Changing companies - need to cancel old extension of stay and then get a fresh non-B and extension?

[Tomtomtom69]

Hi,

I was recently made redundant from my company and am on an extension of stay. Although I suspected this might happen, when it did happen it was very sudden and I was barely given time to reflect on this, was asked to sign a document stating my employment will end on February 1. I was even considering leaving the company through my own free will as I wasn't happy with the way the company treats it's employees and the salary and benefits, though I probably would have stayed on until such time that a new job could be found. Last month I was already offered a new job and expressed my interest, but due to a miscommunication that job may or may not be available anymore. Still, I will try to chase it up by going past that company tomorrow (unfortunately the person who offered me that job lost her phone and thus all her contacts; so there is no way for her to contact that company via phone in order to contact me - additionally the job is in Bangkok and the person who told me about it lives in the provinces). However, I was told where their offices are so I'll take my chances but here's the issue: Since my previous employment ended and I signed a document to state that my employment will end of February 1, my old company called me yesterday to say that they have to cancel my work permit (and therefore my extension of stay) before I start working for a new company - but that I would need to obtain some documents from them first and therefore go to immigration to cancel it myself.

If this is really the case, it's going to become very complicated. Firstly, I don't care for this company and thus I don't really want to deal with them anymore - why can't they just NOT tell immigration and I can keep my stay, at least for now? It's not like I can use the work permit anymore (except for banking transactions or other dealings with officials where they want to sight a work permit). I don't understand what they have to gain from letting immigration know about the termination of my employment with them. A friend of mine who was fired from his job last year on bad terms didn't have his extension of stay or work permit cancelled. He simply stayed in Thailand for another 3.5 months after the end of his contract searching for a new job until he finally found one. I don't see why my ex-company can't do the same thing.

And so if I did have to cancel my work permit before taking on employment with a new company, I would thus have to cancel the permit early morning, drive to say Aranyaprathet on the same day, cross into Cambodia and then, when coming back I'd get a new 15 day tourist visa waiver?! What an absolutely stupid system. I realize there is a 7-day extension, but since my company is so cheap (they didn't pay for my original non-B visa, nor my travel expenses to obtain my original non-B visa) I don't think they would pay for this extension either. Hence since I would have no choice but to leave after the end of my extension of stay ends, I might as well time it such that I can drive to a border and then back on the same day as I cancel my extension as I'm not going to pay 1900 Baht myself - that's simply a waste of money.

However, then wouldn't my new company have to issue documents for me to apply for a new non-B outside of the country again? So that would mean more travel again! Is this really what expats who change companies have to go through? I thought there would be a system for transferring extensions of stay between employers without leaving the country. Can anyone advise please?

Also, can't I just ask my old company to issue a letter giving me 2-3 more months before my contract is "terminated" without requiring them to pay me any benefits in addition to those already agreed? That way I could negotiate with my new company about obtaining documentation for a new work permit and visa/extension of stay. The thing is, I don't think that even if that new company that was looking to hire me is still looking for new employees would be ready to issue new documents within the next 10 days, hence I definitely need more time to arrange this.

Another option: what if I were to leave the country BEFORE the 1st of February WITHOUT cancelling the work permit but upon my return used another passport (I hold 3 nationalities) to re-enter Thailand on a visa-waiver or tourist visa and then if I am to gain employment with a new company, I could just use either the passport I have been using for my previous employment or another passport for a new work permit and extension of stay? Wouldn't that work as well? That way I will not have overstayed anyway.

[Mario2008]

I hope you read carefully what you signed, if you resign yourself you are not entitled to compensation from the company.

Of course you can negotite with the company to have your employement cancelled on another date.

Leaving and using another passport doesn't change anything and only makes it more complicated. You need to cancel the WP and extension of stay the day your employement ends. At that time you can get an extra 7 days to leave the country for 1,900 baht. That gives you 7 days to find a new employer and get a new work permit for that employer and apply for an extension of stay again.

[Tomtomtom69]

I hope you read carefully what you signed, if you resign yourself you are not entitled to compensation from the company.

