Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing matters pertaining to deportation from Thailand. I made another video contemporaneously with this point - it was actually an ALERT - because this is serious stuff. We are seeing the immigration system fundamentally changing right now folks, fundamentally changing. As we will get into, these deportation rules that they are bringing online are the first of their kind. Thailand has never had codified regulations pertaining to deportation; they basically handled it in an ad-hoc manner in the past. What does this mean? I think it means we are going to see heightened scrutiny of foreigners across the board in Thailand, specifically in certain areas which I will get into now here. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from Khaosod English, that is khaosodenglish.com, the article is titled: Cabinet approves Thailand's first deportation regulations, identifying six grounds for removal. 

Very quickly before I get into the substance of this, I've had folks in correspondence say to me, "hey, how can we support you? We know your channel is not monetized," or they'll say "hey, we don't need to avail ourselves of a lawyer right now, but we appreciate the information you put out." As I have discussed in other videos, my better half and I set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok. The name is Pancake Palace, as the name implies, breakfast anytime as well as American Diner style food. So if folks are interested in things like American breakfast, we also have an English breakfast on the menu, pancakes, French toast, we've also got hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chilli dogs, chili bowls; we've got chicken wings, we have got really great buffalo wings, we have really great chilli. We've also got grilled cheese, we have got pork chops, we've got Coke in glass bottles, we've got adult beverages at our bar. If you are interested, check out the link in the description below and come see us there. 

That said, let's jump in here to Khaosod English, quoting directly: "The Cabinet has approved draft regulations establishing a formal process for deporting foreign nationals who enter, work or conduct business in Thailand illegally, as well as those convicted of serious crimes. Government spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said the Cabinet approved the draft Prime Minister's Office regulation on deportation during its meeting on Tuesday, following a proposal submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt. The regulations identify six categories of offences that may warrant deportation when authorities consider removal necessary to protect public order and public morality. They apply to foreign nationals who:”

So, moving forward, and this is important to understand, this has not existed heretofore. Moving forward, this is the framework, this is the rule of thumb for understanding what can get someone deported from Thailand. Quoting directly: 

"They apply to foreign nationals who:

1. Enter or remain in Thailand illegally." Okay, so if you enter illegally - obviously; if you go into overstay – obviously, you are subject to deportation. I have discussed this other videos. Those who are even on overstay by one day, if they are apprehended in Thailand, would be subject to a 5-year ban. The overstay sort of durations, it starts at 90 days overstay gets you a blacklist time period and it goes up from there. But even one day, if you are apprehended in Thailand, you can be deported and blacklisted for five years, just based on that alone. That said, quoting further: 

2. Work in Thailand in violation of laws governing foreign employment." This is really important. I may make another standalone video about this alone, that now, as part of the deportation criteria, as one of the if you will reasons for deporting somebody, working illegally is one of them. And again, notice what they are saying, "in violation of the laws governing foreign employment”. You may have a Work Permit but if you are engaged in something that is a restricted occupation - which I've discussed at length many times on this channel before - you can be deported for that, it looks like summarily. Again, it remains to be seen how this plays out, but these are the criteria that are being laid out now here at the beginning regarding how one can be deported from Thailand. Quoting further:

3. Conduct business in Thailand in violation of the Foreign Business Act." Again, that could be construed quite broadly and again we could see a number of folks deported. I am starting to wonder if this is being rolled out in conjunction with the nominee crackdown and we are going to start seeing in a lot of these nominee cases if convictions occur, we start seeing subsequent deportations on top of the conviction for the underlying issues associated with nominees and associated with restricted occupation violations. That said, quoting further: 

4. Forge official documents or use forged government documents." Well yeah. Now that sounds self-evident, but we have seen situations in the past where people in good faith have thought that they have visa stamps, but it turns out they are fake and then in the aftermath of that, they end up getting deported; it's not a situation one wants to find oneself in. Quoting further: 

5. Commit an offense carrying a prison sentence of 3 years or more." Again, the moment at which somebody is convicted of a crime in Thailand, in and of itself that can be deemed to be a threat to public health and safety, a threat to national security. Under the Immigration Act itself of '79, that makes that person deportable. Now whether or not they would be deported was left to some level of discretion; no longer. You could be punished by three years or more in terms of prison time. That in and of itself seems to trigger now an automatic deportation under these rules as they are coming online. Quoting further: 

6. Act as principle, instigator or supporter of any of the above offenses." Now that's getting into the area of something, I would analogize that to like RICO Statues in the United States; something akin to Enterprise Corruption where you can't quite put your finger on the person that is sort of operating an illegal operation. But now they are simply saying look, "principle, instigator or supporter." I mean that's a pretty vague notion.  

So again, the thing to take away from this video is one, Thai Immigration is increasingly taking violations of Thai Law very, very seriously, especially as it pertains to working in Thailand. And in the past, where deportation had been an ad hoc matter, now it is being codified, which leaves me to believe that in the future, we are going to see more stringent application of deportation, which means we could see more deportees as this goes on. 

Now again, it remains to be seen how this plays out, so we will certainly keep folks updated on this channel as the situation evolves.