Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing volunteering in Thailand as a retiree. Well let me get into this. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com. This was actually sent to me by a viewer and I appreciate that; I do appreciate when viewers send us stuff. It kind of gives me ideas for videos, makes my life a little easier and this one was a good point. This one brought up some good points and I think it is worth clarification for retirees here in Thailand. Quoting directly: Retirees wanted as volunteers. Quote: "The Ministry of Education aims to recruit 30, 000-plus retirees to volunteer in a new program designed to assist others, including elderly people who need help with life-long education and occupational training. Among the retirees expected to apply for this volunteer opportunity are retired school teachers that still want to contribute as educators for the betterment of society, Ms. Treenuch said."

So I urge those who are watching this video, go read that article in detail, a lot of information in there. Long story short, first off the viewer that sent it to me was wondering if foreign retirees would be included in this. It looks to me like this appears to be a program aimed at Thai retirees. So teachers for example who retire in Thailand and would like to take on sort of a volunteer role during their retirement, that's what this is being sort of promulgated for. It does not appear to me that this is a program which is aimed at foreign retirees in Thailand. 

That being stated, it brings up a really good point and one that many folks have asked me about with respect to retirement in Thailand. "What if I want to volunteer?" As we have discussed in many other videos, unfortunately the definition of work in Thailand and work is restricted to retirees on a Thai O-A or O Retirement Visa, but those who want to volunteer in Thailand, unfortunately notwithstanding the fact that volunteering may not necessarily come with compensation, it is considered 'work' as we have discussed in other videos, it is considered work under the Thai Labour Code so volunteering strictly speaking is not allowed for retirees because it can be deemed to be work and Retirement Visas are not designed for working. Now what is volunteering? You can sort of get into semantic arguments about all that. I am not going to really get into that on this video because at the end of the day, the law is clear on it. I mean you could argue breathing is working in a sense when you look at how work is defined under relevant Thai Labour Code but the long story short is, this volunteer program does not appear to be aimed at foreign retirees but instead Thai retirees and retirees here in Thailand should be careful, even about volunteering, as it could be considered work and therefore deemed to be in violation of their visas status.