Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are asking the question, are the Thai Police keeping an eye on certain influencers? I have done a lot of videos on this in the past. I find it really interesting and I've also found it really interesting, a lot of YouTubers and people that see me on YouTube and stuff, have kind of gotten this I don't know negative attitude toward me and then they sort of try to burn me with, "well where's all the crackdown on the influencers, Ben?" Hey that's not how it works in Thailand okay? Things move in their own time frame; they move on their own cadence. I can just give the warnings to folks; I'm not out here saying I know the end result, I know the conclusion, that it's a foregone conclusion that certain things are going to happen, that's not what I'm saying, but I can just tell you based on my prior experience, when you start to see certain trends, you can make certain inferences. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Police Chief mum about 'Big Joke' dismissal. As we have discussed in other videos, there's a lot going on with the "Big Joke" situation. I am going to do another video, a sort of roundup on what's going on on that here shortly. That said, I urge those who are watching this video, go read that article in detail. It goes into primarily a different thrust, a different direction than what we're going to go to in this video but it is worth a read for those who want to keep abreast of what's going on here. That said, quoting directly: "Police General Torsak", that's Torsak Sukvimol, he's the current Head of the Royal Thai Police, "Police General Torsak said the force was preparing to crack down further on drug trafficking and was keeping a close watch on a certain group of influencers whose work was seen as encouraging illegal activity." 

As we discussed in prior videos, look, so-called fake lawyers and all kinds of quite honestly fly-by-night operators out here in Thailand who seem to think they can just sort of flout all the rules with regard to restricted occupations, that's one area where I suspect Thai Law Enforcement are going to be focusing a great deal of scrutiny upon in coming months and weeks. Moreover, on top of that as I have discussed in other videos, a lot of influencers over here who engage in restricted occupations or completely work without Work Permits, I think are also going to be of increasing concern to Law Enforcement in Thailand. 

So that said, the reason for this video is more or less to provide something of an alert if you will, a warning to folks who are in the expat community here in Thailand, especially newer people who seem to think that because the internet community, be it the social media community milieu, whatever you want to call it, operates a certain way, does not mean Thailand and Thai Law Enforcement operate within those same parameters. So this is something to bear in mind for those who are looking not only to move to Thailand, but for those who are already here and think that well just because they are sort of getting away with something, necessarily implies that they are going to continue to do so into the future. I saw this same kind of paradigm maintained by those prior to major crackdowns with respect to Immigration. People said "ah they are never going to change the overstay rules", it happened! I remember people burning me when I made videos about the possible end to the Income Affidavit associated with Retirement Visas. "Never going to happen, you're a fear monger for bringing it up." It happened, okay? Again I'm not saying this is a foregone conclusion nor that this is going to happen tomorrow, nor that every single person out there who's operating outside the parameters of the Law are necessarily all going to be caught. But that said, when the Head of the Police specifically comes out and notes that they are taking stock of certain "influencers" here in Thailand, that's something that the social media community - especially those who operate actively in the social media community and may make their living from the social media community - that is something those folks should be well aware of.