Transcript of the above video: 

Generally speaking these days I don't usually put up an 11:45 video but today I felt like it was sort of warranted based on this recent news. Not the hugest news in the world, but for Americans especially, this could have fairly significant ramifications, I thought it was worth mentioning. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Direct Thailand-US flights back on radar. Quoting directly: "Thailand will accelerate its efforts to establish direct flight routes between Thailand and the United States as part of the government's goal to position the country as an aviation hub for Southeast Asia, says Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit. Currently, no airline, including flag carrier Thai Airways International, offers a non-stop service between Thailand and the United States. THAI once operated Bangkok-Los Angeles and Bangkok-New York services but they were suspended in 2015 after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded Thailand's aviation safety rating to Category 2." 

Yeah, I remember when that happened, and I wasn't real thrilled about it; I don't think many people here were. I think having direct flights between the US and Thailand is a good thing overall. That said, quoting further: "The FAA in April this year reinstated Category 1 status leading Mr. Suriya to ask the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, (CAAT) to engage with the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to enable the launch of direct air routes." Well I don't understand what TSA has to do with anything. I can get their function for purposes of so-called security at the border which again I find is redundant because that's what we have US Customs and Border Protection for, but let's set that aside. That said, it's good to see that they are engaging with the FAA. Quoting further: "As part of the preparations, the CAAT is studying the feasibility of a pre-clearance immigration system in Thai airports". That's pretty important. In terms of Immigration news, that could have pretty tremendous ramifications on protocols associated with immigration or checkpoint protocols here at the airports, especially for those traveling in the direction of the United States. Although bear in mind, this could have ramifications even for those who aren't going to the United States; it's worth pointing that out. Quoting further: "This system would allow US bound travellers to undergo immigration checks prior to departure from Thailand improving convenience and streamlining entry upon arrival in the United States." Yeah, I don't know how much streamlining ever gets added when they add these extra; it basically is oftentimes a matter of extra layers is really what it comes down to. But when people ask me, "well what do they mean by that?" Well effectively you could go through what amounts to a USCBP checkpoint on this end and then just fly into the US and just go on through. As a practical matter it has always been my experience that they still kind of want to do another check stateside so how this actually works out in practice remains to be seen. That said, quoting further: "The restoration of Category 1 status means Thai airlines are once again eligible to operate non-stop flights to the US and to codeshare with American carriers."

All of this is good stuff I think. I think this is positive news for American expats. Frankly, the US-Thai relationship, the alliance between these two countries I think is a major benefit just across the board. I think it will create a lot of opportunities for streamlining of both transportation of people as well as goods, so overall I think it's a good thing. And again, as noted at the beginning of the video, I think it's worth sharing. Not the hugest news in the world, but it's pretty significant especially for Americans and American expats here in the Kingdom of Thailand.