Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing "Big Joke", that is Surachate "Big Joke" Hakparn, Police General Surachate Big Joke Hakparn who is presently the Deputy National Police Chief in Thailand, making comments regarding Thai Immigration. Now for those who are unaware, you are kind of new to Thailand, this person may not seem important but if you go back about 5, 6, 7 years, Big Joke made some serious changes within the Immigration apparatus. Now he is, again Deputy National Police Chief, when he makes comments about Thai Immigration Law, I think it's noteworthy.

So I thought of making this video after reading a recent article in the Bangkok Post, that is bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Driving out the gangs. Now again, the thrust of this article goes in a very different direction; I urge those who are watching this, maybe go ahead and check out that article and read it in detail but I thought this small excerpt was very, very interesting. Quoting directly: "Police General Surachate," (that is Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn) "said the lack of strict law enforcement and corrupt officials are other reasons the gang members chose to base themselves in Thailand. He cited the Immigration Act as an example. He said the 1979 law is outdated and needs to be amended." The article goes on to note that he says he would propose amendments to the law in the upcoming Parliament, the presumed Parliament we should see rather soon, in the upcoming Parliament as regards visa extension. Again, when this person talks about these things it is worthwhile to take note because we have seen Mr. Surachate or Police General Surachate have a major impact on Thai Immigration in the past. We saw significant, stringent application of Thai Immigration Law in the context of Retirement Visas, scrutiny associated with bank accounts etc.

Now I don't want to panic anyone, I don't want to upset anyone. Nothing has happened yet. There have not been changes to the Immigration Laws; things still sit the way that they do and for any tourists out there who are watching this video, bear in mind this does not pertain to you. As far as Tourism Immigration is concerned, it's still just as easy to get into Thailand as it ever has been. And regarding retirees possibly or folks that are looking to maintain long-term status, Non-immigrant status here in Thailand, again this is not something that should overly concern you because again the rules and laws have not fundamentally changed. But, when somebody like this is talking about changes to the laws it is a good idea to bear that in mind. So do I think this is going to happen immediately? No. Do I think it could happen in the relatively, on sort of that threshold between the foreseeable and the unforeseeable future? Yeah I think it's possible. When somebody of this stature who has the history with Thai Immigration is talking about Thai Immigration matters in this way, I think it's a good idea to think that there is going to be a possibility that we could see major changes to Thai Immigration Law in the relatively foreseeable future.