Job Discussion Forums

[dime a dozen]

My husband has Thai ciizenship, I have type O visa, can I get a WP? Where is the relevant office?

Thanks for any help.

[robsam]

I would try the Immigration office. But I doubt you can do this without a company or school to sponser your visa. Since it's only a couple times a month, I wonder if you could even get a work visa. I've heard that if you work in for less than 3 months, you don't need a work visa. I'm no authority on the issue, but in Thailand, if you ask 10 people, you'll get 10 different answers.
Good Luck!

[Bangkok Hound]

The Ministry of Labor issues work permits. You won't get one without cooperation from your employer though.

[skann]

Simple. Have your wife start a business and have that business hire you as an employee. It can then get a work permit for you and you can do any type of independant contractor work you want.

I have a Dutch friend here whose wife is Thai. They did that exact thing and he now has his work permit and is working legally at whatever jobs he takes on. It isn't even an incorporated business; I believe it's just a sole proprietorship.

As to what offices to go to to get that done, I'm not sure, but your wife should be able to find out. Just have her ask other Thais what they do when they want to start a business. Once it is started, she probably has to go to the labor department to get the work permit for you.

[roguegrafix]

The "starting your own business" option might be harder than it seems. From people who are trying to do the same thing, there are a lot of hoops to jump through. One of them is the fact that for every "farang" on the books, there needs to be 7 Thais. AND the farang has to be paid a minimum wage which depends on your nationality but ranges from between 35,000-45,000 baht per month. All of this has to be legit with walk-in tax and labour office audits--i.e you don't know they're coming. And your books have to have an outside audit every year. If it was simple, everybody would be doing it.

As they said before: If you're not working for a legit company who will assist you getting your work permit, then you can just about forget it.

[lovetowander]

I'm just going through the hoops at the moment, there are a few ways of doing it, more than their used to be. I had a couple of companies here over the past 15 years and just got a list of the latest regulations. A creative lawyer could be of assistance, depends on your financial status though.
get some pro advise.

[roguegrafix]

Remember your work permit is for one job and one company only. It's illegal to hold two jobs on the one work permit and it is not possible to have two work permits at the same time. If they catch you doing a full-time job that isn't the one on your work permit, you're out. Every change of job requires a new work permit. If you finish your job (say you resign), then you are required by law to turn in your work permit within 7 days of leaving the job.

I'm talking the legal status here. Obviously there are ways around it. And being Thailand, obviously you are unlikely to get caught. But as you must also know, the Thais will turn a blind eye to a lot of things UNTIL they wan't to get rid of you. And then they throw the book at you. (Remember the DJs that got deported for having a flick-knife and a couple of pornos in their possession. It didn't matter that every shop in the market was selling these things, what mattered was that the farangs had them in the house and the Thais wanted them gone).

You can work for one company with a work permit and then do a contract with another--that's ok. But why would you want to go through the hassle of getting a company and a work permit and then try and work "black". Why bother in the first place? Are you sure you are after a work permit or just a year visa (which is a lot easier to get).