Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing visa revocation associated with working illegally in Thailand. I thought it making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Crackdown on illegal work results in over 140 arrests. Quoting directly: "Since February, authorities have revoked 250 visas linked to Illegal employment, he said. Immigration officials are also working with Grab, Bolt and LINE MAN to prevent foreign workers from using Thai accounts unlawfully. "Misuse of identities is a serious offense and will be prosecuted," he warned." 

Yeah, recently, we did a video here recently where issues pertaining to corporate ownership of land came up and the issue was people using other people's Thai ID cards in sort of a nominee scheme. Identity documentation seems to be increasingly of concern especially if it pertains to foreign nationals and especially as it pertains to foreign nationals who might be using Thai identities in multiple different ways as sort of a front or pretense in order to engage in activity that is illegal, so be it illegal work or illegal ownership in certain types of corporations, certain types of land that is held through corporations, again, these are things that Thai Law Enforcement is very concerned about and illegal working in Thailand is something that they are concerned about as well. I urge those who are watching this video, go check out that article in detail because they go through the fact that there is an ongoing crackdown with respect to working in Thailand, especially working illegally, and working in occupations reserved and restricted exclusively to Thais. Again, this isn't something that folks should just sort of brush off.

I know that that is a tendency in the foreign community; I've known it for years. The fact of the matter is you need to keep a close eye on your work authorization if you're going to work here at all. Don't play cute with it; don't try to sort of work around things. You are either working legally in Thailand or you're not. That means you either have a Work Permit, or you don't; that's basically what it comes down to. The thing to take away from this video and understand is again law enforcement increasingly has had a paradigm shift from Immigration as an administrative function to Immigration as a law enforcement function, to now Immigration matters being viewed or being thought of at least to my mind, and I think in the minds of many Thais especially in the aftermath of the conflict along the border this summer, that Immigration matters pertain to National Security. And this is even viewed that way in an economic context as again Thailand has put in place a number of measures to insulate and protect their local labour force. This is an example; this crackdown is an example of the law enforcement activities undertaken in order to basically deal with the problem of working or workers working illegally in Thailand. 

Is this going to stop? I would say, I think, based on my experience, this is about the time of year, about March going into April, especially after Songkran when folks here in Thailand, especially law enforcement, start looking at cracking down on Immigration especially after we've gotten past the traditional high season going into the traditional low season, is kind of the time when they sort of start parsing or sifting out the folks that are just here as tourists and those that are here trying to either live here or make a living here, and if you're in the latter category, you need to be in proper Immigration status. And if you are going to be trying to make a living in Thailand working in Thailand, you need to be in work authorization status lest you find yourself arrested and possibly deported from the Kingdom of Thailand.