If you rent out your condo- work permit required?

[pontious]

There is a hot topic on the Phuket Forum regarding the above -any other district / province heard this?

[gandalf12]

If you rent your place be it Condo or House for money you are essentially trading. To trade you need a work permit

[swissie]

If you rent your place be it Condo or House for money you are essentially trading. To trade you need a work permit

Ouups! Will not sit well with folks that bought a condo under the Motto: If worse comes to worse, I can always rent it out.

How could one get a work permit in Thailand, while actually living outside of Thailand for the most part of the year ?

Cheers.

[elviajero]

• If you are managing the property yourself then technically a work permit is needed.

If you use an agent/management company you wouldn't need one.

[wpcoe]

• If you are managing the property yourself then technically a work permit is needed.
• If you use an agent/management company you wouldn't need one.

That's what I always have thought, too.

[OMGImInPattaya]

• If you are managing the property yourself then technically a work permit is needed.
• If you use an agent/management company you wouldn't need one.

That's what I always have thought, too.

Also, don't forget to file Thai income tax returns too.

[Bunnychow]

If you rent your place be it Condo or House for money you are essentially trading. To trade you need a work permit

Nope...

1. If you let an agent/company handle everything as regards rentals..then no WP needed

2. If you handle everything yourself, including things like maintenance, writing up contracts etc...then yes one suspects you may need a WP.

Similar example

You wouldn't need a work permit for looking after your own investments, inclusive of stock and share trading, but the minute you start doing the same thing for someone else then you would need a WP

[Henryford]

• If you are managing the property yourself then technically a work permit is needed.
• If you use an agent/management company you wouldn't need one.

Surely you are still the one doing the trading. You own the asset, you are taking the profits from the trade. The management company are in effect just your employee, for a fee, doing work in your trade. Similarly if you owned a restaurant and carried on a business with thais doing the serving etc you are still trading.

[Bunnychow]

• If you are managing the property yourself then technically a work permit is needed.
• If you use an agent/management company you wouldn't need one.

Surely you are still the one doing the trading. You own the asset, you are taking the profits from the trade. The management company are in effect just your employee, for a fee, doing work in your trade. Similarly if you owned a restaurant and carried on a business with thais doing the serving etc you are still trading.

but your physically not doing any work in Thailand, you have employed someone else to do the work, if you own a restaurant and played no active role in running that restaurant then you don't need a WP...same rational, in using an agent your not playing a active role in this "business"

You give money to a bank to invest for you, its your asset, you expect a profit from the investments/ trades the bank does,

Do you need a work permit ?....no of course you don't

however if you own one or more condo's in Thailand and rent these out yourself, and take care of all the "running" and maintenance, then you are in effect running a "real estate business" and as such as your directly involved with running the "business" you would need a WP

[JackThompson]

• If you are managing the property yourself then technically a work permit is needed.
• If you use an agent/management company you wouldn't need one.

Surely you are still the one doing the trading. You own the asset, you are taking the profits from the trade. The management company are in effect just your employee, for a fee, doing work in your trade. Similarly if you owned a restaurant and carried on a business with thais doing the serving etc you are still trading.

Earning income in Thailand from investments is not the same as "working" in Thailand. Foreign investment is welcome, within a set of rules. With the exception of Treaty of Amity companies (maybe some other nations have similar arrangements), you may not "own" more than 49% of a Thai business - but you can earn income from your investment while living here on any type of visa (or living abroad). One may also purchase/own stock/bonds in Thai companies and receive income from those. Such activities are not the same as "being employed" - and are permitted because they "create employment" for Thais.

My condo is owned by a farang, whom I have met, but all business (contract, deposit, rent-payments, etc) is done through the front desk personnel, who are all Thai. They charge the condo-owner a fee for doing all the "work," and what he receives from them is a return on his investment. The entire condo-complex is owned >50% by Thais, per Thai law, but a farang may entirely own "condo units" within the complex.

If anyone can name a case where a person was charge with violating Thai labor-laws for simply "earning income" from their own Thai investments - including condos - this would be good information to share.

[denkiblue555]

It is an interesting topic, and I can't see anyone needing a WP for simply renting out a condo or two unless they do the management of that activity themselves (as has already been mentioned).

It does seem far more similar to the case of someone having significant deposits/bonds or whatever in Thai financial institutions from which they generate an income. I have never heard of this activity requiring a WP.

I also don't think a foreigner (speaking generally) would ever be issued WPs for the job of 'renting out' Real Estate as that would be reserved for Thais - I am sure some do, but generally speaking no.

The main concern for me here would be if the authorities ever used 'condo renting out' as a way of putting the squeeze on foreign owners for whatever reason - but the chances of this are quite low I would hope.

[Ronuk]

This is interesting. It looks as if foreigners will be excluded though.

http://pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/227086/sole-foreigners-barred-running-business-thailand/

[elviajero]

• If you are managing the property yourself then technically a work permit is needed.
• If you use an agent/management company you wouldn't need one.

Surely you are still the one doing the trading. You own the asset, you are taking the profits from the trade. The management company are in effect just your employee, for a fee, doing work in your trade. Similarly if you owned a restaurant and carried on a business with thais doing the serving etc you are still trading.

You can own a business (trade) in Thailand, employee others to work for you, and earn income from it, BUT you cannot do any work for that business without permission.

[mki8]

This is interesting. It looks as if foreigners will be excluded though.

http://pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/227086/sole-foreigners-barred-running-business-thailand/

is that story serious...................?

it does have false info, stating UK companies must be registered by a single person is dribble

and i doubt it in US and DE too

yes they allow individuals to register

but does not mean only an individual can register

i could see the logic if they were just allowing individuals to register a limited company etc.

but stating only an individual can register is just idiotic

it means less companies would be registered not more

as people wont risk their money if they can have their name on the paper

and for freigners it would mean putting 100% in wifes name lol, or some random

can really see that working out

where do these people buy their coffee ?

[JackThompson]

This is interesting. It looks as if foreigners will be excluded though.

http://pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/227086/sole-foreigners-barred-running-business-thailand/

is that story serious...................?

it does have false info, stating UK companies must be registered by a single person is dribble

and i doubt it in US and DE too...

The original draft, known as “one person, one company”, states only that a single person can register a business in Thailand.

It says "only that" - not "that only" - odd wording, but this appears to allow a new option of registering Thai companies on only one name - not forbid companies with more than one.

A foreigner can only own 49% of a Thai company to begin with, unless under bilateral-nation exceptions such as "Treaty of Amity" companies for US Citizens. The "not applicable to foreigners" clause could be in relation to those exceptions.

[zoza]

i will be doing a visa run to gain 90 days on my non-o and then applying for an extension due to retirement in the last 30 days everything will be

set up by then regarding banks/pensions/embassy earnings/savings letter my one grey area is this new rental agreement work permit thing

sorry not new just being enforced.

at present my lease is done through an agency but the farang owner is named as landlord...as he is using the thai company to complete the

lease on his behalf i am presuming we will not have issues over work permits ect..........