Of course you can negotite with the company to have your employement cancelled on another date.

Leaving and using another passport doesn't change anything and only makes it more complicated. You need to cancel the WP and extension of stay the day your employement ends. At that time you can get an extra 7 days to leave the country for 1,900 baht. That gives you 7 days to find a new employer and get a new work permit for that employer and apply for an extension of stay again.

Yes I was terminated by my company and although I was thinking of quitting myself, my company beat me to it - so I will receive compensation. However, the compensation is only for 1 full month's salary as I hadn't finished my probation period.

7 days to find a new employer is not enough hence it would be better to use a visa waiver or tourist visa, the former is free. As mentioned, I do have a possible job lined up but I don't believe they'll be able to process my paperwork in time. Perhaps it might be better to negotiate a later "termination date" from my ex-company?

Also, what you are saying is that it's possible to transfer employers with the same extension of stay WITHOUT leaving the country? Because according to my company they say it's not possible. I don't really want to believe them, but if they are right then I might as well leave myself time to organize the paperwork with my new employer on a tourist visa. Also, isn't it possible to get an extension of stay for work on a tourist visa? A law firm told me it's possible and they have done it before.

[Mario2008]

Your extension of stay ends and you can get a new extension of stay without leaving the country, that is not the same as your extension stays valid. In practise 7 days is short notice, especially in Bangkok and the current siutation in BKK is also not helping.

Suspect you will end-up going for a tourist visa, so might be better to go abroad to start with.

Yes, conversion of a tourist visa to a non-B visa is possible.

[ubonjoe]

The problem with changing employers is not the extension it is getting the work permit for the new job. The old work permit must be cancelled in order to get a new one. It is possible to do it without cancelling the old one but it requires cooperation from current employer to do it.

Your best option is to get the 7 day extension which gives your more time to leave the country. If you don't cancel the existing extension it is possible if leaving at a border crossing they will not allow you to leave with the valid extension.

If one of your passports is for a G7 country you will get 30 days at a border crossing.

[Tomtomtom69]

Your extension of stay ends and you can get a new extension of stay without leaving the country, that is not the same as your extension stays valid. In practise 7 days is short notice, especially in Bangkok and the current siutation in BKK is also not helping.

Suspect you will end-up going for a tourist visa, so might be better to go abroad to start with.

Yes, conversion of a tourist visa to a non-B visa is possible.

Right I see. So basically I could be eligible for a NEW extension of stay (based upon a new employer) that would thus be be valid from say, a year from the date applied, provided the paperwork is processed prior to the expiration of the extension of stay or a 7-day extension?

I have just asked for an extension of the termination date to the 1st of April, basically the letter would specify this. In this case, In this case, I would get 2 more months to arrange my affairs...but I am still awaiting a response regarding this matter and can't guarantee that it will be approved (but don't see any good reason why it wouldn't be as it doesn't cost the company anything). To be honest, I am not sure what a company would have to gain from insisting on work permit cancellation by a specific date unless they are only complying with the law, but if immigration isn't informed then they'd be none to the wiser.

[Tomtomtom69]

The problem with changing employers is not the extension it is getting the work permit for the new job. The old work permit must be cancelled in order to get a new one. It is possible to do it without cancelling the old one but it requires cooperation from current employer to do it.

Your best option is to get the 7 day extension which gives your more time to leave the country. If you don't cancel the existing extension it is possible if leaving at a border crossing they will not allow you to leave with the valid extension.

If one of your passports is for a G7 country you will get 30 days at a border crossing.

Right - although what I meant was leaving the country before the effective date of termination, which is no problem. I am currently actually outside of Thailand (I left yesterday) and this is my second trip outside of Thailand in as many days since my employment was terminated, but it's not the 1st of February yet (effective date of termination). Still, I am confused as to why I would need to cancel my work permit myself and yet if I don't do it and no other action is taken it will be cancelled anyway. However, if I've already left the country before then and then return on a visa waiver at a later date (or even on the same day), then I haven't really done anything wrong (as I wouldn't have overstayed in such a case), other than perhaps making a future work permit application more complicated.

