Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the change in demographics associated with sort of the expat population here in Thailand. Basically in my mind things are changing and we're seeing a different demography in terms of the types of expats we're seeing both coming into Thailand and staying longer term. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Foreigners and Thai law: the changing Pattaya scenario. Quoting directly: "The number of annual extensions of stay here in Thailand based on retirement or marriage has fallen by around half since around the turn of the century." 

Yeah, one thing going on here is look there was different demography that was coming to Thailand to live some 20 years ago than there is now. It's not entirely different but the complexion has changed. In the past, the vast majority of folks that I would meet that lived here, oftentimes they were veterans of the Vietnam War or they were in the oil and gas industry. A lot of them in the airline industry as well and then you occasionally would meet an expat package person; I was a real anomaly, I was young I had come out here, I got set up on my own out here and did my thing; not the most common thing, not unheard of but pretty low in terms of the numbers. I have said it before and I will say it again, there was a time when I was the youngest person in virtually any room I walked in of expats in Thailand. Now more and more, I'm finding myself caught in a chasm demographically because again there are the older retirees who are still around and then meanwhile we're starting to see these up and comers, remote workers, so-called digital nomads etc., who are coming to Thailand to live and work, not necessarily work, again depending on your Visa status you may or may not have work authorization in Thailand, but I'm finding myself more and more again in this chasm between I'm either in a room and I'm the oldest guy or I'm in the room and I'm the youngest guy, and I think this is a byproduct of this change in demography that we're currently seeing. Quoting further: "The DTV (that's the Destination Thailand Visa as we have discussed in other videos), on the other hand is mainly aimed at digital nomads working for overseas-based companies. The early signs are that the main market will be Americans and Europeans who are not tied down in their employment to an office or base."

As we've also discussed, you need to be very careful with these Destination Thailand Visas. I do not think that they are the magic bullet that many people believe that they are. What I mean to say is - I've discussed this in many other videos - at the end of the day Immigration has not commented regarding these visas in terms of extension or allowing people to constantly return on them utilizing border runs. And it's my belief that the Immigration Department is not going to be sunshine and roses the way that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sort of made this Visa out to be because at the end of the day, Immigration has a very different mandate than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs went on effectively a PR blitz if you will, they were promoting this Visa but as they have said themselves, they're not going to have any ability regarding extension or ongoing usage in terms of Immigration agents at the border. So presumption about how it's going to work in my opinion is very, very premature.

That being said, back to the demography of things. Yes, we are definitely seeing a shift where at one time again it was sort of 80/20, 80% of the folks you see out there as expats were retirees and about 20% were working or younger or doing other things. I think that demography is going to start hitting more and more equilibrium. Now again we're talking more about the ‘Farang’ if you will, Americans and Europeans, how exactly this plays in with the changes in terms of travel habits by for example Indian Nationals, Chinese Nationals, other countries around the world who are more and more finding interest in coming to Thailand as tourists or to come here to live and possibly even work. How that all factors together remains to be seen but we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.