Why Are You Even Here? The Surprising Attitudes of Some Expats in Thailand

[karacho]

Hello to everyone,

I live in Thailand for 7 years now with a retirement visa.

As I bough some rooms, can I get the money from a tenant without a workpermit?

Thank you for your advice.

[SheungWan]

If you are renting out property as a business enterprise then the income is liable to Thai taxes, so the first question is whether you have or intend to register that business for taxation purposes.

I would have thought that at best you are putting your retirement visa at risk.

[karacho]

Thank you for you reply . I just want to make some money, i understand that i should pay taxes for it as any revenue. My concern is that would be considered as a work or not following the Thai law. In my contry many retired people make some extra money by renting a room in their house to tourist.

[KittenKong]

You can own and rent as many rooms as you like on a retirement visa.

What you cant do is work, so things like collecting rent and showing the room to prospective tenants and doing minor repairs and redecorating could, in theory, get you into trouble with immigration for working without a permit. In practice is it unlikely to happen, but who knows?

So to be safe you should employ a local Thai agent to do all of this for you, even if you accompany him at all times to supervise.