Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing issues associated with Thai Immigration and Thai Immigration rules regarding foreign passports. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, pattayamail.com, the article is titled: "New British passports and associated regulations in Thailand". This video, the thrust of it pertains to British Nationals in Thailand, British expats if you will. That said, this excerpt I'm going to read can be useful for folks who are expats of any stripe. Quoting directly: "British Authorities are reminding travellers that many countries have acceptance rules for foreign passports. Thailand insists that there must be six clear months left before expiry. Thai Immigration Officers at air, land and sea entry points can be very particular about the state of the passport with water smudges or jam stains being a particular issue. It's advisable to keep them in a plastic cover." 

Yeah look, the protocols that Thai Immigration maintains with regard to the state of a foreign passport are serious; you should take them seriously. Also the issue of expiration of the underlying passport can have tremendous ramifications if you travel into Thailand and your passport has less than 6 months validity on it. It could even cause you problems with regard to being able to enter Thailand because they want to see that you have more time on it, or enough time on it to maintain your status in the country. 

Also a protocol that has since changed in the time I have been in this country, it used to be that a Visa stamp would be issued for its duration, and it didn't have anything to do with the expiration of the passport. Now even on extension, even if you are entitled to, for example, a one-year extension, they will only issue the extension up to the expiration of the passport itself; so it ends with the passport. That's a major change that I have seen. I think that happened about eight years ago and it is something to be aware of that you want to make sure if you are getting for example a one-year extension of your Visa here in Thailand, you want to make sure that your passport has more time on it than the extension does to ensure that you get the full amount of time visaed in your passport. By the way "visaed" is a term, the way that stamped is a term in terms of stamping and envelope, "visaing" a passport is a thing. I've gotten into a big flame war in the comments over the years over that issue as to whether or not 'visaed' or visa, or 'visaing' - it can be like a transitive verb, it can. You visa a passport the same way you affix a stamp to a letter that you mail; that's basically how that works. 

That being said, the point of this video is make sure when you are coming into Thailand that you have got more than six months validity on your passport, you will be saving yourself a lot of headaches. Also make sure there's not any unusual markings or problems with your passport in terms of water damage and things, again to save you time and hassle when transferring through an Immigration checkpoint here in the Kingdom of Thailand.