Immigration are circling my classroom - what can I do?

[meatboy]

having just read the op. asking for advice from urban joe on the 22july,is this a COCK AND BULL STORY.

he says the advice is about renewing his non o visa.

after 15yrs.he doesnt know what the requirements/documents for renewing it based on marriage.

he says the the extension date/red stamp which is stapled in his passport,is not what he thought,urban joe pointed out that is your 90day report date.

then he reports that he went to immigration on the 26th.july and all was done there and then in 4hrs.

yet he says imm.were not happy with many things that included,bank book,copies,and the letter from the bank.

he goes on to say he had to get a statement from head office showing withdrawals but not deposits.all this done in 4hrs.

if imm.were not happy with all what he has posted 26july i am sure immigration would pick up on your income as you,

dont work,no work permit.

yet there in black and white shows money coming in and going out.

for his sake i hope i got this right. ANYONE READ HIS POSTINGS 22july-26july.

 

 

[gdgbb]

On 23/12/2016 at 1:06 PM, dbrenn said:

. Like I said, he has no options other than to negotiate a solution - doing it the Thai way, that is.

He has another option, the second option is to stay closed.

[gdgbb]

On 23/12/2016 at 2:01 PM, tomacht8 said:

Obviously, the OP has problems to "legalize" his Business.
Try again to read the OP.

No need for me to do that, I was expressing an opinion on what he should have done based on your misguided sympathy for an illegal worker.

[gdgbb]

On 23/12/2016 at 2:05 PM, dbrenn said:

 

You're back, and so soon?

 

I think that the last thing that the OP wanted was holier-than-thou lectures on how selfish he's been from perfect people like your good self. He came here to look at his limited options.

 

And I'm sure he also wanted to avoid advice that gave him the perfect  opportunity to get arrested and deported.  One of the options I suggested, and the only one to make real sense, was to remain closed down until he could work legally. 

 

By the way, isn't discussing illegal activities, such as you are suggesting, a transgression of forum rules.   Maybe the rules have been changed to accommodate this thread, who knows?

[dbrenn]

28 minutes ago, gdgbb said:

And I'm sure he also wanted to avoid advice that gave him the perfect  opportunity to get arrested and deported.  One of the options I suggested, and the only one to make real sense, was to remain closed down until he could work legally. 

 

By the way, isn't discussing illegal activities, such as you are suggesting, a transgression of forum rules.   Maybe the rules have been changed to accommodate this thread, who knows?

The only advice you gave was boorish lectures about how selfish the OP had been, how criminal he was, and that his only option was to shut up shop and deprive his family of an income. Just like a lot of other nasty and vitriolic 'capo' mentality types who blight the expat community here - sneering at and denigrating their fellows here and pretending that they are perfect when very often they are the opposite.

 

My suggestion was only that perhaps a solution could be negotiated, given that the OP knows who informed on him. From his later post it looks like he's decided to close, perhaps because he thought a negotiation impossible in his particular case - the informer had withdraw her daughter from class so may have been too hostile to talk to.

 

Merry Christmas, or bah humbug?

[dbrenn]

52 minutes ago, gdgbb said:

No need for me to do that, I was expressing an opinion on what he should have done based on your misguided sympathy for an illegal worker.

Oh dear, oh dear. I'll bet you hang around the Immigration Detention Centre, jeering and laughing through the bars at the unfortunates inside.

[evadgib]

2 hours ago, meatboy said:

having just read the op. asking for advice from urban joe on the 22july,is this a COCK AND BULL STORY.

he says the advice is about renewing his non o visa.

after 15yrs.he doesnt know what the requirements/documents for renewing it based on marriage.

he says the the extension date/red stamp which is stapled in his passport,is not what he thought,urban joe pointed out that is your 90day report date.

then he reports that he went to immigration on the 26th.july and all was done there and then in 4hrs.

yet he says imm.were not happy with many things that included,bank book,copies,and the letter from the bank.

he goes on to say he had to get a statement from head office showing withdrawals but not deposits.all this done in 4hrs.

if imm.were not happy with all what he has posted 26july i am sure immigration would pick up on your income as you,

dont work,no work permit.

yet there in black and white shows money coming in and going out.

for his sake i hope i got this right. ANYONE READ HIS POSTINGS 22july-26july.

