Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we're discussing, unfortunately we are discussing what I think is really coming to be a sort of almost Orwellian experience being an expat here in Thailand, and I have got to be honest, as a preface to this video, a lot of these developments are the exact things, they are the opposite of the exact things that caused me to come to Thailand and fall in love with the place. We are starting to see a level of scrutiny that is again, I hesitate to continuously use the word ‘Orwellian’, but it does seem to apply. At the same time, I'm not really seeing what the great benefit of a lot of this is going to be to Thailand. I mean I get they are going to be able to track and trace the foreigners and things here, but I mean how does the country benefit exactly from this? Again, I can see where there are tangential instances where the country could benefit, but exactly how the country benefits from this stuff I don't exactly see it. That said, I'll get into that here in a moment. 

Before we jump into the article I am going to cite, I have had folks tell me, we really appreciate your content, but I may not need to avail myself of a lawyer, is there anything I can do to support? Look, we appreciate it for one thing, but if you are interested in supporting what I do, what we do around here, my better half and I did set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok, it's called Pancake Palace. As the name implies, breakfast anytime; it's American Diner style food, as well. We do have an English breakfast on the menu. But it's not only breakfast anytime: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, buffalo wings, chilli bowls, grilled cheese sandwiches etc. So if you're interested, please feel free to check us out; links are in the description below, Pancake Palace. Let's jump in here though. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: The evolution toward digital sovereignty: Paradigm shifts in Thai Immigration and integrated Big Data governance. First of all, I hate that word "governance". That was a word that was created by the World Economic Forum types out there that it's basically this overreach without, to my mind, a lot of benefit or any real addition to the common weal if you will, and by that I mean sort of the common w-e-a-l. What is this doing for society other than basically putting us more and more into this panopticon kind of situation is my big question? That said, a lot going on here and it's going to have big implications. Again this Big Data stuff, and AI is going to have big implications for the expat community. Quoting directly from that article, pattayamail.com: 

TDAC as a Risk-Based Authentication Tool. Authentication Tool. Quoting further: "The Thai Government is leveraging Big Data to differentiate "Quality Visitors" from "High-Risk Profiles" with surgical precision." Okay. Quoting further:

Precision Tracking - The system no longer tracks just "when" you entered, but "how" you reside." Really? Is it that necessary? Quoting further: "The TDAC reference number is now the primary key for the Online 90-Day Reporting (TM47)." Quoting further:

The Rejection Logic - A critical "Sharp" data point for all expats, if there is even a minor discrepancy between your TDAC entry data and your 90-day filing, the AI-driven backend will automatically reject the online application." I am stating this again. This is actually useful because it's nice to see them actually admit what they are doing through these online systems. Again, quoting again: "a minor discrepancy between your TDAC entry data and your 90-day filing, the AI-driven backend will automatically reject the online application." So now the AI is making calls here, and meanwhile, a minor discrepancy between 90-day reporting and your entry card? I mean people move. You might show up in Thailand and be here in a hotel for 2 weeks, before you rent a condo for a year. Again, so that discrepancy is leading to a situation where the AI then automatically forces you to not use the online 90-day reporting system and again, let's quote further: "This forces a manual, face-to-face interview at an Immigration Office, increasing legal exposure for those with inconsistent records." Okay, I mean I do kind of see the point here. Immigration is sort of trying to flush out people who might not be in line with what they're saying on their documentation; I do kind of get that from a law enforcement standpoint. That being said, I mean this is the kind of stuff that it just gives me the willies; it does not cause me to think that things are moving in the right direction in any way, shape or form, because again, this is just kind of a Neo-Soviet sort of, I hesitate to say hell, but I mean it kind of feels that way. And I mean the AI is now sitting there adjudicating whether or not you can use the online 90-day reporting system, even if you're being truthful. That's the point of the 90-day report is your address may have changed from the time you entered the country to the point at which you're doing the 90-day report. So then that begs the question, why have the online tool at all? Why not just put everybody through the manual process? And the online tool now can't be used because an AI - another machine - is telling you you can't use it. It is very redundant. Again I already used it in a different video, I already used the meme from 2001 A Space Odyssey, HAL: "I'm sorry Dave, I can't let you do that". I mean that's what this is starting to feel like and honestly, I hesitate - I don't want to be someone that's negative on Thailand, that's not what I want to be at all, I love this country, I love it as much as my country of birth - but the way that this stuff is heading, this isn't the kind of place I would want to move to, where the AI is going to dictate to me whether I have to go into an office or not regarding me being truthful and saying what my address has now changed to from the time I came into the country? That's the point of the 90-day report is that we are hoping people be truthful in saying where they're at and where they have been. And now it's going to compel them to go in. Okay. So you are going to have a bunch of people who are kind of irate coming down to the Immigration Office to do what they were supposed to do anyway on the online system. It seems not only redundant, but it is a recipe for bad optics and possibly a recipe for negative feelings for being in Thailand to begin with. My hope is maybe we come up with a different system or tweak this so that it doesn't result in negative outcomes.