2020: Crackdown on tourists working without work permits - 50K fines and deportation awaits

[wombat]

3 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

They don't want any English teachers really, it's just a facade

teachers for the Chinese language on the other hand

[wombat]

Just now, shadowofacloud said:

 

 

And being deported would be part of the fun - 

i take it you have never spoken to an inmate at the immigration lock up?

[khunpa]

Be warned all you farangs sitting with the wife, at the market, while she is selling her 40 THB bananas.

[shadowofacloud]

4 minutes ago, wombat said:

i take it you have never spoken to an inmate at the immigration lock up?

I've read the reports, seen photos. Def not a pleasant experience, but an interesting one. But then, I've been living a pretty adventurous life so far. For a 9-5 couch potato, it would most likely be a shocking ordeal.

 

Plus my embassy would be involved and I'd be lawyered up to the teeth before you could say somtam, so I guess it would quickly burn down to the most common denominator - cash.

[MeePeeMai]

Is it legal for me to change my own tire if I get a flat while driving?  I suppose not.  That would be a job reserved for Thais only.  I guess I better teach the wife how to do it then. ????

[Syduan]

5 hours ago, Beggar said:

There are many. Some don't get paid and think this is no problem then. But it is not important if you get money or not. It is important that you do something that could be classified as work. 

Film industry springs to mind.

[pathologix]

4 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Of course its totally normal to do this, do you think all these models that go to fashion weeks, music videos etc get a work permit in every country they visit? lol no, normally no one gives a <deleted> and no country cares. Same for DJs and co.

 

Do you think a DJ from the US gets a work permit for a dj gig on ibiza, london and co - nah only the big ones, it's a pain in the ass and really no one gives a damn if they have one or not. they fly from one country to another every day in a plane, logistically impossible to get work permits everywhere.

 

Models and DJs absolutely do usually get work visas to walk in shows and play internationally. 

 

I've never gone through the process... but I've been told that entertainment visas in Thailand aren't particularly hard to secure. 

[SymS]

5 hours ago, steven100 said:

I'm amazed that this would be a big deal, as i wouldn't suspect too many foreigners on tourist visa's working in Thailand .....  maybe a few but certainly not a hundred or even 30 .....   ? 

Clearly everyone knows that tourists working in Thailand are on an education visa ????

[Arkady]

I wonder if they will round up all the foreigners working in the retail business and restaurants who can't possibly have work permits for those particular jobs which are reserved for Thais under the Royal Decree.  That seems to include anything from noodle shops to taco chains to steakhouses in Bangkok to tourist shops in Samui and Phuket.  I guess the Burmese and Cambodian workers have work permits as maids or farm or factory workers.  Maybe the Filipino waiters and waitresses have work permits as teachers but I believe that many are promised work permits that never eventuate and they are stuck here working illegally trying to pay off debts to job brokers. It will be interesting to see how these plays out, if properly enforced but I guess it is just another grandstanding opportunity and a chance for Immigration and the police to up their monthly collections from the businesses that depend on foreign labour in retail jobs.  A lot of businesses employing foreign retail staff in tourist areas will really struggle, if it is strictly enforced and they have to pay much higher wages to Thai staff who cannot communicate with the foreign customers.

 

[fruitman]

5 hours ago, shadowofacloud said:

5 hours ago, fruitman said:

so the thai can learn a lot about how to work professionally

 

 :-). I am very much impressed by your optimism, even if I don't share it.

Believe it or not but there are many Thai who are also sick and tired of the way things go here, no improvements, nepotism, scamming, corruption, low quality of life, traffic jams and so on.....They go to Japan or Europe whenever they have the chance!

[rott]

5 hours ago, mariohh1 said:

maybe out in the sticks but here on koh phangan are at least 100

 

 

What jobs are they all doing??

[Eindhoven]

5 hours ago, steven100 said:

I'm amazed that this would be a big deal, as i wouldn't suspect too many foreigners on tourist visa's working in Thailand .....  maybe a few but certainly not a hundred or even 30 .....   ? 

 

You'd be surprised. 

As a backpacker I was offered many jobs, TV commercials, Film extra etc

 

[shadowofacloud]

1 minute ago, fruitman said:

Believe it or not but there are many Thai who are also sick and tired of the way things go here, no improvements, nepotism, scamming, corruption, low quality of life, traffic jams and so on.....They go to Japan or Europe whenever they have the chance!

I know. I've met a few educated, young Thais, who both understand what the establishment is doing to their society and who can critically look at the shortcomings of their country. But they, unfortunately, are a very, very small minority - and usually working abroad.

[BlackJack]

Laos, Burma, Cambodia, and the rest of the aliens are included?

Can run into the 1000's

[justin case]

2020 and the STAZI secret police from former DDR is alive and well in thailand

 

sieg ?

[Eindhoven]

53 minutes ago, shy coconut said:

Anyone flying halfway across the world to play some records at a disco probably

has an agent and legal team who would attend to such mundane matters, or failing

that would grease the appropriate palms.

 

You just made that up. 

The bookers would be expected to organise everything.

