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As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Business Visas in the context of work authorization in Thailand. You know, this is one of these videos; I saw a comment, I made a number of videos sort of emanating if you will or as a result of reading this comment because it was just quite honestly so full of misnomers that were either somewhat correct without proper nuance or they weren't fully fleshed out in terms of the analysis. I will get to that here, let's go ahead and read the comment. Quoting directly: "Unless you hold a Business Visa as a foreigner you cannot work. If you have a Business Visa then you are registered as a taxpayer" - that is not strictly speaking true, I will get to that in a moment. Quoting further: "Minimum income set by the Thai Government at 50,000 Thai baht," - that may or may not be true depending on your nationality, quoting further: "therefore a taxpayer a contribution to the Social Security fund too however you will not qualify for the state pension therefore all non-working retirees are currently outside of the tax system in Thailand," - I made a video on that, not strictly speaking correct - "not your own country, to add the retiree in the Thai system can and will emanate via (I think they meant via your Visa documents." 

So what are we talking about here specifically? "You cannot work in Thailand unless you have a Business Visa." Not true actually. Business Visa in and of itself does not confer work authorization in Thailand, a Work Permit does. They are two separate documents and in point of fact, it is possible to be present in Thailand in lawful status with a Thai Marriage Visa and a Work Permit as well and be work authorized just the same. The Business Visa does not in and of itself confer work authorization, a Work Permit actually does that. Now certain types of visas, most notably new visas, for example the so-called Smart Visa actually has work authorization inherent to it and there are now online sort of digital work authorizations for example issued through the BOI which authorized Work Permit status notwithstanding not getting a physical book, they just do it all through a digital platform. Again though, that is work authorization and it is separate and apart from Business Visa status. And I know there are those that will say "well that is a semantic point". Well, it is a semantic point that can cause people some real problems if they can simply by having a Business Visa, for example a 90-day Business Visa issued by an Embassy or Consulate outside of Thailand, arrival in Thailand on that Business Visa does not automatically confer work authorization. You are not necessarily allowed to work from that point forward. So again, it may be a fine point, but it is a fine point that can have rather dramatic practical implication.