Of course, I don't intend for that to happen, but I am simply trying to find a way of extending my stay on my current extension because just 7 more days is not enough and right now I have other business to take care of abroad, hence I don't even intend on being in Thailand much over the next couple of weeks except for the purpose of arranging a new work permit. However, as mentioned I can't predict how long this will take as my new possible employment may not come through at this time but 2 more months seems to be a reasonable amount of time to take care of all my affairs and is likely enough time to secure new employment.

Therefore, I will only get the 7-day extension if I am pretty sure I will gain a new employer within the next 1-2 weeks. However, as mentioned I will try to insist my ex-employer writes me a letter with an effective date of the 1st of April as this would be much better.

[Soutpeel]

I hope you read carefully what you signed, if you resign yourself you are not entitled to compensation from the company.

Of course you can negotite with the company to have your employement cancelled on another date.

Leaving and using another passport doesn't change anything and only makes it more complicated. You need to cancel the WP and extension of stay the day your employement ends. At that time you can get an extra 7 days to leave the country for 1,900 baht. That gives you 7 days to find a new employer and get a new work permit for that employer and apply for an extension of stay again.

Yes I was terminated by my company and although I was thinking of quitting myself, my company beat me to it - so I will receive compensation. However, the compensation is only for 1 full month's salary as I hadn't finished my probation period.

7 days to find a new employer is not enough hence it would be better to use a visa waiver or tourist visa, the former is free. As mentioned, I do have a possible job lined up but I don't believe they'll be able to process my paperwork in time. Perhaps it might be better to negotiate a later "termination date" from my ex-company?

Also, what you are saying is that it's possible to transfer employers with the same extension of stay WITHOUT leaving the country? Because according to my company they say it's not possible. I don't really want to believe them, but if they are right then I might as well leave myself time to organize the paperwork with my new employer on a tourist visa. Also, isn't it possible to get an extension of stay for work on a tourist visa? A law firm told me it's possible and they have done it before.

On your severance count yourself lucky your getting a month, seeing as you mention probation which ones assumes is 3 months ? Legally speaking as you have been there less than a year you shouldn't be entitled to any severance

[Dork]

I hope you read carefully what you signed, if you resign yourself you are not entitled to compensation from the company.

Of course you can negotite with the company to have your employement cancelled on another date.

Leaving and using another passport doesn't change anything and only makes it more complicated. You need to cancel the WP and extension of stay the day your employement ends. At that time you can get an extra 7 days to leave the country for 1,900 baht. That gives you 7 days to find a new employer and get a new work permit for that employer and apply for an extension of stay again.

Yes I was terminated by my company and although I was thinking of quitting myself, my company beat me to it - so I will receive compensation. However, the compensation is only for 1 full month's salary as I hadn't finished my probation period.

7 days to find a new employer is not enough hence it would be better to use a visa waiver or tourist visa, the former is free. As mentioned, I do have a possible job lined up but I don't believe they'll be able to process my paperwork in time. Perhaps it might be better to negotiate a later "termination date" from my ex-company?

Also, what you are saying is that it's possible to transfer employers with the same extension of stay WITHOUT leaving the country? Because according to my company they say it's not possible. I don't really want to believe them, but if they are right then I might as well leave myself time to organize the paperwork with my new employer on a tourist visa. Also, isn't it possible to get an extension of stay for work on a tourist visa? A law firm told me it's possible and they have done it before.

On your severance count yourself lucky your getting a month, seeing as you mention probation which ones assumes is 3 months ? Legally speaking as you have been there less than a year you shouldn't be entitled to any severance

An employee is entitled to 30 days severance after 120 days service (inclusive of holidays, sick leave etc.).

After a year the severance is 90 days.

[belg]

that 7 day rule is utter crazy, who can find another job in such a short notice, specially when you did not expect to get fired ?

the whole system is in place to make it as difficult as possible

thai people want tourists, spending a lot of money and then going home ...

when the rules gonna change again in our disatvantage... one day is might be : bye bye long stay tourists (aka expats, with 0 rights)

[Tomtomtom69]

I hope you read carefully what you signed, if you resign yourself you are not entitled to compensation from the company.

