board requires attending meeting, discussions and voting. I held a thai work permit for 8 years until recently in my company name. I would do all the renewal paperwork myself (a lengthy process) I am pretty versed on how things work around here on what can be done with and without a WP.

The exact answer to the OP's question is answered from a high ranking immigration officer, be it from Phuket though. As I stated, it would not stop me from serving on a board, but if someone wants to follow the letter of the law he would be required to get a WP.

Committee members do not "sign" documents that is the function of the juristic person and for most condos it is performed by a Thai manager or Thai management company. A foreigner or alien (Per the Condominium Act) is not precluded from being a juristic person. But the rub is he/she can be viewed as taking away work from a Thai, hence a work permit is required as the gentleman in Phuket learned the hard way. If you know of any condominium association and/or it's members providing or getting work permits for the association committee members please inform us (and we are not talking about juristic persons or people who have WP's from some other source).

Let's try not to scare people. In fact, using your logic, I, living here in Pattaya on a retirement visa, could not sit on a my association committee without a work permit. FYI,I can not get a work permit or permitted to work on a retirement visa. Many, many retirees here in Pattaya sit on condominium association boards.

THe problem is that you can be sued for acting on a commitee if someone does not like what you do.

marinediscoking, on 14 Mar 2013 - 20:51, said:

The first link has nothing to do with the topic as it was a person who was leasing condos for rent.

The second link gives a clear legal answer to the topic.

Of course one would need a work permit to serve on a condo board of where it is located. I don't see how that could even be in question.

I don't ever see immigration arresting someone for doing that though, as with many of the other crazy things considered work in this country. This would not stop me from serving on a condo board however, as immigration has bigger fish to fry.

Your conclusion is flawed. Go back and re-read post #8 for a clear, concise explanation.

How is it flawed? I did go back and read #8. Sitting on a board requires attending meeting, discussions and voting. I held a thai work permit for 8 years until recently in my company name. I would do all the renewal paperwork myself (a lengthy process) I am pretty versed on how things work around here on what can be done with and without a WP.

The exact answer to the OP's question is answered from a high ranking immigration officer, be it from Phuket though. As I stated, it would not stop me from serving on a board, but if someone wants to follow the letter of the law he would be required to get a WP.

Committee members do not "sign" documents that is the function of the juristic person and for most condos it is performed by a Thai manager or Thai management company. A foreigner or alien (Per the Condominium Act) is not precluded from being a juristic person. But the rub is he/she can be viewed as taking away work from a Thai, hence a work permit is required as the gentleman in Phuket learned the hard way. If you know of any condominium association and/or it's members providing or getting work permits for the association committee members please inform us (and we are not talking about juristic persons or people who have WP's from some other source).

Let's try not to scare people. In fact, using your logic, I, living here in Pattaya on a retirement visa, could not sit on a my association committee without a work permit. FYI,I can not get a work permit or permitted to work on a retirement visa. Many, many retirees here in Pattaya sit on condominium association boards.

My wife, who is VP on the committee, signs all sorts of docs. Checks, new contracts, letters, etc. We don't allow the Thai manager access to the funds. The president is a farang, and he has a WP for his full time job. All others on the committee are Thais.

My wife, who is VP on the committee, signs all sorts of docs. Checks, new contracts, letters, etc. We don't allow the Thai manager access to the funds. The president is a farang, and he has a WP for his full time job. All others on the committee are Thais.

It sounds like your wife (presumed Thai) is acting as the juristic person. That's good. The president has a WP for his full time job. Not clear, if his full time job is being President or he has a WP from some other endeavor. I thought work permits were specific to the work performed so I don't understand the relevance unless his WP is for something like property management.

My wife, who is VP on the committee, signs all sorts of docs. Checks, new contracts, letters, etc. We don't allow the Thai manager access to the funds. The president is a farang, and he has a WP for his full time job. All others on the committee are Thais.

It sounds like your wife (presumed Thai) is acting as the juristic person. That's good. The president has a WP for his full time job. Not clear, if his full time job is being President or he has a WP from some other endeavor. I thought work permits were specific to the work performed so I don't understand the relevance unless his WP is for something like property management.

My wife, who is VP on the committee, signs all sorts of docs. Checks, new contracts, letters, etc. We don't allow the Thai manager access to the funds. The president is a farang, and he has a WP for his full time job. All others on the committee are Thais.

It sounds like your wife (presumed Thai) is acting as the juristic person. That's good. The president has a WP for his full time job. Not clear, if his full time job is being President or he has a WP from some other endeavor. I thought work permits were specific to the work performed so I don't understand the relevance unless his WP is for something like property management.

Not sure about that. We have 3 or 4 people who can sign docs. The Thai manager can not. The signatures are dependent on who is in the village when the doc needs to be signed.

The president has a WP for a full time job elsewhere. Not for the committee. So could be an issue if somebody got upset?

The jurastic manager must be a thai, if not it only takes one disgruntled person and they are toast.