# sensible advice needed



## mike247 (Apr 17, 2012)

Hi guys, this is my first post here, i'm looking for some personal opinions of people in the know, i've trawled through the vast amount of info on the net so i'm partly clued up, but i think my situation is unique, i'll keep it as short as i can.

My Thai wife and i (8 years together) have been living in the uk and are sick of the daily rat race, we have decided to move to Thailand. We already have a house in Sriracha, my in laws are reasonably well connected, my sister-in-law has a mini mart and my brother-in-law has a fairly large construction company in pattaya.

Our 2 ideas are - 

1. To start a property maintenance company mainly catering to expats and wealthy thais. I am a qualified electrician and have 10 years experience in the building trade. I know i can't do the work myself but maybe a supervisor role could work? Would it be difficult for my brother-in-law to set it up for me regarding visa's and work permit? Once i had the paperwork could i do jobs for expats myself?

2. Set up an english language nursery, my wife does that in the uk and is very passionate and good at her job, the only thing is i'm not! I'm no english teacher but maybe i could have some role?

I'm 32 and my wife is 35, we are still young and really want to make a go of it. We are not from or interested in the bar scene over there, we are in it for the long term and have some savings. We won't need that much income as we live modestly. 

What are all the expats up to over there? how do you make a living? Maybe you don't want to say over the net, i can understand that but a little guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading and i'll keep you posted when i'm out there in a few months.

Sorry, wasn't that short


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## cnx_bruce (Feb 2, 2010)

mike247 said:


> 1. To start a property maintenance company mainly catering to expats and wealthy thais. I am a qualified electrician and have 10 years experience in the building trade. I know i can't do the work myself but maybe a supervisor role could work? Would it be difficult for my brother-in-law to set it up for me regarding visa's and work permit? Once i had the paperwork could i do jobs for expats myself?
> 
> 2. Set up an english language nursery, my wife does that in the uk and is very passionate and good at her job, the only thing is i'm not! I'm no english teacher but maybe i could have some role?
> 
> What are all the expats up to over there? how do you make a living?


OK, hi, given that you have already done some online research I assume you have googled on "thailand work permit" and "Thailand non-immigrant visas", found and read the list of restricted occupations for foreigners, and learnt a little about the process of creating a private Thai company. You will need a work permit whether you work for someone else or for yourself.

You have to organise to obtain the appropriate type of visa. The work permit is specific to the particular job and its location. If you were to work for the brother-in-law's company then he may be able to assist but if neither of you had been through the process before, then "easy" is probably not the right word. If you go the nursery route then you would have to meet the mandated requirements re: capitalisation, number of Thai employees, etc

Clearly expats work in a wide range of jobs (or don't work). There are many in teaching, some in the tourism/hospitality sector, mining, oil and gas, import/export, online sales and marketing and web site work, etc. Apart from teaching it is generally quite difficult to obtain a position, and of course salaries are quite low with the exception of a dwindling number of ppl on full expat packages.


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## Moolor (Aug 4, 2011)

I'm in a similar situation as you describe, however we have already made he move. I was to go to work for my brother in laws business when we made the move three months ago. We bought we had everything covered, but while applying for my work permit we found out that my brothers in laws company is not registered correctly to employ me. 

After three months of doing nothing, I'm bored. Money is not a problem as my wife makes a good income and is willing to be the bread earner. We are In a resort town, my resume is out. I'm hoping something comes through.

My best advice, have your brother in law's company get you a work permit for a supervisors position before you make the move. Once you have work experience in Thailand, I've been told it is much easier to find a position with another company.


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## mike247 (Apr 17, 2012)

Thankyou for you input guys, if we go down the nursery route i wouldn't bother with a work permit as i'd be just helping out behind the scenes, my wife would do most of the work but its not our preferred choice as i think i'd get bored, also we want to start a family and the wife wouldn't fancy working while pregnant.

I know too well how hard its going to be to get the work visa/permit after what we went through getting married and buying a house. But i also know that the rules can be bent, do you know of any farang working as anything on the exempt list? Just a yes or no would suffice. Could i be employed by my bro in laws company as a supervisor or trainer, teaching higher standards of electrical work? Could i then find work elsewhere and get a thai to 'tag along'

I am also worried about the amount of hassle my brother-in-law will have to put up with if i go down the route of him employing me, i think i'd prefer to be in Thailand so i could assist him as much as i can, but then there is the question of what visa i enter the countrty on?

I heard on another forum its best to enter on a tourist visa?

