Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Thai Special Tourist Visa, yet again. 

We are discussing it specifically in the context of quarantine. As we are all aware, and I have gone into at great lengths over the course of multiple videos on this channel, quarantine is required for those coming in to Thailand but it has come to my attention via the Thaiger website, an article titled: Special Tourist Visa: Now Officials Want you to "Quarantine" in Your Home Country Before Coming to Thailand.  It appears there may be some fluidity with respect to this.  Quoting directly from that publication and that article, and I urge you to go check that article out yourself. There is a lot of information in there. Quoting directly: “Now according to a report in Bangkok Post, Dr. Chakrarat Pittayawonganon a Director of the Department of Disease Control claims that foreign tourists will have to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours prior to travel". Now that is sort of one of the "Fit to Fly" documents we have talked about at length in this channel over multiple videos previously.  Quoting again further:  "Additionally", and he now appears to be quoting this doctor directly, "…they must also have quarantined in their country of origin, have health insurance for international travel and a specified minimum amount of money in their bank account.  He said they will also need a record of not visiting”, and I am quoting "not visiting crowded places prior to their departure".   

I want to be clear here. This Special Tourist Visa has yet to come online. We have yet to see regulations fully promulgated on this to see exactly what the requirements are going to be. Also keep in mind these are going to be issued abroad under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at various Thai Embassies and Consulates outside of Thailand. The officers adjudicating those applications are like they do with many other Visa applications, going to have rather a large amount of Consular discretion. In the American system, this is called the Doctrine of Consular Absolutism. It is basically the doctrine under which Consular Officers make their factual findings that really aren't subject to review. 

So exactly what this is going to look like remains to be seen. This is one person's comment on a prospective Visa program. That stated, it provides some further nuance and insight into what this special tourist visa may actually look like so we felt it was rather important to go ahead and put this up on this channel to provide clarity for viewers especially those who are looking to try to get back into Thailand as quick as possible, as it should be noted that there are a lot of requirements that seem to be associated with this Visa. 

That being said, again implementation has yet to be seen. We will keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.