I am a male American citizen who is currently staying on a retirement extension and I am thinking about setting up a regional office for an American company that is forming. I would work outside Thailand at customer and vendor sites, but live and communicate from my home in Thailand when not traveling.

Looking around today, I cannot find any recent information about whether this kind of visa is permitted, what the requirements are, and whether I would need a work permit to hold down the office.

Additionally, and perhaps critically, I would like to know whether the requirement for several Thai employees applies to this sort of visa. That would certainly kill the deal.

Thank you in advance

No work is permitted for those who have retirement extensions .

I will leave others to comment on the viability of the outlined plan.

Thank you.. That is true. If necessary I would obtain a different visa, that is if such a visa is available.

Edited February 28, 201412 yr by RickFarang

if you are working outside of Thailand no problem

If you are talking about a true representative office in thailand you know your required to bring in around THB 5 million over a 3 year period which is used for operating expenses as and if memory serves the first THB 3 million has to be brought in in first 12 months

For info on setting up a representative office see A Business Guide to Thailand (English) (2014) from the BOI.

Once office is set up you would need to apply for a work permit (only one Thai employee needed) then go out for a non immigrant B visa and then you could apply for an extension of stay under clause 2.1 of Thai Police Order 777/2551.

Thank you very much for your definitive answer!