 

 

Methinks we both got it right in our opening posts, especially as mine has since vanished :)

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Edited December 24, 2016 by evadgib

[sanemax]

4 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

and that his only option was to shut up shop and deprive his family of an income. Just like a lot of other nasty and vitriolic 'capo' mentality types who blight the expat community here - sneering at and denigrating their fellows here and pretending that they are perfect when very often they are the opposite.

My suggestion was only that perhaps a solution could be negotiated,

 

    Peoples advice was the close the school down, people didnt give that advice to be nasty , they really thought that that was the best option .

   Do get a grip , people generally were not "sneering at him " or "denigrating him "

If the authorities do investigate him, they will uncover 16 years of illegal activity and tax evasion and he could end up in serious trouble, probably jail , deported, blacklisted and could even have his house taken from him, so, it would be best to close the school and hope that the authorities do not pursue the case any further .

   Trying to get a "solution" from the authorities carries a huge risk , he would have to admit to all of his previous crimes and to try to convince then to allow him to carry on breaking the law, which is very unlikely to happen .

   Yes, it would be better if he could have an off the reord discussion with the authorities , but you can hardly say to them "Look, Ive been breaking the law for 16 years .............and do you mind telling me whether you are going to arrest me anytime soon " 

    Closing the school down and pretending nothing happened is the safest option for him

  

[buick]

3 hours ago, wmlc said:

The op does not need a degree to open a tutor centre. All he requires is 4 Thai staff and 2 million baht in capital after which he can apply for a work permit. His wife would need to be a partner with him in the company. Why is this so difficult to understand? He does not require any teaching credentials for this or teachers' license of any kind. Just a legal business with the right amount of Thai staff and capital.

 

i really hope you are correct.  my post was more about the mental challenges that the OP may deal with in this time of crisis.  i was not trying to provide direction on how to solve the issue.  your suggestion seems rather simple to accomplish and i hope the OP can make that happen and not suffer any further from this matter.

[oceanyachting]

It's Christmas. The turkeys run scared and the chickens come home to roost

 

[The Man Who Sold the World]

Hmm… “Christmas Spirit” in a Buddhist country. It has absolutely no bearing on the situation. Although prayer certainly can't hurt. 

 

The op asks – “What can I do?”

 Then describes somewhat in detail that he has been working illegally operating a successful business venture.  

“My question is this, if they raid my classroom and arrest me for working illegally what will be the likely outcome.”

 

To answer the op’s original question, I believe they will incarcerate (or at least detain) him, fine him, deport him and, more than likely, blacklist him for a decade (or more).

My advice to the op has been stated in several places in this thread and I’ll repeat it. Basically, get outta Dodge, Get on a plane ASAP.

 

The relatively long list of charges they can bring against him, and his self-admission of guilt do not bode well for him, nor his family.

 

Pleading for mercy and/or the milk of human kindness... Just don't cut it. He has dug himself a deep hole.   

 

[JackThompson]

8 hours ago, harrry said:

Not completely true.

His wife can open a business without any requirement for Thai Staff.  THere is a requirement to have thai staff to get a work permit for a foreigner but it is less than the normal one.  A tutoring centre may come under special rules as their definition of a school may cover these.

 

First thing the OP must get into his head is it is not his school it is his wife's.  This may  be the hardest change to keep refering to it as her school when talking to anyoe but is the most important to his chances of survival

 

In some areas, depending on the local labor dept, if the farang and wife co-own the business, the additional Thai staff requirement is only 2.

 

I do not recall a story where a sole-trader wife was able to hire her husband, and he received a work-permit.  Therefore, he would still need to put capital in the bank for the business - many threads on exactly how much 'capital' has to be in the bank for a husband/wife. 

 

His teaching position should get him under the income-quota for the work-permit, though the "no-degree" issue would require filing for a temporary waiver.  Assuming there is the degree of goodwill in the community towards what he is doing, as he expressed, perhaps the local labor dept would be cooperative.   Hopefully, the parents of some of those students - or perhaps a former student - have friends who could put in a good word.

Edited December 24, 2016 by JackThompson

[JustAnotherFarang]

2 hours ago, meatboy said:

having just read the op. asking for advice from urban joe on the 22july,is this a COCK AND BULL STORY.

he says the advice is about renewing his non o visa.

after 15yrs.he doesnt know what the requirements/documents for renewing it based on marriage.

he says the the extension date/red stamp which is stapled in his passport,is not what he thought,urban joe pointed out that is your 90day report date.

then he reports that he went to immigration on the 26th.july and all was done there and then in 4hrs.

yet he says imm.were not happy with many things that included,bank book,copies,and the letter from the bank.

he goes on to say he had to get a statement from head office showing withdrawals but not deposits.all this done in 4hrs.

if imm.were not happy with all what he has posted 26july i am sure immigration would pick up on your income as you,

dont work,no work permit.

yet there in black and white shows money coming in and going out.

for his sake i hope i got this right. ANYONE READ HIS POSTINGS 22july-26july.

