Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, it looks like there are those in the Thai Government right now that would like to see the Visa Free Policy reviewed, substantially it looks like. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Visa free rules for Chinese in question. Quoting directly: "The Senate has called on the Government to revise its Visa Free Policy for Chinese nationals, citing risks of Thailand becoming a hub for criminal activities. Senator Pol Lt Gen Wanchai Ekpornpichit raised the concern during a recent Senate meeting chaired by Senate Speaker Mongkol Surasajja. The Senator addressed how the policy, originally intended to boost tourism, has been exploited by criminal groups highlighting cases of Chinese crime syndicates using Thailand as a base for illegal operations." 

Okay, one thing to note. I talked about hey we'll probably see some tightening up in the first quarter, second quarter of 2025 with regard to Immigration. These are the initial rumblings of that. I would view this as kind of a tremor of possible things to come within the Immigration System. Bear in mind, depending on who you talk to, high-season doesn't really end until arguably February, so I don't think we are going to see anything major in terms of Immigration Policy for the next forthcoming couple of weeks. That said, that is purely speculation on my part just based on prior past experience. But that being said, quarter one, yeah, it's not unheard of to see major Immigration Policy changes such as this one or this possible one, and we will be keeping people updated. But long story short and the thing to keep in mind, this is the stuff I was talking about for roughly the last six or eight months and again we will wait to see how this plays out, the interplay between this phenomenon if you will and the Destination Thailand Visa. 

That said, quoting further: "Pol Lt Gen Wanchai proposed a thorough review of the visa-free policy particularly for tourists from China.." - now note, he's not saying only on the Chinese. It just so happens that they are talking about it from that angle. It has been my experience when they start looking at this stuff, it can have an impact on everybody. I discussed this a lot in Trump's so-called Muslim ban in the US Immigration context back in his first term, and I stand by that same logic, that same analysis, that look, when they come out with this stuff and they say, "oh well we are targeting this group”, it tends to have a broad effect; it tends to. That said, quoting further: "..particularly for tourists from China and other countries linked to transnational crime.." -  what does that mean? I mean any country can be linked to transnational crime. Quoting further: "...to close Immigration loopholes. He expressed fears that Thailand's location and policies make it attractive for such activities, especially as nearby countries like China, Myanmar and Cambodia crack down on organized crime. Pol Lt Gen Wanchai also noted that some travellers exploit natural border crossings to enter the country illegally, bypassing Immigration checks. He suggested replacing the Visa-free policy with a visa-on-arrival." So again, that would revert things back to basically where China was basically before COVID, sort of status quo COVID, status quo ante-Covid basically is how you would look at that and it may happen. I mean when Senators get serious about things, policies tend to at least get scrutinized, if not changed. 

Whether or not we see major changes to the Visa Free Policy remains to be seen, but we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.