Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Destination Thailand Visa. Let me be very clear, I've discussed this going back about a year now. Ever since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs came out and said, 'we're introducing this and this is how it works blah, blah, blah," and I brought up at the time well what are you talking about because Interior Ministry deals with extensions. It looks like, it looks like; let me also preface by saying I'm speculating to some degree right now with regard to this, but it looks like these things aren't extendable in Thailand. That said, I'm holding back - this video is not about the DTV itself - I'm going to get into some tax implications here in a moment. With regard to the DTV, I'm waiting another roughly six weeks - keep up with the channel over the next six weeks - because we're going to be seeing the DTV holders rolling through the system in the upcoming months. The initial people, basically the first tranche of these visas, just kind of stay tuned as we start to see how this is working out. How it's looking though is it looks like it's not extendable in-country. You're going to have to do a hop and come back in, but exactly how that works remains to be seen and don't even take my word for it that it's a foregone conclusion that internal extension is not going to be allowed because yet again, it remains to be seen. But from what we're hearing, that's not anything we're seeing on the horizon. So, what we are looking at moving forward is a situation where it looks like these things are going to require at least Border Runs. On the DTV itself stay tuned, we will keep you updated as to sort of tactically how that's playing out. 

That said, I thought of something over the past few days. It sort of hit me like a ton of bricks, what I think the "plan" for the Destination Thailand Visa is. And again, it's one of these where, I am not trying to look back and tell people ‘I told You So’ or anything but this is why I always stay very, very cautious of new Immigration stuff that's rolled out because you never quite know what the implications are with some of this stuff. And what I am seeing with the DTV, I think it is being built into this tax system, this Orwellian, call it the OECD side of things, but purely from internally from Thailand's standpoint, they are looking at what they did during COVID and how they can monitor all this stuff and deal with digital visas and digital travel documents. And basically, what I think they said is, 'oh we create this DTV, and then we just monitor them through the DTV system, which is designed to be very, very, very scrutinizing. I mean basically you have no Visa Privacy if you will with regard to DTV. They know what your status is at all times; it's all digital, you are digitized in the system, even your biometrics are probably in there stored with that, but what it looks to me like they are trying to roll out is this is going to be a component of the tax system. And while I think and I will get into this in other videos, while I think that 2025 is going to be what I call the “Demilitarized Zone Year” with regard to tax wherein this is the bright line year. There are those who will have you believe 2024 was the bright line year where, oh all the tax rules changed. No, nothing has fundamentally changed with regard to the underlying law, so let's start there. 

Meanwhile, we have got Trump coming in; we don't exactly know what he's going to be doing, the External Revenue Service and all of that. Remember, all this “Global Minimum Tax” stuff was pushed by Janet Yellen so you see where some of the impetus comes from for some of these policies here in Thailand and I think with her having now retired - and by the way left the United States completely destitute the first full day of Mr. Trump's day of Office in his Administration - which I find galling and appalling; Miss Yellen, quite frankly you are a disgrace, go home, we're done with you. That being said, this is ending, that era is ending. We are going to see Trump come in. Exactly how this plays out remains to be seen. This External Revenue Service thing remains to be seen. But that said, again we are already in calendar year 2025. The underlying fundamental laws of Thailand have not changed. Yes, rules regarding assessability changed in January of 2024, but again notwithstanding what other folks may say, this one-size-fits-all tax advisory mentality is not quite right either. 

The point I am trying to make in this video though with regard to sort of where things are going with respect to this and the DTV is I think the DTV is sort of the, how do we put it, in a sense the fait accompli of your tax situation here in Thailand. If you're in the DTV, you are going to be roped into it regardless. You folks, it looks to me like moving forward, especially out past 2025. You folks in standard Non-Immigrant Visas hang tight, especially you O Retirement Visa holders, hang tight for a minute, just calm down, see where this stuff is moving because again, I don't think we are necessarily going to see the same cadence of momentum moving forward post-Trump, and I think we are going to see some policy shifts if not overt changes in coming months and weeks and we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as that situation evolves.