Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we're discussing a nationwide crackdown on overstayers. Yeah, I've been discussing a lot of things recently with regard to immigration, increased scrutiny on visa extensions, increased scrutiny on Visa Runners and Border Runners. 

As I have discussed in other videos, I think there is a distinction between a Border Run and a Visa Run. A Border Run is when you run to the Border, you cross, you are stamped into another country - if only briefly - only to be stamped back into the country of origin in order to gain more Immigration status. As we have discussed in other videos, there's heightened scrutiny associated with that practice. Those who are looking to do Border Runs are well-advised to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance before proceeding. Meanwhile, the issue of what I call Visa Runs which is going to another country around Thailand, going to one of their Embassies or Consulates and getting a new Visa, that whole basically system, is changed in the last year fundamentally, as we are now dealing with the new E-Visa portal but you have still got to have physical presence oftentimes in some of these jurisdictions in order to process an E-Visa out. So again, a Visa Run and a Border Run are kind of two different things. Visa Run being presumably you're going to be out of the country a little longer; you're going to be dealing with an actual Embassy; you're going to be coming back in with an actual Visa, as opposed to a Border Run, just going to a border, getting stamped down and stamped back in. 

The latter, i.e. Border Runs are being subject to increasing scrutiny but are not being banned. As I have discussed in other videos, there are a lot of folks out there talking about Border Running as effectively banned. That is not the case; it's just being scrutinized more, you have to be more careful with it. 

That said, quoting directly, again from a recent article in the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, Thai Immigration steps up Visa Run scrutiny. Quote: "A nationwide crackdown on overstayers will also be intensified, with the Bureau pledging to regularly report results to the public". Now that is key. I talked about this a couple of years ago when, I think it was under Police General Torsak, made an order to the Immigration Bureau that said, "hey you need to send regular updates from Immigration Bureau to Royal Thai Police Command telling us what you're doing about folks that you are finding on overstay, how long they're being processed for deportation etc. That's a big change. I talked about that at the time. The fact that reports have to be filed, that means people now have protocols to keep up with. They need to check in; has the report been filed; what's been done since the last report was filed regarding the overstayers and things that we had in that report? Those are big developments within Thai Immigration and the point being, with that mechanism in place and this new paradigm, I think it's pretty safe to say overstayers are going to be targeted more and more moving forward. That said, quoting further: "Pol. Maj. Choengron said acknowledged that the new procedures may slightly slow passport checks during peak hours. Nonetheless, he assured that screening will remain efficient." 

So again, they're not messing around with this. They are very concerned about folks overstaying in Thailand; they're very concerned about immigration matters generally. On top of that, as I've discussed in other videos, there has been a major paradigm shift with regard to border matters, and immigration matters, because of the actions and activities and developments that have occurred along the Thai-Cambodian border. I suspect these developments are going to continue progressing much in the same vein in which they are now. That being said, it remains to be seen, so we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.