I will be leaving next month to start a new job outside of Thailand. I will close down my company, WP, etc..., which my accountant advises will take around 6 months. I was considering making the company a "Dormant" company, but my accountant believes this is not the best choice. That's not what I'm writing about.

Having paid into Social Security for the last 9 years, my friends wife advised me not to cancel my Social, but to use Section 39 of the Act to "pay-in" after I close the company down. I can pay via standing order every month from my BKK Bank account and I will keep my medical benefits (for when I come back to Thailand for visits) and I can take the Pension portion of Social and get a lump sum payout when I turn 60 y.o. And best of all, the monthly fee is THB 452.

Anyone ever gone down this road?

This will be better answered in the Business Services Forum. Leaving a live link here in Phuket Forum

As you know that once you stop working (for whatever reason), you have 2 options to consider:

You are eligible to enroll for unemployment compensation. This compensation is for a period of 3 months (30% of the government stipulated income bracket), while your right in receiving treatment through social welfare would exist for a period of 6 months. You as an unemployed person would l need to report in person to the social welfare office on a monthly basis to collect your compensation, i.e. if you enrolled on 20th day of October, you will have to report on the 20th day of the following month and the months after.

or

The second alternative, which more suits your needs is that you enlist paying your own social fund so that you can maintain your medical rights and benefits. Normally you must pay the fees on a monthly basis, you can set up a standing order so that they will deduct the monthly fees directly from your bank. So long as the fees are paid in on a monthly basis it does not matter if you are physically present to pay the fees under this option.

Please note that if you start off with the second option your rights to proceed with option 1 will be eliminated.

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