Can I open a school for something other than English and offer ED visas?

[Zatoichi]

I wonder, can you open a school for something other than English, say, Muay Thai, or IT, and be eligible to qualify for ED visas for your Students? Also, how involved is the authorization?

Anyone tried this before?

[FritsSikkink]

Non-formal schools can be defined as schools that teach a curriculum that has some oversight from the MOE.

They could be anything from a language to a cooking or a massage school made largely for tourists.

You need to talk to the Ministry Of Education what sort of licenses you need:

http://www.moe.go.th/en/

[TechnikaIII]

... and my understanding is that a Thai needs to be a majority share holder, whatever it is, from coffee shops to colleges. The foreigner can neither own land, nor legally a majority in any business or organisation in Thailand.

Try the Philippines. They are much more open to innovation, entrepreneurship, you name it. And as for visas and all manner of permits, Thailand is a mugs game.

[tefljames]

you could talk to Khun Thanya she has a school for sale and I'm sure you could add IT to the curriculum, her email tanya [email protected]

[enufsaid]

You can but there must be engineers report on building, must be toilets at appropriate height & age appropriate, a costly long drawn out process. If you're not Thai you must employ X amount of Thais depending on Thai foreigner ratio, be patient & good luck

Edited January 31, 2015 by enufsaid

[Zatoichi]

Thank you so much guys. This is very helpful. Any tips on a decent lawyer? One that charges local prices, not the rip off big name ones that I'm not going to mention as we all know who they are.

As far as Thai ownership, it can be 100% Thai that works for me. Engineers, no problem. The IT school, hmmm its about the location really. I have one in mind but perhaps if you could PM me with a little info about it?