Part of me is thinking to stay put, but we really want to get out of England, its getting unbareable here now


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## joseph44 (May 4, 2011)

I've been in the real estate maintenance myself and did "set up" a small business which I thought, could be dealt with besides my regular job. 
Didn't work out: As a Western entrepreneur, I made promises that only could be kept if I was at the project full time, keeping an eye on the work force and manage everything. Since I did have a full time job, that was no option, and after one year I decided to leave all tools and customers in the hands of one of the Thai employees and as far as I know.........the business is dead although in Pattaya there is huge demand for proper quality real estate maintenance business. 

So, if you would like to set up a real estate maintenance business in Western Style, you are allowed to work in that business as CEO, MD or manager, but not as a "regular" worker eg electrician or plumber. 

Setting up a nursery is another option, but requires a bit more paperwork in getting it done. If you would like to do it correctly, you may have to add the Ministry of Education to your to-do-list. 

Both cases require a company set up in order to grant you a work permit. 
Besides that, your minimum salary (on paper) should be THB 50,000 per month; well, at least your income tax payments should cover that amount. 

Since my information is far from complete I suggest you to consult a lawyer, specialized in this kind of cases. Explore your possibilities and and PLEASE don't get involved in im-possibilities. 
Take care, that whatever you do, do it legally. From the moment that your business is going to be successful, your competition will try to bring you down and sending labor-department or immigration-department on a regular bases is one of their options.


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## Moolor (Aug 4, 2011)

Joseph is spot on. That being said, Thailand is still a great place to live. There are many pluses living here and for me, they outweigh all the negatives we have run into.


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## alaia (Apr 7, 2012)

I suggest you look for retirecheapdotasia JC he has a member site and quite a community of folk living or preparing to move to Thailand.

I think you are in a unique position because your wife is Thai... so I think you may have an advantage over other foreigners ;ooking to move to the Land of Smiles.

There is a LOT of free information on his site but for the things you are asking you might get more info from the member section.. It is really cheap I think like 10.00 US.. might be worth it to get some accurate info.. All the best to you...


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## mike247 (Apr 17, 2012)

Joseph44 thankyou, that is exactly the advice i was looking for, i think you are spot on especially about doing things legally, i already suspected that the competition would try and put an end to any successful business i had.

It will be hard at the beginning and i'm sure i will be an expert on thai immigration whem i'm done. I will check out that other expat forum.

Thanks


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## xtr3mx7 (Feb 15, 2011)

And don't forget that the business that should apply for the work permit must have at least 2million registered capital and should be mature enough + the 4 Thai employee rule, and etc.

Good luck though


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## mike247 (Apr 17, 2012)

Yeah the 2 million could be a killer, we've got it but would have nothing left after! We would have to get it from elsewhere, could the 4 employees be family members or maybe 2 of them?

Is it a good idea to go there on a tourist visa first? Which visa is easiest to change to a non imm b to obtain the work permit?

Is the tourist visa kind of a 'neutral' visa and makes it easier to change to others?


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## joseph44 (May 4, 2011)

mike247 said:


> Yeah the 2 million could be a killer, we've got it but would have nothing left after! We would have to get it from elsewhere, could the 4 employees be family members or maybe 2 of them?
> 
> Is it a good idea to go there on a tourist visa first? Which visa is easiest to change to a non imm b to obtain the work permit?
> 
> Is the tourist visa kind of a 'neutral' visa and makes it easier to change to others?


No no, the 2 million isn't the killer. 
Basically, a Co., Ltd can be set up for a meager THB 50,000 including the possibility for a WP. But as soon as the Co., Ltd. is a fact you have to start business. Although the first year is usually without tax-consequences, the second will be for sure. 

The 2 million will get important as soon as you would like to end your business. The Ministry of Commercial Affairs expects to receive a bank-statement of at least 2 million that will be used to end your business. It's a kind of deposit so that you deal with tax, social security and labor-department properly. 

I've hear, but I don't know enough about that, that it is possible to obtain a WP for acting as a consultant. It's basically a one-person company. Your future visit to a lawyer should enlighten you. 

It doesn't really matter on what visa you enter, because a visa can not be changed here in Thailand. :confused2:
A visa can be obtained abroad and is nothing more than a ticket to Thailand. 
Depending on the visa you will be granted access and a certain amount of days of stay (permission of stay) go with it. 

Since you do have a Thai wife, the most plausible is to enter Thailand on a non-immigrant 'O-A', which will be extended in the future based on your marriage. With a so called _marriage visa_ you are allowed to work and obtain a WP. 
Obtaining such a visa in your home-country will get you a one year visa. Obtaining such a visa in ex. Laos or Malaysia will get you a 3 month visa (mostly). 

Oh yes, the employees in "your" company can be anyone, as long as they are human. On a regular (monthly) bases, you have to submit their salary-details to the tax-department and at the end of the year you must show labor dept payments to tax dept (if apply) and social security services.


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