Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the DTV or Destination Thailand Visa. This has been on the lips of many and quite frankly it's been on the lips of many out here in the ether of the internet who don't know what they are talking about and have come out and said it's one thing and it's all these great things and at the end of the day, I've tried to be prudent over the years, roll out information as and when I actually know it, not trying to be hyperbolic and talk about something in such a way that isn't actually factually correct. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Thai Examiner, that is thaiexaminer.com, the article is titled: New 6-country Tourist Visa planned by the Foreign Ministry as well as Electronic Travel Authorization. I urge those who are watching this video, that article goes in a slightly different direction. I urge those who want to know about it, go over to that article, check it out. Quoting directly: "New Destination Thailand Visa offers five-year stays for digital nomads but limits working within the country." Well it doesn't limit, it's completely illegal to work in Thailand on a DTV on anything that "impinges upon the Thai economy" which is a pretty broad definition. Again, the big thing that the DTV took away was in the past, people would contact me and say yeah I'm retired but every once in a while I have to send an email or I consult or I'm on the phone. We would have to say "well look, strictly speaking you need a Work Permit." Matters that don't have anything to do with Thailand, yes, no longer is that that big of a deal. That said, Work Permit requirements are still far more broad than many of these lay people - quite honestly idiots - out on the internet are talking about it as. As I've discussed in other videos we're still seeing Thai Officials, specifically Immigration Police oftentimes still arresting people for Work Permit violations here in Thailand; it's still required to have a Work Permit to work in Thailand. Quoting further: "The new DTV Visa presently allows working online professionals with contracts and activities outside Thailand to live and work from Thailand." Again, so long as it doesn't impinge upon the economy of Thailand. I've seen a ton of people out there in the ether of the internet saying "well I've been working in Thailand. Now I'm going to quit, get rid of all my Work Permit and I'm just going to go on a contract that's outside the country and then just claim I'm on a DTV." Yeah, it doesn't work that way; that impinges upon the Thai economy. 

At the end of the day, these DTVs no matter how they've been touted, are likely only going to really have a lot of benefit for a rather narrow subset of folks, and I'm going to get to that even further here. Quoting further: "The visa is for five years," well no. Again the face value for usage under this scheme can be utilized over the course of a five-year period. The Visa itself does not grant five years of lawful status in Thailand. That's a big misnomer that people aren't really getting, and just because you have it over that 5-year duration, does not mean Immigration has to admit you to Thailand. It's the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' program but where the rubber is going to get the road is with Thai Immigration. And as I have said in many other videos, Thai Immigration is notably silent on all of this. In fact I would argue, the silence is deafening. Why? Because they know they're going to do their thing and operate as Immigration always does and all of this hype that surrounded the DTV is likely to be shown for what it is - a lot of hype. It's not a very good representation of how this is actually going to play out in practice. Quoting further: "The Visa is for five years and offers a 180-day stay," that's at each entry, and that is if you are allowed to enter, which we will get to. Quoting further: "..which can be renewed from outside the country quite easily." Really? We've just seen that they're changing the Border Run rules here in Thailand. I did the video on it before. You have got to spend at least a day or two abroad in order to do a Border Run. Do people think this is not going to apply with regard to these DTVs? Meanwhile, you're going to be dealing with one of these online systems, which as we discussed during all of the COVID situation are less than optimal and you're not dealing with the Embassies and stuff, you're going to be dealing with this online system and then trying to interact with Thai Immigration who haven't changed any of their rules. So the notion of "quite easily", again the way this is being framed is creating unrealistic expectations and it's also creating a situation wherein those unrealized, those unrealistic - I keep thinking of Unrealized Gain because I've been hearing that Unrealized Capital Gain - but unrealistic expectations. Those unrealistic expectations are going to be compounded even further by the fact that it has been sort of overestimated how “easy” it's going to be, and we are not talking even to the Ministry that's going to be responsible for re-admitting these people. That Ministry has been notably silent; they're not saying it's going to be “quite easy”. Quoting further: "A key requirement is that applicants must have funds of 500,000 Baht, must not work or gain income from within Thailand," and again that issue of work, work or gain income within Thailand, that's a broad notion. This notion "oh, it's free and easy, you can just work here!" No. Quoting further: "Thailand's July 15th Visa Revolution," will you stop. Visa Revolution! It's a new Visa. We've seen how many visas come and go over the years? Yeah it may be useful for a broader subset of people.

What I think is going to occur which is what we have discussed in other videos, it's going to create a massive spike in terms of this upcoming high season which is fine. Kudos to the Government for getting a massive spike in high season. That would be great but we are going to deal with the aftermath of this come the first and second quarter of next year when people have to start dealing with these "easily renewable" visas where they have to do a Border Run, leave the country, then deal with this online system from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not to mention the fact that they are still dealing with good old Thai Immigration. And again, something that's worth noting in this video as well is at the beginning they talked about the ability to extend these in country. I'm not hearing them talking about that anymore, and notice Immigration has been notably silent, completely. I don't know what's been said behind closed doors but again the narrative is not talking about extending these in-country; it's presuming a Border Run. Quoting further: "Thailand's July 15th Visa revolution offers radical benefits for travellers to and from the Kingdom, with more to come." Well first of all, we'll see about more to come because I'm here to tell you, there is going to be at least some level of thought on this from the Thai populist, so more to come might be presuming a bit. Meanwhile, again massive benefit, they are not really all that radical benefits. We used to have the old multi-entry Non-Immigrant Visas, multi-entry B, multi-entry O, a lot of people used those; these DTVs look very similar to them. Again, I am not trying to rain on this particular parade per se, but it's being talked about in such a way again that is creating unrealistic expectations. Meanwhile at the same time that these unrealistic expectations being created by the verbiage of the discussion of this Visa, they are also rolling out things like the Electronic Travel Authorization which are creating more obstacles to standard immigration matters that used to be relatively straightforward. So while creating unrealistic expectations of how the Immigration system generally works, it's also creating new obstacles simultaneously, which is going to make that system work less efficiently.

So I predict like kind of a PR negative feedback loop forming some time in first quarter second quarter of 2025 as people who were sort of told that this was the end-all-be-all, the easiest thing that they could use to be in Thailand, start to deal with the reality that they have to deal with Immigration matters in such a way that may not be so rosy.