Transcripts of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are asking the question, "What is the difference between Visa Exemption and Visa-on-arrival?" This difference, while some may say it is kind of a semantic difference, as a practical matter, your Visa status when coming into Thailand can have tremendous ramifications for the benefits that you can avail yourself of once in Thailand. 

What am I talking about? Well for example, Visa Exemption stamps, which let's go ahead and define the terms here. Visa Exemption is when you enter Thailand without any kind of visa and you are exempted from Visa status for a certain period of time. So you are in lawful status but you don't have a Visa per se, you have just been granted an Exemption stamp from having a Visa. This is slightly different from visa-on-arrival which you can board a flight for example and enter Thailand and then if you are from a 'visa-on-arrival country', you can then queue up once you arrive in Thailand, to go ahead and get a visa after arrival; they issue the Visa and then stamp you in in Visa status. Now again, I know that seems like a semantic difference but practically they are very different. With visas-on-arrival you actually do have to queue up; you get in a specific line, wait, get a Visa issued and then pass through Thai Immigration. Visa exemption you just pass through Thai Immigration.

Now this issue has come up because we have been hearing about Russian nationals are going to be granted 90 days of lawful status in Thailand through this upcoming high season it appears. We have done another video on this channel made contemporaneously with this one and we just aren't quite sure exactly what that looks like. So again the reason for this video is to provide some context into what the difference is between a Visa-on-arrival and a Visa Exemption stamp, and they are different things. Again once in the Kingdom after you have been admitted through Thai Immigration, they can carry different benefits too. As we discussed, the present Visa exemption being accorded to Chinese Nationals as we have discussed in at least one prior video, those folks may not necessarily be able to get a bank account; in fact it seems as though they will not be able to get a bank account if they are entering in Visa Exemption status. Things like driving licenses etc. are probably not going to be possible. 

Again exactly what benefits are going to be conferred by these changes to Thai Immigration protocols associated with Russian nationals remains to be seen but we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.