I spoke with my employer today, and as he very correctly said, there are no reason not to apply for a work permit. There is nothing fishy abbout the contract, tax or anything else, and it will provide documentation to prove that it is not needed (if that is the decision).
Another option is that he would hire my wife (thai) to do the job - provided i teach her how to BEFORE we go to Thailand. But I think I will go with option 1.
Anyway thank you for your advice, it has been very helpfull. Who knows... It might actually have kept me from a stay in a thai prison
Hilux
If you want to make your dream come true, the first thing you have to do is to wake up.
Hilux,
I am by no means an expert in the work permit system here, but regardless of the fact that tax affairs, nature of the contract and anything else are in order, by most accounts they are difficult to get and involve a juggernaut of paperwork; there is a list somewhere (SJ or one of the other posters has posted a link before) of all the occupations prohibited to foreigners so I think it would be wise to do some research on that before deciding what you do. Alerting the relevant authorities beforehand of your plan, address and contract details may not be in your best interests long term, as if they refuse the WP and know you are here, they have a valid reason and the details to check up on. Even if your wife is doing the work they may check on you and catch you out, as even assisting or training her in Thailand would go against the terms of your visa if you haven't got a WP. I might be being too paranoid here but I'm sure others could tell you the best way forward and the possible risks involved.
I second Wanderlust's remark that applying for a Work Permit might not be in your best interest. I also am no expert and if you really want to this by the (Thai) book I suggest you seek proper legal advice. I have no personal experience with Work Permits based on work through the internet however if I must believe most of the stories then it is almost (or completely) impossible to get one.
I remember an internet broker telling me once that his smart remark: "You must understand that in my job I can work from anywhere in the world" was countered by the official: "Then I suggest you do it from your home country".
Anyway, please keep us informed with the proceedings of your quest and good luck!
We are all living in 'the good old days' of the future.
Have to agree with the last two posts, Hilux. By applying for a work permit you could be opening a huge can of worms.
I appreciate your wish to have everything done 'by the book', but it seems to me that you'd be much better off just quietly getting on with it - there is no reason I can think of why you should suddenly become the target of an official investigation, and no way the authorities could become aware of your 'employment' arrangements.
Option 1: apply for wp - worst case scenario; you do need one, it's refused, you're deported for working illegally.
Option 2: carry on as you are - worst case scenario; erm, can't think of one really...
Thank you very much for the time an effort you have put into the advices. I want you to know that I really appriciate it.
I understand the point in the 3 latest posts, and I am sure that you have a much wider experience with thai authorities than me.
The plan so far is that my employer will contact the Thai embassy to get general information on what it will require if he was to pay salary to an employee who would stay a month in Thailand. That way I will not get involved in the process yet.
Depending on the result, we have to decide what to do. Off course I will follow the law - claiming otherwise on a public board would probably not be a good idea. I will make sure to let you know the outcome of the matter... Whether it can be done by the book or if I just have to forget about the whole thing.
Hilux
If you want to make your dream come true, the first thing you have to do is to wake up.
Hilux, agree with the above posters about can of worms, this I think would involve your company having to employ 4 Thai staff for your 1 foreign work permit. Despite the tax treaty I believe you still have to pay monthly social security contributions for the Thais and also monthly withholding tax of 5% of theirs and your salaries, this may not be off-set and refunded under the treaty until end of year account comes round.
Your company having to pay 4 Thai staff salaries, despite it being low, may not appeal to them.
Trying to find a positive angle the Alien Employment Act does allow for foreigners to work without work permits under what they state as: "carrying out neccessary and urgent works for a period of no more than 15 days".
It doesn't say if that can be 4 lots of 15 day working trips or just 1 in a year. Think it's for visiting business people flying in to do whatever business deals, meetings, conferences and the like. Might be an angle for you!?!?
Hilux, If I were you (and your employer) I'd listen to the advice of the above posters. The worms in this country are VERY different from those back in Scandinavia...
We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.[Benjamin Franklin]
I suppose that technically, if you happened to do a bit of work over the net during your two month break, you wouldn't be breaching the work permit laws any more than the average executive on a two week holiday with the kids who happens to answer a phone call or e-mail from his business.
That doesn't make it right of course, but if they cracked down on that sort of thing it would look a bit draconian.
My employer have been in contact with the embassy today. It is a jungle to find out what to do. Did you guys realize that there are 3 different "B" visas ?
What we have done now is, that we have changed our agreement, so that I will not work from Thailand. Instead the new agreement states that if a situation arises that requires my assistance, I will imidiately fly back do Denmark to resolve the issue. Off course I will need to check whether such a situation arises every day....
This should be OK with Thai authorities.
Thank you for your support and good advices on the matter.
Hilux
If you want to make your dream come true, the first thing you have to do is to wake up.
As i said before I am no expert but I can imagine that these exceptions are for cases where there is no link with any Thai registered company.
But the important thing to note - sorry if you already know this - is that the visa does NOT allow you to work. Therefore you need to apply separately for a work permit with the Labour Department. For an application however you will in your case need (among many many other things) a valid non-imm. B visa.
I think your solution is perfect. No need to involve any Thai authorities in this case. Come over on a tourist visa and bring your laptop, just in case!
We are all living in 'the good old days' of the future.
