Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing, well we're discussing the possibility of a new "Consular Office" - "Consular Office" is in quotes, usually you call this a Consulate. When I first read this article, they said they were proposing a Consulate. When I came back to it to make this video, it seemed like the text had changed, so I don't know. I thought the first time I read this it said they were proposing a Consulate, now they use this term "Consular Office", I don't know, whatever. In the new digital era, it may be same-same but different at the end of the day. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from Thai PBS, that is thaipbs.or.th, the article is titled: Proposed fence along Thai- Cambodian Border in Sa Kaeo Province. Quoting directly: "Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs Phumtham Wechayachai has agreed to consider the proposal, from Sa Kaeo's Provincial Governor for a budget of 380 million Baht to build a 55 km-long fence along the most porous section of the Thai-Cambodia border. First question is are the Thais like taking a page from Trump's America and building that wall? Okay. Quoting further: "Phumtham and his staff were in Sa Kaeo Province today to address the problem of illegal activities, such as scam call centres in the Cambodian Border Town of Poipet and human trafficking. Sa Kaeo Provincial Governor Parinya Phothisat reportedly proposed that the government opens a Thai Consular Office, to look after the 30,000 Thais working in eight provinces in Cambodia and assigns a 385 million budget to build a border fence, equipped with surveillance cameras, to deter cross-border smuggling." 

I have got to be honest with you. I think that the Provincial Governor out there in Sa Kaeo may have had a point there. I think that's probably a really good idea. On the one hand yes enforcement, but on the other let's put out a Consular Post so that people who want to get legal visas to come to Thailand can avail themselves of that and they can also be of assistance to Thais working in Cambodia. As noted in this excerpt, there are 30,000 of them over there in Cambodia; that can be a major benefit to Thais who may need documentation to get work authorization or visas and things of that nature or even be able to get married or anything like that. Property documentation, again that can be a major benefit to Thais who are over in Cambodia. 

It would be interesting to see if a Consulate ultimately ends up in Poipet. Again, as the digitization of visas continues, physically going to Consulates may fall by the wayside, but it's still required to be in the physical jurisdiction of places where you are seeking a visa. So for this reason, Border Running especially in the context of things like what I call the Digital Thailand Visa, sometimes referred to as the Destination Thailand Visa, I should actually reverse that. I sometimes refer to it as Digital Thailand; it is the Destination Thailand Visa. Other types of visas, Visa Exemption, Tourist Visas, again all of these oftentimes require Border Runs. Having a Consulate in Poipet could be a major benefit to both foreigners and Thais, here in Southeast Asia.