Getting a Work Permit in Thailand - My Experience
Getting a work permit in Thailand can be very difficult. At least, this is what most people say. But is it really that hard? What do you need to do to get it? In this article, I want to share my experience with you. I want to tell you what qualifications I had and why I think that, in reality, it is not that hard to get a work permit. Please keep in mind that what I write in this article is just my personal view from my experience. I am not a lawyer, and I am not an expert in this field. I just want to share my experience with you.
My Qualifications
First of all, I want to clarify that the difficulty of getting a work permit in Thailand depends on two things:
- Your qualifications
- The company you work for
In this paragraph, I want to talk about my personal qualifications. I have a bachelor’s degree in Motorsport Engineering and around two years of working experience as an engineer. While this does not prove anything for my current job as a web developer, having a German bachelor’s degree in Engineering proves that I can understand and solve complex problems. This is a very important skill for a web developer. Furthermore, I have been working in a field of simulation models for ECUs. This is not too far away from programming. I have been working with Matlab and Simulink, which are programming languages specifically for engineers. Furthermore, my grades and my work certificates were very good. This also proved that I am a hard worker and diligent. Now you have a rough idea of my qualifications, so let’s move on to the next point, which actually is the “hard” part.
The “Hard” Part
The hard part of getting a work permit in Thailand is finding a company that is willing to hire you AND is willing to go through the process of registering you at the Ministry of Labour. This is the most difficult part. If you are a foreigner, you need to have a work permit to work in Thailand. This is the law.
First of all, you need to find a company that wants to hire you. For this point, your qualifications are very important. You have to have at least a bachelor’s degree and two years of working experience in a related field in most cases. There are some exceptions where you don’t need a bachelor’s degree but five years of working experience and some clear skills that can’t be offered by a Thai person. So if you are doing just “okayish” at work and have no special or rare skill set, it will be a lot harder for you to find a company that is willing to hire you. But if you have a nice resume, good work certificates, and a good bachelor’s degree, it will be a lot easier for you.
Once you find a company that is willing to hire you, you can find out easily if the company is serious or not. If the company is serious and reliable, there will be no discussion about the work permit, and the company will take care of everything. If the company is not serious, they will tell you to care for the work permit yourself or offer you some shady solutions like working without a work permit. In this case, you should not accept the job offer since this can get you into a lot of trouble.
The Process after Getting the Job
So, when you find a company that is willing to hire you and goes through the process of registering you at the Ministry of Labour, you are almost done. The company will take care of everything. You just need to provide some documents like your bachelor’s degree, your work certificates, and some other documents. The company will take care of the rest. They will fill out some forms, pay some fees, and wait for the work permit to be issued. This can take some time, but if the company is serious, they will take care of everything, and you don’t need to worry about anything.
In my case, I was on a tourist visa when I found the job. Before I started working, I had to leave the country and apply for a Non-Immigrant B visa at the embassy in a neighboring country. The documents for this visa and the flight to the neighboring country were paid for by the company. This visa allows you to work in Thailand for a limited amount of time without a work permit while the work permit is being issued. The visa lasted for 90 days, and I had to apply for a work permit within this time. After around 70 days, the work permit was issued, and I had an appointment with the company’s lawyer to get the work permit and the visa extension.
During the whole process, I didn’t have to talk with the immigration office or the Ministry of Labour. The company took care of everything. I just had to provide some documents and wait for the work permit to be issued.
Why I Think Getting The Work Permit is Not Hard, If…
So, why do I think that getting a work permit in Thailand is not hard? Because if you have the right qualifications and find a serious company that is willing to hire you, the company will take care of everything.
I think the most crucial part of the whole thing is that you need to have the right qualifications. But this is not only the case in Thailand. Everywhere in the world, even in your home country, you need to have the right qualifications to get a job. The good thing about this is that even if you don’t have the right qualifications, you can always work on them. You can get a bachelor’s degree, you can get some work experience, and you can get some certificates. This is all in your hands. You can work on your qualifications and improve them.
And once you have the right qualifications, everything else will be a lot easier. Not just in Thailand, but everywhere in the world.
Conclusion
Getting a work permit in Thailand is not hard if you have the right qualifications and find a serious company that is willing to hire you. If you have the right qualifications, you can find a job in Thailand, and the company will take care of everything. You just need to provide some documents and wait for the work permit to be issued.
So please do not be discouraged by what other people say. Most people who say that it is hard to get a work permit in Thailand just don’t have the right qualifications. Getting a job in Thailand is not different from getting a job in any other country. You need to bring some unique value to a company, and the company will hire you.
I hope this article was helpful for you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me on Threads or Instagram. I will try to answer them as well as I can.