Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing work authorization here in Thailand specifically in the context of Tourist Visas. I thought of making this video, I have made a number of videos on the unfortunate tragedy that befell Thailand with the attack on a child care center here and then the aftermath of that where these CNN reporters kind of went on scene and acted inappropriately, they didn't make the best decisions in my opinion. I am not here to go any deeper into that, the reason I am going to cite this article is because I do want to talk about work authorization and I think this article does a good idea of pulling that issue to the foreground. The article is titled: CNN visas revoked, charges pending over 'unethical' coverage. This is from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com. I urge those who are watching this video go check out that article if you haven't read it yet. There is a lot of good detail in there but I am going to quote an excerpt to talk about work authorization. Quoting directly: "The Immigration Bureau has withdrawn visas for two CNN reporters after they entered the off-limits child care centre where mass shooting took place to report on the story. Immigration Bureau Deputy Commissioner Achayon Kraithong said on Sunday the visas for the two crew members had been revoked on the grounds that they were not eligible to work in the country. They entered Thailand on Tourist Visas which did not allow them to work in the country, he said. The two could face other charges, added Pol Maj Gen Achayon, who is the Police spokesman."

So the thing to take away from this, for those who are unaware, and long-time watchers of this channel probably are the furthest thing away from unaware of this, I talk about it pretty much weekly because work authorization for foreigners is a major issue. If you want to come to Thailand and work, I don't care if you work for CNN, I don't care who you work for, if you are not a Thai national, you have to have work authorization of some kind. There are multiple types of work authorization to have. As noted in another video, there are Media Visas for Thailand. There is a specific type of visa for those who want to operate in a media capacity. There are Business Visas for Thailand, Marriage Visas for Thailand but if you want to work in Thailand you need a Work Permit and often times that is separate and apart from the actual visa, for example a Business Visa is a different thing from a Work Permit but they are sort of tied together if you will, they are interrelated. There are other types of visas, the so-called Long-Term Residence Visa which isn't a Residence Visa; I know I'm a broken record about that but it does not actually provide residence in Thailand. It may provide long term status but there's heavy scrutiny associated with it. That apparently has work authorization that can be built in depending on the type of Visa you have and then you have got the Smart Visa which has been around for a few years now not in wide general use but there are a number of folks who do use it and the Smart Visa does have work authorization built into it as well. 

So the thing to take away from this video and to understand is if you are going to come to Thailand and you plan to work, and by the way and we have shown the definition of work in other videos on this channel, work is pretty much anything. If you are coming to Thailand to do anything and yes volunteering is working, we discussed that at length, if you are coming to Thailand to work, you need to get some kind of work authorization to be in lawful status.