I've been told both ways by Immigration, but not yet brought the question to the Labor Department. If someone holds a visa by virtue of supporting his Thai children, is he eligible for a work permit? I've heard that the person must first give up his support visa, leave the country to get a non immigrant B visa, then return and apply for a work permit. Another Immigration official said that the keeping the support visa was even better since if the farang lost his job, he would still maintain his visa and not have to immediately leave the country. Does anyone here have any experience with this?

As a follow-up question, if a farang got a work permit based on a non-immigrant b visa and then lost his job, could he switch over to the support visa without leaving the country?

Thanks.

You can get a work permit with an extension based upon having a Thai child.

You could go back to it if for some reason you had an extension for working.

There are people that give false information about getting a work permit. They will say the same thing about an extension based upon marriage.