Of course you can negotite with the company to have your employement cancelled on another date.

Leaving and using another passport doesn't change anything and only makes it more complicated. You need to cancel the WP and extension of stay the day your employement ends. At that time you can get an extra 7 days to leave the country for 1,900 baht. That gives you 7 days to find a new employer and get a new work permit for that employer and apply for an extension of stay again.

Yes I was terminated by my company and although I was thinking of quitting myself, my company beat me to it - so I will receive compensation. However, the compensation is only for 1 full month's salary as I hadn't finished my probation period.

7 days to find a new employer is not enough hence it would be better to use a visa waiver or tourist visa, the former is free. As mentioned, I do have a possible job lined up but I don't believe they'll be able to process my paperwork in time. Perhaps it might be better to negotiate a later "termination date" from my ex-company?

Also, what you are saying is that it's possible to transfer employers with the same extension of stay WITHOUT leaving the country? Because according to my company they say it's not possible. I don't really want to believe them, but if they are right then I might as well leave myself time to organize the paperwork with my new employer on a tourist visa. Also, isn't it possible to get an extension of stay for work on a tourist visa? A law firm told me it's possible and they have done it before.

On your severance count yourself lucky your getting a month, seeing as you mention probation which ones assumes is 3 months ? Legally speaking as you have been there less than a year you shouldn't be entitled to any severance

An employee is entitled to 30 days severance after 120 days service (inclusive of holidays, sick leave etc.).

After a year the severance is 90 days.

As much as I didn't like the way the company treats it's employees at least it follows Thai labor law which indeed provides for 30 days severance pay after 120 days and 90 days after 1 year service (which I didn't achieve), both of these points were outlined in the employee manual. Not sure where soutpeel got the idea that no severance payment is paid for periods served under a year, that would be extreme.

[Tomtomtom69]

that 7 day rule is utter crazy, who can find another job in such a short notice, specially when you did not expect to get fired ?

the whole system is in place to make it as difficult as possible

thai people want tourists, spending a lot of money and then going home ...

when the rules gonna change again in our disatvantage... one day is might be : bye bye long stay tourists (aka expats, with 0 rights)

You're right and what makes it worse is that companies (some companies at least) don't care about this and issue a termination letter with an effective date only a couple of weeks (at most) after termination, which is still not enough to find a new job. And let's not forget that effectively you are supposed to leave the country the very same day you cancel the work permit and visa although the 7-day extension is available in case you need it (it really should be around 30 days).

Right now I am in discussions with a new employer but they haven't called me in for an interview yet. It looks highly likely that I will have to leave the country and come back on either a visa exempt entry or a tourist visa since it doesn't seem likely that they'll be able to issue anything prior to the 1st of February or even the 7th of February (the last date I would get if I were to obtain a 7-day extension after cancelling my extension of stay and work permit).

[digitalchromakey]

that 7 day rule is utter crazy, who can find another job in such a short notice, specially when you did not expect to get fired ?

the whole system is in place to make it as difficult as possible

thai people want tourists, spending a lot of money and then going home ...

when the rules gonna change again in our disatvantage... one day is might be : bye bye long stay tourists (aka expats, with 0 rights)

You're right and what makes it worse is that companies (some companies at least) don't care about this and issue a termination letter with an effective date only a couple of weeks (at most) after termination, which is still not enough to find a new job. And let's not forget that effectively you are supposed to leave the country the very same day you cancel the work permit and visa although the 7-day extension is available in case you need it (it really should be around 30 days).

Right now I am in discussions with a new employer but they haven't called me in for an interview yet. It looks highly likely that I will have to leave the country and come back on either a visa exempt entry or a tourist visa since it doesn't seem likely that they'll be able to issue anything prior to the 1st of February or even the 7th of February (the last date I would get if I were to obtain a 7-day extension after cancelling my extension of stay and work permit).

