I have been in thailand for about one month now on a tripple entry tourist visa and I have been offered a job. The trouble is they want me to work at least one month before they will give me paperwork for a work permit and the job is quite forward facing. Maybe even out in the public. Is this worth the risk? I really don't want to be kicked out.

My comment, if the company wants to wait a month to start a WP, why not 3 months, why not 6 months, why not never ?

If caught you could go to jail, be deported, fined etc, only you can decide if thee risk is worth it

Soutpeel's post says it all.

Meaning I agree.

Jail? I didn't realise you can go to jail for it. Maybe it isn't worth it then. Shame though. Seems like a good opportunity.

Not only a Work Permit.

You also need an appropriate Visa.

and we hear this story all the time, you get the job and they don't pay you... one month labor for free...

what recourse do you have?

As long as the application has been lodged then I am sure you can work until the physical permit is delivered. That is the way it works where I work. It is also funny in that you have to send them photo's of you working at your place of work to apply for your permit

My photo's were rejected because the ones of me outside the workplace with the Thai staff didn't show enough road

Go figure

and we hear this story all the time, you get the job and they don't pay you... one month labor for free...

what recourse do you have?

Report them to the labour office. They ake your side and don't make a fuss about that you didn't have a work permit (for which the company can be fined as well).

I'm not sure what you mean by what recourse I have but the company is a big one. Not sure I should name them but I got the managers number from I guy I met a few times in my local who gave me the number when I mentioned I was looki g for work. He seems to do well with them but I think he already has a work permit when he came here. Also if the company give me a work permit I guess I will have a non imigrant b visa too which will cancell out my tourist visa. So if they only give me a 30 day one and I don't sell enough I will be having to go home early I guess.

I'm not sure what you mean by what recourse I have but the company is a big one. Not sure I should name them but I got the managers number from I guy I met a few times in my local who gave me the number when I mentioned I was looki g for work. He seems to do well with them but I think he already has a work permit when he came here. Also if the company give me a work permit I guess I will have a non imigrant b visa too which will cancell out my tourist visa. So if they only give me a 30 day one and I don't sell enough I will be having to go home early I guess.

Is any this to do with real estate sales or selling financial services ? Don't name the company

The guy never had a wp coming here WP are only issued in country

I am not advocating breaking the law. I know in the pattaya area lots of people work without a wp. In my row of shop houses there's a falang on each side without a wp. The risk is small unless someone rats you out then it's a monthly under the table payment. I went for the wp and its a pia. After having it for over 6 months I'm still having paperwork issues with the social security office.

Hello

In my case, I had to teach for about a month on probation, during which period they would see if I was a good teacher or not and if the students liked you

or not. This was not even surprising to me at all because this kind of trial period does exist in my country, too.

They took about a week or so to prepare all the documents that I need to to apply for a Non-B visa. I'm going to Laos to apply for one very soon.

They used to have English teachers at our school but they worked on a visa-exempt stamp and had to leave and come back to Thailand every month.

However, what happened at a local school close to where I'm living now was that two Westerners got caught for teaching without a work permit about

a few months ago. The school got fined almost 100,000B for letting them work without a work permit. I don't know what happened to these teachers.

I was even told by our school to answer *I'm a tourist.* if the police or immigration should come to ask me what I was doing here. Our Thai teachers and even

my local friends told me I should be alright, though. They said that these Western teachers must have been TURNED IN for some reasons that they worked for

less hours but got paid better than the Thai teachers. I don't know...

So our school has been so scared now they first did a Non-B visa, a work permit and then a visa extension for our Filipino teacher, and this is my turn now.

Yes, you should ask the Director of your school to prepare all the documents that you need to apply for a Non-B visa asap if they need you as a full-time

teacher and tell them that you're scared to work without a proper visa or a work permit. You'll then have to prepare all the documents such as your

graduation certificate and academic transcript, too.

Good luck!

Where does it say in the OP that the person is a teacher ?

As long as the application has been lodged then I am sure you can work until the physical permit is delivered. That is the way it works where I work. It is also funny in that you have to send them photo's of you working at your place of work to apply for your permit

My photo's were rejected because the ones of me outside the workplace with the Thai staff didn't show enough road

Go figure

Photos of you working are needed for an extension of stay not a work permit application.

Nothing like that is needed for the work permit application.

TadShiraz

I noticed two things in your post "not selling enough" and "Maybe even out in the public"

That probably either means it is a Financial Services Company or a Timeshare Company

I would believe that it it would be very hard to be provided a work-permit for any of those two

You have only been here for one month? I don't know your personal financial situation, but I would rather recommend you to take a TEFL course and go into the teaching business.

The two other areas of employment are not really something we should recommend to newcomers to work in.

Please notice that I am credited with 4 post and that I am a newbie. That's true, I came to Thailand in August... 29 years ago that is.

I read a lot but don't post a lot ...

Hello Soutpeel

Thanx for your comment, You're right. I just wanted to say that it would be risky to work without a work permit no matter what you may do

here in Thailand.

I know some stories of Westerners having been busted for working or doing business without a work permit but in most cases they were

TURNED IN. These Westerners might have been so arrogant they didn't respect the locals.

