visas in thailand

[synthia]

I did my visa runs to Burma (Myanmar). You may not be able to do them to Laos anymore.

If you have a business, aren't you getting a different visa?

[KhwaamLap]

Hi Luke,

it is my understanding you can not get a work permit on a tourist visa, so you would need a Non-Immigrant Visa. These are either Buisiness (B), Education (ED) or marriage/family visit (O) - there's also retirement, but I'll ignore that here.

For B you need to be either sponsored from a Thai company (under specific rules), by a foreign company with the ability to operate in Thailand (you would need proof of this and a confirmation letter from your embassy) o own your own company (this is somewhat fraught with issues and beaurocratic red tape now too). For a school to sponsor you, you MUST have a teaching degree to be legally sponsored (regardless of what the school may tell you!).

For ED, you can not legally work I believe, but are quite easy to get. You would need a letter from the school to get MoE (Misinistry of Education) agreement letter - the course can be for almost anything (even Skubal;for example), but school must be acredited.

For O you need to be married to a Thai or hamve a Thai dependant - you would also need to prove 40k Baht/month income (combined with your Thai wife's income )

If you are caught working without a work pwrmit, you can earn up to 5 years in jail and a 99 year blacklist on your passport - ouch! This inclues volantary/unpaid work.

I think your best bet is the ED Visa, do a 4 hour a week language
course (minimum for Visa), and not to work- or NGO which can, I believe, if approved allow you to work unpaid without a WP.

For ED you will have to extend every 3 months (to prove you are still studying) at pay 1.9k Baht - this can be done in country. You would have to leave the country every year to renew the ED Visa - it is easier for a state run Uni course (less paperwork), but more expensive thean a language course. I understand a non-undergraduate course would have a maximum of 3 years renewals - but a new school (and proof of advancement?) it can go to 5 years max.

This is all from m y own research, so DO CHEK IT YOURSELF with your consulate in the states.

Chok Dee