If an employer was to keep you on the books after you were fired, they would be liable to continue to make PND 1 Salary Income Tax and Social Insurance contributions, plus they would be in breach of employment regulations.

Wheras the Thai Immigration/Labour system is certainly a nightmare to navigate and presents plenty of problems for foreign employees, I don't understand why you think that an employer who doesn't wish to keep you on their books for whatever reason has any responsibilities towards you other than those the law defines.

Why should any one expect an employer to break the law to help a fired employee find a new job, when they by definition they didn't like the job the erstwhile employeee was doing for them?

[Tomtomtom69]

that 7 day rule is utter crazy, who can find another job in such a short notice, specially when you did not expect to get fired ?

the whole system is in place to make it as difficult as possible

thai people want tourists, spending a lot of money and then going home ...

when the rules gonna change again in our disatvantage... one day is might be : bye bye long stay tourists (aka expats, with 0 rights)

You're right and what makes it worse is that companies (some companies at least) don't care about this and issue a termination letter with an effective date only a couple of weeks (at most) after termination, which is still not enough to find a new job. And let's not forget that effectively you are supposed to leave the country the very same day you cancel the work permit and visa although the 7-day extension is available in case you need it (it really should be around 30 days).

Right now I am in discussions with a new employer but they haven't called me in for an interview yet. It looks highly likely that I will have to leave the country and come back on either a visa exempt entry or a tourist visa since it doesn't seem likely that they'll be able to issue anything prior to the 1st of February or even the 7th of February (the last date I would get if I were to obtain a 7-day extension after cancelling my extension of stay and work permit).

If an employer was to keep you on the books after you were fired, they would be liable to continue to make PND 1 Salary Income Tax and Social Insurance contributions, plus they would be in breach of employment regulations.

Wheras the Thai Immigration/Labour system is certainly a nightmare to navigate and presents plenty of problems for foreign employees, I don't understand why you think that an employer who doesn't wish to keep you on their books for whatever reason has any responsibilities towards you other than those the law defines.

Why should any one expect an employer to break the law to help a fired employee find a new job, when they by definition they didn't like the job the erstwhile employeee was doing for them?

Well without elaborating on the reasons for dismissal (it was actually related not to performance but to some ridiculous requirement the company tried to impose on me as well as it's other employees that I wasn't able to comply with) I would have thought the company would quietly disappear just like happened to a friend of mine who was dismissed from his company last year and didn't have to cancel his work permit or extension. In fact he stayed on his existing extension for another 3.5 months until he found a new job. As mentioned, I can't change the law but I am certainly not happy about being given such a short time to arrange other things. I only hope that my new employer will be able to apply for an extension of stay on a tourist visa exemption (as has been stated is possible) which basically means that a non-B, with it's 90 day validity is simply a way of gaining more time for this process to be completed. In such a case would an application for a work permit have to be made before or after applying for the extension conversion at immigration?

Does anyone know if I can obtain a copy of the PND1 form from my employer for my records and to obtain a tax refund? What do I show to immigration when I cancel the extension? If I didn't cancel the extension would immigration be informed nonetheless? Of course, I do intend on doing things the right way to avoid future complications. Also, upon my return to Thailand I will be changing passports this time and be using a different nationality for my new work permit and extension - I'm assuming this is absolutely no problem especially given my existing extension will have also been cancelled by then. My new work permit will also be using a new booklet I presume hence it wouldn't be tied to my passport that I'm using now anyways.

[digitalchromakey]

You're right and what makes it worse is that companies (some companies at least) don't care about this and issue a termination letter with an effective date only a couple of weeks (at most) after termination, which is still not enough to find a new job. And let's not forget that effectively you are supposed to leave the country the very same day you cancel the work permit and visa although the 7-day extension is available in case you need it (it really should be around 30 days).

Right now I am in discussions with a new employer but they haven't called me in for an interview yet. It looks highly likely that I will have to leave the country and come back on either a visa exempt entry or a tourist visa since it doesn't seem likely that they'll be able to issue anything prior to the 1st of February or even the 7th of February (the last date I would get if I were to obtain a 7-day extension after cancelling my extension of stay and work permit).

