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Thai Visas and Changes to Social Security Contributions

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Visas and for purposes of this video we are discussing basically Thai Business Visas as well as possibly Thai O Marriage Visas which are being used as platforms for work authorization and extension here in the Kingdom of Thailand.

In a recent article from the Bangkok Post, that is bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Cut Eyed for Worker SSF Portion. Quoting directly: "The Labour Ministry will seek Cabinet approval for a reduced contribution to the Social Security Fund by employers from 3% to 0.5% in February and March to ease the financial plight of employees affected by COVID-19." Quoting further: "Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin on Friday said the Board of Social Security office this week decided on a 0.5% reduction in contribution to the Social Security Fund, SSF, by about 11 million employees insured under the Social Security Act."  

So, this doesn't seem to at first glance directly pertain to Thai Visas but Thai Business Visas, O Visas in this case Marriage Visas which are being used as a platform for a Thai Work Permit, Social Security documentation pertains to your petition to be able to extend Business and O Visa status if you are maintaining a Work Permit in Thailand. As we have noted in other videos, there are ratios of Thai employees to foreign employees within a company. Within an SME, we generally see this being oftentimes the 4:1 ratio; one foreigner usually the director/owner of a company, and their four Thai employees who are basically requisite, and they generally work in the company, but the requisite ratio to maintain visa and work permit status long term and extension is 4:1. For this reason you need to be on top of the filing of one's Social Security contribution documentation because failure to be on top of it can lead to a situation where you are document deficient or you may end up in a situation where you don't have the requisite number of employees or the contribution calculation wasn't done correctly, and I am here to tell you Thai Immigration, when they are adjudicating matters of Immigration Extension, Visa status extension, they are looking very carefully at Social Security documentation.

For this reason this change in contribution can have an indirect but substantial impact on Business and O Visa Extensions down the road and if you don't stay on top of the filing of this documentation, it can be a real problem when you are looking to extend your status here in the Kingdom of Thailand.