Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are quoting the Bangkok's BOI Bureaucracy. What are we talking about here? I saw this and I thought it was worth a comment after reading a recent article in the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com. I have been reading a lot of Pattaya Mail lately, I have got to be honest with you, they have been one of the best sources of information that I have been reading here recently so hats off to those folks.

This article is titled: Pattaya's retirees unlikely to apply for a Golden Visa. I am going to quote an excerpt here but there is a lot more information in there; it is really worth reading for those who are interested, quote: "In seeking to promote Thailand to the super rich and/or highly paid professionals, authorities have to compete with other Asian countries. Singapore has introduced its Overseas Networks and Expertise Pass which offers a five year visa to top earners. Indonesia is offering remote workers (digital nomads) a straightforward no tax deal, whilst Malaysia's long-established second home program is easier to digest than Bangkok's BOI Bureaucracy." Yeah sort of the reason for the video, the gist of it is, is there a BOI Bureaucracy and I would say yeah, that it is there. Now it is navigable to those who sort of know how to deal with it. We have dealt with BOI over the years in the past and I don't really have anything against BOI, it just kind of is what it is. At the end of the day, it has a function, it has to do its due diligence; it has a mandate which is to promote certain types of businesses and to ensure that those businesses bring as much benefit to Thailand as possible. In the case of the so-called LTR Visas I think that much of that same scrutiny is going to be applied. Is person who is possibly going to get this visa, are they "bringing" something to the table? Now that said, for those who have never dealt with Bureaucracy here in Thailand, it is not like anything you have seen anywhere else. It is different, for good or ill. I am kind of used to it now after 15 years and I just kind of shrug my shoulders when people get upset about it but it is different, I do get it. If you come from not here, you are going to see differences in how that works. 

Long story short is it a completely cumbersome bureaucracy? Well reasonable people may disagree, I know folks that have their opinions and they are pretty negative but overall I mean I think BOI does try in good faith to do their job and at the end of the day they do process cases and things do get BOI approval and there are benefits to be had.