If an employer was to keep you on the books after you were fired, they would be liable to continue to make PND 1 Salary Income Tax and Social Insurance contributions, plus they would be in breach of employment regulations.

Wheras the Thai Immigration/Labour system is certainly a nightmare to navigate and presents plenty of problems for foreign employees, I don't understand why you think that an employer who doesn't wish to keep you on their books for whatever reason has any responsibilities towards you other than those the law defines.

Why should any one expect an employer to break the law to help a fired employee find a new job, when they by definition they didn't like the job the erstwhile employeee was doing for them?

Well without elaborating on the reasons for dismissal (it was actually related not to performance but to some ridiculous requirement the company tried to impose on me as well as it's other employees that I wasn't able to comply with) I would have thought the company would quietly disappear just like happened to a friend of mine who was dismissed from his company last year and didn't have to cancel his work permit or extension. In fact he stayed on his existing extension for another 3.5 months until he found a new job. As mentioned, I can't change the law but I am certainly not happy about being given such a short time to arrange other things. I only hope that my new employer will be able to apply for an extension of stay on a tourist visa exemption (as has been stated is possible) which basically means that a non-B, with it's 90 day validity is simply a way of gaining more time for this process to be completed. In such a case would an application for a work permit have to be made before or after applying for the extension conversion at immigration?

Does anyone know if I can obtain a copy of the PND1 form from my employer for my records and to obtain a tax refund? What do I show to immigration when I cancel the extension? If I didn't cancel the extension would immigration be informed nonetheless? Of course, I do intend on doing things the right way to avoid future complications. Also, upon my return to Thailand I will be changing passports this time and be using a different nationality for my new work permit and extension - I'm assuming this is absolutely no problem especially given my existing extension will have also been cancelled by then. My new work permit will also be using a new booklet I presume hence it wouldn't be tied to my passport that I'm using now anyways.

PND 1 is the form used for monthly salary income tax returns.

When you leave employment your employer should give you the relevant information on tax paid for your annual PND 91 Income tax return, but they may not provide you with copies of the monthly PND1s as they show salares and tax paid for all employees in the company.

To cancel your extension you first go to Labour and cancel your WP4 (Work Permit), you then get a paper confirming cancellation (or get a copy of the filed form) which you can then take to Immigration.

It is my understanding that Labour inform Immigration that your WP is cancelled.

To get a new extension following on from a WP cancellation, you would need all lthe papers from your new employer plus a receipt for a successful Work Permit application filing from Labour.

Entering on a Tourist Visa you can then convert to a 90 day non immigrant 'B' in BKK with all the supporting paperwork from your employer (in effect you must have papers to prove your eligibility for an extension).

Starting afresh on a different nationality passport (i.e. ID) may well prevent an extension application/conversion as you would have no tax records to allow extension as by definition you could not have been working on a Tourist Visa.

You may well be much better off keeping to your current tax records and entering Thailand/applying on the same passport with your next job.

[Tomtomtom69]

You're right and what makes it worse is that companies (some companies at least) don't care about this and issue a termination letter with an effective date only a couple of weeks (at most) after termination, which is still not enough to find a new job. And let's not forget that effectively you are supposed to leave the country the very same day you cancel the work permit and visa although the 7-day extension is available in case you need it (it really should be around 30 days).

Right now I am in discussions with a new employer but they haven't called me in for an interview yet. It looks highly likely that I will have to leave the country and come back on either a visa exempt entry or a tourist visa since it doesn't seem likely that they'll be able to issue anything prior to the 1st of February or even the 7th of February (the last date I would get if I were to obtain a 7-day extension after cancelling my extension of stay and work permit).

If an employer was to keep you on the books after you were fired, they would be liable to continue to make PND 1 Salary Income Tax and Social Insurance contributions, plus they would be in breach of employment regulations.

