Employing a Burmese Citizen

[SICA]

Hi all,

 

looking for some advice if possible. I run a business in Thailand with offices in Bangkok, Samui and Surin. I want to employ a Burmese guy who is the boyfriend of an English girl that i have working for me. She has a business visa and a work permit that's entirely above board. This Burmese guys has a Burmese passport but no record of his education. That was lost years ago when his mother abandoned him and moved to Phuket. Does anybody know if i stand a chance of getting him a business visa and then a WP?

If you have firsthand experience of this, or can advise of somebody that i may approach for assistance, please send me a message. I'm quite desperate to get this on my team.

Many thanks in advance

[ukrules]

I employed someone from Laos for a while. It involved going to the province capital which for us is Prachaup Khiri Khan city. It took two separate visits to get a special kind of 'non Thai' official ID card issued which we were told permits this person to stay and work only within the province the card is issued for up to a year. I didn't arrange this myself, my 'wife' did it all. This ID card effectively functions as a kind of passport, they told this woman not to use her passport any more.

 

It's a completely different process to employing someone from outside the neighbouring countries area. I believe this is the process a lot of people use to employ maids, etc if they go through all the proper channels. After the first year the permit could be renewed for 2 years based on what we were told. As with everything in Thailand this can and probably does vary depending on which province you're located in.

 

However, I did read recently on this forum that the rules have all changed on the whim of some general and the authorities who issue these ID cards allowing residents from bordering countries to live and work inside Thailand are no longer issuing them.

 

So what worked last year for everyone in the country may not work this year. For that reason alone I suggest you seek advice directly from the authorities rather than rely on past stories as things have changed apparently.

 

Edit : I'm told the department which handles this is known as ' Sam nak ngan judhangan jung wad' (very rough transliteration) but if you read Thai or show this to one of your Thai employees they should know who to talk to : " สำนักงานจัดหางานจังหวัดประจวบคีรีขันธ์ "

 

From a google search for the above Thai script it looks like it's a 'Provincial Employment Office' - so now you should know where to start.

 

If you dial '1111' from any phone and ask for someone who speaks English they will give you all the information you need.

[SICA]

Thanks ukrules,

 

I was aware of that employment card and he has had this before to work in Surat Thani. However i've since been told that that those rules did change in March this year. It does seem as though we're able to employ him, treating him like any other nationality, so that's positive. I have been in contact with Sunbelt who believe they're able to sort it all out for us but thank you very much for taking the time to write.

Kindest regards