As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing difficult choices at Thai Immigration, difficult decisions at Thai Immigration I should say. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, as well as another article in the Wall Street Journal, I will get to that one in a moment, but quoting directly from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: 63 Chinese religious refugees detained. Quoting directly: "Sixty-three Chinese nationals detained in Pattaya for overstaying their visas are members of a self-exiled Christian congregation seeking United Nations protection from religious persecution their supporters say. Two Americans who have been trying to help the group relocate to the United States have also been detained, the Wall Street Journal reported." Then I went ahead and dug a little deeper, went over to the Wall Street Journal quoting directly, again Wall Street Journal, wsj.com, the article is titled: Chinese Christians Detained in Thailand While Seeking U.N. Protection. Quoting directly: "Thai Immigration Police rounded up 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church on Thursday, taking them from their hotel in the coastal city of Pattaya to a Police Immigration Bureau facility according to the church's pastor and an American activist who has been supporting the congregation's efforts to seek asylum." 

There is a lot going what's going on here folks if you want to keep sort of researching, going down that rabbit hole but I am going to keep it to the topic of Thai Immigration. I do not envy Thai Immigration's task now because they have to sort of square the circle if you will between Thai Immigration Law and also sort of humanitarian concerns, for lack of a better term. At the end of the day, refugees can be an issue and refugees can come in all shapes and sizes. Thailand itself oftentimes, well that I have ever seen, does not in and of itself offer asylum. However, generally speaking, if one is processing through one of the UN refugee programs it may be possible to gain a temporary stay in the Kingdom while you are being adjudicated by the UN. 

So long story short, and the thing to take away from this video is to understand that yeah, Thai Immigration sometimes has to make some really tough calls and they have to deal with quite honestly the big bad world and the way that the big bad world if you will just is. Things are not always fair; things don't always go in people's favour if you will. Circumstances are tough, life is hard if you will and I don't envy Thai Immigration having to deal with this issue. I am sure, in fact I have seen them deal with it before. They are concerned, they do take due care if somebody is a legitimate refugee they can issue a temporary stay in Thailand while that refugee or refugees’ documentation is processing through the UN. So I suspect, again not knowing anything more about this situation other than what I have read thus far, I suspect that will probably be the way that this pans out, it remains to be seen. If and when an update is required, we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.