WORK PERMIT for Owners Committees

[jacko]

Do farangs need Work Permits to Serve On Owners Committees doing Jobs - and Do farangs need Work Permits to serve on Juristic Entity Committees - are there Limitations as to what jobs Farangs can do ?

[Spitfire]

Generally you can't even fart work-wise without a WP if you're a foreigner and be very careful of anyone who says otherwise. The list of what is off limits is both long and specifically designed to make it only really possible to be a tourist, start your own business via proxy or with a Thai in majority control, teach or be rich and retired.

With the examples you presented in your post, I would check very carefully with the immigration office as to what's possible with that sort of stuff. You even need a WP for voluntary or charity work.

[bapak]

I seem to remember a foreigner being charged for working without WP as a committee member of a Condo in Phuket last year.

[Pleng]

You even need a WP for voluntary or charity work.

To be fair that's not exclusive to Thailand. The same applies in the UK.

[Spitfire]

You even need a WP for voluntary or charity work.

To be fair that's not exclusive to Thailand. The same applies in the UK.

Hi Pleng, to also be fair, I wasn't passing judgement on LOS and never said it was limited to Thailand and didn't hint of comparing it to anywhere else in that post.....just making it clear/idiot proof in no uncertain terms as to what the score is, and is what the OP probably wanted. The contents of my post may have been a bit 'take no prisoners' but it is true.

However, how folks infer stuff when they read can often not necessarily be the same as what is being implied by the original poster.

It's one of the inherent problems of just reading script and I guess punctuation and smileys are there to help on that front. If I'd have used an exclamation mark, instead of a full stop, at the end of what you quoted from my post then I might have been insinuating something, but didn't.

[Big Boy]

Probably a stupid question, but I'll ask it anyway. I guess being part of an Owners Committee is a legitimate job for a Farang - probably unpaid. How difficult would it be to get a work permit for that purpose?

I'm already assuming somebody with a Retirement extension would be excluded.

[Nereus]

I have no idea if it is legal or otherwise, but we have Farang members on the Juristic Committee of my Condo in Bangkok, and have done so for several years.

Where you may fall down is if a Farang were to be appointed a Juristic Manager, as that position has a legal standing, whereas the committee members are co-owners and just representing themselves and the other co-owners, as they would be with any association formed to represent their interest.

Farang co-owners have the same legal rights as Thai co-owners, so I think that any legal challenge concerning work permits would likely be dismissed. To be sure you should take legal advice on it, but like everything else here, if you ask 3 different lawyers you will get 3 different answers!

[Pleng]

You even need a WP for voluntary or charity work.

To be fair that's not exclusive to Thailand. The same applies in the UK.

Hi Pleng, to also be fair, I wasn't passing judgement on LOS and never said it was limited to Thailand and didn't hint of comparing it to anywhere else in that post.....just making it clear/idiot proof in no uncertain terms as to what the score is, and is what the OP probably wanted. The contents of my post may have been a bit 'take no prisoners' but it is true.

Sorry I hope I didn't offend. The tone of your post was indeed matter of fact. I just felt like pointing out that although farrang have to jump through hoops for all kinds of work-permit related things here, many of which are pretty 'unique' to this country, the voluntary or charity one (which may well cause a sharp intake of air from somebody who was reading it) is not just a 'Thai thing'.

Just a bit of anecdotal information really.

[hhfarang]

I won't even take the garbage bin to the street or do garden work in the front yard of my own home for fear of being caught working without a permit and heavily fined... at least that's what I tell the missus...

[terry+carmen]

This is a copy of the regulations from the Land Development Act BE 2543 (2000) It does not answer the question of Work Permits. Land Ownership is the key factor here. If you or your wife owns the land can be members of the committee. Farangs can be members if there wife (not sure if that has to be a legally registered marriage) owns the land or they have purchased the land through a Thai registered company.

I agree with Nereus I have rented a house here in Hua Hin and the committee for the Juristic Entity are all Farang including the Chairman.

(1) The Member or their spouse, parents or any person with the name is in the House Registration residing by the Member.

(2) The legal representative, guardian or the curator in case the Member is an incapacitated person or person under disability, depending on such case.

(3) The manager or other representatives of the juristic person, in cases where the juristic person is a Member.

[JimmyGreaves]

No work permit needed to join the Falang Tourist Police Volunteers is there?

[Super Joe]

xHi Terry&Carmen, farangs do sit on committee's, but re: the laws on WP's, unfortunately we are working just by giving an opinion by nodding our head... 'exerting knowledge' is the term. But more importantly being a committee member involves responsibilities with clear 'work' duties, liasing with contractors for example, so unfortunately yes, WP is needed IF there was ever a dispute and someone wanted you off... there's been cases of this: http://thaicrisis.wordpress.com/2009/03 ... illegally/

Re: Who's entitled to a vote as a co-owner in the association, if you had a Limited Company, then that Thai company does, but again the company would have to appoint an employee/agent to act for them, to avoid this grassing up nature of the committee members. I guess this is a 'legal' way to get on the committee, but would probably require a salary to this person blah blah.

The other important one re: 'voting co-owners' is that where leasehold is concerned, this entitlement belongs to the lessor/landowner, not the lessee/building owner. Where Thai wives are concerned, they could obviously be committee members if they are the landowners. In a dispute situation it would be more than obvious they were coming back to us to confer and putting forward our 'Western logic' arguments... instead of making. their own contributions, in which case we would again be on dodgy ground as they would be clearly, imo, acting as a nominee for ze aliens.

this whole thing, via the 'Act' you mention was introduced to protect owners from unscrupulous developers be giving us the right to take over the running of the show. Post-1997 crash developers were taking the biscuit with ever-increasing fees. So I would welcome this as a resident, even if it's being offered cos it suits the developer. Many that are stuck with the developers' mates' management company not doing what they're paid to do, while at the same time controlling the committee/decisions, would love to be able to have a say in the future running of their home and biggest asset.

The developer is only responsible for a couple of years after 51% 0f plots have been sold (or maybe 'transferred'!?), so its inevitable anyway. The above is purely my understanding, so all needs checking out with a qualified bod in case I've been given duff info.

Good luck with it all...
SJ

[Pleng]

No work permit needed to join the Falang Tourist Police Volunteers is there?

I would think so, yes. It's voluntary work. Unless it's a 'blind eye' kind of thing. But the irony of that would be just a bit too much for me to take, even here!

I'm sure they'll sort it out for you though, if you want to join.

[wpcoe]

No work permit needed to join the Falang Tourist Police Volunteers is there?

A work permit *is* required for foreigner TPV's:

He [Ruchuchai Potha, Chiang Mai Employment Office, Department of Work Permits] even goes so far as to mention the tourist police in Chiang Mai, who employ foreign 'volunteers' who are technically working without official work permits, "please tell them that that is illegal! They need to come and report to me. The same goes for many government agencies and not-for-profit organisations which employ foreign teachers, also for apparent 'volunteer' duties, again without permits." "We're all going to end up arresting each other soon. Authorities are not respecting our department or the law," he bemoans.

source: http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=3218

[Pleng]

The irony of people illegally working for law enforcement. Right? Right?!