Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the issue of “taking Thai jobs”, so what we are talking about here is work authorization in Thailand, visas and immigration. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Phuket up in arms on long-stay visa, and quoting directly: Quote: "This is contrary to Thailand and Phuket's aim to secure high-quality tourists over quantity," said Mr. Thaneth. This policy leaves a loophole for foreigners to conduct illegal actions, such as working or doing business without permits, he said, or buying several condo units and renting them out to short-stay tourists." The point is and the emphasis is on "working or doing business without permits". You will see a lot of analysis out there in the ether of the internet and I really love how everybody during the good times becomes such an expert on Immigration and it's crickets when things like COVID happen and all hell breaks loose, so take what you read in some of these forums with a grain of salt. But what is one like prevailing or like continuously recurring theme with regard to work authorization in Thailand is folks will say, "oh, they only care if they think you're taking a Thai job." That's not the analysis at all. It's a national sovereignty matter, and as Mr. Anutin, the now presumptive new Prime Minister, currently caretaker Prime Minister, as he and his party came in on a wave of overwhelming national support for matters pertaining to national sovereignty, I think it's probably important for the foreign community to really understand at a really, if not detailed then call it minute level, that we are not talking about anybody saying, "oh are you specifically taking a Thai's job?" No. The issue is that Thailand, in the mind of Thais, is for the Thais and only Thais can work in Thailand; that's the presumption. And they view it as a national sovereignty matter.

And when you read the rest of this article talking about Phuket up in arms over these long-stay visas, the concerns being voiced are along the same line. They are concerned about, for lack of a better term, being overrun by a bunch of foreigners who are then going to drive up property prices, take away jobs, cause overall problems, being what we would call in this “new speak” of our language, "disruptive" to the overall, not economy, it's not about all business, it is not only about economics. It was like when Anutin was talking about the Border deal, and he said "hey, not everything is a business deal; this is just our national sovereignty we are talking about." This is in a similar vein to that and again if it's viewed as being too disruptive, I could see where certain policies could be turned around. Do I think that's going to happen necessarily? No, but if things move a certain way and it is viewed as something of a threat to folks in the local economy in Thailand - and I again I don't mean that in the sense of purely "oh, you are taking a Thai's job" - again being overrun by people that aren't from here who are just now here doing whatever they want; that can bother locals, and I can understand why. And by the way, many people who are coming to Thailand, are coming from places where they have already experienced these problems. So it's not like this is something that is misunderstood or "oh my God, we've never heard of this issue before." Yeah, it's a prevailing issue.

But the thing to take away from this video, the analysis that "oh it's just about taking Thai jobs" don't look at it like that. It doesn't go far enough, and it doesn't allow you to understand the underlying reasons for the policies pertaining to Immigration and Work Authorization here in the Kingdom of Thailand.