Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing, well a foreigner working illegally in Thailand, specifically in real estate. I thought of making this video after reading a recent posting on Facebook from the Thaiger, quoting directly: “Chon Buri Immigration police arrested a 43-year-old Chinese woman in Sri Racha on May 19 for working illegally as a land broker. Officers raided a property where the suspect was meeting seven Chinese investors to sign land sale agreements. Investigators discovered the woman entered Thailand on a Tourist Visa and lacked a Work Permit. Selling land is a profession reserved for Thai citizens under national law.”

All matters pertaining to agency and brokerage, pertaining to anything, is in the restricted occupations. Specifically with regard to land or real estate, again that is even more restricted. I have discussed this in many other videos. It is a serious problem over here in Thailand but obviously, one law enforcement is really cracking down on.

That said, quoting further: “The suspect faces charges of working without a permit and performing a restricted occupation. Penalties include fines of 5,000 to 50,000 baht, deportation, and a two-year ban on Work Permits.”

So, yeah, it is not insignificant. I imagine this person will probably most likely be deported and I suspect probably blacklisted, and quite frankly, as I have discussed in other videos, it is unfortunate but there is a rash of this stuff going on in Thailand where foreigners just think that they can kind of flout Thai law especially as it comes to the restricted occupations. And as I have stated also in other videos, they are cracking down on so-called nominee frameworks, especially again, as it pertains to real estate. If you can’t pick up the sort of underlying theme here, it is that not only are the Thais concerned about folks working illegally in Thailand, but they are acutely concerned about foreigners engaging in occupations that specifically can encumber real estate, property here in Thailand. I don’t suspect that this is going to abate. If anything, under this new government, I expect that we are going to see more law enforcement activities such as this. That said, it remains to be seen exactly how this plays out so we will certainly be keeping folks updated on this channel as the situation evolves.