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Do youtubers need a work permit?


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Whether you need a work permit would depend upon the content you post on YouTube. If you are posting videos you made here you might need one.

You could get a work permit but you would have to set up a Thai company to apply for it.

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3 minutes ago, jackdd said:

If you take your videos outside of your room and show Thailand or are somehow Thai related, then yes.

If you make for example "let's play" videos in your room without anything Thai related then no.

You either have to register your own company or join a company like Iglu to get a work permit.

Thanks i'll contact iglu to see if youtubers are supported!

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8 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Whether you need a work permit would depend upon the content you post on YouTube. If you are posting videos you made here you might need one.

You could get a work permit but you would have to set up a Thai company to apply for it.

Thanks, any idea how much it costs to set up the thai company?

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8 minutes ago, lastminutebozo said:

Thanks, any idea how much it costs to set up the thai company?

Factor in a 51% Thai share holder, you get max 49%.

4 thai workers salaries.

Lawyers costs blah blah.

Then double that figure and add 50% fudge factor and you might be close.

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8 minutes ago, lastminutebozo said:

Thanks, any idea how much it costs to set up the thai company?

Not so much to set up the company (maybe 50k baht if you use a lawyer or agent) but the continuing cost would be significant to pay 4 Thai employees to work for you. 

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4 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Factor in a 51% Thai share holder, you get max 49%.

4 thai workers salaries.

Lawyers costs blah blah.

Then double that figure and add 50% fudge factor and you might be close.

4 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not so much to set up the company (maybe 50k baht if you use a lawyer or agent) but the continuing cost would be significant to pay 4 Thai employees to work for you. 

Wow, think i'll stick with a tourist visa. Thanks guys!

 

4 minutes ago, balo said:

If you want to get paid money from Youtube into a Thai bank account you need a WP.  If you want to live here longer than 6 months every year you also need a WP.

 

But if Thailand is not your permanent address, you do not need a WP as long as any income from Youtube are transfered to an account outside of Thailand.   You are considered working as a digital nomad. And since there are no special visas available for nomads, you can stay here on a normal tourist visa. 

 

 

Ohhh, that's good, tourist visa's it is for now then.

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5 minutes ago, balo said:

If you want to get paid money from Youtube into a Thai bank account you need a WP.

If you want to live here longer than 6 months every year you also need a WP.

You should explain that, because both statements seems false to me. :unsure:

- Google doesn't ask you to have a WP to pay you

- I don't see what living 3 months, 6 months or 1 year changes to requiring a WP or not :unsure:

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5 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

- I don't see what living 3 months, 6 months or 1 year changes to requiring a WP or not

Thai laws can be complicated, staying in Thailand for 1 year requires the proper visa  , based on marriage , retirement , but not based on work unless you have a WP. 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, balo said:

Thai laws can be complicated, staying in Thailand for 1 year requires the proper visa  , based on marriage , retirement , but not based on work unless you have a WP. 

 

 

Entirely possible that after 3 or 4 tourist visas you will be questioned at the airports on the way in as to whether you're working here or not and possibly denied entry.

As I say, possible, you might have no problems.

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2 minutes ago, balo said:

Thai laws can be complicated, staying in Thailand for 1 year requires the proper visa  , based on marriage , retirement , but not based on work unless you have a WP. 

Thousands of less-than-50 still "living in Thailand" on various types of Tourist Visa. For sure not as easy as 5 or 10 years ago, but apparently still doable.

For the OP, it would depends of what kind of videos he posts, and the popularity of his videos/channel. Not difficult to act and be seen as a normal tourist making videos.

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45 minutes ago, puukao said:

youtuber (not the OP, of course)  = i have no money but want to try to make 300 baht a day from youtube so i can prolong my eventually breakdown later.  

 

the unfortunate side is they make no friends, add nothing to society, save no money, and go home even more depressed while any employer will laugh at their resume and wonder if they are simply a sex tourist who likes to drink.  

 

if under 30, please try a real job in your home country.  i'm really trying to help, not troll.  

 

 

Plus, I'm aware of 2 males, 20 & 21 years old, both from Holland, they came to LOS liked it and decided to stay by making Youtube vids about Thailand.

 

They aimed to start making 1st vid the next day, it didn't happen and it took several weeks to get their 1st vid completed (completed in their eyes), then they asked a few westerners familiar with Thailand if their vid was good, interesting and would start to build a brand name for them.

Response: 'it's a boring subject, it's been covered a million times before, there are many mistakes in numbers etc., mentioned in the vid, there's no hot insight, even possibly insulting.'

 

The 2 makers tried to improve their 1st vid then realised they just didn't have enough insight / knowledge etc. It didn't work and they were out of funds. 

 

Not as easy as it might look. 

Edited by scorecard
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19 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Not difficult to act and be seen as a normal tourist making videos.

If somebody turns on the monetization for his videos it becomes quite clear that it is work. The only question then left is if the person can be considered working in Thailand. If his videos are Thailand related and he doesn't have a business for this in another country, then the answer to this question will most likely also be yes.

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6 minutes ago, jackdd said:

If somebody turns on the monetization for his videos it becomes quite clear that it is work.

