Working for a Non Thai Company in Asean (including Thailand) whilst on an Extenion of Stay (Retirement)?

[Mario666]

Dear All,

 

This sounds complicated, but really it isn't.

 

I have been living in Thailand for the last 7 years and have not worked (Retirement Extension).

 

However, I have just been apporached by one of my old bosses who is looking to expand their business into SE Asia starting with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

 

He wants to drag me out of retirement...I will be 60 in Novemeber and don't really need the money, but miss the "Buzz" of closing big deals.

 

It is an IT Solutions company based in the USA and he is VP of Europe, but he wants to explore/expand the oppotunities in SE Asia.

 

I can be contractually employed and or officially resident from anywhere. The job would be to explore opportunities in Major accounts.

 

I would potentially be selling in Thailand also?

 

My question is could I work for them whilst still living on Samui, (office would be in Singapore) and still retain my Retirement Status or would I need some kind of work permit.

 

If needs be I can easily rent a place in Singapore, but I am worried about multiple re-entries on a weekly basis.

 

Hope you can help and many thanks in anticipation.

[ubonjoe]

You could do it while staying here as a base of operation.  

But it would be illegal to do anything here without a work permit or at least a non-b visa issued for business purposes it you are only doing meetings here.

[Mario666]

Thanks UJ....I can easily 'Move" to Singapore and get a Singapore address/visa/WP but I would like to keep my retirement

 

status in Thailand keep my rental house house on Samui. In reality I would probably spend 2 business days in Singapore, 2 in KL and 1 in BKK initially and stay in my Samui place most weekends.....I have a long term (7year) Thai girlfirend who owns 2 beauty salon businesses here and I think she would be reluctant to relocate to Singapore.

 

Any business meetings would purely be grounds of working for a Non-Thai company, the company being based outside Thailand so not impacting any Thai jobs as such.

 

I know it's a simple question but the answer may not be so easy.

 

I am worried if I give up my retirement status here I may have difficulty travelling in and out of the country on what will likely be a weekly basis.

 

I hope you understand?

 

 

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, Mario666 said:

I am worried if I give up my retirement status here I may have difficulty travelling in and out of the country on what will likely be a weekly basis.

That should not be a problem. There is no restriction on how long you have to stay here to qualify for retirement or the number of entries you can do a with a multiple re-entry permit.

The one day of meetings in Bangkok would be where you would be getting into a grey area.

[Mario666]

Many thanks....I have been reading TVF for several years and know you are the Professor of all Thai Visa Knowledge....If you don't know then no one does.....probably including most Thai Immigration .

 

I will dig a little deeper and keep you posted so that you can add any results to your extensive knowledge base!

 

Best regards and thanks again.

 

 

[Mario666]

9 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That should not be a problem. There is no restriction on how long you have to stay here to qualify for retirement or the number of entries you can do a with a multiple re-entry permit.

The one day of meetings in Bangkok would be where you would be getting into a grey area.

This does raise a further question UJ which is if I am to embark on this my passport would fill up with stamps very rapidly.....Can you see a way around that?

 

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, Mario666 said:

This does raise a further question UJ which is if I am to embark on this my passport would fill up with stamps very rapidly.....Can you see a way around that?

 

You would only be getting entry and departure stamps which don't require a lot of space. There is no way to avoid getting them.

[Rastaputin]

The Passport will fill with Stamps quickly ... with your schedule you will fill a page a week (6 Stamps, assuming the Immigration Agents dont stamp the middle of an empty page, which some tend to do).
Depending on the Number of Pages you will need a new Passport approximately every 6-8 Months. Find out from your Embassy how long the issuance of a new Passport will take, and apply in time. Might be another complication to apply for a new Passport when current one is 4 or 5 Month old and has almost half the Pages left unused.

[VocalNeal]

Some countries allow one to have two passports.

[tryasimight]

I don't expect it to be too long before the electronic entry systems is opened up to more nationalities. Won't need a stamp then.

[ubonjoe]

7 hours ago, Rastaputin said:

The Passport will fill with Stamps quickly ... with your schedule you will fill a page a week (6 Stamps, assuming the Immigration Agents dont stamp the middle of an empty page, which some tend to do).

I have a page in an old passport that must have at least 15 stamps on it. Some are turned a bit to do keep them from overlapping.

If an officer want to find space for a stamp they will.

[Tofer]

7 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Some countries allow one to have two passports.

Correct. I have 2 UK passports, the second one issued on business grounds.

 

I know an Austrian chap who had 5 or 6 passports for business travelling and visa applications.