Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Visa Exemptions for Thailand. For those who are unaware, yeah, for the most part we are talking about using Visas if you want to come to Thailand to live long-term, but if you are just coming in for a brief period of time, Thailand does allow for Visa Exemption status. Now it's important to understand, this is not a Visa, it is exemption from the need for a Visa and the granting of lawful status under an exemption status. So basically, if you're from certain countries - I think it's 93 different countries - have some kind of Visa exempt status for Thailand, their passport holders do, if you come in, you will just be stamped in for whatever period of time may pertain to your nationality. Now for the most part, right now we are seeing people who are coming in and being stamped in for 60 days due to a policy change some 18 months, 2 years ago, within immigration where they said, "we are now going to go from 30-day exemption stamps to 60-day exemption stamps, and that is the current policy. That said, it appears that this policy is under review, however. 

I thought of making this video after reading recent article from Visas News.com, that is visas with an S, visasnews.com, the article is titled: Thailand Authorities reassessing 60-day Visa Exemption. Quoting directly: "Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Department of Consular Affairs have confirmed the launch of consultations on the 60-day Visa Exemption policy which has been in effect since July 2024." A bit curious here as to why Interior isn't chiming in because they are the ones, its Immigration Officers under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior who are going to be stamping people in for 60 days. I get why Tourism and Sports is there, I get why Department of Consular Affairs is there, but at the end of the day, it's going to be Immigration Officers here in Thailand that are going to be stamping people in for 60 days or otherwise, so I thought that was interesting there. Quoting further: "No decision has been made yet, but a return to a shorter stay period for certain travellers is now officially under consideration." Quoting further: "On October 24, Thailand's Department of Consular Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement announcing a recent meeting on the 60-day Visa Exemption policy." Again, Minister of Foreign Affairs deals with Embassies and things, but the Exemption stamps are going to be issued by Immigration at checkpoints in country. That said, I get how it pertains to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but they're not going to be the actual ones applying any policies on this because that would be internal immigration under Interior. That said, quoting further: "Issued a statement announcing a recent meeting on the 60-day Visa Exemption policy. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Mr. Atthakorn Sirilathayakorn. Introduced in July 2024, the 60-day Visa Exemption was part of a broader package of reforms tourism sector. The Government simultaneously expanded the list of eligible countries to 93 nationalities and extended the visa-free stay period from 30 to 60 days. By late summer 2024, several Thai officials had already discussed the possibility of reverting to the original 30-day limit, citing the need for adjustments to preventive abuse of the program." Quoting further: "At the time, the Government explained that the Visa policy was subject to a bi-annual review, an evaluation mechanism planned from the outset, in coordination with the relevant Ministries and agencies. The recent announcements fall within this regular review process and confirm that the 60-day Visa exemption is now among the measures being given priority consideration." So that's the thing to understand. 60-day Visa Exemption stamps are now currently under review by a committee involving this Tourism and Sports Ministry as well as Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Let's see how that plays out; it will be interesting to see. 

But I brought this up because when we do see major Immigration Policy shifts here in Thailand, it is not uncommon that they occur at the beginning of a new calendar year. So when I read this, I saw the dates on it - this came out late October - they said look these committees are looking at this, they're now officially reviewing it. You have to understand how bureaucracy works for normal people, it take days to do something for bureaucracies; it takes weeks, it moves slowly. But what I'm saying is the interval of time between October and the first of the year, if this is going to happen, it wouldn't shock me if there was a policy shift and they announced it with the turn of the incoming year. Again, not a foregone conclusion. It is a bit of speculation on my part. Take it for what it is, but after years of observing this, I have found that again when major policy shifts are made, they tend to be made when they turn over the calendar year. That being said, I don't know if they would turn this back or not, remains to be seen, but we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.