From the People We Have Worked With
A selection of accounts from employers and employees who have used Mekong Counsel's work permit services. We have included a range of cases and perspectives.
Back to Home640+
Permits Filed
11+
Years in Practice
4.8
Average Rating
85+
Employer Clients
Selected Accounts
Siriporn Kanchanawat
HR Director · Manufacturing firm, Bangkok
We were managing five foreign employees with work permits expiring at different times and no system in place. The Compliance Programme they built for us gave us a proper renewal calendar and template files we could actually use. The handover briefing was clear — our HR officer had never dealt with permit filings before but was confident to take over after that session.
April 2025
Marcus Weidemann
Regional Director · Technology company, Watthana
I came to Mekong Counsel after a difficult experience with a general law firm where my permit application sat for three weeks without movement. The difference here was immediate — I received a document checklist within a day, the file was submitted within the week, and the permit was issued about nine days later. No drama. The quarterly updates during my visa renewal were also a genuine convenience.
March 2025
Lê Thanh Hương
Software Engineer · Individual applicant
I needed a work permit for a new employer and was concerned about timing — I had a start date I needed to meet. They were straightforward about the timeline from the beginning, which I appreciated. The permit came through in time. The only thing I would mention is that the employer documentation took slightly longer to gather than expected on my employer's side, but the Mekong Counsel team followed up proactively so nothing stalled.
April 2025
Ravi Nambiar
Finance Manager · BOI-promoted company
Our BOI case involved three authorities and a documentation file that was more involved than a standard application. Mekong Counsel managed the whole coordination — I did not need to understand which office required what. The written updates every quarter were useful, especially since the review period was longer than expected. Ultimately issued without problems.
March 2025
Anchalee Phongphan
Operations Manager · Trading company, Silom
We had a single foreign staff member on a business visa who needed to convert to a work permit quickly. The process was explained clearly at the first consultation and the document checklist they sent was precise. I did not need to ask what to collect — it was all listed with notes on format and copies required. Efficient from start to finish.
April 2025
Dmitri Korolev
General Manager · Manufacturing, Eastern Seaboard
The Employer Compliance Programme was a reasonable investment. We had been filing permits informally and were not certain we were meeting all the employer-side requirements. The handbook they produced clarified several things we had been handling incorrectly — particularly around the Thai-to-foreign staff ratio documentation. I would have preferred a slightly faster turnaround on the initial programme, but the output was thorough.
March 2025
Client Journeys in Detail
Technology Firm: Building a Permit System From Scratch
The Situation
A Bangkok-based software development company had grown from two to eight foreign staff over two years. Permits had been applied for on an ad-hoc basis by different managers and the company had no standard documentation, no renewal schedule, and limited understanding of its obligations as an employer of foreign nationals.
The Engagement
The Employer Compliance Programme was engaged. We audited the existing permits, prepared standardised document templates for the company's common hiring profile, wrote an internal handbook covering employer obligations, and produced a twelve-month renewal calendar covering all eight current permits. The HR officer received a handover briefing session of approximately two hours.
The Outcome
The company renewed four permits in the following quarter using its own templates, requiring external support only for one case that had an unusual employer documentation requirement. The HR officer managed the other three independently. Two potential lapses that had not been tracked were identified and renewed in time.
"We went from having no process at all to having something HR could actually use. The templates saved considerable time on the next set of renewals." — HR Director
BOI Entity: Senior Executive Relocation
The Situation
A regional headquarters of a European manufacturer, holding BOI promotion, was relocating a senior operations director from Germany to Bangkok. The company's legal team had limited experience with the Thai BOI one-stop service and had previously encountered delays by submitting incomplete files at the Immigration Bureau.
The Engagement
The Senior Executive and Specialist engagement was selected. We prepared a tailored documentation file for the director's executive-level profile, coordinated the non-immigrant B visa and work permit applications together at the BOI one-stop service centre, and provided quarterly written updates during the six-week review period. Liaison with the company's HR team in Germany for notarised documents was handled directly.
The Outcome
Work permit and visa issued without a request for supplementary documentation. The director began his Bangkok assignment on the agreed date. Renewal was scheduled twelve months ahead with advance notification set at 60 days, as the permit was tied to his non-immigrant B visa expiry.
"The coordination with our team in Germany was something we had not expected them to take on. It removed what would have been a significant administrative burden on our side." — Country HR Manager
Small Firm: First Foreign Hire
The Situation
A small Bangkok trading company was taking on its first foreign employee — a Japanese national joining as a senior sales representative. The company had never filed a work permit and the directors were uncertain about what the employer's legal obligations would be after the permit was issued.
The Engagement
The Single Work Permit Application engagement was selected. We reviewed the company's existing registration documents, identified a gap in the shareholder list format that would have caused a rejection, and requested the corrected version before filing. The permit was submitted and issued within two and a half weeks of engagement start.
The Outcome
Permit issued on schedule. The directors received a written summary of employer obligations alongside the permit — covering the requirement to notify the Department of Employment of any change in the employee's role, salary, or employer — which they described as something they had not known about before.
"We had no idea the employer had ongoing obligations after the permit was issued. The summary they provided was genuinely useful." — Company Director
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