Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thailand Pass and Immigration Law enforcement. I decided to make this video because I like contrarian opinions because I feel like they add definition to the overall conversation on any given topic. Something that has been pretty widely in agreement in the ether that is the internet especially amongst the expat tourism community associated with Thailand is that the Thailand Pass needs to end. Everybody seems to agree on this but there was a recent comment on one of our prior videos that I thought was interesting and is kind of contrarian to that overarching theme. 

Quoting directly: "The problem has been WHO is actually coming for over a decade. Yes the 98% just want a holiday, it is the others who may not be nice people and how does one Immigration Officer at a desk find them? It is slowly getting better with passports having biometrics but still far away from identifying the few. Keep the Pass as a check prior to arrival in their home nation." Interesting, I have got to say I don't necessarily agree with that, that it is a good idea. I don't like the Thailand Pass very much. I don't think that's really unknown and I haven't liked a lot of the kind of for lack of a better term surveillance tech that seems to have popped up over the past 2 years that was really just incredible, like lacking credibility, like completely seemed nuts 3 years, 4 years, 5 years ago that just got sort of brought out as if it was just the logical next step to how we needed to deal with all this which I didn't agree with that either. But it is an interesting point. There is an Immigration Law enforcement function associated or presumably associated with the Thailand Pass not least notable is the fact that yeah it does slow people down; it allows for kind of a pre-vetting of who will be coming into Thailand.

Now that stated, as we noted in videos years ago now and even during the sort of lockdowns and everything, biometrics still exist. The biometric technology is still out there so I don't really see where Thailand Pass is overly necessary especially in light of biometrics. To me, biometrics is somewhat eerie in and of itself as well but I feel it is definitely far less intrusive on the Thai Economy and it is definitely I think it's just less hassle. Okay, if you have got a criminal record in Thailand and that is attached to your fingerprints and you get your fingerprints done coming into Thailand and they stop you, well that's just the way that is. I mean at the end of the day you don't have a right to commit crimes and get away with impunity and I think biometrics are a better way of dealing with that. Meanwhile, Thailand Pass is imposed on everybody and I would say unnecessarily. Everyone is not guilty of a crime, in fact they are innocent until proven guilty in my mind. Therefore, to impose this on people who it really shouldn't apply to like noted, 98%, yeah that is really not fair at all. I mean that's what the Soviets used to call "Collective Punishment" and I think, I would hope we are far past that.