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Working in the business of my Thai Wife


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6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

As I wrote before it does not a have to be a company with shareholders and etc. You and your wife could form a 51/49% partnership registered as having 1 million baht of capital. You could then get a work permit as the general manager to oversee the business under it.

But we still have to hire an additional worker, or not? Well, it looks like it will come to that construct in the end. What is unclear for me is how I can then work in several "businesses branches", like part time english school, martial arts school and in a small restaurant/coffee shop. E.g. if the school needs to follow special rules (someone gave a link above) it can not be dedicated to anything else. On the other hand, the school where my wife is working at the moment has a regular shop inside (probably via a second company that simply rents the room ... but the school is AFAIK a ordinary "thai company") 

In a different thread I found a dutch cook who simply has one company where he is holding 48%, his wife 51% and another "shareholder" 1%. Apparently he does not need to hire extra staff. On the other hand I would assume his business would be big enough to require some staff.

Bottom line I'm not really working anyway. As martial arts teacher I most likely will work for free, the students pay a token fee to "the school", in the coffee shop I probably only go shopping from time to time (most likely we would have a worker or two there anyway) and in the english school I basically join only from time to time for "conversation" (that would basically the only thing close to working), so I need 3 "job descriptions" on my WP ... for basically nothing ???? 

No idea if it makes any sense to form a company for that.

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13 minutes ago, Enki said:

But we still have to hire an additional worker, or not? Well, it looks like it will come to that construct in the end. What is unclear for me is how I can then work in several "businesses branches", like part time english school, martial arts school and in a small restaurant/coffee shop. E.g. if the school needs to follow special rules (someone gave a link above) it can not be dedicated to anything else. On the other hand, the school where my wife is working at the moment has a regular shop inside (probably via a second company that simply rents the room ... but the school is AFAIK a ordinary "thai company") 

In a different thread I found a dutch cook who simply has one company where he is holding 48%, his wife 51% and another "shareholder" 1%. Apparently he does not need to hire extra staff. On the other hand I would assume his business would be big enough to require some staff.

Bottom line I'm not really working anyway. As martial arts teacher I most likely will work for free, the students pay a token fee to "the school", in the coffee shop I probably only go shopping from time to time (most likely we would have a worker or two there anyway) and in the english school I basically join only from time to time for "conversation" (that would basically the only thing close to working), so I need 3 "job descriptions" on my WP ... for basically nothing ???? 

No idea if it makes any sense to form a company for that.

Working for "free" will still need a work permit.

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30 minutes ago, Enki said:

But we still have to hire an additional worker, or not? Well, it looks like it will come to that construct in the end. What is unclear for me is how I can then work in several "businesses branches", like part time english school, martial arts school and in a small restaurant/coffee shop.

All the businesses would be under the partnership. Your job description would include being responsible for overseeing their operations as general manager of the partnership. All the employees could be working for the partnership.

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13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

All the businesses would be under the partnership. Your job description would include being responsible for overseeing their operations as general manager of the partnership. All the employees could be working for the partnership.

As general manager he can't teach muay thai.

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What Thai law states about the requirements to get a WP is not (IMHO) the problem.  Your problem will be to persuade the Labour office to issue a WP to you, if the company 'vehicle' is not a limited company with the required issued capital and Thai employees.

 

Years ago I was in a registered partnership (I was the minor shareholder) with my Thai wife.  We had a small guesthouse/hotel in Phuket.  I wanted a WP to be the manager, chat with guests in English etc.  I applied for a WP and was told by the local Labour office that I must register a ltd company with the above requirements.  That office simply wouldn't issue me with a WP, even though Thai law stated that I was eligible for it!

 

So don't think that quoting the law at your Labour office will result in a WP for your needs - they may be as pigheaded as the office in Phuket....

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I think the whole idea hasn't been thought through.

What happens if your wife and you are teaching with:

Customers for the restaurant => no cook, nobody to talk to guests, nobody at the till, nobody to pick up the phone.

People who want information about the English school => nobody at the reception, nobody at the phone 

People who want information about the Muay Thai school => nobody at the reception, nobody at the phone

Delivery people arriving => nobody to speak to them. 

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I did not say or imply that.
I think that may be where the confusion and question was.

