Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Royal Thai Police activity along the Thai Cambodian border, and whether or not this may have an impact on Border Runs. So for those who are unaware, I actually differentiate between what I call Visa Runs and Border Runs. Border Running is in my opinion just the act of crossing a border and crossing back over, basically in order to depart and be re-admitted lawfully in order to maintain lawful status on an ongoing basis. A Visa Run is a different thing. In the past, I called a Visa Run physically going to an Embassy getting a Visa, coming back. These days, everything is being digitized more and more, but you still have to physically be in the country in which you are seeking the Visa in order to get the visa to come back to Thailand. So as a practical matter, Visa Running is still a little bit different than Border Running. It is not just a matter of crossing over and crossing back, it's a matter of remaining there until one's new Visa is issued. That said, the question posed is will this activity by the Thai Police have an impact on Border Running?

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya News, that is thepattayanews.com, the article is titled: Mass Crackdown in Poipet: 56 Thais linked to 1,154 Scam Cases Repatriated. "Thailand, at 4:00PM on April 1st, 2025, National Police Inspector Pol. Gen. Thatchai Pitanilabut announced the repatriation of 56 Thai nationals from Poipet, Cambodia for prosecution in Thailand. They were linked to 1,154 call centre scam cases causing damages of over 709 million baht."  Quoting further: "The arrests followed a February operation by Cambodian Police that led to the capture of 119 Thai suspects, who were later handed over to Thai Authorities. On March 22nd, Cambodian Authorities launched another raid targeting two key locations in Poipet including a 12-story building. The site housed Thai-operated scam networks allegedly involved in mule accounts, crypto fraud, and biometric scams, according to Pol. Gen. Thatchai." 

So what do we take away from this and what does this have to do with immigration? Look, at the end of the day, when there's a lot of police activity along the border, presume you are going to see tightened protocols by Immigration, and you are going to see heightened scrutiny by Immigration. Now what does that mean practically? It's going to depend. It is going to depend on you the person, the timing. Did you get an officer on the bad day? Did you get a day where they came in and they just put in a new policy and now you are dealing with a very strict set of rules, or maybe I should say a very strict kind of paradigm associated with processing such cases. Again, it depends on the underlying facts. But I think it is safe to presume, with this level of police activity along the border, probably Border Running - is I am not going to say it is going to go away or anything by any stretch of the imagination - but could we see heightened scrutiny associated with Border Runners and could we see heightened scrutiny associated with Digital Visa applications especially out of Poipet, Cambodia? I think that's very possible moving forward.