 

 

There is no need to doubt the veracity of my story because I am not hiding anything, other than my identity and location, for obvious reasons.  I will gladly reply to your queries raised above but I must add that I wonder what it is that you are hoping to achieve with your amateur sleuthing which is merely based on your own more asinine assumptions.  

 

1. I do indeed correspond with Ubon Joe regarding visa issues as I feel he is one of the most reliable and trustworthy people on Thaivisa to deal with and that he is willing and able to verify what details need to be addressed for my yearly non immigrant o visa.  Its not that I dont know the details from the previous year, it is to see if the visa goalposts have moved in the meantime.  You will also see that I did mention my concerns regarding the immigration officer whose daughter had learnt with us previously and that I was also considering avoiding the office entirely for fear that I was going to implicate myself.  As it turned out, I took my chances, the woman concerned was not in the office and that I successfully achieved the non immigrant o thanks to the time and patience of kind members like Ubon Joe.  

 

2.  The comment I made about the red stamp was to enquire why I had to go a month before my non immigrant o expired.  In the previous year I had to go 7 days before my visa expired and pay 1900 bht for what I assumed was the months extension that they provided to check all the paperwork, but last year it seems things had changed and that is why they were requesting me to report again the month before my visa ended to allow them time to process all the paperwork before the original visa expired. I was just clarifying issue with Ubon Joe at the time.

 

3.  It is true that I did complain about it taking 4 hours to complete what should be a relatively simple process and that immigration did not seem to know there arse from their elbow.  In my original post I said the following, and i quote " they were not happy with my photo copies (all had to be portrait) but then others like my housebook had to be landscape. Also not happy with my google map and longitude and latitude bearings, had to make a computer generated map showing the shops along the way. Also not happy with my bank book copies and letter from the bank, had to get a statement from head office showing my withdrawals as well. And then we had to wait for the lady to finish her photocopying before she could print out the forms for my wife to sign"  My wife always takes the time to talk with them first (its a thai thing, they prefer to take advice from other thais, especially those in any authority) and on this occasion they even though we followed all of their advice, when arriving at the office they did not accept portrait copies of one thing and landscape copies of another which meant we had to pay to use their photocopying facility, small beans, no big deal.  But the letter that I got from my local bank that I had to pay 200 bht for was now unacceptable which meant having to travel 20 km and pay another 200 bht just to get another copy of the same letter but from head office.  Forgive my whining in that post but I was a little under the weather and wanted to sound off in what I thought was an forum dedicated to visa issues. 

 

4. With regards to the money in my account, well I have several accounts but only have to show one which has 400,000 bht in.  This money has remained in the account for well over 5 years now, it is there to appease the authorities.  I do not withdraw money or put further funds in, it just lies dormant and is considered to be rainy weather funds.

 

5.  Last but not least, thank you for taking the time to respond but I don't think you have contributed anything of worth by assuming that my situation is a cock and bull story.  I hope that my explanations above help you to understand the situation more clearly and lead you not to misconstrue or add further insult or injury with your scurrilous claims as it is neither needed or warranted by you or others of your ilk.  In this thread many kind people have taken the time to reply and offer constructive advice and criticism.  I have also been berated for not paying tax and that is something I can accept as I have knowingly  broken the law.  If I could have a work visa as a teacher working with my wife then I  would also have willingly paid pay taxes on the money I earned.  This is not in any way an excuse, its just a simple matter of fact.  I have paid all other taxes relating to my possessions such as my car, motorbikes and of course my land and home so I have not broken any other laws that I am aware of.  Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone and if you are not in thai authority, then look closer at your own family or friends as I am sure that you will find nearer targets to aim your vitriol at. 

 

I have also had people pour scorn and suggest that I haven't bought a house and land and that I do not care enough about my family or that I would not have put them through this situation by making them suffer from insecurities.  Well this is were I draw the line with such nonsense.  These people are not privy to my personal life and whilst they may feel it necessary to castigate and admonish me for my sins these people cannot become judge and jury of my family's feelings  I can assure you that my family do not see me as a burden or a problem to them but they do think that the attitude of some foreigners in this forum is deplorable and beneath contempt.   I wholeheartedly agree with them.  

