Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing working illegally in Thailand, and from certain evidence that I am seeing in various publications, it is becoming increasingly clear to me, Thai Authorities are taking illegal workers seriously and it is something that they are not particularly cavalier about. Let me get into it here. 

So, quoting directly from the Phuket News, that is thephuketnews.com, the article is titled: Phuket Airport arrests: American caught on overstay, illegal Krabi tour guide nabbed. Quoting directly: "On Wednesday, Immigration Officers at the airport," at the airport; this is notable. These are major protocol changes. I haven't seen Immigration target folks at the airport to this level really at any point since I have been in Thailand. Quoting directly: "On Wednesday, Immigration Officers at the airport arrested a foreigner wanted on an arrest warrant for working illegally as a tour guide." 

Now let's note some things here. On an arrest warrant! So again, when I say they are taking this increasingly seriously, this person had a warrant issued for their arrest for working illegally in Thailand. Quoting further: "The foreigner whose name, gender, age and nationality were not reported, was arrested at the Phuket Immigration checkpoint at the International Arrivals Hall at about 11pm." So again, as I noted in another video I made contemporaneously with this one, this isn't like 9 to 5 work hours for Thai Immigration Police which you could sometimes rely upon the parameters of their hours to kind of maybe allow you to say "well you know, how likely is that they are going to get me at 11pm?” or in another video we discussed that similar circumstances occurred at 5:30am. Well looks to me like the Immigration cops are not sleeping much down in Phuket at least. Quoting further: "Lt Col Akkarapon and Officers from the Crime Suppression Investigation Team made the arrest along with Police Officers from Ao Nang Police Station in Krabi. The foreigner was taken back to Ao Nang Police Station in Krabi for further legal action, Airport Immigration Officers confirmed." 

So as we discussed in another video, I view this as something akin to evidence of a major policy shift. Whereas in the past I would tell people "hey once you make the airport, it's kind of like you have touched base; you are kind of home free; don't worry too much about it." Clearly Thai Immigration and those who are tasked with enforcing the Labour rules are far more proactive than they have been in the past with regard to enforcement and via the tools of digitization, much more aware of who is working illegally, who is on overstay. Again this to my mind, not to put too fine a point on it, looks to me like a major sea change within Thai Immigration with respect to how they are looking at the issue of Immigration Law Enforcement. Again in 15 years I have been here, I have never seen this situation where they are going after people in the airport who are ostensibly on their way out of the country.

This is a major change so bear this in mind and understand if you want to come to Thailand and you wish to work legally here in the Kingdom, there are ways to do that. Work Permits can be had, we have discussed in other videos how to go about doing that. Again, some folks may find it daunting and those who do, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.