@Fr***

I don’t see how any Embassy can provide or even be expected to provide an affidavit of income. Embassies don’t have any information on the income of their nationals here. This is why the U.S. Embassy no longer provides affidavits of income.

A high level overview I wrote a few years ago. Not much has changed since I wrote this. /27/facing-the-foreign-business-act/

@I**

100% ownership of a company under the UA - Thai Amity Treaty. Through that company you could apply for a work permit and visa but conditions apply.

@Colin *********

Even if no health insure is required, isn’t it prudent to have health insurance readily accepted by Thai hospitals if you are 73?

Your employees need work permits and the right visas. It does not matter if you call them “chefs” or “cooks”.

You need to set up a company, properly and fully comply with all corporate formalities and that company needs to comply with the Foreign Business Act (FBA), which means majority Thai majority ownership (no nominees allowed). Maybe these laws are “racist” or overly nationalistic, but the comments here are not.

Violations of the FBA and Thai work permit laws are criminal matters. If you are competing with Thais (say, Thai-Indians (many here in Bangkok) they may see your business as unwanted competition and press the authorities to enforce these laws against you and your employees aggressively. Consult a competent and honest lawyer; not a a fixer.

It does not matter what “many foreigners” here are doing here in catering and other fields. its still illegal and those foreigners are subject to arrest, imprisonment, fines and deportation - or, and perhaps more likely still since they are engaged in criminal conduct - blackmail and extortion. What do you think the under the table payments to officials are?

And finally, don’t expect help from you Embassy when you are caught.

@Christopher **********

If they catch you on something else and check, it will cause a serious problem. Do you want to take that sort of risk?

For example, when a foreigner applies for PR status (I had this before acquiring dual Thai/US nationality), I had to complete a from asking the FBI to release my background records to the Thai authorities. The Thai authorities take this seriously.

Plenty of fraudsters in Thailand who hold themselves out as qualified accountants, lawyers, etc. Even foreign fraudsters holding themselves to be in professions that simply do not exist in Thailand, like real estate brokers and agents. The fraudsters come to Thailand because of these gaps. Its a magnet for charlatans. Hire someone in a reputable firm who works with a licensed Thai colleague (if there is one) who is licensed and qualified in his or her home jurisdiction. This is the model the larger firms use. If he or she engages in fraud, you will have some recourses. Little or no recourse with local parties.