Farang Pad Thai vendor charms local Thais

[Changnoi2]

I hope to someday impress the locals with the shoes I make. Just waiting on the TV networks. haha

[HM52]

A really positive story and yet still the majority of comments are cynical and negative. If you all hate this adoptive country so much why don't you all go back to your nations of birth??- I'm guessing because you'd be just as cynical and defeatist there as well, just paying higher taxes and cost of living doing so.

So very true Luxfare !

I think that positive farangs with good and healthy life in Thailand with a clear mind is a small minority on this forum.

[max72]

Does he have a work permit ? lol.

There was another farang woman selling Thai food near Khaosand Road, an English-Aussi woman who speaks very good Thai.

She had her stall near the Police Station and it is rumored she had a Thai cop bf, that's why she was allow to work without any hassle.

Anyway, as long as you behave good I think Thailand should accept foreigners. There is nothing to milk here, social security is noexistent, so live sabai sabai with Thai people and everybody will be happy.

Down with the xenophobic nationalism.

[fozzy58uk]

Considering that 99% of Thais are flabbergasted when a farang can actually eat authentic Thai food, it is hardly amzing that they believe we can't cook it.

[kimamey]

I hope to someday impress the locals with the shoes I make. Just waiting on the TV networks. haha

Let's hope they don't ask you to demonstate how good they are for walking onto a plane.

Good luck to you.

[kimamey]

He may very well be one of the very few that has eventually obtained Thai Residency foregoing the need for a work permit plus visa.

I wondered about that as well. It doesn't say how long he's been here but if he's done that then he's entitled to his smile.

[kimamey]

A really positive story and yet still the majority of comments are cynical and negative. If you all hate this adoptive country so much why don't you all go back to your nations of birth??- I'm guessing because you'd be just as cynical and defeatist there as well, just paying higher taxes and cost of living doing so.

Yes cynical. Unlike your post.

It's a positive story but with some possible negative repercussions due to the vauge laws and their enforcement in this country. Some of us are concerned about this and are pointing it out as we are worried that the story might not have a happy ending. Hopefully all will be OK but you just stick your head in the sand so you won't have to worry about all that.

Just for the record I'd be better off financially back in the UK because I could work.

[Payboy]

He may very well be one of the very few that has eventually obtained Thai Residency foregoing the need for a work permit plus visa.

Holding a Thai permanent residency still requires a permit to work.

[DekDaeng]

And then his problems started....... No working permit !!

Fer sure, pad thai is one of the protected industries.

[dirtycash]

nice to see , him and wifey look very happy , fair play to him.

PS

wouldnt surprise me if the bib scooped him for tea money for working without a permit

Edited August 4, 2014 by dirtycash

[ayayay]

OMG!!!!!!!!

VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!

Look, whitey can cook thai food. Look at it, I mean, him...

[thatenglishguy]

this whole thread is funny! I just read all the comments for entertainment!

Its true tho.. immigration will come knocking on his door now lol

Thailand eh!

[Payboy]

By the way, what was Phad Thai called when the country was still Siam?

[apetley]

By the way, what was Phad Thai called when the country was still Siam?

Fried noodles

[enough is enough]

A Swiss man called Tony Smith???

I bet you he has an English mate called Hans Goebbles

[jacky54]

And then his problems started....... No working permit !!

there will be no problem,

I worked many years in my wife's company, with my skills I could help her in the business without a work permit,

also no show of money for the one year visa, we needed to show business and tax papers

But you did not spalsh yourself over the media as the novelty falang, this guy is an idiot. What happened to the French guy doing the same in Bkk? I heard he was arrested.

[jacky54]

By the way, what was Phad Thai called when the country was still Siam?

I thought pad thai was introduced after this in the late 30 or 40's? it's a Chinese dish really.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

i was under the impression (gathered from talking to many farang business owners) that even sweeping crumbs off a table or answering a ringing phone was classed as 'working' and would result in being deported........surely they didnt ALL lie to me?

...and while youre here maybe someone can throw some light on the indian suit sellers that work alone without 4 thais and the indian restaurants that are full of indians but no thais......how does that work?

I'd certainly be interested in that answer as well. Indra shopping centre has dozens of Indians selling cameras and the like. How is it done?

Regarding restaurants, there was an item in the news a few weeks back about Immigration scooping up a bunch of Indians working, without work permits, at one of the Indian restaurants on Suk Soi 11.

Of course, they probably could do the same dozens of times over at other places. The only reason I can think of that they don't is the receipt of money.

Similarly, amid all the visa crackdown articles, there was a new item a while back also interviewing a Korean woman restaurant owner in Sukhumvit who apparently had no permits or legal status at all. I think she said she was staying on a tourist visa. But she was paying some thousands of baht every month to avoid having problems for her handful of Korean workers.

As for the tailor shops, it may be Indians working as the front people in the shops, but presumably it's Thais doing the sewing and cutting, etc. behind the scenes. Just speculating on that.

