Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Border situation going on up along the Thai-Cambodian border and impact upon expat options with regard to Immigration. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Thailand delays border talks with Cambodia as Joint Commission yet to be finalized. Quoting directly: "Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow stated that Thailand is currently establishing its Joint Boundary Commission (JBC)and is not ready to meet with Cambodian counterparts. This follows Cambodia's invitation to hold a JBC meeting between April 17th and April 25, 2026."

Look, just as a commentary here, I have to imagine from the Cambodian side there are strong motivations to get that border back open for economic reasons. I think there are also motivations along the Thai side. Emotions are still running high after last summer, okay. I'm sure that people up along the border don't forget about having ordinance lobbed at them while they were otherwise going about their days peacefully. It's probably going to take some time for this to get resolved. That said, it seems that Thai Authorities are taking their time with regard to who's going to be put on this committee. Quoting directly: "The Deputy Prime Minister stated that he had informed the Cambodian government that the JBC meeting can only proceed once Thailand finalizes its Commission members. He acknowledged Cambodia's desire to expedite the process and confirmed that Cambodia is aware of Thailand's current organizational constraints. The Minister expects to discuss this informally with Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs during the ASEAN Summit in early May of 2026."

So, let's be clear, it looks like the first major substantive talk between Foreign Affairs counterparts on the overall issue of even having a joint border session sit down is not going to happen till early May. We're sitting here in mid-April. So if that gives you any idea on possible future when we could see the Border reopen, they are not even going to be discussing the possibility of further discussions until possibly early May. Quoting further: "Regarding MOU 43 and MOU 44 (that's Memorandum of Understanding of both numbers) Quoting further: "The Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed the government's commitment to its stated policy. He confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will allow official procedures to propose revoking MOU 44, submitting the proposal to the National Security Council before Cabinet consideration. For MOU 43, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the need for a thorough and inclusive approach, noting that any final decision on these agreements requires Cabinet consensus." Final decision requires Cabinet consensus, and they don't even know when they are going to have a sit down with the Joint Border Committee because they haven't named on the Thai side who is even on that Committee, and the next possible discussion with regard to that looks like it might occur at the beginning of May. 

What that leads me to believe is, I can't imagine we would see the border necessarily open in May based on these prevailing facts that I'm aware of. What does that necessarily mean? Well as a practical matter, Border Running to Cambodia is not going to be possible anytime in at least the next 60 days and I would say possibly going through quarter two and three of 2026 at the very least. Now my hope is the Border does get reopened and peace is maintained and business can be done, but that does not look to be something that is going to be in the offing anytime in the immediately foreseeable future, let alone even into some nebulous notions of the future going into the latter part of the year. 

That being said, we will certainly be keeping folks updated on this channel as the situation evolves.