Skilled labor shortage/BoI visa approval

Chatrudee Theparat

The Board of Investment (BoI) approved for visas and work permits to more than 56,000 of talented and high-potential foreigners via One Stop Service Center (OSS). 

Narit Terdsatheerasakdi, secretary-general of the BoI, revealed that Thailand is considered an important destination for high potential foreigners with special skills, who want to work in Thailand and foreign investors. 

Thailand is likely to receive more attention amid the geopolitical conflict, and the trend of moving production bases globally, caused by the world conflicts.   

“Those foreign talent groups play an important role in working with Thai human resources which can strengthen Thai competitiveness to transform to the new economy," he said.

Narit Terdsatheerasakdi

Currently, there are more than 56,000 foreign talents in Thailand, most of them are from Japan, China, India, Taiwan and South Korea. BoI approved them through the Visa and Work Permit Service Center ( One Stop Service) on the 18th floor of Chamchuri Square building, which provides comprehensive services, including providing services through the online single window, with a cooperation between BOI, the Immigration Bureau and the Ministry of Labor.

In addition, there are foreigners who have been approved under the SMART Visa, which is a visa to attract highly skilled personnel to work and develop targeted industries that are driven by technology and innovation. They included startup groups of 2,170 people in total. Most of them are from the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.

For the Long-Term Resident Visa (LTR Visa) which is the latest measure that the government has assigned the BoI to take into an responsible agency. The policy is aimed to attract 4 groups of high-potential foreigners in Thailand, including specialists, people who want to work from Thailand, people with high wealth, and retired people. 

They are eligible to stay in Thailand for 10 years, with no limit on the number of times for entry. They are also allowed to enjoy the flat rate of 17% of personal income tax, and a relaxation of the period for reporting to the Immigration Bureau from every normal 90 days to once in Thailand.

Currently, the BoI approved a total of 4,000 people for LTR Visas. They are from the United States with 791, followed by 479 of Russia, 322 of the UK, 277 of Chinese, 236 of German, 207 of Japan and  198 of French.

In the past, the BoI has granted such visas to a group of experts and senior executives from leading world-class organizations. They are investors or established offices in Thailand such as Seagate technology, Robert Bosch Automotive Technologies , Delta Electronics, Murata electronics, IHI Power system, Ducati Motor, and Amazon Data Services.

Smart Visa and LTR Visa are considered an important tool to attract foreigners with special skills to work in the long term. To stimulate investment in targeted industries, driving for technology transfer and strengthening the country's competitiveness.