Isaan farang burger 'King' and his charming 'Prince' go viral!

[SoFarAndNear]

Not to be overly critical, but...shouldn't the little prince be in school?

Or are we in yet another holiday- break?

Now it is holiday break in Thailand. Next week schools will open..

[SoFarAndNear]

Stories like this just show what a strange view of the outside world many Thais have. Majority here must think that every western foreigner must be so rich or they have magically filling banking accounts.

[Paul944]

The guy is not working. He is just watching over his kid who is selling vegan burgers made by his mom.

[Apiwan2]

Nice to see the TVF Work Permit 'police' are out in force here to express their envy dismay that another foreigner has got off his backside to try and get some money coming in and not sitting behind a keyboard sniping at people....

Good luck to the geezer.

I second that

[choff56]

Selling vegan food to Thais. Good luck with that

Thais will eat anything smothered in sauce (ketchup).

Edited May 10, 2016 by choff56

[DeaconJohn]

It seems that in Thailand, you can do small business if you don't care about the unclear rules. Just do it seems to be the motto. I've seen several of these stories. There was a guy selling Pad Thai downtown I think in Yaowarat area and another guy cooking Thai food at his wife's little bamboo hut restaurant in Ayuttaya. There also was a college-age kid at the Thammasat night market selling hotdogs from a hand held barbecue . None of them invested anything much in their business or had manyThai employees. No matter what small business is done in Thailand whether its legal initially or not, the owners tend to stretch the laws(rules) or break them. It's the same for Thais as well. That's how I see it. What happened to the people in those past stories? I think Thais see these stories and think that Thailand is open like most places but it's not true.

Have you seen the story of the Thai girl who went to the US broke and within little time was able to start a restaurant business? Nice story but only for her. People who have families and live in Thailand should have the right to open small businesses too without having to be treated as outsiders.

Can't argue with any of your points.

In the 30+ years I've been here I've seen a lot of farangs engaged in small-scale commercial activity.

The fact is that laws regarding foreigners and such activity are, as you say , "unclear" and the bureaucratic hoops you have to jump through to do it legit are daunting.

Many do it on the QT with their Thai wives and families fronting for them while they keep a low profile.

Publicity will most likely bring attention from the authorities, so be prepared to show your papers or pay a "fine."

[tubby johnson]

Stealing jobs from Thais! Neo-colonialism! Outrage! No work permit!

[Johnniey]

Proper work permit?

There are also some jobs that foreigners cannot hold in Thailand. If I were him, I make sure all proper paperwork is in place.

Maybe he's Thai.

Some farang are.

[PoorSucker]

if it's lowkey a lot is possible if you are respected in the area u're operating. BKK officials can't be bothered with some lone guy in the sticks selling let's say pancakes. there used to be (probably still is) a great noodle restaurant in satun operated by a farang and his thai wife. many local officials had lunch there, they liked the guy, they liked his noodles, everybody happy. doing the same on samui or somewhere touristy is another story of course.

There has always been foreign men having small business like this on Samui, never been bothered by immigration.

I know this Lebanese guy selling Kebab for 5 years without any hassle.

[PoorSucker]

The guy is not working. He is just watching over his kid who is selling vegan burgers made by his mom.

[Baerboxer]

if it's lowkey a lot is possible if you are respected in the area u're operating. BKK officials can't be bothered with some lone guy in the sticks selling let's say pancakes. there used to be (probably still is) a great noodle restaurant in satun operated by a farang and his thai wife. many local officials had lunch there, they liked the guy, they liked his noodles, everybody happy. doing the same on samui or somewhere touristy is another story of course.

I think that's it. As long as no one minds, everyone is happy, all is fine.

All it takes is someone whose not happy to complain, or some over zealous official, or some latest dictate from HQ., etc etc

As with all laws in all contexts, they'll enforce what they want to enforce at the time it suits and vice versa.

[taony]

Unfortunately, in two days time, we will all be commenting in a thread about his business being shut down and his possible deportation.

[mesterm]

Hope they are licensed to sell, else all hell will break lose. Jail and after that deportation.

Yeah yeah yeah and dead penalty and torture and skinned alive ?

All you need is one jealous local person who reports it in. The foreign guy loses his little business, and locals take over the entire idea.

So basically worse than a death penalty.

[anotheruser]

Good luck to him,thousands like him all over the Kingdom,it's high time that people like him were afforded a little more assistance,maybe the banks could start a Farang friendly loan service for similar start up businesses.

I have nothing against what the guy is doing. That being said are you seriously suggesting that banks should provide loans for foreigners to start up businesses which are illegal? Again I don't think what he is doing should actually be illegal but it most likely is the way things stand now. I guess what would be better is if the Thai government accorded more rights for foreigners that are married (and others) to be able to support themselves. If he had the legal right to work and take care of his family he could use the usual avenues to acquire loans the same as Thais do or anybody else.

