Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing less demand for Thai Visa Services in Thailand. What are we talking about? I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that's pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Birds, booze and banter remain the Pattaya attraction for Brits. That article goes in a pretty different direction but one little excerpt in here that I am going to quote, it is worth reading. I urge those who are watching this, video go check out that article for more detail. 

Quoting directly: "The warning signs for the future may be the absence in Soi Buakhao of visa shops whose traditional role has been to assist foreigners with the bureaucracy of Thai Immigration. There used to be four and now there are none." Yeah look, at the end of the day we have seen a pretty big sea change associated with Immigration here in Thailand; the expansion of the Visa Exemption scheme as well as the creation of the Destination Thailand Visa. As I have discussed in other videos though, I think that this is sort of a temporary thing and let me explain why. In a sense, I think we are kind of in the eye of the storm if you will. As I have discussed in other videos, notwithstanding the fact they have increased the amount of lawful status to 60 days from 30 days for Visa Exempt status - so for certain nationals that come into Thailand just using their passport, they get 60 days on arrival rather than 30 in the past - that's going to decrease overall demand for things like in country extension because in the past you would get 30 days and you would need to extend in country by another 30.

That being said, as we have discussed in other videos, there still is an effective cap if you will from a practical standpoint on the usage of Exemption Stamps. Thai Immigration has their own guidelines. Basically you get two a year without a lot of hassle but past that and I think this is especially going to be the case moving forward where the amount of time in country granted is longer, Thai Immigration in my mind is going to probably be less inclined to be lenient past those two entries into Thailand. So if you use your status properly you could get two entries into Thailand no visa, and be able to stay six months in lawful status. That's about the maximum that the Thai Immigration Department wants to see of somebody living in Thailand without any kind of Visa. So again, but we are not going to see that until probably, or the ramifications of that, until quarter one of 2025. Meanwhile, I think it's going to be similar with the Destination Thailand Visa. I've discussed this at length; I get burned all the time in the comments because people were saying I am somehow trying to undermine people using the Destination Thailand Visa, not my intention but whatever. At the end of the day though, as we discussed at length, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs came out and said all kinds of things about the Destination Thailand Visa. The problem is they are not the ones who are going to administer Immigration Law in Thailand. It's going to be Immigration and Immigration, under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior, hasn't said a word about the Destination Thailand Visa. That leads me to believe that while the Destination Thailand Visa came into effect about a month ago, we're actually going to see the ramifications of this again quarter one of 2025 most likely, when we actually see people who have gone and gotten this visa to try to extend it or try to use a Border Run to continue to come back and get six month stamps. Immigration has said nothing about it. So again it remains to be seen how this is going to play, but I can tell you from personal experience, Immigration has real issues with people just living in Thailand with no real reason, no real raison d'être if you will. Now the Elite Visa sort of dealt with that. We have talked about folks that are in standard Retirement Visas; that has a category.

I think the Destination Thailand Visa was created for political ends. Yeah I think the creation of it is going to result in a high season this coming high season, where we are going to see a spike in numbers, of that there is no doubt. But on the back end, when the rubber hits the road and Immigration has to start looking at these folks and who is here and why, it's not a foregone conclusion that they are going to just extend these visas off into the horizon. In fact, if history is any guide it will probably be the opposite. There will be heightened scrutiny; they have the resources to impose that heightened scrutiny. So while we are currently in a situation where things seem relatively calm, it's like being in the eye of a storm. I think as we get to quarter 1, 2025, we are probably going to see major ramifications in terms of Immigration and how they apply Immigration Law to Destination Thailand Visa holders.