Transcript of the above video: 

I'm making a video and calling this title for a specific reason. It is not clickbait, it is because at the outset of this video, I want to answer the question which is this. Border Runs are still possible. Unfortunately, yet again in the sensationalism that swirls about the ether that is the internet - especially in the expat sector of Southeast Asia, especially as it pertains to visas and Border Running - we get a lot of nonsense out there that is sort of half-truths or mixed truths or oftentimes bad interpretation and analysis of policies that comes out to things being said. I've already seen it where people have said based on the article I'm going to cite by the way, I saw I think on Facebook and some other places, things that were saying "Border Running no longer possible" etc., etc. That is not what's going on here. In fact, if you do a deep drill down into the article I am going to cite, it's the source material from whence a lot of folks are commenting on this, if you drill down, nothing has really changed here. What's been said, what's been stated is a reiteration of previously existing policy which anybody that follows Thai Immigration Law and policy, which you chosen few like me who are in this bailiwick of following these things - I feel for you, that is what it is - but if you have been following this you would know, what has been said on this topic, this isn't really all that big a news. It has being kind of spun up as major changes. I get it. We're going into high season. It's a good idea to let new folks especially know, there are some rules regarding immigration. But the thing to take away from this video is Border Running is still possible. It's just not going to be like it was in the past for a lot of different reasons. It's one of the reasons I've been slowly moving into assisting folks with Border Run matters because I've watched this trend for the last couple of years now, where things have just gotten more and more, really from COVID. COVID that really is actually now that I think about it, a watershed moment in sort of the history of Border Running, because for the first time that I had ever heard of, borders were actually affirmatively zip-locked, hermetically sealed between Thailand and other places, which was kind of an anomaly. So the thing to take away from this video is to understand that the hyperbole out there about the notion that it's no longer possible to do Border Runs, that's not the case. It's just not looking and going to look like what it looked like in the past. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Thai Immigration steps up Visa Run scrutiny. So that's the important thing to understand here. They are increasing scrutiny. They're not saying you can't do this stuff anymore. Also I think it's important before we proceed further, to understand I get that some way it may argue this is a semantic difference but there is a difference in my mind between what I call a Visa Run and a Border Run. A traditional Border Run - I did them for the first roughly 18 months I was here - because I had a multi-entry B Visa back when those were much more common that I was using to maintain my Work Permit and things, I wasn't using an extension my first year and a half and then on my last 90 days of my multi-entry B, I extended my status and I have extended ever since and then I went through all the other processes, became Thai, and now I don't worry about that stuff. But long story short I've done Border Runs myself.

A Border Run in my mind, the definition of it is literally running to the border, crossing, being stamped into the place next door, and then crossing right back as instantaneously as is possible, usually within the same day or within a day of doing that and then crossing back into the country and being stamped back in in order to use further status. That to my mind is a Border Run. A Visa Run, now this is changing too, but in the past, to my mind a Visa Run is going to another country outside of Thailand, this could also be analysis for any other country, going to in this case the Thai Embassy or Consulate abroad, seeking a visa and then returning. That's a Visa Run as opposed to just crossing the border, being stamped out, being stamped back in; you actually get a Visa to come back in. Now, with the new E-Visa portal system that we're using, you are not actually interacting as much physically with Embassies as in the past. That said, Consular jurisdiction plays in a lot when it comes to visa matters especially with the E-Visa system so physical presence within a given jurisdiction in order to interact with the Thai Embassy or Consulate is going to be required and again, the underlying facts in the given case are going to dictate how long someone has to remain in a given country in order to conclude a Visa Run. Again the analysis on that will be driven by underlying facts. That being said, what I'm trying to say is there is a difference between a Border Run and a Visa Run in my mind.

We are specifically talking about Border Runs here, and again it's changing. Let me let me quote further: "Pol Lt Gen Panumas Boonyalug, the Immigration Bureau Chief, met on Wednesday with officials to discuss the policy aimed at preventing foreign nationals from misusing Thailand's Visa Exemptions for illegal activities." So that's the important point to be brought up in this. What they are talking about in this pertains to Visa Exemptions. And as we discussed in other videos going back, I think it was 2017, maybe a little earlier, maybe '16, there was a Ministerial Decree, and it was published in the Royal Gazette that stipulated there were a minimum of two entries allowed to anyone per year on Visa Exemption status, if they carried a passport that allowed for Visa Exemption. That's been policy for some time now. Now, depending on who you talk to and depending on the facts, you'll hear a lot of people say, "hey, I've run in and out of Thailand five times this year. Nobody's bothered me." Again, depending on your situation, do you work abroad? are you hubbed in Thailand? again they'll look at each individual's factual circumstances when allowing folks to come and go from Thailand. But the point I'm trying to make here is this policy has been in place for some time which is there are two required entries. So basically, I hesitate to say guarantee because there's never a guaranteed entry to Thailand but as close as you can get to that, the Decree states everybody gets two exemption entries in each given calendar year. So that's the thing to understand and that decree goes back years; it goes back to even before COVID. That said, quoting further: "Immigration Authorities will now impose tighter scrutiny on foreigners who repeatedly enter and exit the country under the guise of tourism." So this is where again I want to be clear. There are all these headlines and things going around out there in the ether of the internet that Border Running is a thing of the past, it's not possible. Not true. They are just saying they are imposing heightened scrutiny, and heightened scrutiny in furtherance to the rule regarding two Visa Exemption entries per year, not Border Running across the board. This isn't an attack on Border Running per se, it's just an enforcement of the policy that has already been in existence for years. Quoting further: "Police data shows that many individuals have exploited the visa-free policy which allows stays of up to 90 days per entry to conduct what are known as "Visa Runs", Pol Major Cheongron said." Quoting further: "To close these loopholes, Immigration checkpoints at airports and border crossings will now deny entry to travellers who make more than two Visa Runs without a valid justification." Again, one, it's not that Border Running is not possible anymore. Two, it's not that you can't even do more than two a year. You just have to show cause. The Decree that I previously was discussing stipulated you've got two a year unless there was  good reason to get more. So again, not impossible but there is heightened scrutiny; we are going to see more attention being paid by Immigration to these matters and I think it's going to get increasingly difficult. As it discusses in that article, and I urge those who are watching this video, go check it out, Immigration is telling people look if you're going to be here long-term, you need to get into a non-immigrant status. You need to get into something if you are going to live here that allows you to live here. We don't want people living here on exemption status, on tourist status in this sort of ostensibly temporary manner that in reality is permanent. That is what's bothering if you will the Immigration apparatus at the moment. 

So the thing to take away from this video is one, no, Border running is not at an end. That said, there is heightened scrutiny; there are going to be more formalities associated with Border Running I expect. I expect it will not be a guaranteed thing in the future that you can do it same day; I think that's going to be a big change moving forward. The idea of a same day Border Run at one time was quite commonplace as anybody who lived in Bangkok, and Pattaya, 10 years ago, 15 years ago could tell you. But again, times they are a-changing. The situation at the border being what it is with Cambodia, that's the closest border to both Bangkok and Pattaya which definitely I would say houses the most expats here in Thailand generally speaking. Again Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, depending on circumstances may be an option, but just the closure of the Thai Cambodian border itself has already put a big crib on many Border Runners if you will's “style”.  

That being said, I could see this evolving, but it should be understood that this is not a ban. It's still possible to do Border Runs, you just need to do it in kind of a different way than it was done in the past. For those who find themselves overwhelmed by all this stuff, it might not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.