Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing changes to the rules regarding Border Runs here in Thailand. For those who are unaware, we have seen a number of changes within the Immigration System just in the past roughly two to three weeks here in Thailand. I expect some of them are a bit more, I hesitate to use the term "deceptive", but some of them I don't think are quite what people think they are. As we have discussed, for example with the Destination Thailand Visa, people are viewing this as sort of the end all, be all of visa categories; it's really kind of not in many ways, and we don't even know how Immigration is going to react to it. That said, we are also seeing some changes with regard to Border Run rules here in Thailand. 

I thought of making this video after receiving an article from a viewer. Quoting directly: "Hi Ben, big fan of the channel, being in my view the only English language resource for Immigration and related topics worth listening to." Thanks very much, appreciate that. Quoting further: "Thought I would share a recent experience. Chiang Kong and Chiang Saen border crossings at Chiangrai province have stopped allowing same day Visa runs with Friday 23rd August being the first day for the new rules according to officials. They now require people to spend at least 2 nights in Laos to be eligible for a 60-day Visa exemption/visa-on-arrival. That I was changing from a non-O Visa was immaterial. They were also telling everyone that if it was their second in a year, they would need to show an outbound plane ticket. Some were told they would need to show 10,000 Baht too. This seems to have been a sudden change as Chiang Mai Visa Run Companies were still delivering tourists there on Friday morning who were told they could go and come in one day and had no change of clothes and even some without adequate funds for the extra two days in Laos Visa. Anecdotal hearsay from a Laos Official said it was due to a problem with a group of Chinese tourists late last week in Chiang Saen but who knows. As has always been my experience, Thai Immigration Officials were professional and helpful, letting everyone know the new requirements before stamping them out of Thailand so they could plan accordingly. The reentry to Thailand involved an informal interview and photocopy of documentation in an office before being allowed to go through passport control to receive the Visa Exempt Stamp. Again Immigration Officials were polite and friendly, feel welcome to share and thanks for the resource. Warm regards." Thank you to that viewer. Thanks a lot for that insight. 

Yeah, it looks like we are seeing major changes with regard to Border Runs. We ourselves do some Border Running along the Cambodian Border from time to time on behalf of our clients and also assist folks sometimes in doing Border Runs sometimes over to like Myanmar, even Laos we have assisted in the past. But that said primarily, especially down here in Bangkok, it seems like the easiest way to deal with things is to go to the Cambodia Border. 

That said, these are Thai Immigration rules now requiring folks to now be outside of the country for longer than just a same-day Border hop. Exactly how this is going to play out remains to be seen. That said, we have been making arrangements accordingly for this with the presumption that this is going to become the norm. Now whether or not there are ways of making a same day run possible I kind of think as time goes on, especially in light of the easing up of the other visa rules that we have now seen to this point, things like the expansion of the Visa Exemption programs, the creation of the Destination Thailand Visa, I could definitely see a situation where Border Officials, Immigration Officials at the border are becoming increasingly, well they are scrutinizing increasingly and they are becoming increasingly stringent in imposing these new rules, I can definitely see that being sort of part and parcel of the new changes with regard to relaxing certain visa rules to allow more people to come in, especially in light of the fact high season is coming.