Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, so we are discussing like a Schengen style sort of Immigration system, sort of Pan-ASEAN. I have been discussing the notion of an ASEAN visa for years frankly and it's been kind of one of those unicorns that it's sort of out there in the mist of the horizon that it might happen but much like talking about "travel bubbles" all through the COVID era or the COVID lockdowns, it's yet to come to fruition and I think reasonable people can ask the question if it ever will. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Visa differences impede progress towards a Schengen-style south east Asia. Yeah this whole notion of a Schengen-style south east Asia, much like Europe where you can get one visa to go into the Schengen area and then once you are in, you can just travel around, there are some dreams among the politicians out here to make that a reality. I'm not so sure it is going to happen but we'll see. Quoting directly: "The Thai Prime Minister's campaign to introduce a Schengen-style Visa program for travel across the region has become stuck in bureaucracy. Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos each has different travel regulations which are proving hard to disentangle." Well yeah they are nations, they have their own policies regarding Immigration. Quoting further: "For example, Thailand now allows no-cost Visa exemptions for tourist traffic from 93 countries, about half the number agreed by Vietnam. Cambodia charges almost all visitors US$30 on arrival or via e-visa application, while troubled Myanmar insists on a pre-purchase Visa which can take up to two weeks to issue." 

Well Myanmar, I mean there's a lot going on over there so maybe we leave them out of the discussion, but they are relevant for one reason, which is look ASEAN is not the EU, okay? It is not a group of countries that are substantially similar in terms of culture in some cases, nor substantially similar in terms of economics, nor in terms of political systems. So to try to have a unified visa for this whole region, I think you are going to have a hard time doing that. Meanwhile look, different countries have different priorities. Cambodia is charging for their visa for a reason. It's revenue generation and in a country that doesn't get nearly the volume of tourists as say a Thailand or even a Vietnam, it is kind of understandable especially as look they are, I don't mean to be disparaging toward Cambodians or Cambodia, but look they are not an overly wealthy nation compared to some of the other nations in ASEAN so this impetus to generate revenue is going to be more acute in that jurisdiction compared to places like Thailand and Vietnam. 

So the thing to take away from this video is while yes there is some bureaucracy associated with this, and yeah Immigration; there's that great line from Jackie Brown where Michael Keaton's character is talking to Jackie Brown - the character in the movie - and he says "we can go talk to customs if you want, but I don't know what it is about that job, but it just makes those people really difficult to get along with.'" There is an element of that. Immigration is a tough gig; it's a tough job. The people that have to do it, they have a certain mindset and their mindset is not one of cooperating with other countries' and jurisdictions' Immigration Offices. Their mindset is to adhere to the relevant Immigration Law of their nation and enforce it accordingly. So do I think that a Pan-Asian Visa could happen someday? Yes, I think it is possible. Do I think it's going to happen anytime soon? Not really.