Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the upcoming Police Chief apparent. The way that this stuff works generally speaking in Thailand is it seems like the beginning of the fourth quarter of the year, the calendar year, we sort of see a reshuffle where you see new faces come on board. It is not every year necessarily but every couple of years but usually in the fourth quarter, you see new faces come on board in different jobs here in Thailand as folks have to take retirement people move up.

The reason for this video was I was reading recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Shaping up for the Top Job. There is a lot of information in here. If folks are curious about things associated with the National Police here in Thailand, this is definitely worth a read. Again, Shaping up for the Top Job and they are talking about the person that most think is likely to become the person to become the new Head of the National Police Department. Quoting directly: "The Government has given special priority to human trafficking. However, issues related to migration and illegal entry must also be taken into account," he said. Regarding migration, Pol. Gen. Roy said it is normal for people to move to new countries seeking better lives for themselves and their families." I just thought that was interesting that they specifically mentioned immigration, migration matters in the context of the possible New National Police Chief.

Now we have seen in the past where new Police personnel here in Thailand can have a pretty substantial impact upon the day-to-day lives of expats. Now there is nothing in here that and again I urge those who are watching this video, read that article, there's a lot going on in there, there really is quite a lot of information but there is nothing in there to me that suggests we are looking at a situation similar to what we saw with the ascension of "Big Joke" to the top job in Thai Immigration here some years back which caused a lot of consternation in the expat community; changed a lot of rules; really shifted the paradigm within Immigration. Now presumably the top slot in the National Police is going to be a much broader thing but Immigration was still specifically brought up and as I have said in other videos, I haven't said it in a while but it is worth repeating, Thai Immigration and even law enforcement more generally, at one time Immigration policy, Immigration enforcement, Immigration Law in Thailand was viewed much more from the standpoint of it being an administrative exercise whereas now I think especially post "Big Joke", we are looking at a situation where it is viewed very much as a law enforcement endeavour and that is a very different kind of mindset with respect to dealing with Immigration matters here in Thailand. 

So I think it is interesting at least to my mind to note that the incoming or presumably the incoming Police Chief specific, they are specifically talking about Immigration policy and Immigration issues, migration issues in the context of the possibility that this person may be the new Police Chief. So it will be interesting to watch and we will keep you updated as things progress.