Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Long-term Residence Visas, so that is LTR Visas here in Thailand. Look, these are fairly new; the jury is still out with me on this. As I've discussed in many other videos, we haven't got to the 5-year mark yet with these visas and I am very concerned that the LTR is a tax trap. 

As we discussed when it came out in 2021, they said themselves that there was an audit associated with re-extension of the LTR Visa for another five years. And not to sound like a broken record, I have discussed this a lot in other videos, LTR Visa, despite the name Long Term Resident, it does not confer Residence status here in Thailand. It is not a Residence Visa. It's not Lawful Permanent Residence; I don't know how to put that any more clearly. At the end of the day, it is not LPR status, it's not Long-term Permanent Residence; it's just something they came up with. You get it initially for 5 years, then they review you for your five years and decide to give you the other five. 

There are also issues associated with taxes and the tax rate associated with LTR Visas which again I feel like the jury is still out on because I want to see what this audit looks like at the 5-year mark, how they assess whether or not someone owes taxes in order to get that second 5-year extension. So for me, 2026 is going to be a very big year in analyzing the merits if you will of the LTR Visa. Is it worth getting? and we're going to know this I expect by the end of this coming year because we will have seen the people that initially got it back in 2021, now going in to extend it, and we are going to see if there are any horror stories associated with for example "oh now they've assessed me on some tax thing I didn't see coming", or they're looking back at the last 5 years and they are saying I was Tax Resident here and that changes things as far as possible calculation for taxes that are deemed to have been accrued within Thailand.

There are a whole lot quite frankly, there are many variables that we are just not quite sure what the answers are for the LTR Visa as it pertains to taxes, and as it pertains to the ability to extend that status. There are just a whole lot of questions to be answered, and I think we are going to get a lot of answers probably more toward the end of 2026.