Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Retirement Visas. Specifically we are discussing these in the context of COVID insurance. There is a lot going around about this. I have gotten a lot of correspondence, people have asked me a lot of questions here and the major question on folks' lips has been "Is this going to be for all Thai Retirement Visas?"  

So let's provide some clarification here this is from ASEAN NOW, aseannow.com, the article is titled: How are the Non-Immigrant Visa "O-A" (let's be clear O-A) Long Stay Visa Requirements Changing? Quoting directly: "The changes to the rules for O-A Visas came in last week and mean expats will need to think again about their insurance coverage." Now this is me talking here: from what I have seen thus far and let me be clear, it seems to be a little bit murky at the moment and we will provide further clarification if and when it comes about, it looks like this is one of those "approved in principle" kind of cabinet resolution, so exactly what the regulatory structure will look like remains to be seen. However, from what I have seen it does appear to be narrowly focus on O-A Visa holders. Quoting further: "From October 1st, applicants for this Visa need health insurance or government welfare with a minimum coverage of US $100,000, around 3 million Baht, for medical expenses and cost related to treatment of COVID-19. Foreigners currently residing in Thailand under a long-stay Visa have until 31st August, 2022 to apply for a Visa extension under the previous regulations." So essentially there is quite a window here. This is kind of good to see. Hold on, let me quote further, one more final thing: "But from September 1st 22, they will be required to meet the new criteria." 

Now this is to me in a couple of ways, there are some positive things going on here. First off for those who remember from times past where things like the Income Affidavit were phased out or the medical insurance requirements were phased in, it happened with relatively little notice. It actually happened quite quickly. If we go back into the days of "Big Joke" where he started making stringent requirements regarding financial evidence and documentation, that also happened with relatively little notice to the great consternation of many retirees. So certainly something to be said for the fact that there is a lot of notice being given here; into the end of next summer, into the end of summer 2022.

Now that stated, it appears to me and from everything we have read and looked at as of this time, this is going to pertain specifically to O-A Retirees, those seeking them either abroad or extending status here in Thailand. We are making another video contemporaneously with this one where we dive into the differences between O and O-A and what we are looking at moving forward. In fact I will probably make two videos on that just to fully suss that out. It does not as of the time of this video look like all Retirees will necessarily have to deal with this. It looks like O-A specifically although that stated it remains to be seen how the situation evolves between now and August of 2022.