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ResourcesCorporate and Tax AdvisoryThailand Corporate LawDo "Sponsored Work Permits" Violate Thai Recruitment Laws?

Do "Sponsored Work Permits" Violate Thai Recruitment Laws?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing so-called "Sponsored Work Permits". I have made a number of videos on this topic and people have asked me "why?" It is because I really am trying to keep people informed and I am also wanting to keep people from getting into a situation where they may find themselves in a precarious set of circumstances that it may be difficult to extricate themselves out of. This notion of a "sponsored work permit" is kind of an empty term.  It doesn't really mean anything. All Work Permits are sponsored. It seems to be coming up in the context of folks who are trying to get into Thailand that can't otherwise fit in to a category and they are pretextually or pretensively being sponsored for a Work Permit for a company that really doesn't plan to actually utilize their labour. For this reason, it is a real problem. I have gotten into other videos made contemporaneously with this one where we talk about possible Immigration fraud things like that. In this video, we are talking about it specifically from the possibility that it may violate Thai recruitment law. There are specific laws regarding recruitment companies. In order to act as a recruiter in Thailand, one actually needs to have a recruiting license. There are actually specific parameters and we have assisted clients with this over the years but there are specific licensing requirements associated with recruitment in Thailand.

In a recent announcement on the website of the Philippine Embassy, this is www.gov.ph, and the announcement is titled: Illegal Recruitment of Filipinos to Thailand. Quoting directly: "The Embassy has received several reports of Filipino nationals who are recruited in the Philippines with promises of job placements, supposedly in Thailand or in other countries, but were subsequently left abandoned by their recruiters in Bangkok." Quoting further: "All victims of illegal recruitment are encouraged to file formal complaints at the Embassy." I have seen a number of Philippine nationals who have, in fact they have contacted me and asked me about this notion of "sponsored work permit" and it is my understanding they don't really understand what this means. I fail to understand fully what the term means. 

Long story short, if you are using a travel document and you are using it pretensively, you are not using it for the purposes you claim or you are making up a reason for getting a Visa or travel document that is never a good idea. It can be construed as fraud and it can be construed as being in violation of various laws notably here in Thailand. 

In an article from back in 2019 I thought was interesting: Myanmar Woman Arrested for Trafficking. This is from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, quoting directly: "A 37 year old Myanmar woman was arrested earlier this month at a home in Samut Songkhram on charges of human trafficking and providing shelter to illegal migrants in an extended probe into human trafficking ring, Police said. The arrest was announced on Friday at a press conference by the Immigration Bureau." I bring this up because Thai Immigration does take notions of illegal Immigration and "human trafficking" seriously. It is why they have recruitment licensing. So again, those who are looking to use travel documentation or communicating with those who are saying they can issue travel documentation for an illicit purpose or for a fraudulent purpose, for a purpose that is not in line with the actual situation, it is a good idea to perhaps refrain from engaging in that activity in the future.