All sounds quite risky and yes it is in timeshare. I have no experience in it and not sure I will do well at it so might be pointless for such a big risk.

You will also find that in a lot of cases it is another Farang that calls immigration to report you not a Thai

All sounds quite risky and yes it is in timeshare. I have no experience in it and not sure I will do well at it so might be pointless for such a big risk.

Well here is my advice I would staying well away from this, irrespective of the WP issues

Tadshiraz, you seem like a sincere guy who wants to do the right thing. Ask yourself if you'd pursue this line of employment in your home country, irrespective of the visa/work permit issues?

So many people get themselves into trouble here doing things that their better judgement would tell them isn't a good idea to do in their home countries. Always ask yourself that question before making a major decision -- if you wouldn't do it in your home country, then why does it make sense to do it here? You better have some very good answers.

You will also find that in a lot of cases it is another Farang that calls immigration to report you not a Thai

Probably almost 100%.

The Thais generally do not spend all their time questioning what other people do and whether it is legal.

This is what all those "holier than thou" Farang spend their time doing in the various gossip corners. Or they sit at home stewing over some stupid personal issue and working out how they can "get their own back".

Tadshiraz

Please read this very old Thaivisa thread from 2006 it will help you learn and understand more about Timeshare.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/80989-selling-timeshare-in-thailand/

Hello

In my case, I had to teach for about a month on probation, during which period they would see if I was a good teacher or not and if the students liked you

or not. This was not even surprising to me at all because this kind of trial period does exist in my country, too.

They took about a week or so to prepare all the documents that I need to to apply for a Non-B visa. I'm going to Laos to apply for one very soon.

They used to have English teachers at our school but they worked on a visa-exempt stamp and had to leave and come back to Thailand every month.

However, what happened at a local school close to where I'm living now was that two Westerners got caught for teaching without a work permit about

a few months ago. The school got fined almost 100,000B for letting them work without a work permit. I don't know what happened to these teachers.

I was even told by our school to answer *I'm a tourist.* if the police or immigration should come to ask me what I was doing here. Our Thai teachers and even

my local friends told me I should be alright, though. They said that these Western teachers must have been TURNED IN for some reasons that they worked for

less hours but got paid better than the Thai teachers. I don't know...

So our school has been so scared now they first did a Non-B visa, a work permit and then a visa extension for our Filipino teacher, and this is my turn now.

Yes, you should ask the Director of your school to prepare all the documents that you need to apply for a Non-B visa asap if they need you as a full-time

teacher and tell them that you're scared to work without a proper visa or a work permit. You'll then have to prepare all the documents such as your

graduation certificate and academic transcript, too.

Good luck!

So they have teacher working without WP. And staying on visa exemptions. And if the police or Immigration come to the school you should just tell them that you are a tourist. Have you every seen any tourist walk in to a school and a classroom where they don't belong and start teaching

Thanks so much guys for all your advice. I have decided to turn down the job offer. I am not a born salesman or a big risk taker and too honest to sell something that I don't believe in and as I have only just arrived I dont want to risk getting thrown out. Plus bikeing from chalong to patong everyday seems like it would suck.

Jail? I didn't realise you can go to jail for it. Maybe it isn't worth it then. Shame though. Seems like a good opportunity.

Maximum penalty is 5 years in jail.

Knock it on the head Tadshiraz!!

Really isnt worth it

I would assume that with a crime that contains a maximum of 5 years, that you would be blacklisted regardless of whether you served time or just deported.

The risk would not be a small one since a large percentage (large enough) of the farang population (and probably some Thais if they thought you were competition; just a little while ago a Chinese person was horribly beaten-up by a small mob of tour operators that thought he was an illegal tour guide [with better language skills]) would report you, a. Meaning you would have no-one to blame but yourselves if you get yourself into this situation by working illegally in a way that is enforced. They might go soft on an English teacher, but you would be in for a rude awakening if you were caught being a tout. Regardless of whether you were better at it than a Thai, they would see it as you doing something a Thai could do just as well....

Is it really worth the risk? That is up to you...

You will also find that in a lot of cases it is another Farang that calls immigration to report you not a Thai

Probably almost 100%.

The Thais generally do not spend all their time questioning what other people do and whether it is legal.

This is what all those "holier than thou" Farang spend their time doing in the various gossip corners. Or they sit at home stewing over some stupid personal issue and working out how they can "get their own back".

One assumes you have data to prove that assertion, as far as my memory goes, based on news reports just about every time someone has been dobbed into immigration its been a Thai national that's done it, granted not saying farangs haven't reported people sure they have but it ain't 100%, you can take your apologist hat now

Where will you work? If it's from home, don't worry about it. If it's at an office, don't do it.

Jail? I didn't realise you can go to jail for it. Maybe it isn't worth it then. Shame though. Seems like a good opportunity.

Maximum penalty is 5 years in jail.

Does anyone know of anyone that has gone to jail for not having a WP?

I never had one for 10 years when I was an English teacher and never saw one other even get caught. Actually I only ever heard of 2 getting deported but that was due to upsetting an influential person.

IMHO, many foreigners here take the law here far too seriously.