Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the possibility of age requirements associated with the Thai Retirement Visa changing. The topic generally of Thai Retirement Visas has been on the lips of many here in the Expat Community; obviously the retiree Community is most concerned about this I would say or those that are soon to be joining the retirement community here in Thailand.

As I have stated in other videos, nothing with regard to the rules and regulations associated with the Retirement Visa have changed as of the time of this video. Nor do I believe that we are going to see any major changes forthcoming particularly quickly; I don't see anything imminently occurring on this okay, so folks need to understand that from the get-go. The other thing we have discussed, notwithstanding the fact that I think especially with YouTube, folks like to engage in some hyperbole and things, at the end of the day these things don't happen at just sort of the snap one's fingers; they don't happen as sort of wildly, the change does not occur quite so abruptly I should say. It is not just an immediate changeover. The other thing is as we have discussed in other videos, I think there is a high probability of so-called "grandfathering" is probably going to happen, no pun intended for the retirees but yeah we will see people who are already in the system that are likely to be sort of grandfathered into this system and allowed to move on and continue to renew under prior terms. When we have seen changes to the Retirement Visa system here in Thailand in the past, that's exactly how it has played out. Now again, things could happen differently in the future but that's not something I particularly foresee as of the time of this video. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading recent article on Stickman Bangkok, that is stickmanbangkok.com. Stickman has been writing for years here and for anybody that is a long-term expat are all probably very well aware of Stickman. I remember reading Stickman when I first got off the plane here so it is kind of interesting. I haven't quoted him before but he is talking about this topic, I thought it was worth sort of tipping the hat. Quoting directly again stickbangkok.com, under the article titled: Retirement Visa Rules to Change. Quoting directly: "The next requirement the authorities might look at," (again, might look at) is the age at which you can apply for a Retirement Visa. Some years ago, you had to be 55 or older to apply for a Retirement Visa but it was lowered to 50, perhaps 15 years ago or so. Could it go back up to 55 or even 60? Given that the official retirement age for Government Officials in Thailand is 60, it would hardly be a surprise."

Now this is something I thought about myself. I don't think it is a full-gone conclusion that it is going to happen, as noted in the quote; this is only speculation, what might happen if they were looking at making changes to the Retirement Visa system. Do I think it is going to happen? No. Do I think that this is possible? Yes, I think it is somewhat improbable because the underlying reason for lowering the age was to bring in more retirees; they wanted to encourage it. I don't really see any policy reason for rolling that back based on age preference. Now that said, they may do it. If they were to do it, this is just my gut, again I am speculating, pure speculation, if I was to see that happen, I would imagine it would go up to like 55. Now again, to the 50 year olds or the 52 year olds out there who are pulling their hair out watching this video, don't freak out. You are already in the system. I think there is a high probability they are going to grandfather people in even if they do decide to change the age requirements associated with Retirement Visas here in the Kingdom of Thailand.