legal assistance - specific work permit for self-employed + duty free removal y

[HarryNL]

Begin december i will arrive Bangkok on a Non immigrant VISA O-A and I would like to start/get work the soonest as possible. The visa O-A is suggested by the embassy and they advise me to organise all legal matters in Thailand.

I do not want to emigrate but want to live and work BOTH in my home country The Netherlands and Thailand.

In Thailand I would like to work as an entrepreneur/company owner or freelancer and/or as a employee (I want to keep my options to work on my own or as an employee)

An annually extension of a visa for maximum contiguous stay of 90 days for a total period of 1 year is ok, although a long / permanent stay would of course a better option.

Some comments which will determine the legal options:

- I do not want to be an employer for Thai employees (I am an one man company, in principal it is only me)
- I have since 1993 in the Netherlands already a private Limited (BV) mainly to practise executive interim management

- please consider also other forms of enterprise that could be attractive instead of a private company with limited liability
- I have a Thai girlfriend and if a marriage would be make working inThailand more easy, we would consider this.

1. a legal entity / firm to do business and carry out
-In the Netherlands I am just a self employed person without any employees and want to continue my work in Thailand in

a. interim management /consultancy assignments

b. to do some trading too

c . and provide internet services

2. a work permit for to be an employee

-as said I would like to keep this option open as some companies only will provide an “interim management” contact to an employee. (so i need 1 + 2)

3. transfer my funiture / goods to Thailand duty free

- seems that i need a long stay visa or need to have a work permit to import duty free. Is this true or are there other (cost saving) alternatives.

Please advise me what will be

- the best route/choice to be made

- what are the conditions/restrictions,

- and the completion time

Specialized lawyers and/or accountants may offer me a no-obligation (lumpsum) quote to guide me in the procedure to be followed.

Thanks

[lopburi3]

Will start with the visa bit - you can not work with an O-A visa so it will be a waste of money if you really intend to find work soon. You can get a tourist visa much cheaper and that will allow 60 days that can be extended 30 days and when work is found you can exit to obtain a non immigrant B visa required for the work permit to be issued. But you are aware it is not that easy to find work? You are restricted to what and for whom you can work and Thai company hiring you must meet specific requirements that most would not be able or willing to do without specific talents that they require and are not available from local work pool. You do have to work for a Thai company. Will leave it to others to fill in the blanks but will say there advise is likely to be better than most pay for information sources.

[ubonjoe]

A non immigrant OA visa is for retirement and would not allow you obtain a work permit which would allow you to work here.

You should be able to get a multiple entry B visa (business) with a letter from your company that would give you 90 day entries for a year. It would be written to request the visa for you to investigate business opportunities.

To work you need a work permit. To get a work permit you need to be working for a company or have your own company here.

Getting married would allow you to get an extension of stay which would allow you to get a work permit. It would also reduce the registered capital required from 2 million baht to 1 for getting work permits and possibly the number of Thai employees from 4 to for a work permit,

[digitalchromakey]

Labour will not issue you with a Work Permit against a non immigrant 'OA' visa/one year entry, which is only issued for retirement purposes.

In practice to obtain a Work Permit you will need a different category of visa (non immigrant 'B'), you should be able to get such a visa based on a supporting letter/papers supplied from your Netherlands Company to explore business opportunities in Thailand..

Although in Theory there is a category to apply for a Work Permit without an employer, I have never heard of anyone who has succeeded with such an application.

Your only realistic current hope of getting a Work Permit would be to form a Thai Limited Company and you will be required by Labour to have Thai employees on your payroll to get the WP.

[JLCrab]

You might also consider changing your approach 180 degrees: Rather than coming to Thailand to have Thai companies hire you for your expertise, you could come to Thailand to sub-contract work for which you have been contracted in the Netherlands or other EU countries. Then you are bringing business to Thai companies with similar expertise rather than competing with them and the legal issues become far less complex.

[HarryNL]

THX for replies

I understand non immigrant 'OA' visa/one year entry is issued for retirement but at the moment i can not have non immigrant 'B' as that would only be on invitation of a Thai company.

This has been said by Thai Embassy but i will check this again. Maybe they do allow to do an market survey on behalf of my own dutch company

I have thought also about using a payrolling company, that would be an alternative to study too

But I still hope to find a Thailand legal entity that fits to “just me as a one man company”

Please keep on posting

[ubonjoe]

I suggest you contact the honorary consulate in Amsterdam instead of the embassy. They might be more helpful with B visa based upon your own company.

[JLCrab]

You might read this as a Board of Investment (BOI) supported consultancy in Thailand:

http://www.bdo-thaitax.com/bdo/company-profile