Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are talking about illegal employment in Thailand. For those who are unaware, foreign nationals who come to Thailand are not allowed to work without proper work authorization. So if you come to Thailand just for example with a Thai Visa exemption stamp, you are not work authorized. Also retirees for that matter; people that retire in Thailand are not entitled to work authorization. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Thai Foreign Ministry Promotes e-Visa to streamline application process. I urge those who are watching this video, go read that article in detail because the thrust of it is very different than the topic in the excerpt we are going to quote. Quoting directly: "The Ministry and its Consulates do not limit the number of visas available to Chinese tourists or the number of times a tourist can be approved for a visa. However, checks are necessary to avoid misuse of the visa for illegal employment or other inappropriate activities." As we have discussed many times on this channel over the course of the past few years, the thinking on Immigration within both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Immigration Bureau within Thailand has taken a change and what I mean to say is it's changed insofar as the paradigm maintained by officials within both of those apparatuses has changed from kind of an administrative mindset over to a law enforcement mindset and that is even evident here where it is clear that even where they are trying to streamline e-visa processing, they are still taking precautions to mitigate against the possibility that folks come in to Thailand using the improper visa to go ahead and come to Thailand and work illegally. 

So what should one take away from this video? If you are looking to come to Thailand, especially if you are looking to come to Thailand to work, you need to get the proper visa and you also need to go ahead and deal with work authorization i.e. getting your Work Permit once you arrive. For those who find this kind of overwhelming, it might not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.