Work permit agency in Pattaya?

[pekkapieru]

Recommendations please?

Last holiday (2 months ago) i visited an agency on Soi Post Office and they said your work permit is pretty much guaranteed for on-line works. We can do all the paper works for you. Price 25 000 THB. They did not require company setup or anything. Just money, passport, residence document, visa and plenty of copies.
I think they will put me under a random thai company. But they assured me that it's gonna be 100% legit. Salaries will come from my home country.

I'm dreaming about moving to Pattaya for year or two and bring my on-line work along. What you think? This is a good way to do it?

All the help appreciated, thanks =)

[thaiexpat21]

Sure 100% legal for 25000bht !

A lot cheaper to do it yourself !

If it cannot be achieved by personal effort then maybe what is sought is not permitted from a "legal " viewpoint .

[Soutpeel]

How about I am pretty sure, they will not be writing "working on-line" on your WP

In princple, putting you under a Thai company and getting you a WP is technically "feasible". but pretty certain you will not be getting a WP for working "on line" even this way, they will put you down as being employed doing something else in the company

per post #2 not a hope in h*ll you coulds set this up on your own without the "help" of a Thai company, so dont even try...

[thaiexpat21]

How about I am pretty sure, they will not be writing "working on-line" on your WP

In princple, putting you under a Thai company and getting you a WP is technically "feasible". but pretty certain you will not be getting a WP for working "on line" even this way, they will put you down as being employed doing something else in the company

per post #2 not a hope in h*ll you coulds set this up on your own without the "help" of a Thai company, so dont even try...

Exactly right - impossible to achieve as an individual !

Which in turn raises a question of legality .

I wonder what an "on line worker" morphs into using an expensive scheme like this ?

[overherebc]

A question I feel is relevant.

If you use a 'WP Agency' what sort of tax records are produced at the end of the tax year.?

Sorry, maybe more than one question.

Are tax records from the first year produced to support the renewal of the WP in the second year ?

I've always had tax records from work and when changing company have passed them on, or copies of, to the new company.

I've even had a tax rebate ( once ).

I honestly don't feel I would be comfortable with an Agency WP, too many unanswerable questions tied up with it.

[pekkapieru]

Actually the agency first told me that, if you do your work in room and money comes over seas, you really don't need WP. Just maintain low profile.

As i have thai wife and we really don't know how long we're gonna stay in Thailand (might stay many years) i wanna do this right and get somekind of WP.

Agency is the very only way to do this as i'm not planning to setup own company here or anything. I only remote-work here.
Just want to play as safe as possible.

We'll see how the agency handles this. I'm coming back in 3 weeks

[paz]

Why on heart you want to complicate your life and humiliate yoursef to the Thai bureocracy that is only made to extract money from you while returning no rights. You will find how taxing is to "opening a company" here, just read few threads. And of course the visa/WP they sell you is totally illegal, based on corruption, and can vanish at any time.

But the advice they gave you is right, keep a low profile, "play with computer", what you do within your house is your business only. Keep your mouth shut and live an happy long life.

[Soutpeel]

Actually the agency first told me that, if you do your work in room and money comes over seas, you really don't need WP. Just maintain low profile.

allow me to respond to this statement by the agency...if you really dont need a WP, then why would one need to maintain a low profile ?

also whether money comes in locally / oversea's or even if there is no money involved is irrelevant to the issue of a WP, even someone volunteering in Thailand without pay requires a WP

There is no question of legality, you would be breaking the "law" without one, but if your prepared to take the chance, its your choice....no different from driving a car faster than the posted legal speed limit, you may get caught speeding but then again you may not,

only you can decide if this is worth taking the chance and understanding the consequences if you do get caught, by extension, it also appears the agency is providing "funny" WP's, even though they may be "legal", there maybe some underhanded deals going on to secure these. Even though you have trusted in good faith to do this correctly

[Tatsujin]

Actually the agency first told me that, if you do your work in room and money comes over seas, you really don't need WP. Just maintain low profile.

allow me to respond to this statement by the agency...if you really dont need a WP, then why would one need to maintain a low profile ?

also whether money comes in locally / oversea's or even if there is no money involved is irrelevant to the issue of a WP, even someone volunteering in Thailand without pay requires a WP

There is no question of legality, you would be breaking the "law" without one, but if your prepared to take the chance, its your choice....no different from driving a car faster than the posted legal speed limit, you may get caught speeding but then again you may not,

only you can decide if this is worth taking the chance and understanding the consequences if you do get caught, by extension, it also appears the agency is providing "funny" WP's, even though they may be "legal", there maybe some underhanded deals going on to secure these. Even though you have trusted in good faith to do this correctly

It's worth understanding some of the consequences also of working illegally and being caught which include fines, jail time, deportation and blacklisting. Yes, I know it doesn't happen often, but it does happen. The WP from the Agency won't be worth the paper its written on if they decide to check into it at all and they won't have the problems, you will.

