Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing YouTubers and Tiktokers here in Thailand. Basically this is kind of one of those videos where you know I have done a number of these in the past where I have said "Hey bear in mind, content creation is something relatively new here in Thailand and as with most things, the law is always kind of lagging so we don't see the practical outcomes or I should say the practical implications of policy until sort of later; it sort of evolves over time.

The reason I thought of making this video was I read a recent article from Khao Sod English, that's khaosidenglish.com, the article is titled: Thai Police counter alleged Chinese content attacking Thailand. Quoting directly: "The Thai Police have responded to Chinese individuals creating content that portrays Thailand as dangerous. This comes after the Thai Government concluded such content negatively impacts Chinese tourists visiting Thailand." Quoting further: "The Police warn that spreading false information may lead to backlash and restrictions for those who present inaccurate portrayals." Quoting further: "Law Enforcement informs," Okay, so before I get into this, apparently there was a content creator a woman apparently of Chinese extraction, she came here and was apparently on the street and was sort of saying "oh this place that I am at doesn't appear to be particularly safe for a woman or something like this". Now I think that was, my personal opinion, I think her assessment was wrong. As I have said in many other videos, Thailand has very, very low crime rates but whatever. 

More to the point for purposes of this video is what I am going to quote here though. Quoting: "Law enforcement informs a woman that her online selling activities, live streaming in Thailand violate regulations governing the work of foreigners without permission." Quoting further: "Despite her denial, the police are gathering evidence to proceed with legal action including potential blacklisting." And as it noted in the article, she was in Thailand on a Thailand Privilege Visa. So again, like with usual, I urge those who are watching this video, go read that article in Khao Sod, they do a really good job; there's a lot of good detail in there. But this was a person that was on a Thailand Privilege Visa apparently and they were in Thailand, they made these videos; it got noticed and the Police are building a case based on Work Permit violations essentially. Because those in Thailand on Thailand Privilege Visa so called Elite Visa, that's not a work authorized Visa. So these activities, what was occurring online, are considered violation of the work authorization. Again I got kind of burned in comments when I talked about this in connection with YouTubers going back about 6 months ago but again I stand by what I said. Long term yes, Thai Immigration, Thai Authorities are aware of how the online economy works and they are also aware of their own laws regarding work authorization and they are going to sort of apply them accordingly. Quoting further: "Thai Authorities caution foreign content creators against generating negative and untrue content that impacts Thailand's tourism image. They emphasize the intention to pursue legal action for offenses related to misinformation and creating content to gain likes on social media." 

So again, on one level this is a Work Permit issue and then on another level there is also the issue of sort of damaging the reputation of Thailand in terms of Tourism. Both of these are priorities; they are both of concern to relevant Thai Authorities. So someone who is coming to Thailand who is a content creator, it's a good idea - it's one thing to come to Thailand and just make some content whatever, at the end of the day, free country, you can do what you want. But if you are gaining money off it or you are working, it is your livelihood, you could be straying over into an area where you are in violation of relevant Work Permit laws and then the other thing is I guess I would just look at it like this, maybe just think of being a gracious guest here in Thailand and if you come here, maybe not get off on sort of a rant or something about Thailand problems and things of this nature, trying to make Thailand look bad. Just generally speaking I would say that is not a particularly good idea.