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ResourcesThailand Criminal LawCriminal Jurisprudence Thailand"Criminal Influencers" Targeted in Thailand?

"Criminal Influencers" Targeted in Thailand?

Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing so-called criminal influencers here in Thailand. Let's just jump in. Phuket News, thephuketnews.com, the article is titled: 12 arrested in Phuket Immigration sweep. Quoting directly: "Phuket Immigration have arrested a dozen foreigners found violating the Immigration Act or working illegally in a series of inspections carried out over two weeks." 

I urge those who are watching this video, check out that article in detail because it goes kind of a different direction. I'm going to quote a small excerpt here. Quoting directly: "Phuket Immigration Police Colonel Kriangkrai Arayaying said that Officers' efforts will continue with a focus on foreign nationals operating illegal businesses acting as criminal influencers, or engaging in 'gang related' activities." I don't know the exact context under which that statement was noted, again it sort of passed on translated into English, but I sort of grappled on to if you will the kind of like social media aspect to that. People have asked me what do I think of social media folk being out here? One I think it's rather silly. A lot of these people who have been here all of virtually no time at all and they go around making these videos telling everybody how the world works here in Thailand, I think that's kind of silly. I will say also what I have said in the past is a lot of folks are engaging in work in Thailand; it is being clearly documented by dint of the fact that they are engaging in making things like YouTube videos, TikTok videos, whatever and doing that from Thailand and that's clearly working in Thailand and they're not getting work authorization. So that in and of itself can be problematic. I had some other social media influencer, YouTuber tell me just this morning that I'm somehow running around fear-mongering in my own way. I don't know why people say that, but fine. If that's what people think of me. Look I've been doing this for eight years, I'm not going to stop and frankly I’d like to think I'm trying to get information out there to people that is useful to them. You all called me a fearmonger when I brought up the fact that the income affidavit was ending; I gave you notice of it before it happened. You all called me crazy, and you called me all kinds of names out on the street, out in the comments of these videos and whatever else. I don't know what you want me to do for you at the end of the day. My free information isn't enough? I get emails from people that give me all kinds of terrible grief because I want to charge for my services. I mean what are we at now? 7,000 videos on this channel, and all I've tried to do is provide information and insight to people who want to work here, and all I get in response is a bunch of grief and being called a fearmonger. I don't really enjoy that. Meanwhile people come here and engage in clearly illegal things, do stuff completely outside of work authorization, not a word is said to those people. But the minute I meet people, "oh I'm a fearmonger!" Well, whatever, fine. 

Look at the end of the day, the reason I'm making this video is I don't think they use this language on accident when they're talking about criminal influencers. Take it for what you want. If all you people out on the internet want to think I'm just sitting here fear-mongering fine, but I think my track record has shown that I've tried to give people at least a heads up to possible problems here in the Kingdom of Thailand.