Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the notion that retirees in Thailand could be "pushed out" by recently announced rules coming online.

This has been a major topic. We have discussed this going back about 6 months now; it was in the air. Now the Government has come out with the resolution, at least "in principle". When this was first announced I noted it was in principle so the details of this have yet to fully manifest. That said, one concern that I thought was worth making this video about I found in an article in the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Thailand's New Rules for Retiree Visas Sound Alarm Bells. Again, pattayamail.com, and quoting directly: "The immediate question is whether current retirees will have to move to the new regulations or whether they will be protected on the rules as they are. It is possible, though by no means certain, that they will be "grandfathered", that is able to retain one year renewable extensions of stay but without any of the new perks promised for the wealthier group." Yeah. So this whole new visa scheme for lack of a better term, that is coming online, it appears to be coming online under the auspices of BOI. It looks to me like it is going to be something akin to the Smart Visa system that we already have seen come in place. We may be able to draw some insights from the Smart Visa system insofar as not a lot of folks have used it and it applies in a very narrow sense oftentimes and that may be the case with these new Immigration rules coming online.

The thing that seems to be of concern to retirees is are they going to have to be following these new rules. One of the “wealthy” retiree guidelines is you have to have $250,000 invested in the country; another one, required proof of 80,000 in income over the course of prior years. Are these things going to apply to retirees moving forward? First thing I would tell folks who are watching this, take a breath. These things take time to set; think of it like glue or something through and through the system. They take a while to be fully promulgated and to see regulations issued on them. So do I think anything is going to change on a dime tomorrow? No, I do not. Now could the overall system change? Possibly. My personal opinion is I think, and this is speculation to some extent, but based on prior experience this new Immigration infrastructure associated with “wealthy” retirees to attract VIP Tourists etc., I think that this will exist on top of, in tandem with however you want to look at it, in addition to currently prevailing rules. I don't think they are going to just immediately throw out all the retirees that are in retiree status. It may not even be a "grandfathering" thing because they may not actually change the system. They just make add new Visa categories for "high net worth" people or VIP folks.

I have gotten a lot of emails from folks that are very concerned about this. Stand easy. Take a breath. First of all it is not going to happen tomorrow; it is not going to change that quickly. I don't see it changing into the immediately foreseeable future so arguably into a large chunk of 2022. That said, I don't think it will change and more I think when this comes online it will come online in addition to currently prevailing rules regarding Retirement Visas.