Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing "work-from-anywhere" Expats, sometimes called Digital Nomads, I have seen "remote worker" used. I am kind of tired of using the term "digital nomads". I've talked to a fair number of clients who have come through our firm to be assisted with things like Business Visas, Work Permits, these other things and at first I started calling them "digital nomads" and they said "hey, that's not how I view myself." I kind of like "expat". I think that kind of sums up kind of everything within the milieu that we are talking about. That said, what are we talking about with respect to "work-from-anywhere" expats and Tourist Visas?

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com. I am going to quote a small excerpt from this but this is a really interesting article. For folks who are looking for insights into how some of these "long-term residence visas" are really playing out as a practical matter, you might want to read this article because it doesn't look great, it would seem. The article is titled: Thailand's 10-year Visa needs a bail out. Again, Pattaya Mail, pattayamail.com. Quoting directly: "Many work-from-anywhere professionals in Thailand aren't impressed by such restrictions and just rely on Tourist Visas. They are customarily left untouched by the Immigration Police." Again, I urge those watching this video, go read that article in detail. Sort of the thing I took away from this and something I think is noteworthy is I have kind of said this from the beginning, one, so-called long-term residence visas here in Thailand they are a pretty new thing, promulgated Thailand last year, 2022. At the beginning of it they talked about all these benefits like foreign land ownership - that never became a thing. Then also when you dig into it, it's not a Residence Visa, it's not Permanent Residence in Thailand. Permanent Residence is its own status. We have gone over this many, many times; many people don't seem to understand this. Meanwhile, it's really not a 10-year visa, it's a 5 year Visa in two increments. That is kind of its own issue there. On top of that, yeah there may be work authorization depending on the type of visa you end up with but one thing, I've talked to folks and yeah there are a lot of hoops to jump through with respect to this thing and in most cases folks that are in the employment categories don't meet the criteria because oftentimes they have got to work for a company that brings in I think it is $150 million a year or over the last 3 years it has brought that in in earnings, over the top of my head I don't remember precisely so don't quote me on that but long story short, the threshold is pretty darned high and the net result is not something that's overly beneficial to again these sort of "digital nomads", "work-from-anywhere" type people. They sort of see it as “look I am coming to Thailand for a few months and then I am moving on and maybe I will be back whatever. This isn't really something for me.” So again interesting to see and we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.