Transcript of the above video: 

There has been a lot of kind of confusion, consternation, honestly a lot of misinformation out there swirling in the ether of the internet which has become something of a cauldron at this point of just different data points and opinions, some of them valid some of them far less than valid, out there regarding new visas, new Immigration protocols, work authorization protocols, all kinds of things. That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Immigration and the new Government. Good information in there but I thought of making this video specifically after reading this small excerpt. Quoting directly: "The Visa is strictly," and the Visa being the so-called Destination or DTV, Destination Thailand Visa. "The Visa is strictly for remote workers with foreign clients. Any work for customers in Thailand requires a Work Permit, not the DTV."

I have discussed this in detail in prior videos; I don't know why but people seem to kind of have some issue with this. This has been clear from the get-go; this is not for work authorization in Thailand. Primarily what has happened and I have talked about this, in the past people would talk to me and they say "well I'm going to retire in Thailand, or I'm going to use a Spousal Visa or I may be there on a Tourist Visa or a Visa Exemption Stamp but I need to make calls back to my home office or I need to deal with emails or something of this nature for my home office." In the past, we had to say well look technically speaking that requires work authorization in Thailand. Now supposedly based on recent discussions and recent announcements, the DTV Visa does not require work authorization for those who are dealing with folks outside the country. I don't know where exactly they get the authority to do that because at the end of the day Labour Department is the one that has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to work authorization in Thailand, but let's set that issue aside and just look at it for what they're saying in their own announcements. And what they are saying is very clear. Work occurring in Thailand, for Thai entities, companies whatever, you need a work permit in Thailand, period, plain and simple. Again there has been this relaxation a little bit because in the modern world in which we live in, the notion that you can't take a phone call or a text message or an email to somebody outside the country, that's pretty stringent to say the least and it looks to me like they are trying to relax that. That said, as discussed a moment ago, I don't exactly see where they have the authority to do that legally and I expect we will probably see more clarification on that probably not to the liking of some people, but again remains to be seen. 

Long story short, one thing we do know for sure and one thing that people can be very, very clear on is if you are looking to work in Thailand you are going to need a Work Permit if you are a foreigner looking to engage in such employment here in the Kingdom of Thailand.

I'm going to do a quick bumper for a lot of these Immigration videos that we are going to be doing moving forward because there are a number of options that have come up here recently and unfortunately there has just been a lot of nonsensical talk throughout the ether of the internet as well as in even like the mainstream press; the print press has been talking a lot about Immigration and quite honestly, not all of the conclusions that they are drawing are correct. So the point of this bumper if you will, is for me to just kind of remind people, it is not a terrible idea to contact a legal professional who deals with Immigration on a regular basis because there are a number of options now available for foreigners looking to be in Thailand long- term. Some of them are going to be more optimal than others depending on your own circumstances.