 

[Guderian]

Heck, I washed my car at home yesterday instead of taking it to the car wash, little did I know I was dicing with a prison sentence.

Only in Thailand!

[zydeco]

4 hours ago, Bournville said:

OK Thailand government. We understand.. Crack down on TM28 and TM 30, crackdown on TM47. Crackdown on foreign overstayers. Crackdown on no work permit. Crackdown on not enough cash upon airport arrival. Crackdown on no medical insurance. Crackdown on visa requirements. 

 

How about cracking down on things much more important in Thailand that would benefit all Thai people, maybe foreigners too, and create a safer, healthier and happier place to live? 

 

This sort of news is getting nauseating. 

 

 

Crackdown on online message boards coming soon!

[Pedrogaz]

People should;d obey the law here. If you wish to work apply for a work permit. It is simple and there is no excuse not to comply with the law. Anyone working on a tourist, retirement or marriage visa should be throw out of Thailand. I know of several doing it as I type this. They are bringing farangs into disrepute.

[khunpa]

8 minutes ago, justin case said:

2020 and the STAZI secret police from former DDR is alive and well in thailand

 

sieg ?

Of course and it will get worse as the economy declines even more.
 

In a society where it is the norm to blame all others, the foreigners will always be a good first choice.

 

 

 

 

[ThomasThBKK]

18 minutes ago, Eindhoven said:

 

You'd be surprised. 

As a backpacker I was offered many jobs, TV commercials, Film extra etc

 

yeah but all jobs a thai cannot do anyway lol

 

Are they going to paint a thai with with with paint to make him look farrang???????

[ThomasThBKK]

2 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

People should;d obey the law here. If you wish to work apply for a work permit. It is simple and there is no excuse not to comply with the law. Anyone working on a tourist, retirement or marriage visa should be throw out of Thailand. I know of several doing it as I type this. They are bringing farangs into disrepute.

If only you could get a work permit on a retirement visa, elite visa etc...

But why make it easy right? 

 

[FritsSikkink]

43 minutes ago, shadowofacloud said:

Think bigger. It's not about the few thousand USD they would get from me.

 

If such a visa was introduced and promoted in relevant circles, they would be earning (tens of) millions USD pa. Remote work is a major trend in the workforce these days and is predicted to grow steadily in the next decade.

 

And being deported would be part of the fun - would most likely be stressful, but an interesting experience to reflect on in a while.

If you have a proper decent money earning business, you would be able to setup a small company while employing a couple of Thais. Secretary, cleaner, admin, .. don't cost that much.

[jimn]

4 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

People should;d obey the law here. If you wish to work apply for a work permit. It is simple and there is no excuse not to comply with the law. Anyone working on a tourist, retirement or marriage visa should be throw out of Thailand. I know of several doing it as I type this. They are bringing farangs into disrepute.

Thats such an ill informed comment. Look up the rules for being eligible for a work permit. If you disagree with it so much then report them.

[khunpa]

9 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

People should;d obey the law here. If you wish to work apply for a work permit. It is simple and there is no excuse not to comply with the law. Anyone working on a tourist, retirement or marriage visa should be throw out of Thailand. I know of several doing it as I type this. They are bringing farangs into disrepute.

I know of several teachers being cheated and lied to by international schools here. They are promised proper visas, but never given them.

 

So what do you suggest should happen to the Thais not fulfilling the contracts they make? 
 

And in this deeply corrupted country, how can you be sure the so-called law will actually be upheld? 

[jimn]

6 hours ago, steven100 said:

I'm amazed that this would be a big deal, as i wouldn't suspect too many foreigners on tourist visa's working in Thailand .....  maybe a few but certainly not a hundred or even 30 .....   ? 

I am surprised that so many people agree with you. There are literally 100's in Pattaya. Take a walk down any of the busy soi's and you will see the Farang bars/gogo's with the same person in there every night. He will not have a checkbin, he will be the "manager". No work permit, just getting a small salary to meet and greet and drink with people who come there to see them.

[jimn]

If they want to catch people just arrest all those Russian hello girls outside the Russian bars and gogo's on Walking Street. And the Russian dancers inside. I doubt if they have even got visa's let alone a work permit. It makes a mockery of the whole thing. No one touches them though, I wonder why?

[thequietman]

5 hours ago, Chazar said:

Can I roger  my WIFE or  is that  only a  job for teenyboy  Thais?

If rogering your wife means a jail cell, then they are gonna need to build a new jail house in your area of Thailand. ????

[ThomasThBKK]

15 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

If you have a proper decent money earning business, you would be able to setup a small company while employing a couple of Thais. Secretary, cleaner, admin, .. don't cost that much.

lol except you can't own the business....nice try.

I also love to give 51% of the shares away for nothing and then pay taxes on top of it. YEAAAAH.

 

Ah no i just stay in singapore.

[mikeymike100]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

You'd be surprised how many are, and in the thousands, either no WP or have a an 'agreement and arrangement' with the immigration, seen it in my own eyes...

Are you suggesting immigration accepts bribes??? Lol