 

So with this in  mind I will be asking the moderators to close this topic to any further replies as I feel I have already received the best advice which was to close and try to reopen as a legitimate business.  Once again, many thanks to all those who have helped and I wish you all the very best in the holiday season.  May all your problems be small ones and if they are not, think twice about asking for advice from your fellow man on this forum as there are many nasty trolls just waiting to pounce and make light of your situation.

 

JAF

[Sir Bogdiver]

11 hours ago, sanemax said:

 

   The officials must follow the law, they cannot make laws up as they go along .

Actually, in Thailand, yes they can and in my 34 years of living here I've seen plenty of examples of that both in favor and against farang living here.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

 If I could have a work visa as a teacher working with my wife then I  would also have willingly paid pay taxes on the money I earned.

Ridiculous and extremely immature statement. If I could work for Goldman Sachs.......

[lemonjelly]

26 minutes ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

There is no need to doubt the veracity of my story because I am not hiding anything, other than my identity and location, for obvious reasons.  I will gladly reply to your queries raised above but I must add that I wonder what it is that you are hoping to achieve with your amateur sleuthing which is merely based on your own more asinine assumptions.  

 

1. I do indeed correspond with Ubon Joe regarding visa issues as I feel he is one of the most reliable and trustworthy people on Thaivisa to deal with and that he is willing and able to verify what details need to be addressed for my yearly non immigrant o visa.  Its not that I dont know the details from the previous year, it is to see if the visa goalposts have moved in the meantime.  You will also see that I did mention my concerns regarding the immigration officer whose daughter had learnt with us previously and that I was also considering avoiding the office entirely for fear that I was going to implicate myself.  As it turned out, I took my chances, the woman concerned was not in the office and that I successfully achieved the non immigrant o thanks to the time and patience of kind members like Ubon Joe.  

 

2.  The comment I made about the red stamp was to enquire why I had to go a month before my non immigrant o expired.  In the previous year I had to go 7 days before my visa expired and pay 1900 bht for what I assumed was the months extension that they provided to check all the paperwork, but last year it seems things had changed and that is why they were requesting me to report again the month before my visa ended to allow them time to process all the paperwork before the original visa expired. I was just clarifying issue with Ubon Joe at the time.

 

3.  It is true that I did complain about it taking 4 hours to complete what should be a relatively simple process and that immigration did not seem to know there arse from their elbow.  In my original post I said the following, and i quote " they were not happy with my photo copies (all had to be portrait) but then others like my housebook had to be landscape. Also not happy with my google map and longitude and latitude bearings, had to make a computer generated map showing the shops along the way. Also not happy with my bank book copies and letter from the bank, had to get a statement from head office showing my withdrawals as well. And then we had to wait for the lady to finish her photocopying before she could print out the forms for my wife to sign"  My wife always takes the time to talk with them first (its a thai thing, they prefer to take advice from other thais, especially those in any authority) and on this occasion they even though we followed all of their advice, when arriving at the office they did not accept portrait copies of one thing and landscape copies of another which meant we had to pay to use their photocopying facility, small beans, no big deal.  But the letter that I got from my local bank that I had to pay 200 bht for was now unacceptable which meant having to travel 20 km and pay another 200 bht just to get another copy of the same letter but from head office.  Forgive my whining in that post but I was a little under the weather and wanted to sound off in what I thought was an forum dedicated to visa issues. 

 

4. With regards to the money in my account, well I have several accounts but only have to show one which has 400,000 bht in.  This money has remained in the account for well over 5 years now, it is there to appease the authorities.  I do not withdraw money or put further funds in, it just lies dormant and is considered to be rainy weather funds.

 

5.  Last but not least, thank you for taking the time to respond but I don't think you have contributed anything of worth by assuming that my situation is a cock and bull story.  I hope that my explanations above help you to understand the situation more clearly and lead you not to misconstrue or add further insult or injury with your scurrilous claims as it is neither needed or warranted by you or others of your ilk.  In this thread many kind people have taken the time to reply and offer constructive advice and criticism.  I have also been berated for not paying tax and that is something I can accept as I have knowingly  broken the law.  If I could have a work visa as a teacher working with my wife then I  would also have willingly paid pay taxes on the money I earned.  This is not in any way an excuse, its just a simple matter of fact.  I have paid all other taxes relating to my possessions such as my car, motorbikes and of course my land and home so I have not broken any other laws that I am aware of.  Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone and if you are not in thai authority, then look closer at your own family or friends as I am sure that you will find nearer targets to aim your vitriol at. 

