Transcripts of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing foreign condos in Thailand Airbnb and Work Permits. I'm going to go ahead and put a link to a YouTube video in the description below I should say. I got a recent email from a viewer, quoting directly: "Hey Ben, might be a cool thing to talk about, and he sent the link: Airbnb lock box is getting attention from news law enforcement. Also shows how Thai News reporters operate and then he goes on to say, "Timestamps, at the 5.19-mark, filming people opening the lock boxes, presumably tourist renters, 6-minute mark, interviewing either an owner or designated cleaner/worker and at the 8-minute 11 mark, reporter trying to open all the lock boxes." I went ahead and watched this with English subtitles on. If you sit me down and make me listen to the Thai I can get the gist of what's going on, but it's moving fast enough, I really needed the subtitles. 

That said, I urge those who are watching this video go check out that link to see sort of what's going on over there. You can turn on the subtitles as well and get a better idea of what's going on there. We have discussed this in other videos. Airbnb is a tricky thing here in Thailand; it's basically illegal for all practical purposes. Now that said, we've done the videos in the past. It really comes down to the issue of renting and how long you're renting and basically the presumption is that there's a minimum rental period of 30 days here in Thailand which effectively nullifies the legality of Airbnb. That said, there are other issues associated with even renting a condo here in Thailand. As we have discussed in past videos, renting itself can be construed - and I've actually dealt with practitioners here in the Thai arena that have dealt with this issue in court and dealt with Labour Department on it - where renting a Thai condo is in and of itself considered a service activity that requires work authorization. So, on top of everything else, the illegality if you will of Airbnb, you have also got work authorization issues associated with renting out a condo. Long story short, there may be circumstances where one can rent their condo, especially long-term rentals here in Thailand are going to be a possibility.

That said, one should not presume that they can utilize Airbnb in Thailand in the same manner that they would utilize it in other jurisdictions; that's a presumption not to make. Again, I've made videos on that, they are on this channel, we've discussed that at length in the past. On top of that, foreigners need to be aware specifically that although they can own condos in Thailand which as we have discussed, pursuant to the Condominium Act, so long as it meets the requirements of the Act and the foreign quota is not met with a given condo complex, yes it is possible for a foreigner to own in Freehold what we would call Fee Simple Absolute in the American legal vernacular, it is possible for foreigners to own such property i.e. condos in Freehold in Thailand. Now renting on an Airbnb basis may not be possible, again depending on the circumstances, length of stay etc. Then on top of that, for those who are not work authorized in Thailand, that can be its own issue with renting one's condo here in the Kingdom of Thailand.