Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are asking the question, "Is Thailand looking to end the Visa-Free System?" So for those who are unaware, many countries, and up to about a couple of weeks ago, folks from 93 countries could get into Thailand visa free, and they could get in for 60 days. Now it's been rolled back to 30 days and I think we have been kicked back to 57 countries, rather than 93 automatically getting in without necessarily the need of a Visa. That said, that is still kind of in a state of flux and we are updating folks on this channel as things evolve. But I'm talking about the entire system. Is there a possibility that Thailand could seriously consider ending Visa-free travel. No visa-on-arrival, what we call the Visa exemption, what is called oftentimes in the United States, the Visa waiver program. Basically, you get on a plane and you fly in and you are exempt from needing a Visa - you just come in. You have lawful status, you get as of now a 30-day stamp, which allows lawful status, but it's not technically speaking a visa; it's visa exemption. And what we are discussing here is the possibility of them ending that which would be a huge deal. That would have a huge impact on both tourists and expat Thailand I reckon. 

Now that said, really quickly before we jump into the cited article here, folks have asked me, "How can we support you? We like your content. Is there any way we could show support? We know you're not monetized, and we don't necessarily need to avail ourselves of a law firm, is there anything we can do?" As I've discussed in other videos, my better half and I set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok. The name is Pancake Palace, as the name implies it's breakfast anytime, as well as American Diner style food; it's not exclusively breakfast. The links are in the description below. Again, we have got hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chilli dogs, hot dogs; we have got again breakfast anytime. We've also got grilled cheese sandwiches, Coke in glass bottles. We have even got tacos on the menu now. If you are interested, check out the links in the description below, come by and have a bite. 

That said, let's jump into this article. It is from Pattaya Mail, pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Thailand replacing non-visa entry with Tourist Visa for structural security. So, what they are talking about here just from the title, just to understand, we're talking about exemptions versus everyone having to get an actual visa to be able to come in to Thailand. No ability to come in and just be stamped in for 30 days. Quoting directly: "The implementation of Visa-free entry policies has historically served as a short-term marketing tool utilized by governments to stimulate economic figures and boost tourism statistics. However, within the contemporary global landscape which is increasingly complicated by transnational crime and emerging security threats, this open border approach creates significant vulnerabilities within the national border control framework. Consequently, a major shift in public policy to phase out non-Visa privileges and replace them with a mandatory Tourist Visa System has become an urgent legal necessity to upgrade the nation security (I think that they meant national security) infrastructure to international standards." Well I am sick and tired of Thailand upgrading to international standards. I like Thai standards. Thai standards are good enough. In fact, they're not good enough, they are Thai, they're good, they are fine the way that they are. Really, the rest of the world needs to be taking a page from Thailand's book these days, not the other way around. Be it the OECD, all this travel stuff, the WHO running around trying to scare up a new pandemic every 10 seconds, apropos of nothing. As far as I'm concerned, Thailand is on the right track. The rest of the world needs to shape up to our standards as far as I'm concerned. 

That said, quoting further: "Enforcing a mandatory Tourist Visa system directly addresses this vulnerability by introducing strict legal transparency from the very beginning." As I discussed in another video made contemporaneously with this one, this author goes on to also talk about the fact that, "oh my gosh, we might have people travelling around without interacting with an administrative mechanism." Yeah, okay, transparency, and I get, immigration has national security components to it; I totally get that. There are reasonable ways to do that without completely becoming totalitarian about every aspect associated with travel, and without rolling back something that I would expect has a significant - it probably adds orders of magnitude to the GDP derived off of tourism in Thailand - just by dint of the fact, you don't have to mess with getting a Tourist Visa. If you're just a true tourist, you want to be here for less than a month, you just get on a plane and come. You get your plane tickets, that's what you have to worry about. Not having to go through the rigamarole of a bunch of visas. 

They may ultimately implement this, and at the end of the day, it will probably make me more money, us here in the firm, but it's not good, at the end of the day. I don't think it's good for Thailand and really just this inexorable, ever forward march to just increasingly complex bureaucracy and make work associated with just living one's life, it's really getting out of hand. 

That said quoting further: "Foreign nationals seeking extended stays such as a 90-day period, will be legally required to provide verifiable empirical evidence establishing their genuine travel objectives before they depart." - yeah, what a great way to like completely dissuade tourists from coming here. To just nitpick them like we are some kind of neo-soviets from the start before they even get here. Quoting further: "This standard documentation includes comprehensive itineraries, confirmed long-term accommodation bookings, verified golf course reservations or pre-arranged premium recreation packages. This administrative transition operates as a definitive filter, separating high potential travellers who respect local laws from individuals with unverified motives."

Well as we have seen from the history with the Elite Visa, there are plenty of people who will be verified and pay money and do things and there is still - what I'm saying is there are always going to be folks that commit crimes; there are always going to be folks the flout laws, that is a given. This is something that would, to my mind “hobble’’ isn't even the right word, the tourism sector and for what? Again, we are doing more of this communal punishment stuff? Because there are criminals, therefore we need to make it insanely difficult to get into Thailand, and we need to implement something that is going to require all sorts of really non-essential paperwork and bureaucracy. I mean again Neo-Soviet really is the right word when looking at all of this. That said, I am not convinced we are actually going to see the end of Visa free travel. I just think that would be a huge move, and frankly, I think it would be highly detrimental to not only the tourism sector but to many more aspects of the economy and the business sector here in Thailand. I mean there are plenty of people, if only in a business capacity, that like to use Thailand as a hub that they can travel in and out of because of the ease of use of our non-visa system. So, I'm pretty skeptical that we are actually going to see the Visa-free system completely scrapped. That said, it remains to be seen and we will certainly be keeping folks updated on this channel as the situation evolves.