Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Work Permits and flexibility associated therewith. So for some background here, if you go back to prior to 2018, Thai Work Permits were quite rigid. In fact there was an argument and I have seen it, actually law enforcement execute sort of well I should say, I have seen law enforcement execute laws, enforce the law regarding Work Permit location, job title was oftentimes a major issue, but location used to be a big deal. 

I remember when I first got here the thinking was you were tied to doing work only at the address that was listed on your Work Permit. That has since changed as we discussed at the time and since, there was an Emergency Decree back in 2018, in fact there were two that had a lot to do with Work Permit validity as well as flexibility associated with even geographic area, where you can work in Thailand; they sort of pulled a lot of the restrictions down. Now this isn't to say that they did anything about the list of restricted occupations, that remains, we have discussed that at length in other videos; I am going to leave that where it is at. But in terms of for example the exact geographic area in which one can work, that has been largely sort of cast aside. You have much more flexibility in terms of where you can work in greater Thailand. It is not even Province based so much anymore, it is just basically look are you working it within the scope of your Work Permit? If you are, then geography is not going to be something we're going to worry about so much. 

Job description also became far less of a factor. I remember cases down in Phuket especially involving certain tour operators and things where foreigners would be involved. I even remember one case again just off the top of my head but, and it's sort of anecdotal, where there was a situation where a foreign person who had a Work Permit literally opened a car door and that was deemed by law enforcement at the time to be in violation of their Work Permit; much more lax attitude now regarding things like job title and job description. 

Again restricted occupations remain what they are and as we have discussed in videos recently, folks who are engaging in things like hairdressing down in Phuket were arrested. It is my understanding they were deported and perhaps probably blacklisted because it is a Work Permit violation, because it is a restricted occupations' issue. The difference being they are not going to be so pedantic about all the little things one may be doing within the scope of their work; they are not going to kind of pick that apart like they used to but restricted occupations remain what they are. So again, if you are clearly engaging in a restricted occupation even with a Work Permit, you could have a problem but they are not looking to sort of nitpick something that is legal in order to kind of shoehorn it in to something that could be considered illegal. 

So in that way I would say, I think it is very safe to say that Work Permits have become more flexible as time has gone on here in Thailand rather than less flexible.