Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Marriage Visas and Thai work authorization AKA Thai Work Permits. A recent video we did on this channel, we were talking about YouTubing and I have done a number of videos on that and Work Permits because it kind of came to a head. A lot of people were talking about it and so I decided to make another video on it. I am not going to go into the details of that.

There was a comment on there and one of the comments this was actually in response in a comment chain that I decided to go ahead and do a video on. This commenter just basically said and I quote: "If he is on a Marriage Visa he is allowed to work." That is both true and untrue insofar is yes a Marriage Visa can act as a platform for a Work Permit application and once a Work Permit is obtained one can work in Thailand specifically a foreigner; Thais don't need Work Permits. The second part of that analysis though is, and I think what was meant in the comment, if you read it in context, "well if he has a Marriage Visa, he can just work. He doesn't need anything else." Not true. Marriage Visas do not inherently confer work authorization status. No Visa actually does in Thailand including a Business Visa which can be very confusing and perplexing for those who have never done business in Thailand or worked in Thailand. They say, "What is the deal with this? I thought I could use this to come to Thailand to do business." No, what is defined as work in Thailand can only be authorized for foreigners through some sort of work authorization. 

Now there are visas being created, for example the Smart Visa scheme where work authorization may be inherent to the Visa but that is after an adjudication of the overall visa application. It doesn't have to do with a Work Permit. It is kind of a separate scheme unto itself. Any other standard Thai Visa non-immigrant most notably the O in this case Marriage or B Visa, yeah, you still have got to have a Work Permit. So an O Marriage Visa does not in point of fact in and of itself confer work authorization to the bearer of that Visa. Folks who want to work in Thailand and have a Marriage Visa, need to obtain a Work Permit in order to be able to work in the Kingdom of Thailand legally.