Transcript of the above video: 

I wanted to make this sort of bumper to let folks know about Visa packages or Immigration packages here in Thailand. There have been a lot of changes to Immigration laws, rules, protocols and procedures roughly the last year or so. Well no the last five years in earnest but in the last year, we have seen even more acute changes if you will. For this reason, I want to make everybody aware we have a Border Run service here in our office; we assist people in setting up Border Runs. Now to be clear, that's not all we do and this is kind of more of a bespoke thing where we set up Border Runs for folks to assist them in maintaining lawful Immigration status here in the Kingdom. We also can assist with different types of visas, not just the newer ones which by the way just because a Visa is new, doesn't necessarily mean it's a great thing; there are ups and downs to all types of Visas. So the thing to take away from this, what I am trying to make a point is in this sort of bumper video is we are assisting with Border Runs; we do always assist with Thai Immigration. Anybody that is interested in those services, please feel free to contact us. Now on with this video. 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Immigration specifically seems to be making arrangements with respect to the LGBT etc., etc. community; I am not trying to cut that off intentionally it's just, it's long - LGBTQIA, the number 2, S+. I'm not quite sure what all of that stuff means but I've always just sort of said LGBT and just sort of left it with that with regard to these sorts of issues. But long story short, Thai Immigration is making certain arrangements to specifically accommodate folks looking to come to Thailand, travel to Thailand for either tourism or long-term stay, Thai Immigration is looking to accommodate those folks. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Immigration police launch campaign for LGBTQIA2S+ travellers. Quoting directly: "Immigration Police on Thursday launched their "Welcome Pride by Immigration" campaign to allay concerns amongst the LGBTQIA2S+ travellers who may look different from their passport photographs. Pol. Maj. Gen. Choengron Rimpadee, Commander of Immigration Division 2, said that many LGBTQIA2S+," you could chop down these acronyms, we could just come up with something. Quoting further: "People were worried about Immigration checks due to discrepancies between their appearance and the photos or gender markers in their passports, which are often governed by the laws of their home countries. Quote: "Some people have undergone surgeries that alter their facial structures, leading to concerns during Immigration checks", said the official who oversees Immigration at airports." Yeah just a comment here. What about biometrics? No way to really fool that; we have already got that system in place. I'm not really sure why this is that big of a deal. I mean fingerprints aren't going to change. Quoting further: "He assured travellers that Immigration Officers are ready to review alternative documents and medical records to verify their identity as the legitimate passport holders despite any changes in their appearance." 

You know, I have to commend Immigration. This is a necessary protocol; they are adapting logically based on changes we are now seeing. As we have noted in other video, same-sex marriage is being legalized here in Thailand as we speak. Currently I think we are waiting for the promulgated law on that but it has made it through Parliament so we are looking to see where that goes. Long story short, Thailand has always been a very LGBTQ etc. etc.; I mean Thailand is an open and tolerant culture and an open and tolerant nation to folks of all persuasions. Now that said, as I have discussed in other videos, I am and have been a big believer in same-sex marriage being legalized. I think anybody that loves somebody else should be allowed to marry whomever they love and be able to gain equal access to certain benefits in terms of tax benefits, government benefits etc.

But long story short and something to bear in mind is there has to be some rule of reason. I mean one thing we have seen unfortunately in the West is ever since we have seen same-sex marriage become normalized in the legal context in the United States, now all of this and it's based on a very baseline level of sophistry which is the difference between biological sex and the notion of gender. I would prefer we not see all the madness kind of stuff coming to Thailand on this. Let's just be as tolerant as we have always been. And I want to be clear, I have no problem. If people say they are something, they say "this is how I wish to present myself to the world", I'll accept that and I'll deal with them accordingly, I will treat them however they want to be treated. But that said, we do have to have some rule of a reason especially with regard to identity documentation and matters pertaining to biological sex at birth and things of this nature because at the end of the day, we need touchstones to figure out objective truth when dealing with people both in an Immigration context as well as in other contexts throughout the public forum.