Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we're talking about this newly discussed what they are calling the ETA. This is the Electronic Travel Authorization. This is something, I have talked about in the past, this is something akin to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization that seemingly exists in the United States, doesn't seemingly, it does exist in the United States. Seemingly though, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in Thailand is talking about bringing something like this online for those who are using Visa exemptions.

So this is basically, let me preface this by saying, I think this is a terrible idea, I think Thailand's only going to hurt from this; it's going to create a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy and I really don't even see the benefit of it, there really isn't any benefit to it. It's superfluous and it's just going to cost a lot and it could only operate to effectively hurt the Tourism Sector here in Thailand. And before anybody gets on me about "well we want to verify people that are coming in whatever", we already have APPS; I have done the video on that. The Advanced Passenger Processing System which operates in conjunction with PIBICS, which I can't remember exactly what that acronym stands for; we already have the functionality for this. I don't understand particularly why we need this.

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from travelobiz, that is travelobiz.com. It is interesting, I have noticed that yet again there are a bunch of farang pretending to be able to legally discuss these matters. As I have discussed in prior videos, foreigners should not be discussing legal matters pertaining to Thailand at all. As noted in prior videos it is a violation of the restricted occupations. That being stated, they are talking about it as if this is a foregone conclusion. It is not. This is being proposed yet again. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to be off in their own universe sort of coming up with this stuff and I don't know how this is going to be particularly positive for the travel sector here in Thailand, and I don't understand the cost benefit. We already have Immigration that can handle this. Thailand isn't the United States where we have millions upon millions of people necessarily coming to Thailand every year in Visa waiver status that are then overstaying and living here. We have Immigration to handle this. Why we need this extra layer through Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in my mind, again I view it as superfluous. 

That said, I thought of making this video, again, travelobiz.com, article titled: Thailand to Launch Mandatory ETA for 93 Visa Exempt Countries. Well again, they called ESTA in the United States, it is again the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, the back door visa and frankly it did nothing but decimate American tourism because it created an extra layer that caused people who could otherwise just get on a plane and go to America (correction) for tourism purposes, they now have to through a bunch of extra bureaucracy that really didn't add any value in my mind. I mean anybody that has sort of watched the way that that system worked, it didn't really add any value, it just created another extra digital obtuse bureaucratic step with which to deal with immigration matters. Meanwhile the benefit to my mind isn't really there. We have Immigration to handle this stuff. If somebody tries to come into Thailand and overstay what is an ESTA going to do, what is an Electronic Travel Authorization going to do? No it's going to be Immigration that needs to handle that so from an Immigration enforcement standpoint, what are we talking about? We already have APPS in place and PIBICS in place, what is this ETA supposed to accomplish? 

Meanwhile, Immigration here in Thailand can handle whatever happens with regard to overstayers, so what are we doing? Meanwhile, we have created all these visas exemptions and then people are now going to effectively have to effectively get a Visa; it's a backdoor visa. That's what they called ESTA when it first came out. Now you have got to deal with being authorized to travel on an exemption. It really is not only redundant, it's catch-22 levels of bureaucratic nonsense frankly. I don't see where it adds value. So again, quoting directly: "Thailand is set to launch a new Electronic Travel Authorization System for Visa exempt travellers starting from December 2024." Let's also note this is not a foregone conclusion, and I don't like it when the media and all the rest of quite frankly people that don't know what they are talking about out here in the ether of the internet start talking about this stuff because then it lends it an air of credibility, an air of inevitability and it's not there yet; again this is not a foregone conclusion. Hopefully cooler, saner heads will prevail and realize this will do nothing but detrimentally impact the Tourism Sector here. Quoting further: "Visitors entering by air, land, or sea will need to obtain an ETA. The system aims to enhance security and streamline entry procedures with confirmation typically issued within 24 hours." And I'll go ahead and put a link up to this. We usually like to cite online but I am going through this new process of dealing with these kind of more informal videos but if you go down here lower it says: “Enhanced Security and Immigration Process. QR Code access." Can we stop adding all this digital nonsense onto just basic travel? It's really getting nuts and again, I think this is going to massively detrimentally impact Thailand's Tourism Sector. Again all of this, I don't know where this has come from. It has really only been in the last year that I've seen this, what can only be described as a desire to move into some sort of Kafkaesque non-stop bureaucratic sort of - I don't even know what to call it - it's just sort of bureaucratic ‘make work’ for people that just want to come on a vacation. Again quoting directly: "QR Code access to approve ETAs will enable Entry Electronic Gates by scanning a QR code from the authorization email." Well bear in mind, everyone has to do this, presumably, that's going to deal with an exemption. So where is the extra efficiency going to be gained if everyone has to do it? It's not like adding this QR code is going to put you in a priority line. Quoting further: "System checks: ETA will verify passport authenticity, criminal records and Interpol notices, similar to current Immigration checks." Well why not just continue current Immigration checks? Why is this needed? And what's the value-add by this? You know we just, right before COVID, increased the manpower at Immigration. We're paying for all these people, why this extra thing? Quoting further: "Streamline process the system aimed to speed up entry and reduce disputes at checkpoints." Well first of all, checkpoints, that's what they're there for. For the adjudication process. Meanwhile, again where everybody is doing this, how is this supposed to benefit anybody? Moving on: "Future implications: Airline verifications: despite the imminent introduction of the ETA." Again, not a foregone conclusion but whatever. "Many details remain unclear. It's unclear if airline staff will need to check ETA authorization before boarding." Oh great, so now the airlines are becoming Immigration even before you deal with Immigration? Quoting further: "Tax implications." Interesting! "The ETA might link to Thailand's Tax regulations for those staying 180 days or more per year. Frequent use of Visa Exemptions or the Destination Thailand Visa could identify travellers as tax residents if they remit funds to Thailand."

Now I seem to understand perhaps what this ETA is being designed for. Because again I don't see where it's going to add a great deal of benefit to the tourism sector here in Thailand, but now I'm seeing "oh there may be a tax benefit from the standpoint of enforcement and collection associated with this Digital Visa basically." It's the only way you can describe it; it's a backdoor visa as ESTA was originally described when America adopted something similar. And frankly, I think it's done nothing but hurt the American tourism sector ever since ESTA was created. That said, it remains to be seen exactly how all of this will play out. We will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.