 

I have also had people pour scorn and suggest that I haven't bought a house and land and that I do not care enough about my family or that I would not have put them through this situation by making them suffer from insecurities.  Well this is were I draw the line with such nonsense.  These people are not privy to my personal life and whilst they may feel it necessary to castigate and admonish me for my sins these people cannot become judge and jury of my family's feelings  I can assure you that my family do not see me as a burden or a problem to them but they do think that the attitude of some foreigners in this forum is deplorable and beneath contempt.   I wholeheartedly agree with them.  

 

So with this in  mind I will be asking the moderators to close this topic to any further replies as I feel I have already received the best advice which was to close and try to reopen as a legitimate business.  Once again, many thanks to all those who have helped and I wish you all the very best in the holiday season.  May all your problems be small ones and if they are not, think twice about asking for advice from your fellow man on this forum as there are many nasty trolls just waiting to pounce and make light of your situation.

 

JAF

Well written sir,  I can only wish you the best of luck and hope that everything works out for you and your family. 

[JustAnotherFarang]

With regards to the previous poster saying that my previous post was ridiculous and immature.  You are entitled to your opinion which I respectfully disagree with. My post was a statement of the fact that you can not ascertain so don't let my honesty in any way sway your judgement.  What you think is neither here nor there and does nothing with regard to my circumstances or my wish to close this topic to further replies

 

Thanks for taking the time to read

 

JAF

 

 

Edited December 24, 2016 by JustAnotherFarang
forgot to quote the original poster of the message I was replying to

[Squeegee]

On 12/23/2016 at 7:45 PM, JustAnotherFarang said:

picking there way

 

Beach vendor, you were encroaching.

[Elkski]

I think the first post should have started like this. A friend of a friends father has this situation that I would like to ask about...

[meatboy]

9 hours ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

There is no need to doubt the veracity of my story because I am not hiding anything, other than my identity and location, for obvious reasons.  I will gladly reply to your queries raised above but I must add that I wonder what it is that you are hoping to achieve with your amateur sleuthing which is merely based on your own more asinine assumptions.  

 

1. I do indeed correspond with Ubon Joe regarding visa issues as I feel he is one of the most reliable and trustworthy people on Thaivisa to deal with and that he is willing and able to verify what details need to be addressed for my yearly non immigrant o visa.  Its not that I dont know the details from the previous year, it is to see if the visa goalposts have moved in the meantime.  You will also see that I did mention my concerns regarding the immigration officer whose daughter had learnt with us previously and that I was also considering avoiding the office entirely for fear that I was going to implicate myself.  As it turned out, I took my chances, the woman concerned was not in the office and that I successfully achieved the non immigrant o thanks to the time and patience of kind members like Ubon Joe.  

 

2.  The comment I made about the red stamp was to enquire why I had to go a month before my non immigrant o expired.  In the previous year I had to go 7 days before my visa expired and pay 1900 bht for what I assumed was the months extension that they provided to check all the paperwork, but last year it seems things had changed and that is why they were requesting me to report again the month before my visa ended to allow them time to process all the paperwork before the original visa expired. I was just clarifying issue with Ubon Joe at the time.

 

3.  It is true that I did complain about it taking 4 hours to complete what should be a relatively simple process and that immigration did not seem to know there arse from their elbow.  In my original post I said the following, and i quote " they were not happy with my photo copies (all had to be portrait) but then others like my housebook had to be landscape. Also not happy with my google map and longitude and latitude bearings, had to make a computer generated map showing the shops along the way. Also not happy with my bank book copies and letter from the bank, had to get a statement from head office showing my withdrawals as well. And then we had to wait for the lady to finish her photocopying before she could print out the forms for my wife to sign"  My wife always takes the time to talk with them first (its a thai thing, they prefer to take advice from other thais, especially those in any authority) and on this occasion they even though we followed all of their advice, when arriving at the office they did not accept portrait copies of one thing and landscape copies of another which meant we had to pay to use their photocopying facility, small beans, no big deal.  But the letter that I got from my local bank that I had to pay 200 bht for was now unacceptable which meant having to travel 20 km and pay another 200 bht just to get another copy of the same letter but from head office.  Forgive my whining in that post but I was a little under the weather and wanted to sound off in what I thought was an forum dedicated to visa issues. 

