work permit legal applications

[Ian Maxwell]

Dear Sirs,

I am writing this as I need to know the correct legal answer for a friend who is a German national and has lived here in Thailand for more than ten years and has had several businesses in the catering field ! he presently has  a fast food & takeaway and wholesale frozen food business he has a little daughter who is from a Thai mother and he tells me that he has put the business in her name in order to get all the permissions that he needs to work and support her he has legal custody of the child as the mother neglected her he has a tough job bringing her up and building a business as single parent here so I would like to help him with the correct information legally as far as the restrictions of the work permit here in Thailand is concerned ! he tells me that he has a good lawyer who has arranged his work permit and all his legal documents to open and run his business here which is fine in my opinion he tells me that he has used the description on the work permit as general manager which entitles him to do anything concerned with his business and operation including serving customers and taking cash and cooking ! but he has recently bought a truck with a cooler and has sign written it with his logo to deliver frozen food and meals to customers also to do catering by himself ! my question is can he legally do this with his work permit or is he braking the law by taking a Thai nationals job away ? and if so what would be the consequences if caught working out of the cover of the said work permit ? he says this is totally legal because he is the farther of this tHai child and has to provide for her ! can you please help on the truth of his situation regarding the law Kind regards Ian.

( please no layman answers just professional replies as this is very important issue many thanks )

[ubonjoe]

It seems most of what he is doing is work that foreigners is not allowed to do.

See: Occupations and Professions Prohibited to Aliens

[blackcab]

It is impossible to answer this question without knowing your friend's job description.

 

This is written on page 24 of their work permit.

 

Without this information any answer you receive will be speculation.

[Ian Maxwell]

hi there thank you for replying to my question I will check next time I see him ! but the question is can this be written and legal for him to do deliveries or not ? 

[blackcab]

Your question can only be answered by knowing the contents of page 24 of your friend's work permit (and any additional pages added as amendments, if any).

[Ginkas]

Ubonjoe is correct.

Having a work permit with job description as "General Manager" does NOT entitle a foreigner "to do anything concerned with his business and operation".

"Serving customers" - definitely not allowed.

"Taking Cash" - from customers not allowed.

"Cooking" - definitely not allowed.

"Deliver to customers" - definitely not allowed.

"To do catering" - definitely not allowed.

From my time in Thailand and over a number of years I have known four people in catering who have done one or more of the above;

all was fine until a sudden visit from Immigration.

All four closed their businesses shortly afterwards as it became too much of a hassle.

 

As Blackcab says, knowing what is actually entered in the work permit would let us know what he is allowed to do; not much, I suspect , except manage the business not actually work the business (i.e. supervise).

[Mattd]

9 minutes ago, Ginkas said:

"To do catering" - definitely not allowed.

Certainly a fair few Farang chefs out there, so not so sure that this is a banned occupation, tend to agree with the rest though, plus it does sound like a dodgy work permit to start with, no mention of other Thai employees etc.

[Alantct]

It seems most of what he is doing is work that foreigners is not allowed to do.
See: Occupations and Professions Prohibited to Aliens

I don't see Chef/cooking on that list, did I miss it?


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[AliasJohn]

If his delivery vehicle has dual wheels at the rear then he is forbidden to drive it. A vehicle with dual rear wheels requires a truck licence and foreigners are not permitted to obtain a truck licence.

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[Ginkas]

A qualified chef, working for a hotel, restaurant, etc.,

is a bit different to someone opening their own business and/or just being a cook.

[Alantct]

A qualified chef, working for a hotel, restaurant, etc.,
is a bit different to someone opening their own business and/or just being a cook.

There is no mention of cook/chef of any sort on the banned list or reference to where they may be working.




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[Ian Maxwell]

Hi guys,

yes I have read the alien exclusion list of jobs and I also didn't see anything referring to chefs or cooks or food delivery ! so maybe there is a grey area there perhaps ! as this man has all the other papers correct opening licence and alcohol licence and Thai driving licence as well he does employ Thai staff as well ! but he does the cooking and prep and has done for some years immigration has not bothered him before so he must have this on his work permit ! I also had a work permit that took for ever to receive but the job description did have general manager for restaurant and did entitle me to do any job concerned with the running of the business from changing a light bulb to cooking meals for customers and serving if necessary and taking cash we had four employees that all had their social security paid and I had a limited company as well so I paid my taxes correctly and had an company accountant all above board I can assure you which did cost me a pretty penny ! I would not do this again here and I don't advise anyone to open a limited company either ! I certainly wouldn't have if I knew what I know now ! so is there any more accurate statements that I can pass on to him please reply many thanks to all of you Ian.