Bringing clients to Thailand. Any visa required?

[dreaming]

Thanks for all your replies guys

Ok. So i have got a mixed bag of opinions on this.

The problem is this:

Her clients want to deal with her because she is there to hold their hand. They don't want a thai national that speaks broken english, has no repore with them, and when shit hits the fan, if there is a problem, will hide under a rock. You have to understand, alot of these women have never been to Thailand, and about to undergo surgery. They are very nervous

So, to do it legally, how do the korean and chinese guides carrying flags do it? You see them all over thailand.

[harrry]

Thanks for all your replies guys

Ok. So i have got a mixed bag of opinions on this.

The problem is this:

Her clients want to deal with her because she is there to hold their hand. They don't want a thai national that speaks broken english, has no repore with them, and when shit hits the fan, if there is a problem, will hide under a rock. You have to understand, alot of these women have never been to Thailand, and about to undergo surgery. They are very nervous

So, to do it legally, how do the korean and chinese guides carrying flags do it? You see them all over thailand.

They must employ a Thai licenced guide. Then they have work permits (full time) as assistants. They do not get the work for themselves, they must be employed by a thai company. Occasionally there are objections and they find themselves arrested for doing work of a tourist guide outside the permit terms.

The hospital can arguably get a work permit for you if they feel it is worth their while if not the risk (which may be small) is on you.

[simple1]

Thanks for all your replies guys

Ok. So i have got a mixed bag of opinions on this.

The problem is this:

Her clients want to deal with her because she is there to hold their hand. They don't want a thai national that speaks broken english, has no repore with them, and when shit hits the fan, if there is a problem, will hide under a rock. You have to understand, alot of these women have never been to Thailand, and about to undergo surgery. They are very nervous

So, to do it legally, how do the korean and chinese guides carrying flags do it? You see them all over thailand.

From your outline your wife is not a tour guide, but someone who assists her clients to navigate through hospital policy/procedures, for a fee, plus earning commissions (secret?) from the hospitals for introducing customers i.e. a self employed business owner. From the sounds of it your wife does not have liability insurance, that in itself I would assume to be illegal. Perhaps a good idea for her to get some professional advice to become legal in Thailand, or at least the relevant visa/WP for her.

I apologise if I have misunderstood your wife's situation & business model.

Chinese & other foreign tour guides should be employees/contractors of a tour operator & required to have work permits and so on. Some tour guides are operating illegally. The current flavour of the month are Russian speaking 'tour guides' and on a regular basis there are reports in the local media of their arrests for working illegally & I would assume the follow on extortion by RTP/Immigratiion or possible deportation

[Tomtomtom69]

Dreaming

The thing that is going to stand out to the authorities is not what she is doing really as much as what they may perceive her doing.

Depending on how many trips in and out of the country and the length it would not surprise me that she may get flagged by immigration and start to be searched more often and thoroughly by immigration in both countries.

Just think what other people travel in and out of the country a lot and short stays. HINT: drugs

Even if they cannot prove it unless she has proof that she is not they may start to wonder and that is all they need.

Doubtful. Thai immigration does not question people who spend a few days here and there, particularly if they travel in and out by air, if the person in question is a national of a rich country. They generally question people spending the full length of their visa exempt entries in Thailand, who then do a visa run to a neighboring country just to get entry/exit stamps and come straight back in, a few times in a row, generally overland. But this is not what this woman is doing.

My dad is a businessman and travels in and out of Thailand I don't know...perhaps 20, 30, even 40 times a year if we count each entry as an individual trip...for example, Sydney to Bangkok, spend one night in BKK then onto Ho Chi Minh for 5 days, then back to BKK for 2 nights, then Kolkata in India for a week, then back to BKK for one night, then China, then back to BKK for one afternoon. That's 4 trips over the course of say 3 weeks, and that is repeated about 5-8 times a year.

If Thai customs wanted to search for drugs, then they should start forcing every traveller to place their bags through the x-ray screener upon arrival, as is done in many countries in the region including Vietnam, China now too, Myanmar and others. Only in Thailand they are still too lax to do this. Interestingly, at the land border coming in from Cambodia at Aranyaprathet, they now employ this system but strangely not at Suvarnabhumi airport where even random searches are well, extremely rare.

Australian immigration and customs may be a different story, but Thai immigration doesn't care. If anything, they'll be happy as each entry she makes means the TAT can make it appear their arrivals targets are closer to being met. What number are they on now...26 million, 28 million? Something like that.

[Tomtomtom69]

Thanks for your input guys.

Maestro - she may fit under the tour liason section of necessary and urgent Work Acknowledgment. Thanks for the info

Chiangraitony - What you have described is exactly what her take on it is. The commission from the hospital is currently being paid into her aussie bank account (she does have the option of having it paid into a thai bank account) and all other expenses are sorted before the girls leave australia.

She does come to thailand every 2 months though. I don't know if that would put up any red flags. I guess offshore workers have a similar frequency of visits

No red flag at all about the frequency of the visits...every 2 months isn't even often. Even if it was every 2 weeks it wouldn't be a problem. The WP is more of an issue. But if your wife is simply accompanying her clients to the hospital and working out of Australia, employed by an Australian company it shouldn't be a problem. Still, if a WP could be applied for it would be better, but for the most part it's not something you should worry about. Nobody is going to start knocking on her doors so to speak.

[Maestro]

Removed an off-topic post about luggage x-rays and the replies to it.