 

4. With regards to the money in my account, well I have several accounts but only have to show one which has 400,000 bht in.  This money has remained in the account for well over 5 years now, it is there to appease the authorities.  I do not withdraw money or put further funds in, it just lies dormant and is considered to be rainy weather funds.

 

5.  Last but not least, thank you for taking the time to respond but I don't think you have contributed anything of worth by assuming that my situation is a cock and bull story.  I hope that my explanations above help you to understand the situation more clearly and lead you not to misconstrue or add further insult or injury with your scurrilous claims as it is neither needed or warranted by you or others of your ilk.  In this thread many kind people have taken the time to reply and offer constructive advice and criticism.  I have also been berated for not paying tax and that is something I can accept as I have knowingly  broken the law.  If I could have a work visa as a teacher working with my wife then I  would also have willingly paid pay taxes on the money I earned.  This is not in any way an excuse, its just a simple matter of fact.  I have paid all other taxes relating to my possessions such as my car, motorbikes and of course my land and home so I have not broken any other laws that I am aware of.  Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone and if you are not in thai authority, then look closer at your own family or friends as I am sure that you will find nearer targets to aim your vitriol at. 

 

I have also had people pour scorn and suggest that I haven't bought a house and land and that I do not care enough about my family or that I would not have put them through this situation by making them suffer from insecurities.  Well this is were I draw the line with such nonsense.  These people are not privy to my personal life and whilst they may feel it necessary to castigate and admonish me for my sins these people cannot become judge and jury of my family's feelings  I can assure you that my family do not see me as a burden or a problem to them but they do think that the attitude of some foreigners in this forum is deplorable and beneath contempt.   I wholeheartedly agree with them.  

 

So with this in  mind I will be asking the moderators to close this topic to any further replies as I feel I have already received the best advice which was to close and try to reopen as a legitimate business.  Once again, many thanks to all those who have helped and I wish you all the very best in the holiday season.  May all your problems be small ones and if they are not, think twice about asking for advice from your fellow man on this forum as there are many nasty trolls just waiting to pounce and make light of your situation.

 

JAF

sorry if you feel this way BUT,for such an intellagent person who has lived here 16yrs and teached and as you say MADE A VERY PROFITABLE BUSSINESS,yet you are full of questions that a 5yr.old would know.

i think you cant answer your own postings. eg.members suggesting i havent bought my house and land.HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE THAT.

[simon43]

If you were making sufficient profit to buy land and build a house, surely you could have used some of that profit to set your business up totally legally, such as a sole trader or limited partnership with your wife.

 

I'm not condemning your actions, but I think somewhere along the line you made the wrong decision about where you should spend some of your profits.

[muzmurray]

10 hours ago, JackThompson said:

 

In some areas, depending on the local labor dept, if the farang and wife co-own the business, the additional Thai staff requirement is only 2.

 

I do not recall a story where a sole-trader wife was able to hire her husband, and he received a work-permit.  Therefore, he would still need to put capital in the bank for the business - many threads on exactly how much 'capital' has to be in the bank for a husband/wife. 

 

His teaching position should get him under the income-quota for the work-permit, though the "no-degree" issue would require filing for a temporary waiver.  Assuming there is the degree of goodwill in the community towards what he is doing, as he expressed, perhaps the local labor dept would be cooperative.   Hopefully, the parents of some of those students - or perhaps a former student - have friends who could put in a good word.

 

There is no income requirement for a work permit, only for an extension of stay based on employment.

[meatboy]

23 minutes ago, simon43 said:

If you were making sufficient profit to buy land and build a house, surely you could have used some of that profit to set your business up totally legally, such as a sole trader or limited partnership with your wife.

 

I'm not condemning your actions, but I think somewhere along the line you made the wrong decision about where you should spend some of your profits.

looks like we have all been TANGO'D.

just have a look at previous posts,eg.march 1st.2015 looks like he is a fiction writer to himself.

some content from his one and only post from the topic he started,LIED TO,CHEATED,DECEIVED.

cant wait for his next story.he certainly knows how to teach,all of us INCLUDED.

[JackThompson]

28 minutes ago, muzmurray said:

There is no income requirement for a work permit, only for an extension of stay based on employment.

 

Thanks for that - I had it reversed.  So, a guy on a Non-O (married to a Thai) does not have to worry about the income requirement.  Nice.

