Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing home "walk-throughs" associated with Thai Visa Extensions. I want to preferences by saying first of all this appears to be a Phuket-centric matter for now although as I have discussed in other videos, things that happen in one location, one specific provincial Immigration Office can sometimes happen in other places although I will say that generally speaking Phuket specifically has always kind of had its own flavours in Immigration Office. You have got to remember it has its own International Airport in Phuket; it is sort of its own window on the rest of the world and as we have discussed in other videos, Thai Immigration Offices are empowered with a certain amount of autonomy or discretion associated with how they deal with Immigration matters within their specific jurisdiction. The thing also understand is the thinking behind that is they are the boots on the ground; they are the ones dealing with things day to day and they are given a bit of leeway with respect to that to make decisions and set policy that is best for that specific location.

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from The Phuket News, that is thephuketnews.com, the article is titled: Phuket Immigration demands title deeds, home walk-throughs for permit to stay extensions. We did other videos contemporaneously with this one where we were talking about things like title deeds being requested, the possibility of the spectre of TM 30 effectively re-rising. I urge those who are watching this video go check out the rest of our channel, maybe use the search function and you can find further information on that. I thought of making this video after reading this excerpt specifically. Quoting directly: "Regarding the photographs required of inside the home where the foreigner is staying, The Phuket news has previously been informed of one incident when a foreigner was asked to do a "walk-through" of the home where he was staying to show an Immigration Officer through a video chat on a mobile phone what the home looked like - a procedure that normally requires a search warrant approved by a Court for an officer to enforce."

Well first of all, yeah a warrant is required for search of a home but foreign nationals don't enjoy the same rights as Thai citizens do. Beyond that, when you are seeking a benefit, a benefit which is what a Thai Visa is, it's a benefit, it's not a right, it's not an entitlement, it's a benefit. It's granted at the discretion of Immigration Officers duly appointed by the Government of Thailand, it is granted by those Officers to a foreign National to reside in Thailand and they have under various sections of the Immigration Act in 1979, discretion to request documentation and evidence in support of a given Immigration application. So I don't see anything per se wrong with them asking for this stuff. Now I know I will probably get flamed in the comments but look, at the end of the day, Immigration benefits are exactly what they are, they are benefits, they are not a right. So Immigration Officers, if they feel that there is something amiss in a given application, they have the discretion to ask for further documentation, further information, it is the nature of the beast as it were.

So the thing to take away from this video, we have discussed this before in the context of so called sham marriage here in Thailand associated with O Marriage Visas. Not only would they do walk-throughs digitally sort of by phone, but we have seen situations where Immigration Officers have showed up at someone's house in the context for example of an O Marriage Visa and said: "hey we are just coming here to see that you really live here, you are really here." Now they may not ask for a walk-through necessarily although in most cases they kind of want to see that this is like really where you are living. So again, remember if you are a foreign national in Thailand requesting a Visa or an extension of your Visa - by the way an extension is a Visa, they are not two different things. I keep seeing this over and over, they are not two different things. If you're a foreign national in a given country your passport has to be visad and yes that is a word, "Visad". I got burned for that years ago, "it is not a word!" Yes a passport is visad just the same way an envelope is stamped, it is just the way it works, okay. Yes if you come in to Thailand on a Visa that may have been issued abroad or not issued abroad you may be able to convert into Visa status and then continue to extend that Visa status while in Thailand. So the thing to take away from this video, especially down in Phuket, it looks like they are getting exceedingly stringent when it comes to the requirements associated for obtaining an Extension of Stay here in the Kingdom of Thailand.