Bonus benefit added for ‘smart visa’ holders
Foreign specialists and investors in 10 targeted industries who have four-year “smart visas” will not need work permits to have secondary jobs in Thailand.
Lt General Werachon Sukondhapatipak, deputy spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, said a Labour Ministry proposal had been approved to let the visa holders to have a side line outside their registered fields.
Their spouses, if they’ve been in Thailand at least one year, and their children over 18 will be allowed to earn wages without a work permit in professions not reserved for Thais.
Werachon said the objective was to promote investment and attract highly skilled professionals to work in the targeted industries.
The smart visa introduced in February 2018, a considerable convenience compared to the usual 90-day visa required, is available for four categories of foreigners involved in the targeted “First S-Curve” (Thai-based) industries and “New S-Curve” industries.
Eligible are people in specialised fields who earn at least Bt200,000 a month and have contracts of at least one year, people who invest at least Bt20 million in the targeted industries or in companies that invest, and corporate executives working in targeted industries, earn at least Bt200,000 a month and have at least 10 years’ experience.
First S-Curve industries include the next-generation automotive, smart electronics, medical/wellness tourism, “food for the future”, and agriculture/biotechnology industries.
New S-Curve industries are automation and robotics, aviation and logistics, biochemicals and eco-friendly petrochemicals, digital businesses and medical hubs.