Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thailand Pass and Re-Entry Permits. The reason I got to thinking about this came from a recent article in the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com. I urge those who are watching this video, go check that article out for more information. I am just quoting a quick excerpt here from the article. Tourists hoping to enter Thailand by land should maybe think again, is the title. Quoting directly: "In a related move, Thai Immigration Authorities are reminding long-stay tourists and expats that holding a re-entry permit on leaving Thailand does not bypass the need to apply for online Test and Go prior to coming back.” A valid Re-Entry permit protects an existing Visa, but all entrants require prior Thailand Pass permission irrespective of Visa status" confirmed a Bangkok Immigration hotline consultant. Returning Expats have been refused boarding of their flight when they failed to show a "Test and Go" QR code." Yeah that is a confusion out there. 

This came at the inception, the promulgation of the Emergency Decree back in March 2020 where we saw the creation of the so-called Certificate of Entry which was sort of the prototype of the current Thailand Pass. For those who are unaware, I am not a big fan of the Thailand Pass and frankly not a lot of folks in the tourism industry presently are. It is pretty cumbersome; it is having an overall detrimental impact on the tourism sector because it is a lot of hoops to jump through. It is pretty bureaucratic; you have got to deal with it just to get in to Thailand just to have your vacation. Not real fun. But an issue that came up was when they brought out the Certificate of Entry. "Well I have a Re-Entry Permit!" Well yes, that preserves the Visa. The Certificate of Entry was necessary just for the entry and the Thailand Pass is kind of the legacy document to that document. 

So the thing to take away from this video is first of all if you want to maintain your Visa status when you leave Thailand you need to get a re-entry permit in order to preserve it at departure because if you are on a Visa Extension then your Visa Extension dies at the moment of departure for lack of a better term if you do not have a Re-Entry Permit. Meanwhile, the Thailand Pass system is not the same thing as the re-entry permit so even though you have a re-entry permit, you still need to undergo as of the time of this video, all the procedures associated with the Thailand Pass in order to be allowed to board a flight and in order to ultimately be permitted re-entry to the Kingdom of Thailand.