Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Representative Offices in Thailand. I recently got some correspondence from a viewer and just quoting directly: "What is a Representative Office and what kind of work authorization applies to a foreigner working in such an office?" 

Now first off, I have done another video contemporaneously with this one where we discuss what a Rep. Office is. In short, it is a very limited entity, it can't do a lot. It is not like a standard company; it is not even really like a Branch Office. I kind of analogize it to a company planting its flag in Thailand. In a sense, it is just letting folks know they are there. As discussed in the other video, oftentimes we see this in the context of quality control. 

Now the work authorization issues associated with Rep. Offices, I made videos on this going back a couple of, a few years now actually; it has been quite a while. There was a policy change it was kind of one of those "tragedy of good intention situations" where the policy makers here in Thailand decided that those working, foreign nationals working in a branch office as employees would still need Work Permits but Directors for example or the Manager, the person in charge of that Rep. Office if you will, did not need a Work Permit in Thailand. While on the one hand that is kind of a benefit; okay I don't need work authorization. On the other hand it had a lot of unintended consequences. We saw a lot of folks have real problems dealing with their Visa status because Work Permits are generally required on the Immigration side in order to maintain Visa status. There was just quite a bit of consternation when it came down the pipe. Truthfully we have dealt with a few Rep. Offices in the meantime and Work Permits associated with them but it is not something that actually is all that overly common. They are around but for the most part they are definitely more rare than just standard corporations or Branch Offices in Thailand. But yeah there are differences in Work Permit rules regarding Branch Offices most notably there are exemptions from needing a Work Permit as opposed to other types of entities. 

As stated in other videos and we will go ahead and I will try and get links to those videos in the description below but long story short, it was one of those situations where yes you didn't need a Work Permit but it caused some kind of unintended knock-on consequences that were in many ways kind of a negative thing for those looking to operate under a Rep. Office structure here in the Kingdom of Thailand.