If you are caught, you are immediately detained, not allowed to return home to your apartment, and held until deported at their earliest convenience so you can forget trying to sort things out once arrested.

[Mario2008]

Deportation is not on their earliest convenience, rather it is when you yourself have paid for the ticket back to your home country. Thailand will not pay for the ticket, you will have to do that yourself and until than they detain you.

[Soutpeel]

The WP from the Agency won't be worth the paper its written on if they decide to check into it at all and they won't have the problems, you will.

This is an important point, if you did get caught, the excuse, "the agency told me this or that etc" will not fly with immigration/DOL unless there is something in writing to back it up and one suspects the agency will not give you any "advice" in writing,

Although a company may be fined for "funny WP's" or even employing someone without one, typically the penalty is only a fine, if memory serves it something like THB 60,000 per "offense", but its the individual person who will suffer the worst of the consequences as have been listed previously

[PoorSucker]

A work permit is not issued as a general thing.

The WP states company, salary and the location where you will be working.

[bangkokstick]

A work permit for online work :-)

[jpinx]

You might be able to get your wife to set up a Thai company and then work for her -- unlees that has already been tried by someone..... ?

[orpheus454]

A work permit is not issued as a general thing.

The WP states company, salary and the location where you will be working.

This is usually but not always the case.

[PattayaPhom]

A work permit for online work :-)

There are quite a few BOI companies that provide foreigners WPs for working online, so its not illegal or impossible

[falang07]

But why do you want to try to make it official when this type of income is not even subject to Thai tax (unless you remit the income in the same year as earned, or make your own company in here)? I do not get it.

[Soutpeel]

But why do you want to try to make it official when this type of income is not even subject to Thai tax (unless you remit the income in the same year as earned, or make your own company in here)? I do not get it.

"Technically speaking"...if he was working from Thailand for more than 180 days, he then would be resident for Thai purposes, so it could be interpreted that tax would be due in Thailand, assuming he is not already being taxed at source.

If being taxed at source and can prove it, then yes wouldnt be subject to Thai tax

Of course in practical terms, the Thai tax man wouldnt know and in all likelyhood wouldnt be interested anyway

One suspects the reason he wants to do it officially, has nothing to do with tax, but wishes to be working legally in Thailand, and waitng for the retort that this is a "grey" area as regarding the need for a WP...

[Soutpeel]

A work permit for online work :-)

There are quite a few BOI companies that provide foreigners WPs for working online, so its not illegal or impossible

but one assumes the "agency" he refers to is not one of those BOI companies you refer to, and further is this is what is written on the WP ?....working on-line or is the job description something more fancy ?.....I send emails as part of my job description, which is "working on-line" but dontr think I would get a WP issued on the basis of writing emails only...

[yankee99]

Sure 100% legal for 25000bht !

A lot cheaper to do it yourself !

If it cannot be achieved by personal effort then maybe what is sought is not permitted from a "legal " viewpoint .

Not cheaper at all doing it yourself but legal. When including SS, monthly filing and taxes etc.

Why on heart you want to complicate your life and humiliate yoursef to the Thai bureocracy that is only made to extract money from you while returning no rights. You will find how taxing is to "opening a company" here, just read few threads. And of course the visa/WP they sell you is totally illegal, based on corruption, and can vanish at any time.

But the advice they gave you is right, keep a low profile, "play with computer", what you do within your house is your business only. Keep your mouth shut and live an happy long life.

Opening is a company is easy just pay a lawyer and give the required docs.

[Soutpeel]

what you do within your house is your business only.

er not quite...based on this premise it's ok for you take illegal drugs within your own house then ?.....one could tell the BiB its got nothing to do with them ?

[Colabamumbai]

Am I wrong or does something smell here.

Does the poster know without an employer he needs lots of money in a Thai bank and Thai employees.

Is the agency going to create them?

With the proper employers documents filling out the work permit application is not that complicated.