Q: Working as receptionist / "translator" in hotels possible?

[Swiss1960]

I have a friend who is looking at working as receptionist / "translator", if possible in hotels. I know that a lot of foreigners are working in such kind of jobs in (international) hospitals, but I have seldom - if ever - seen foreigners in such positions in hotels.

Question: Would such a job in a hotel fall under prohibited jobs in "Category B / Service Industry / Hotel"? Are there any exceptions, as I sometimes read that jobs on "managerial level" with titels such as Chef or Manager are excluded from the prohibited jobs?

Just trying to help my friend out. She is multi-language, including some not commonly spoken languages, and currently learning Thai.

[ubonjoe]

List of Occupations and Professions Prohibited to Aliens

It would need to be a supervisory or management position. There are probably many in a similar position.

[duanebigsby]

People often get Work Permits for these gray area sort of jobs under the "managerial" moniker.

As an aside, to be an interpreter, fluency in Thai would be a must and it's a difficult one to master. I'd be incredibly impressed to

see someone fluent, both written and verbal without an intensive couple of years study.

[Swiss1960]

@ubonjoe => thanks, it's what I assumed

@duanebigsby => yep, she is struggling, but also willing to learn

@sirchai =>

Edit:

@ Mod =>

Edited May 28, 2014 by Swiss1960

[NancyL]

The people working in such positions in hospitals are fluent (or at least adequate) in Thai and also have some medical knowledge -- plus they have a good working knowledge of how that hospital works. I would assume a good international hotel would have similar people working in management positions -- at least that's been my observation in Chiang Mai that the high end hotels do have people in sales/marketing and managerial positions like food/beverage/catering -- people who can conduct business in English, Chinese, Japanese, French, German. Maybe not the same person with all languages but they do try to have someone on staff to conduct business in all the market segments they hope to reach. If she has an appropriate educational background, perhaps the OPs friend could apply for a management training program with a high-end hotel chain with several properties in Thailand.

Edited May 28, 2014 by NancyL

[Swiss1960]

@NancyL => Thank you, I will forward that idea

[Maestro]

I saw the work permit of a Swiss who was employed as "foreign language expert" at a government university in Bangkok. He was fluent in Italian, English, French, and German. Perhaps this might work also for employment in a hotel to deal with guests who do not speak English and to handle non-English correspondence.

[Swiss1960]

@Maestro => thank you

Sent from my HTC One XL using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app