Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing heightened scrutiny being applied by Thai Immigration to foreign nationals now travelling into Thailand. A lot going on here. We've got the situation in the Middle East. On top of that, Thailand has got its own issues along the border that has caused, as I've discussed in prior videos, a paradigm shift within the Thai Immigration apparatus to one of much more of a national security posture. So you have got to understand that going in to the events of the last 6 weeks. Now we're seeing a situation where that paradigm is being translated into even more heightened scrutiny. We have also got this whole issue of scam gangs out here in the region, and then on top of it, we have got people who are being stranded here or coming from places that may be in sort of the conflict zone that Thailand really wants to ascertain what they are doing effectively, so a lot going on. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Thailand steps up screening of 'suspicious' foreign nationals. (Suspicious in quotation marks) Quoting directly: "The Thai Immigration Bureau has denied entry to more than 30 foreign individuals deemed suspicious after adopting heightened screening measures during the conflict in the Middle East. A total of 870 foreigners have been interviewed over the past 13 days, Pol Maj Gen Choengron Rimpadee, a Spokesman for the Bureau, said on Saturday. In light of the ongoing situation in the Middle East, the Thai public has expressed concern that the country could become a relocation hub, potentially affecting local communities, Pol Maj Gen Choengron said." Yeah look, in times like this, I threw something up on Twitter a few weeks back where I took the globe from the movie Casablanca and in the intro of the film there is like this globe, and it sort of shows the two zones and everything of what's going on in that war leading into the Second World War at the time, and I threw up a thing that just said Asian Casablanca. Thailand could kind of end up in a position similar to that where we could see a lot of folks who are stranded in transit to other places kind of end up coming through Thailand because Thailand is sort of open to most folks. It's not a particularly difficult place to travel to. Now that being said, I expect heightened scrutiny may change some of that, especially for certain types of travellers; again remains to be seen. 

While we are on the topic, I mean if you are traveling through Thailand, it might not be a terrible idea to come check out Pancake Palace which is the restaurant my better half and I set up down here in downtown Bangkok. As the name implies, breakfast anytime including American style breakfast. We also have American Diner style food: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chilli bowls, buffalo wings. So if you're interested, please feel free to come check us out; link is in the description below. 

That said, quoting further: "Those entering under the visa-free scheme must undergo stricter screening, including checks on travel plans, accommodation and return itineraries. If the Officers have any suspicions, entry is denied immediately, Pol Maj Gen Choengron said." 

So let's go back and look at that again. "Those entering under the Visa-free scheme must undergo stricter screening including checks on travel plans, accommodation and return itineraries." That's a pretty big deal. Now one thing to bear in mind. We are coming to the end of what's traditionally considered high season here. There tends to be a bit of a bounce in April due to Songkran, Thai New Year, a lot of folks tend to be around Thailand for that, but we do kind of hit a doldrums here in mid-May and then we get kind of a bounce and then back, excuse me mid-March, and then as we get to May we start to see things again kind of flatten out again as we go into what's traditionally considered low season. Now those dynamics have changed. I've done a number of videos on this channel regarding that, so something to bear in mind there. But that said this isn't, frankly even without the war, it wouldn't have surprised me if they were doing this at this time of the year. So for them to be doing this in light of the broader sort of international picture makes some sense. Now that said, how this all plays out remains to be seen, so we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.