 

"Silent" income for many years , it's a grey area for sure.  If you have a popular video that goes viral you could still earn money on it years later.

 

If the money goes into a foreign bank account outside Thailand I wouldn't worry too much . 

 

 

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1 hour ago, balo said:

 If you want to live here longer than 6 months every year you also need a WP.

 

But if Thailand is not your permanent address, you do not need a WP as long as any income from Youtube are transfered to an account outside of Thailand.   You are considered working as a digital nomad. And since there are no special visas available for nomads, you can stay here on a normal tourist visa. 

 

 

Utter nonsense

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1 hour ago, jackdd said:

If you take your videos outside of your room and show Thailand or are somehow Thai related, then yes.

If you make for example "let's play" videos in your room without anything Thai related then no.

You either have to register your own company or join a company like Iglu to get a work permit.

What part of the law supports this claim? If you're making and uploading let's play videos while in Thailand and earning money from it, it's work regardless if the content is related to Thailand or not. Whether the police or immigration will care is another matter entirely.

 

1 hour ago, Pattaya46 said:

You should explain that, because both statements seems false to me. :unsure:

- Google doesn't ask you to have a WP to pay you

- I don't see what living 3 months, 6 months or 1 year changes to requiring a WP or not :unsure:

The discussion is about Thai laws and what they permit, not Google.

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18 minutes ago, Myran said:

What part of the law supports this claim? If you're making and uploading let's play videos while in Thailand and earning money from it, it's work regardless if the content is related to Thailand or not. Whether the police or immigration will care is another matter entirely.

Laws usually say what's permitted and not what's allowed, so proving that something is legal is often a daunting task.

There is no law which says doing work for a foreign business, for foreign clients, to get money on your foreign bank account while being physically in Thailand is illegal, which is most likely the reason we never saw a single prosecution of people who were "caught" working online, so it looks like this can be considered legal.

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14 minutes ago, Myran said:

The discussion is about Thai laws and what they permit, not Google.

In that case Balo is fully wrong:

1 hour ago, balo said:

If you want to get paid money from Youtube into a Thai bank account you need a WP. //

There is nothing that forbid you to receive in Thailand money earned in a foreign country.

Google will pay you in most case from a company in USA or Ireland.

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1 hour ago, puukao said:

youtuber (not the OP, of course)  = i have no money but want to try to make 300 baht a day from youtube so i can prolong my eventually breakdown later.  

 

the unfortunate side is they make no friends, add nothing to society, save no money, and go home even more depressed while any employer will laugh at their resume and wonder if they are simply a sex tourist who likes to drink.  

 

if under 30, please try a real job in your home country.  i'm really trying to help, not troll.  

 

 

At this point Puukao realised he had become his father.

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19 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

There is nothing that forbid you to receive in Thailand money earned in a foreign country.

Many who study Thai law will disagree with you on that. Just read some old topics on this discussion that has been going on for years. 

 

You need to pay taxes if you earn money in Thailand, and what about a Thai company ? Things start to get complicated once you involve Thailand. 

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, balo said:

Many who study Thai law will disagree with you on that. Just read some old topics on this discussion that has been going on for years. 

 

You need to pay taxes if you earn money in Thailand, and what about a Thai company ? Things start to get complicated once you involve Thailand. 

 

 

 

They just believe what they want to believe. 

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22 minutes ago, lordblackader said:

Don't take the words of strangers on the internet.

 

This is interview with the Chiang Mai Labor Office explains it.

 

The section about blogging applies to YouTubers as well.

6. A travel blogger writes about Thailand.

The verdict: "YES, this is work and it could be our concern. This work could have been done by a Thai person. Also, in order to produce the blog, the blogger uses information, sources, material, pictures from Thailand to sell it in the international market place. Finally, the content of the blog may affect the security and image of Thailand. The blogger definitely needs a work permit to do this. "

Are you kidding me? This would mean that many well-known travel bloggers, in particular the ones that specialise on Thailand only are in fact operating illegally and would need a work permit.

" When the blogger is an international travel blogger writing not only about Thailand but many more places and he stays in Thailand not too long but just as part of a longer trip to several countries, we allow this case without a work permit. But when the blogger is focused mainly on Thailand, he / she needs a work permit. "

But many bloggers don't even make a dime with their content.

" Even if the blogger does not make any money with his blog, he is still using his knowledge and ability with content that is derived from Thailand, so he needs a work permit.

However, bloggers may not be a main concern to this office, unless there are some problems. "

Interesting judgment and somewhat surreal, it means that all specialised travel bloggers about Thailand are in fact breaching the law if they don't have a work permit for it, even if they don't generate money with their blog.

We browse over a few well-known blogs, such as Richard Barrow in Thailand.

" Yes, this blogger clearly needs a work permit, however we do not really know where he is, if not in Chiang Mai it is not a main concern of us. "

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2 minutes ago, Kaopad999 said:

Many online teachers have been busted and deported for working online for companies which are based in China. What makes earning money from Youtube any different? 

The Chinese company had an office space in Thailand where the Teachers went to work, so the teachers were employees in a (illegal) company in Thailand which does of course require a work permit and is quite different to somebody who makes youtube videos by himself.

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