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As the title of this video suggests, we are asking the question "are visas in retreat?" What are we talking about here? Well I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Summary of Thai Visas available: January 2024, under the subheading Visas in Retreat, quote: "Tourists from several countries notably China, Russia and India no longer require a prior visa to visit Thailand. This is an attempt by the Thai Government to boost arrivals from countries believed to have huge expansion potential. Although there have been rumours that citizens of UK, US, EU and Australia will have their visa exempt status improved from 30 days to 90 days without visiting local Immigration, there has not been any announcement."

Yeah, as we have discussed, there has been a lot of talk about sort of doing a 90-day Visa for Canadians and Americans or I should say 90-day Visa Exemption much the same way that presently Russian nationals and I believe those from Kazakhstan are able to enter Thailand presently for 90 days. We have yet to see a finalized announcement that says "yes in fact Americans for example will be granted 90 days on arrival visa exempt", so again that remains to be seen.

The question posed is “are visas themselves in retreat?” Well I think in a tourism context, yes, absolutely. That said, not everything occurs in a tourism context. So what are we talking about with regard to that? Well what I mean to say is, again not everybody is going to come to Thailand for tourism. If you are looking to come to do business, you absolutely still need a visa and you are going to need work authorization. If you want to come to Thailand and you are married to a Thai and you wish to remain in Thailand based on that marriage, yeah you are going to have to deal with an O Marriage Visa; if you want to come to Thailand to retire, yeah you are going to have to deal with a Retirement Visa of some sort. So again, and again some folks opt for things like the Elite Visa as well; again these are all actual Visas. So what I would say is from a tourism context, I think it is fair to say that perhaps yes visas are in a kind of retreat; we are no longer seeing the need for visas if you just want to come to Thailand for a short stay for tourism purposes. But that said, for those who want to stay on a long-term basis and especially those who are looking to work here in Thailand, yes visas are absolutely necessary and if you are looking to work in Thailand, you are probably going to need work authorization as well.