Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing retirement in Thailand, and will this get more difficult in 2026? I don't know if that's the right term, "difficult", but what I will say is I think that there is a moment coming, I won't call it an inflection point, but the way everything is moving with regard to banking, the paradigm regarding immigration within the Thai establishment if you will, as well as economic factors - a big one being the state of Western economies, the state of Eastern economies.- relative to that, the massive almost tectonic movement economically from the West to the East. I mean I am not just talking about BRICS, and I am not talking about this politically. Let me be clear, I don't want to get into 'us against them' or 'this country is good, that country is bad' - forget all of that. Just think about it economically. Asia is just very much on the rise, be it Southern Asia or East Asia or now Central Asia in many ways, very much on the rise economically and this has implications in many, many ways on currencies as well as, here in Thailand, I think one of the micro cosmic if you will implications would be that Thailand is sort of looking at all these folks that are coming in and they are doing sort of a cost-benefit on whether having more retirees, and I want to be clear, ‘more’ not ‘any’ okay. As I have discussed in many other videos, if major changes ever occur especially to the Retirement Visa categories, it is my strong belief that they will grandfather in those who are already in the status and allow them to renew under terms. We saw this in the '90s when they changed the system fundamentally a couple of times and thereafter. Those who are in the system under the terms, under prior terms, were allowed to continue to renew under their terms. I could see that very much happening with retirees but I could also see them saying, "yeah, from a policy standpoint they may not want a lot of new retirees for a variety of different reasons, I think one of them being primarily having to deal with currency exchange rates and the underlying economic dynamics at play in terms of trade between Thailand and various other countries throughout the world, not just in the West but also throughout the rest of the world. 

Those implications I think could make practical life albeit, I'm not talking purely about like immigration or tax or anything at the moment, I'm purely talking about those economic implications could have ramifications for retirees here in Thailand practically, most notably manifest in the exchange rate and how those folks' pensions and various investments are able to be spent here in Thailand. I think just based on what we're seeing right now from the present exchange rate, the Thai Baht is pretty strong and for retirees that tends to not be a particularly good thing. 

Meanwhile, with respect to tax and immigration, again I stand by what I said on Immigration. If you're already in the Retirement Visa system, I think if they make any major changes they would grandfather you in under terms. Meanwhile with tax, that's a tough one. I think as we are moving forward, people know my thoughts on tax, and I'm really unhappy with all the undue foreign influence that came into Thailand with regard to this topic, especially the charlatans and frankly just ne'er do wells who have come into Thailand in the tax sphere. It's pretty discouraging in many ways just on humanity if you will. 

But that being said, do I see there being major changes specifically in 2026? Maybe. Kind of doubtful. That said, there seems to be some sort of thought within the bureaucracy that every two years these policies need to be revisited, so maybe in 2026 we might see a re-visitation, it remains to be seen, but we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.