Thread: Thailand: Thailand's New E-Work Permits Bring An End To Blue Books

28 December 2017
Article by Piyawannee Watanasakolpunt

Foreigners employed in Thailand are required to obtain an appropriate visa as well as a work permit. Work permits are issued by the Ministry of Labor and take the form of a small, passport sized "blue book", containing details such as the employee's position, name and location of employer, date of birth, and nationality, along with multiple pages for work permit renewal stamps.



The "blue book" will now be replaced with what is being referred to as an "E-Work Permit", which is credit card sized ID card containing much of the same information as in the "blue book". The E-Work Permit will also include security and fraud prevention features such as a barcode and QR Code. This change has been brought about via the Ministry of Labour's Ministerial Regulation on "Application for and Issuance of Work Permits and Notification of Employment of Foreign Workers" (No. 2) B.E. 2560 (2017) which came into effect on April 1, 2017.

In addition to introducing the E-Work Permit, the new regulation also provides for work permit applications and other relevant notifications to be filed electronically. All existing "blue book" work permits issued under previous ministerial regulations, treaties or other investment promotions (such as BOI and IEAT) will be replaced by E-Work Permits. Timing of the implementation of the electronic filing system and the replacement of all existing "blue books" has not been clarified, so existing "blue books" should still be valid until their expiration date.

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Piyawannee Watanasakolpunt

Thailand's New E-Work Permits Bring An End To Blue Books - Immigration - Thailand

The same article from 6 June: Thailand's New E-Work Permits Bring An End To Blue Books | Price Sanond: Lawyers in Bangkok, Thailand

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

security and fraud prevention features such as a barcode

that'll stop them for sure!

Originally Posted by Neverna

The same article from 6 June: Thailand's New E-Work Permits Bring An End To Blue Books | Price Sanond: Lawyers in Bangkok, Thailand

Oh, never mind.

I just saw that the government is still enforcing strict laws when it comes to migrant workers in the news this week. I thought this was new and to do with that.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gen...t-registration

Tracking those dubious handful that make a living exclusively online as well?
Good luck with that.

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

Oh, never mind.

I just saw that the government is still enforcing strict laws when it comes to migrant workers in the news this week. I thought this was new and to do with that.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gen...t-registration

Two different groups of people, Wilsonandson. The Bangkok Post article is about undocumented people from Thailand's neighbourng countries - Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Undocumented means they have no passsport and possibly no other form of national ID so the Thai government understandably wants to check the nationalities of those people. People with work permits are documented and have passports.

And by the way, I wouldn't call wanting to be able to identify and know the nationality of people who have entered Thailand as being "strict". It's normal. Those undocumented folks shouldn't be here unless they are claiming asylum, and even then it's right and proper for the Thai authorities to want to indentify the identity and nationality of those people.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Tracking those dubious handful that make a living exclusively online as well?
Good luck with that.

I know an Irish bloke who makes his living playing online poker here in Los. Mind you he's playing 6 hours everyday. No way has he got a permit for that, but he's scratching a living at it and has a Thai wife and a kid. All the best I say, beats slaving away as a teacher in a government school any day!

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

Irish bloke who makes his living playing online poker

Erse while restaurant critic known to ours elfs alone?

Thingy with this eStuff will the virtual T money be eTHERIUM or Buttcoin

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

beats slaving away as a teacher in a government school any day!

I rather enjoy it.

Originally Posted by CSFFan

I rather enjoy it.

Why Thailand needs foreigners to teach English is beyond me. Most Thai teachers I know have a firm grasp of the English Language.