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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawVisa NewsHave Foreigners Been "Forgotten" In Thailand?

Have Foreigners Been "Forgotten" In Thailand?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing whether or not foreigners have indeed been "forgotten" in the grand scheme of things here in Thailand. In a recent article from Wednesday February 10th, edition of the Bangkok Post, this was from the Postbag and under the heading: Forgotten Foreigners. The gist of this was talking about vaccines, things associated with the possible vaccine roll out. I thought that this was pertinent, this small excerpt here.

Quoting directly: "The shiny new plan only applies to Thais and migrant workers. There is no mention of the 100,000 to 200,000 foreigners who presently reside here." Yes, that is certainly noteworthy but it is interesting to point out and I made this video because there are Immigration implications that are pregnant in this analysis. I don't think that the person that was writing in this letter really quite took this into account. Now you can argue that maybe it is a semantic point but it is a major point nonetheless. Because Immigration Nationality Law has an impact on analysis of how people operate within a given country. As they note, again "100 to 200,000 foreigners who presently reside here". Arguably, the discussion rests on issue of "reside". There is a difference between being a Thai Permanent Resident; we have gone into what Permanent Residence is in Thailand, and that is specifically set forth in the Immigration Act of 79. Then there are non-immigrants and folks who are in non-immigrant status or even Tourist Visa status, no matter how long they stay in Thailand, they are not considered legally resident for Nationality Immigration purposes. Now they may be here a really long time, they may even be considered what is called Tax Resident in Thailand but they are not necessarily considered legally resident. To me when I read this, although I completely understood, in my brain it is like I have two hats on, the “foreigner side of my brain” and then there is the "lawyer that has been dealing with Thai Immigration for a long time side of my brain” and the "foreigner side of my brain" said yes it does seem, it gives foreigners here short shrift but again the "immigration lawyer side of my brain" said no, you are looking at a situation wherein someone needs to have legal status to be considered resident here and then they will be picked up in the analysis of who is going to get these shots, these vaccines when they are rolled out. 

I thought that was noteworthy and I felt like it was worthy of making a video that you really need to look at the Immigration status of folks before you start looking at any further legal benefits derived or legal benefits expected as a result of being present in a given jurisdiction.