Edited August 4, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

As for what actually constitutes "working," the Thai authorities can be either pretty generous or pretty harsh about that, as they choose.

I recall reading cases of farang bar owners/managers without work permits who were busted for simply hanging out in their establishments and greeting/chatting with customers. That was deemed to be working.

[Naam]

Indra shopping centre has dozens of Indians selling cameras and the like. How is it done?

Probably Thai nationals.

they are not Thai nationals but ethnic Indians holding Myanmar citizenship and most of them have a work permit.

[peecee]

Nice story but Tony Smith can probably expect a visit from the Labour dept any day now!!

Secondly, this guy is Swiss, with a name like Tony Smith. Excuse my ignorance but it doesn't sound very Swiss.

Also, the comment...... "I have never seen any other foreigner with such talent."....what a strange thing to say.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but is that not like saying "I've never seen a foreigner who can cook," insinuating that only Thai people can cook Thai food??

I wonder how many of the worlds Michelin star chefs are Thai compared with how many are 'foreigners'?

4 Michelin stars are beyond the realms of possibility, much the same as having 4 good tyres on your average Thai pick-up!

[duanebigsby]

A Swiss man called Tony Smith???

I bet you he has an English mate called Hans Goebbles

Why so many people hung up on his name?

Look at my name and guess where I'm from? Many people on TV say Wales and accuse me of being a non-native English speaker.

I've got Thai students named Deborah, James, Yuka, Alan, Frank, Don, etc.

[Johpa]

Funny the locals are so impressed with his ability to cook possibly the world's easiest dish, no disrespect to him and I am also happy he has set a precedent in farang being allowed to do restricted jobs , a pioneer of sorts.

<deleted> regarding no disrespect! This is ThaiVisa where people just can't help themselves when it comes to throwing a slight jab at Thais or at Farangs who don't embrace the mainstream ex-pat neo-sahib lifestyle of a life of leisure. So congrats to you, and the numerous ThaiVIsa peer members who actually liked your comment, for killing two birds with one stone whilst pretending to not show disrespect. I make no such pretenses.

[wichianburi1]

Come on guys; as so often before, he cooked the dish for himself. On occasions, he likes to share the taste with his wife's customers who appreciate his culinary talent.

[dwong]

the french noodle seller in yaowarat is still around, saw him helping out his wife when i went there last month.

[notmyself]

Nice story but Tony Smith can probably expect a visit from the Labour dept any day now!!

Secondly, this guy is Swiss, with a name like Tony Smith. Excuse my ignorance but it doesn't sound very Swiss.

Also, the comment...... "I have never seen any other foreigner with such talent."....what a strange thing to say.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but is that not like saying "I've never seen a foreigner who can cook," insinuating that only Thai people can cook Thai food??

I wonder how many of the worlds Michelin star chefs are Thai compared with how many are 'foreigners'?

Well how many expats have they ever seen cooking? Zero I would think, it is to be remembered that they know little about the going on's beyond their borders.

I've had friendly helpful locals, dive in to help me with simple tasks as if I was totally incapable.

I cook in town from time to time for friends at a restaurant of a close friend. Her kitchen staff are amazed a farang can cook and constantly bombard me with questions and requests for various dishes. One lady in particular (Nok) is so interested that she will change shift in order to be around when I'm cooking. Last November I made a large pot of shrimp and sausage gumbo. Some months later I was going to make it again but had something to do after arriving with the ingredients. When I returned some 45 minutes later she had already done all the prep, browned the sausage after cutting it into coins and was making a stock with the shrimp heads etc. When my friend has a party I'll often nock up a dish such as buffalo wings adapted to the Thai palate which amazes her friends when they find out it was made by a farang.

[asean]

Stories like this get foreigners landed in jail. The guy is breaking so many laws it is not funny. There is no way you can get a work permit for this work. This is a deportable and blacklistable crime. All he needs is the wrong labour, immigration, police officer to walk by or even a disgruntled competitor or family member and he is out. Please do not get any romantic crazy notions in your heads. If he has Thai citizenship he is safe.

Edited August 4, 2014 by asean

[Joey J]

Oh get a life you pathetic people,

(No work permit) (will get deported)(can't even wash your car) really. It's boring.

[asean]

Oh get a life you pathetic people,

(No work permit) (will get deported)(can't even wash your car) really. It's boring

You have no idea what petty crimes are locked up at immigration detention center right now. IDC is not a nice place and this guy does not want to be blacklisted from seeing his wife for 5 years. Maybe you dont live here and don't understand the gravity of his actions. What this man is doing is careless and silly. To publicise it is stupid.

Edited August 4, 2014 by asean

[asean]

He may very well be one of the very few that has eventually obtained Thai Residency foregoing the need for a work permit plus visa.

Thai residency does not forgo the need for a work permit. Only citizenship does. I have had many permanent residents deported for working without a work permit.