Question:
My dream is to live
and work in Thailand. Is it difficult to get a work permit?
Tourist
Answer:
When we talk about
working in Thailand, it's useful to know the Thai mindset first: Thais like
short-term tourists and resident senior citizens best. These groups threaten
nobody, take no jobs from the Thais themselves, and they usually stay away from
criminal behavior.
The type of foreigner
the Thais—based on long experience—like less, are young or middle-aged men
(well, 90 percent men and 10 percent women) who come here to live and make a
living here.
A number of these
people are in fact criminals, or at least unreliable people fleeing from financial
problems in their home country. They often support themselves by talking their
fellow unsuspecting countrymen out of their hard earned money. They do this by
starting businesses in tourist-related areas—such as restaurants and bars, or
something in the property arena.
Therefore, one can
understand that the Thais
1) Have made it difficult
to get work permits here,
2) Use a lot of
resources to ensure that the work done is in accordance with the laws, and
3) Penalize violations
of the law severely.
Having said that,
there are after all those who manage to make it here. Because the Thais have
reluctantly realized that they need some foreigners here to make the wheels go
round in both tourism and business in general.
Here are some ways you
can work on in Thailand:
1. Create your own
workplace
A number of foreigners
have created their own jobs and started up small businesses here. Thai law
states that a company must be able to show a profit before they are allowed to
hire a foreigner. So, how come some foreigners manage to start up new
businesses with themselves on the books holding work permits? That’s the great
mystery, but it happens with the help of great advisers and lawyers—and an
ability to read between the lines.
If you want to start
your own company, you must be aware that you’re required to hire four full-time
Thai employees for every foreigner employed. And, every company must have an
office with one work station for each employee. This law is not particularly
well adapted to our new online world.
2. Become a teacher
The most common way to
work in Thailand is to become a teacher. And, the most common subject is
English, of course. Non-native English speakers may not apply. Teachers are not
paid particularly well in Thailand. As a foreigner, you can expect a starting
salary of 25-35,000 baht per month.
3. Be employed by a
company
Being employed by a
Thai company is not impossible. It’s in fact a feather in some Thai
businessmen’s cap to have foreigners on the staff. However, you must find a way
to get to know these business owners first. We meet foreigners here who work as
translators and “ambassadors” for firms, there are also those who work as
private tutors for children of rich families.
4. Working through the
Internet?
What if you wanted to
come here to live and work through the Internet but be paid from your home
country?
Well, it's not
allowed, as was clearly demonstrated last year when four Norwegians and two
Swedes spent three weeks in jail in Pattaya after having run a legit (businesswise)
call center from here. But, there’s little doubt that many foreigners in Thailand
wholly or partially make a living via Internet activities, even though it’s
against the law.
(From Thailands Tidende
Issue 9/2011)