Wheras the Thai Immigration/Labour system is certainly a nightmare to navigate and presents plenty of problems for foreign employees, I don't understand why you think that an employer who doesn't wish to keep you on their books for whatever reason has any responsibilities towards you other than those the law defines.

Why should any one expect an employer to break the law to help a fired employee find a new job, when they by definition they didn't like the job the erstwhile employeee was doing for them?

Well without elaborating on the reasons for dismissal (it was actually related not to performance but to some ridiculous requirement the company tried to impose on me as well as it's other employees that I wasn't able to comply with) I would have thought the company would quietly disappear just like happened to a friend of mine who was dismissed from his company last year and didn't have to cancel his work permit or extension. In fact he stayed on his existing extension for another 3.5 months until he found a new job. As mentioned, I can't change the law but I am certainly not happy about being given such a short time to arrange other things. I only hope that my new employer will be able to apply for an extension of stay on a tourist visa exemption (as has been stated is possible) which basically means that a non-B, with it's 90 day validity is simply a way of gaining more time for this process to be completed. In such a case would an application for a work permit have to be made before or after applying for the extension conversion at immigration?

Does anyone know if I can obtain a copy of the PND1 form from my employer for my records and to obtain a tax refund? What do I show to immigration when I cancel the extension? If I didn't cancel the extension would immigration be informed nonetheless? Of course, I do intend on doing things the right way to avoid future complications. Also, upon my return to Thailand I will be changing passports this time and be using a different nationality for my new work permit and extension - I'm assuming this is absolutely no problem especially given my existing extension will have also been cancelled by then. My new work permit will also be using a new booklet I presume hence it wouldn't be tied to my passport that I'm using now anyways.

PND 1 is the form used for monthly salary income tax returns.

When you leave employment your employer should give you the relevant information on tax paid for your annual PND 91 Income tax return, but they may not provide you with copies of the monthly PND1s as they show salares and tax paid for all employees in the company.

To cancel your extension you first go to Labour and cancel your WP4 (Work Permit), you then get a paper confirming cancellation (or get a copy of the filed form) which you can then take to Immigration.

It is my understanding that Labour inform Immigration that your WP is cancelled.

To get a new extension following on from a WP cancellation, you would need all lthe papers from your new employer plus a receipt for a successful Work Permit application filing from Labour.

Entering on a Tourist Visa you can then convert to a 90 day non immigrant 'B' in BKK with all the supporting paperwork from your employer (in effect you must have papers to prove your eligibility for an extension).

Starting afresh on a different nationality passport (i.e. ID) may well prevent an extension application/conversion as you would have no tax records to allow extension as by definition you could not have been working on a Tourist Visa.

You may well be much better off keeping to your current tax records and entering Thailand/applying on the same passport with your next job.

Yes but when I got my extension and work permit I was already on a non-B and got it converted at the One Stop Center with no mention of any tax income statements.

So if I come in on a new passport and try to get a conversion on a tourist visa or exemption wouldn't it be like I've never worked in Thailand before? I don't remember ever having to submit tax documents to obtain an extension the first time I converted from a non-B (note that I've never extended an extension before, only either used a multiple non-B or converted a single non-B into a 15-month extension). Because if my visa extension runs out and I come back on a tourist visa, no matter how short the time before a new conversion is made, the string will thus have been "broken" hence wouldn't I be starting from scratch again?

The reason for switching passports is simple. Apart from working in Thailand I have a business in Laos. On one of my other passports, I don't need a Lao visa to enter Lao. Since I've been on my current passport and non-B visa (and subsequent extension) I've been to Laos 5 times (and that's only within the past 4 or so months) and that's cost me a lot of passport pages and a lot of money in visa costs (mostly visas on arrival), which I could easily avoid by switching to the other passport. The other reason is that passport has a few more pages available and is almost three times cheaper than the one I'm currently using when it comes time for renewal.

Unless of course what you mean is that in order to switch from a tourist visa waiver (15 days or 30 days) to an extension of stay in the country I'd need tax receipts from my previous employment, BUT if I were to obtain a fresh non-B outside of the country irrespective of passport used that wouldn't apply?