[muzmurray]

7 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

 

Thanks for that - I had it reversed.  So, a guy on a Non-O (married to a Thai) does not have to worry about the income requirement.  Nice.

 

If he is on a Non-O visa then obviously not, if however he is on an extension of stay based on marriage, he still needs either the lump sum or monthly income for that extension - but he is not subject to the minimum salary required for the employment extension and so can have a work permit even if his monthly income is less than that which is required for the employment extension. (Teachers are exempt from the minimum salary requirements).

[dbrenn]

2 hours ago, simon43 said:

If you were making sufficient profit to buy land and build a house, surely you could have used some of that profit to set your business up totally legally, such as a sole trader or limited partnership with your wife.

 

I'm not condemning your actions, but I think somewhere along the line you made the wrong decision about where you should spend some of your profits.

Is it possible to get a work permit as a sole trader, or in a limited partnership? I thought that work permits were only possible through a limited company.

 

You make a valid point about how the OP should have spent some of his profit on regularising his operation. I was in exactly the same situation as the OP once, and I always found other ways to spend my profits too. After a couple of years, I moved on into a legitimate business, one that gave me a visa and work permit.

Edited December 25, 2016 by dbrenn

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

Is it possible to get a work permit as a sole trader, or in a limited partnership? I thought that work permits were only possible through a limited company.

Yes it is possible. But unless married to a Thai there would no extension possible since immigration requires it to be a registered company.

I know of person that gets his work permits working at his wife's restaurant. There are many that have 51/49% partnership with rheir wives getting work permits.

[dbrenn]

22 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes it is possible. But unless married to a Thai there would no extension possible since immigration requires it to be a registered company.

I know of person that gets his work permits working at his wife's restaurant. There are many that have 51/49% partnership with rheir wives getting work permits.

 

So, a question to the OP, why not set up a partnership with your wife, get a work permit and resume your operation? Who knows, the lady in immigration might then send her daughter back to study.

 

That said, I had heard that one of the founders of a school needs to have a degree ..... others here might like to correct me.

 

[FritsSikkink]

On ‎23‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 7:45 PM, JustAnotherFarang said:

Hi guys

 

I am the original poster and inbetween fretting, stressing and trying to close all the loopholes that could leave me hanging I have also taken the time to read every single response which was quite overwhelming.  Thank you to everyone, even the naysayers and bitter ones for taking the time to read my posting and for taking the time to reply.

 

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight regarding information that I failed to include in my original posting.  I am a married to a thai national who I have been with for 16 years and I live in Thailand with my non immigrant o visa.  Whilst I am well spoken, articulate and with a sensible amount of intelligence I have never attended university and do not possess a degree.  The reasons for this are of a more personal nature but suffice to say that I was brought up under the care of the local authorities in childrens homes and upon reaching the ripe old age of 16 I was allowed into the community to pursue my own life.  Instead of choosing higher education I set out into the world of work and found several jobs of gainful employment.  At the age of 31, on a new years eve, I finally left my home to travel around Asia and on day 4 of my travels I met a girl, a very decent and reputable lady, who became my wife. 

 

I started teaching in the local school 14 years ago, I was the only farang in the small town and I taught nigh on 1250 students every week for a wage of 25,000 bht without a work visa.  This was my humble beginning to teaching and although it was extremely tiring, I thoroughly enjoyed helping the community that I lived with and became very popular.  That was when I started teaching privately and at first I had about 30 students who enjoyed learning with me.  Business was good and everyone was happy.

 

After 3 years, the school had a change of headmaster and the new guy decided that I was surplus to requirements and so that was when I decided to up sticks and move into a more central area of the large province that I live in.  Once again I got a job working in a government school and within a short time I was teaching students privately.  My style of teaching is considered to be humourous and entertaining and my perceived personality is considered kind and pleasant.  I was admired by parents who wanted their kids to learn with a clean cut guy who did not drink, smoke or frequent any places of ill repute.

 

After another 2 years of working in the government school the laws started to change and the fact that I did not have a degree became a major sticking point. This is when parents asked me to concentrate on just teaching privately and I jumped at the opportunity to carry on living in the province I now called home.  Over these years I have built up a very profitable and successful business, purely by word of mouth and quality teaching and I became well known to almost everybody in my hometown.  The business was profitable enough that I was able to buy land and build my own home which had always been a life long dream as I had never had a home to call my own.  My students often come to visit me there and we hold christmas parties and special occasions for  them on a regular basis.  I must add that my classroom is not situated at my home, I have a separate premises for my business.

