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Thanks ubonjoe,

I would really just be attending meetings as Project Manager / Consultant for construction projects anyway and doing general paperwork for them remotely (when I visit Thailand) and for the Thai projects. So if they set-up a representative office are you saying they would only need 1 Thai person? I was on the understanding there would need to be 4x Thai per one foreigner.

A representative office falls under different rules than working for a Thai company. For them it is aone to one ratio.

This from clause 2.1 of the immigration order for extensions of stay based upon working.

(1) The alien must have been granted a non-immigrant visa (NON-IM).

(2) The alien must earn an income per the attached Table of Income (Annex A).

(3) The business must have a paid-up registered capital of no less than Baht 2 million.

(4) Said business must have submitted its financial statements as at the end of its fiscal year for the past two accounting years which have duly been audited and certified by a certified public accountant or a tax auditor, to prove that the business is sufficiently secure with actual and continuous operation, according to the guidelines for consideration of business status concerning the actual and continuous operation attached hereto (Annex B ).

(5) Said business needs to hire aliens.

(6) Said business must have a ratio of one alien employee per four permanent Thai employees.

(7) The following businesses shall be exempted from the Criteria (3), (4), and (5) and the ratio of Thai employees specified under Criteria (6), shall be reduced to one alien employee per one permanent Thai employee

(a) International trade business (representative office)

(B ) Regional office

That's very helpful, thanks very much. Just need some help now to set-up a Thai representative office then!

That's very helpful, thanks very much. Just need some help now to set-up a Thai representative office then!

You can find info here from the BOI. BusinessGuide 2014.pdf

A rep office cannot earn income

For me Singapore was the best over a 20 year period but I had a Singapore company with a fully paid up capital of 250,000 S$ plus I had invitation letters from large Thai companies and a government agency within the Kingdom.

Company A request appointment for Dec 14-20 for traiing

Company B request appointment for Jan 7-14 for traiing

Company C request appointment for Feb 22-28 for traiing

Company A request appointment for Mar 14-20 for traiing

etc

Photocopy the Revenue Dept documents that OP paid withholding taxes of 15%.

If OP goes for full time employment their is no need for a 1 year multiply visa but 3 months will be enough.

I could never get a Work Permit as I was a consultant to multiply companies.

For a non-B 1 year multi-entry, I hear there are some consulates in Europe that do them, but apparently in England only London does them now. Paperwork requirements vary.

Your best bet is Australia. As long as you are European, North American or from another rich country, you can apply. Try Melbourne or Brisbane, or even Perth. They tend to be the best ones, however, the honorary consulate in Hobart and the one in Adelaide might also be able to help. I have personal experience with both Melbourne and Perth for non-B 1-year visas, as well as Sydney for 1-year non-B, ED and a tourist visa.

All Aussie consulates and the embassy do multi non-B 1 year visas, but it is said that the embassy in Canberra is "stricter" than the consulates. Why Thailand doesn't follow the same rules throughout the country or indeed, throughout the world when it comes to visa issuance is a mystery to me, but I have no specific proof about Canberra being "difficult" except some anecdotal reports and based on that it's definitely better to apply in another Australian city, even Sydney. The exception is for a few nationalities, including the usual ones like Nigerians, other west Africans, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Afghanis etc. EVEN IF they are permanent Australian residents they can ONLY apply in Canberra.

For everyone else, including tourists to Australia, who generally have no physical proof in the form of a visa anymore as Australia now issues electronic visas and has stopped visa stickers, one of the consulates will do.

When I first got a non-B 1 year in Sydney back in 2003, my sponsor faxed all the paperwork over. For some reason the same sponsor suggested Brisbane or Perth when I applied just over 4 years later at the beginning of 2008 for the same visa, because he thought that the Indian lady at the Sydney consulate was "difficult", yet she was the one who handled my application back in December 2003! I followed his advice and sent my passport into Perth, who were happy to issue my visa but kind of politely suggested I apply in Sydney next time considering I live in Sydney.

However, if you apply in person this is not an issue, or you just find a local address (i.e. in the same state or one over which the consulate has jurisdiction) to send the passport back to, if for some reason you can't collect it yourself.

Anyway, just got myself a new 1 year non-B in Melbourne last month. I am a dual citizen, one of them being Australian but I applied in my European (Swiss) passport simply due to the fact that I don't need a visa for Laos when I travel there and since I do a lot of business in both Thailand and Laos and generally travel overland, I certainly don't want to be forced to spend US$30 every time for a new Lao visa when it could be free. And it was no problem to have my non-B issued in my European passport.

What I needed was:

1. Application form fully filled out with 2 passport photos corresponding to Australian passport specifications (3.5x4.5cm I think). The staff in Melbourne are very friendly and helpful, but they generally won't entertain any questions until you have provided proper size pictures. There is a photo shop downstairs in the same building and I think the lady who runs it is probably also Thai, but at a steep A$15 for just 4 pictures you might want to bring some from Thailand instead, where the same 4 pictures usually only costs 150 Baht or so, slightly more than a third of that price!

2. Business letter from a Thai company stating dates of travel, reason for multiple entries

3. Business letter from an Australian company stating the need for travel to Thailand and need for multiple entries (now this could be an issue in your case if you don't have an Australian company, but you could try getting your overseas based company to write one up). I would recommend sending them an email to ask if this is OK.

That's it. The consulate website listed the need for a document showing that the Thai company has a capitalization of at least 2 million Baht and was also mentioned in the email I received after sending them an enquiry. However, when I showed up with the Thai company registration they didn't need it.

Cost was A$225, the same as all those years ago. Processing time is 2 business days, though in reality they will almost always approve the visa and issue it the same day and hand it back the next day, if you ask. But expect to be told to wait until the day after tomorrow, i.e. 2 days after you apply.

Brisbane is apparently able to do the same thing and issue the visa within just a few minutes.