Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are asking the question, "Is it possible to convert from a Visa Exemption stamp over to an O Retirement Visa?" Let me be specific, we are talking about an O Retirement Visa, not an O-A Retirement Visa. I am making another video contemporaneously with this one where we discuss conversion specifically into the O-A retiree category. The purpose of this video is to just discuss conversion generally. 

For those who are unaware, a conversion is in my opinion basically you come in in one Immigration status and while you are in country you request that Immigration change or adjust your Immigration status to a different category. And understand in the past, especially prior to March 2020, the presumption of conversion was not there. It was not presumed that you could or should do a conversion. In fact the prevailing paradigm of Thai Immigration especially with Non-Immigrant Visas which an O Retirement Visa is, it is a Non-Immigrant Visa, is that you are not resident, you are not an Immigrant, you are not a landed Immigrant in Thailand. Therefore the presumption is if you want to be in another status, you need to do a Visa Run; you need to get to an Embassy or Consulate outside of Thailand, seek the Non-Immigrant Visa you want, come in and then extend that status once you are in Thailand. The presumption prior to March of 2020 was that that is how things should be done. Now March 2020 hit, the Emergency Decree was promulgated, a lot of discretion was granted to Immigration Officers and there were a lot of real extenuating circumstances, real problems, travel problems etc., and Immigration Officers were able to exercise discretion to allow conversion far more often and far higher volume than we saw prior to March of 20. Now cut to August 2022, and I think that that overall situation is receding. I don't think we are going to be seeing the prevalence of conversion that we saw in the past moving forward. Now exactly when this ends, hard to say but it is kind of an evolving fluid situation and I don't think it is going to happen as often as we have seen it in the past. Now exactly what that means again it remains to be seen. We will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.