 

About 18 months ago, a member of thai immigration came to inquire about classes for her child.  I was quite surprised to see her as she had found me in situ so to speak but she still enrolled her child to come and learn everyday.  Her daughter excelled along with the other students but 8 months ago her mother pulled my wife to one side and asked if I had a work permit.  My wife replied honestly and the official said that I must get a work permit as things were changing.  The following term, her daughter stopped learning with us.

 

It was only in the last 2 weeks that our suspicions grew.  The neighbour across the road is a friend of my wife as they often meditate together at the local temple and she forewarned my wife of their initial enquiries.  Last night, it was my wife herself who recognised and realised that the same guy was driving past the classroom with another guy.  Later on, she also recognised the other guy who we normally deal with at immigration driving by as well, very slowly and obviously looking to see what was going on.  We immediately recognised the imminent danger and decided to forego the Xmas party and present giving that was scheduled for today and decided to leave the classroom in darkness for the foreseeable future.  We realise now that to continue would be suicidal and we are taking evasive actions with regards to dismantling the classroom, consulting with a lawyer and calling upon those who might be able to offer assistance.  

 

This is, as those who are more empathetic, a very very sad time for us.  Although we realised that we were breaking the archaic law that prevents a man from providing for his family, we had also assumed that everyone knew who we were, where we were and that we are just normal upstanding members of the community providing a valuable service to the people within our province.  We have always hoped that they would leave us alone to continue on our way as has been the case for 14 years.  Although I may not have paid tax directly, I have contributed countless hours of voluntary work and have assisted many poor students who were unable to pay, to enjoy an opportunity of an education that has benefited their families directly.  We always thought of it as a more karmic offering and that we were giving back to the community at a more grass roots level.  I have also supported my wife and her large family and I have paid for and put 5 of their children through university education.  They now all have well paid jobs (by thai standards) and can look forward to reaping the harvest of the seeds we have sown for them.  

 

But alas, it now all seems for naught as I am now in jeopardy. And now that I have bared my soul I can see those naysayers, ne'er do wells and others of a more pompous and superior disposition picking there way through this posting, look for minute and miniscule reasons to berate me and add insult to injury.  So I say to those guys, those who feel that they must grind an axe to feed their moral superiority, to just stop for a moment and consider those words that you might write.  I have done my very best, for each and every individual I have met along the way to try and tried to make a positive difference to their lives.  Yes I was financially rewarded and yes I have done well for myself but I have dedicated myself to working 7 days a week for 14 years to build my own home.  I do not think that I am the be all and end all and nor do I need or seek any applause but I really do not deserve such condemnation from any man  just for trying to do the very best that I can for my wife and my family.

 

Last but not least, to my students who will read this message on Facebook, it is with a very heavy heart and great sadness that I am forced to bid you all farewell.  I will take the time to say goodbye to you all personally and to give you your Xmas presents.  We have had some great times together and watching you all blossom from young children to the mature and open minded individuals that you have become today has been one of the greatest joys in my life.  A lot of you are like family to me and I will dearly miss you all but remember that if ever you need a friend, a shoulder to lean upon or just some friendly advice, I will always be there for you.

 

And so, with the motto of thai immigration motto of "good guys in, bad guys out" ringing in my ears, I bid you all a good day and may you have pleasant holidays with your loved ones

 

JAF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice story but nothing about why you didn't start a regular business, pay your taxes and get the licenses. You could get a degree in those 16 years if you had made a bit of an effort. You had money for land and a house but didn't bother to start an official school. No sympathy what so ever over here goodbye.

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes it is possible. But unless married to a Thai there would no extension possible since immigration requires it to be a registered company.

I know of person that gets his work permits working at his wife's restaurant. There are many that have 51/49% partnership with rheir wives getting work permits.

 

I recall a similar discussion in another thread - but that case involved B-visas.  I am trying to isolate the conditions of work-permit out from the visa-conditions which are often mixed into these discussions. 

 

To clarify, if you are married to a Thai and have an extension-of-stay based on marriage (or Non-O Multiple), you could get a work-permit from the Labor Dept to work for your wife's business (say she owns 100% - sole-trader), even if:

1. It is not a registered company meeting capital requirements,
2. It does not have 2* Thai employees on the books (* 4 Thai employees required at some labor-dept offices),
3. You do not earn a specified threshold-income.