Advice on Employment

[hhenias]

Good morning all

I know that most of you are now at the beach.
When you come back, have a supper, a shower and rest for a while, I would appreciate any advice on Employment.

Can a foreigner work in the Tourism business, either as an employee or as an employer?

By the way, I am a qualified English Teacher (tought for a year), currently working as a Journalist, and my wife a Physiotherapist.

Are there any restrictions or provisions?

Please assist
Thank you all very much

By the way, Kao Thao, Cha Am, Kao Takiab, are part of Hua Hin, or independent locations, cities, villages?[/b]

[chelsea]

By the way, I am a qualified English Teacher (tought for a year),

Hope you were not the spelling teacher in your school. Sorry could not resist

[lomuamart]

OP,
Take a look here:
http://www.expathuahin.com/employment-huahin.php
It's pretty up to date, but as you'll notice some occupations are strictly reserved for nationals.
Good luck and fire away with any other questions.

[NuggetTNQ]

As far as i know getting work in the Hospitality and Tourism industry in Thailand is very difficult unless you are sponsered by a company and usually has to be at the General Manager or higher level. Most of the middle Mgt jobs in these industries are not given to Ex-Pats only to Thai Locals. Mainly due to visa issues. Like in Australia the companies have to prove to Thai Immigration that a local can't do the job
I only knows this because i'm a hotel Gm here in Australia and have been in the game for about 17 years and every time i went for a job in LOS was usually rejected because 1) Didnt have Asian Hotel Experience and 2) Visa's very difficult to obtain

heap of teaching jobs available i believe. good luck

[sandman67]

Col tells me Cha Am is in a separate district/county or whatever..... I think Takiab is part of the same one as HH. The border between Cha Am and HH seems to be the tunnel on the main road.

As an employer you would need to set up a company at a guess so your work visa would fit the role of business owner.

One word of advice....make sure you always stick within the provisions of your visa....Imm at soi 102 seem to love busting farangs who work here for doing stuff they class as falling outside the specified role on the work permit.

Good luck mate

[ADW]

hhenias

Think positive! I've been working in hotels in Thailand for about 3 years now and I am nowhere near GM level!

Many hotels are taking on full time English teachers as part of their permanent staff, also other professions - eg chefs, food & beverage managers as well as higher managment positions. Where I work now, we have many expats ranging from GM to Fitness Instructors.

Visas were sometimes a problem last year (only for new staff though) but I think that if the company that employs you does all the right paperwork etc, it's not a problem.

PS - No comments about my spelling please! That's what spell check and dictionaries were invented for!

[hhenias]

Thanks a lot

It's about time I heard something positive.

My intention, weel my dream to be precise, is to run a restaurant or a bar (don't think of something extravagant or fancy). Small and Simple.

Is there a possibility to work let's say in a Hotel or in a Restaurant, run by an Expat or a Thai?

Money is not an issue. What I want is to spend my days constructively.

Thanks again

[BaaBaa.]

Is there a possibility to work let's say in a Hotel or in a Restaurant, run by an Expat or a Thai?

Hasnt ADW just answered that question for you?

You wont get a job as a Barman or Waiter or anything else that can easily be done by a Thai national.

[Wanderlust]

Thanks a lot

It's about time I heard something positive.

My intention, weel my dream to be precise, is to run a restaurant or a bar (don't think of something extravagant or fancy). Small and Simple.

Is there a possibility to work let's say in a Hotel or in a Restaurant, run by an Expat or a Thai?

Money is not an issue. What I want is to spend my days constructively.

Thanks again

From my understanding there is no problem setting up a business such as a bar or restaurant, but you can do none of the work involved in such a business - if you were even caught getting yourself a beer in your own bar you can be nabbed by immigration and deported. As AOW says though, work can be found and the relevant paperwork is much easier with a big or well respected existing company, but I have heard that teaching jobs in schools are becoming much harder to get because of a raft of new measures aimed at getting rid of a number of undesirables that are or were teachers in Thailand - paedophiles are one big target apparently after a number of reported cases, but they are also raising the bar as far as necessary qualifications go. I'm sure there are some current or ex-teachers in Thailand on here who can give more info on that.

[dtaai-maai]

Teaching - lots of talk about changes, but no real action as far as I know. Many schools/universities specify 'native English speaker', which usually means just what it says on the tin.

[margaretcarnes]

Wanderlust is spot on there re the bar/restaurant trade and work permits. You have to be the Company Director and owner. As such the work permit only allows you to manage, supervise and train staff, and you must employ the legal minimum number of Thais and pay them a legal minimum wage, which in low season can cause problems.
Strictly speaking you wouldn't even be able to own a company whose sole business was shown as 'bar' and would need to incorporate either restaurant or guesthouse to be legal.
You see a lot of farangs doing hands on work in their bar/restaurant businesses in HH, and I'm surprised more don't get bundled off to Immigration like they do in Pattaya

[barrys]

The current regulations for getting a work permit for one farang to run his/her own business in the province of Prachuabkirikhan include at least a THB 2 million company and a minimum of 4 Thai employees paying social insurance contributions.

[margaretcarnes]

Yes you're right Barry about the capital needed to set up. I was always told the minimum staff number was 5, but near enough. I think if hhenias is a teacher that might be the way to go - but might also require more days and commitment than he really needs. I'm assuming theres no Thai wife involved, so the prospect of a nice little beach bar with wife running it is out of the question. What about the journalism angle though?