Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the subject if you will of the notion of Thai citizenship by investment. I have done another video on this topic before. To be clear, Thailand does not presently offer citizenship by investment but a recent article I was reading got me thinking about this topic again. This was an article in the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Hard and Soft Immigration News from the Thai Government. There is a lot of information in there. I urge folks who are watching this video, go check that out, pattayamail.com. 

Just quoting a small excerpt here: "Critics say that the privileges and bonuses are simply not great enough to attract the ultra-wealthy market abroad. For example many nations, Antigua and Barbuda amongst them, offer a second passport for serious investors giving foreigners a permanent right of abode as well as the right to travel internationally more freely. Of course that is after the pandemic.” Now what they are talking about here in a broader context is there has been a commission here in Thailand that has been exploring attracting high net worth individuals, VIP tourists, just folks that might want to come here who have wealth and resources to relocate to Thailand. They have proposed what appears to be a number of visa categories that appear to be at least 10 years in length. But as we discussed in other videos, the requirements in terms of financial requirements, the threshold is somewhat high. So it is interesting in this article; the reason I got to thinking about it is this article discusses the possibility of citizenship by investment, second passport schemes. It raises the question "Would Thailand ever do that?" My personal opinion is "no, I just don't see that happening anytime soon, if ever." Full disclosure for those who haven't really viewed this channel very often, I actually am a naturalized citizen. I have a Thai passport but I definitely do not view it as a citizenship by investment or a passport program.

The Thai Immigration process, and by Immigration process I mean the process of immigrating to Thailand and becoming a citizen, is cumbersome. It is not unlike, in fact I would say the thresholds in many ways are far higher than for example Western countries; the United States, Canada, EU, UK or for that matter many countries around the world. It is just quite a high bar to get into that country; go ahead and get your time in that country as a tax paying citizen and then eventually gaining a passport. It is not just a matter of paying some money or investing in a certain program and then just being granted a passport, I hesitate to say automatically, one has to meet certain requirements in these second passport schemes. 

That said do I see Thailand doing it? Not anytime soon. I think the best probably folks that are looking to come to Thailand long term can probably hope for is as stated previously, these 10-year visas schemes with these various requirements associated with financial resources.