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As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing foreigners being taken in a custody for Work Permit violations. For those who are unaware, foreign nationals here in Thailand are required to have work authorization in order to engage in employment or work-related activity, and the definition of work in Thailand is quite broad.

So foreigners it is not something you want to try to tiptoe around in terms of trying to circumvent the laws on foreign Work Permits here in Thailand; it's just not something you want to do as evidenced by a recent article in the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Myanmar builders arrested for illegal contracting on Koh Phangan. "They were taken into custody on Saturday in response to complaints by Thai contractors on the southern tourist island of illegal competition from foreigners. Construction contracting is one of the occupations reserved for Thais."

Yeah, there is a real trend to this and it seems to down in the southern islands, Samui, Koh Phangan as well as Surat Thani, there seems to be a lot of consternation that is now currently also rising among the Thai Community, the local Thai Community, from a number of foreigners who are going down there and it seems like trying to legally take possession of land as well as engage in all types of violations of restricted occupations here in Thailand and Thais are getting pretty upset about it; authorities are having a look down there. Now it looks like there are issues associated with the construction trades. 

Again if you are a foreigner coming to Thailand, the proper thing to do is to come here and get properly work authorized and there is a way to do that. Oftentimes it involves company set up. Depending on the underlying facts in your given situation there may be other options. That said, you have to have express work authorization to engage in certain activities, to engage in any kind of employment activity here in Thailand. On top of that, certain activities may be further restricted to Thais only as evidenced in this situation, because construction again is considered a heavily restricted occupation here in Thailand. So this is something you have to think about as a foreigner looking to come here. It is definitely a good idea if you are looking to work here to look into getting a Work Permit. 

For those who feel a bit overwhelmed by all the data associated with this stuff, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.