I really don't see any immigration reform coming that anybody here would want to see implemented, if anything any change would work against all of us. Something tells me many of the comments might be different here if the guy was from Syrian and was doing this in Europe.

[DavoTheGun]

He will be put to Death then fined 700,000 Baht!

[SunsetT]

Not to be overly critical, but...shouldn't the little prince be in school?

Or are we in yet another holiday- break?

It is the Thai 2 month long hot season 'summer' holidays for schools now.

[uktony]

If the government don't stop him, Warner Bros will.

[White Christmas13]

Selling vegan food to Thais. Good luck with that

Can't see anything wrong with it as long the burgers are loaded with sugar and salt

[Mook23]

if it's lowkey a lot is possible if you are respected in the area u're operating. BKK officials can't be bothered with some lone guy in the sticks selling let's say pancakes. there used to be (probably still is) a great noodle restaurant in satun operated by a farang and his thai wife. many local officials had lunch there, they liked the guy, they liked his noodles, everybody happy. doing the same on samui or somewhere touristy is another story of course.

There has always been foreign men having small business like this on Samui, never been bothered by immigration.

I know this Lebanese guy selling Kebab for 5 years without any hassle.

Sure. I didn't say it's impossible. I said it's another story. We all know it's about how u do it, where u do it, who u know, what u mean to those who u know, if there's an envelope involved, and so on. Most things in Thailand are GREY hence i like it here. Back home it's black or white (can/no can).

[kamahele]

Not to be overly critical, but...shouldn't the little prince be in school?

Or are we in yet another holiday- break?

Still summer holiday for many students. A great many schools reopening on May 16

[recom273]

Do all the negative posters ever speak to Thai people ?

On the whole they have no idea that we need visas or work permits, they think we come here to be teachers !!

I knew a guy who did something similar, Thais loved him because he spent time sourcing his meat and made some special BBQ sauce, overall he had a better product than the local guys.

The local sellers chased him off a few times ( not because he didn't have a WP - because he was taking more money than them ) and the tessakit got hold of him a couple of times, he paid them off.

But on the whole no one cared - they loved his food .. And he spoke a fair bit of Thai with a bad accent.

Edited May 10, 2016 by recom273

[PoorSucker]

Selling vegan food to Thais. Good luck with that

Look for this sign when ordering vegan food in Thailand.

Plenty of vegan restaurants in Thailand aimed at Thai customers.

[realenglish1]

Thank you social media for possibly ruining this mans life.

Get it straight We are all responsible for what we do in life He chose to break the law It is NOT social media that ruined his life He may have

ruined his life by not abiding by the law.

[wabothai]

"A picture of a foreign man and his son selling burgers went viral on Facebook yesterday. "

If he's successful, expect 20 Vegan Runners Cafes, operated by Thais and using an exact copy of the sign, to open up right next to him.

And ask the farang to lend the money to open the business.

[Monkeyrobot]

Hope they are licensed to sell, else all hell will break lose. Jail and after that deportation.

Well technically speaking if his son is Thai maybe it's the young boys business , dad is just there for support. Well that's the story he should be telling the Thetsakit and the immigration officials. Nothing wrong with young entrepuers , nice pic and good luck to him.

[billd766]

Not to be overly critical, but...shouldn't the little prince be in school?

Or are we in yet another holiday- break?

My son doesn't go back to school until next Monday. Other schools are already open.

Some close earlier than others in the same province.

[Craig krup]

"Working, officer? Working? Frankly I'm outraged by the suggestion. My son here is a young entrepreneur and the business is his alone. I'm merely assisting his education and ensuring that no harm comes to him".

[With acknowledgments to the Pink Panther, and whether it's the beggar or the monkey who's collecting the money].

[Mook23]

"A picture of a foreign man and his son selling burgers went viral on Facebook yesterday. "

If he's successful, expect 20 Vegan Runners Cafes, operated by Thais and using an exact copy of the sign, to open up right next to him.

AKA free market.

[little mary sunshine]

Vegan burgers look delicious

And healthy..hope he has a

License to do business

[cpofc]

well the General is talking about Innovation after all.

Necessity - The mother of invention.

it seems exactly what this bloke has done.

At least he is not taking up space on a pedestrian footbridge sitting in his arse with his hand out.

20 Odd years ago I didn't know what a Vegan was until 2 left-over hippie lesbian vegans walked into our restaurant one night. What a learning experience that was?

'Excuse me, do you use Fish Sauce?'

'Are the Kennedy's Gun-Shy?'

Edited May 10, 2016 by cpofc