I too remember reading somewhere that a husband and wife can runa business together with no other people, and the foreign husband can work.

However,, I have no idea if I misunderstood or if this is a very old law.




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On 12/29/2018 at 8:50 AM, FritsSikkink said:

I think the whole idea hasn't been thought through.

What happens if your wife and you are teaching with:

Customers for the restaurant => no cook, nobody to talk to guests, nobody at the till, nobody to pick up the phone.

People who want information about the English school => nobody at the reception, nobody at the phone 

People who want information about the Muay Thai school => nobody at the reception, nobody at the phone

Delivery people arriving => nobody to speak to them. 

The cooking thing is only a side job. For people coming to the school, kids waiting before classes or after classes. The english school is my wives thing, people would obviously call her, not a "receptionist". The martial arts school is more my thing, they would call me. When they call during classes, we call back ...

 

My question was very simple: how to be hired by your wife without the need to form a Ltd. company and being forced to hire full time workers (for which we simply have no use). I don't need advice for a better business plan ???? ... yet!

 

If my wife is teaching english and I make banana milk shakes for the kids: I'm working. I need a work permit. And on that permit would be written *cook*. Of course if I teach the kids how to make a good milk shake, and let them use the equipment, I'm teaching cooking, and need a WP ...

And then again, if parents come, we have a chat, one could claim: he is working. Or if my wife has a question regarding english and I join a 10 minutes seminar, with the kids, explaining something weird about Football (the british version), or Soccer, the german version: it would be considered working, hence: I need a WP.

 

Plain and simple.

Happy New Year, though ????

 

I guess I ask in the Isan Farmer Forum how they are doing it ... perhaps having 10 farm workers for 2 month already cuts it.

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2 hours ago, Enki said:

The cooking thing is only a side job. For people coming to the school, kids waiting before classes or after classes. The english school is my wives thing, people would obviously call her, not a "receptionist". The martial arts school is more my thing, they would call me. When they call during classes, we call back ...

 

My question was very simple: how to be hired by your wife without the need to form a Ltd. company and being forced to hire full time workers (for which we simply have no use). I don't need advice for a better business plan ???? ... yet!

 

If my wife is teaching english and I make banana milk shakes for the kids: I'm working. I need a work permit. And on that permit would be written *cook*. Of course if I teach the kids how to make a good milk shake, and let them use the equipment, I'm teaching cooking, and need a WP ...

And then again, if parents come, we have a chat, one could claim: he is working. Or if my wife has a question regarding english and I join a 10 minutes seminar, with the kids, explaining something weird about Football (the british version), or Soccer, the german version: it would be considered working, hence: I need a WP.

 

Plain and simple.

Happy New Year, though ????

 

I guess I ask in the Isan Farmer Forum how they are doing it ... perhaps having 10 farm workers for 2 month already cuts it.

Your question has been answered, you need a minimum of 2 Thai workers. No way around it.

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  • 2 months later...
9 minutes ago, Enki said:

I found this threat: but it confuses me, as it implies I do not need company: 

 

It just means you can work while on a marriage extension. You still need to be hired by an actual company and get a work permit.

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  • 5 months later...
On 12/25/2018 at 8:37 AM, Enki said:

My wife runs the english school. I have nothing to do with it, except that we hoped I can be hired without extra hassle. Wether we add an restaurant is completely open, as I pointed out: *I want to run a  martial arts school*, but I guess I wrote that in another threat. Here I only asked: how is the stuff with working for your own wife working.

A small restaurant is relatively easy to be run by two. Especially if it is attached to the martial arts school and mostly frequented by members of the school after training.

 

Anyway, I'm surprised about the "know nothing, but be hostile attitude" here.

 

But: I found it. It is super simple. You need a permanent residency: https://www.legal.co.th/resources/visa-immigration-law/nationality-law/difference-between-thai-permanent-residence-and-citizenship/

 

Thanx for the help, though.

Unfortunately, you need WP for 3 years straight and paid tax to prove you been working in Thailand for at least 3 years, then you can apply the PR......

So, you need to get the WP first...... now the problem comes back to the beginning, lol.

 

ubonjoe's advise made sense the most and probably the easiest one you can try.

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