Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Visa Exemption Stamps and the evolving policy associated therewith. Some 15 years ago Thai Visa Exemption Stamps, when I first got here, it was still effectively possible to live in Thailand simply using Visa Exemption Stamps depending on which country you hailed from. So if you had a passport that allowed a Visa Exemption, a 30-day Visa exemption you could basically do the infinite Border Run; we called it the infinite Border Run. Every 30 days run to a border, hop out hop back in. A lot of the folks that married ladies that lived up country, especially along the borders of Thailand, would avail themselves of this all the time. I remember talking to one person he said to me "yeah we hopped over once a month to the market on the Laos side of the border and when I hopped back in, I got my Visa for another 30 days. I don't even mess with Immigration matters." There was a time you could do that and then when I first got here, they were implementing a policy, what I call the 'three and pause' where you can do three 30-day stamps in a row then you couldn't get any for like another 90-day interval and then you could go back to getting three 30-day stamps. The result of this was people were doing 30-30-30, then they'd hop out and get a Tourist Visa, get 60, extend it by 30 and then hop out again and go 30-30-30. That lasted for a couple of years, then it went down to effectively what we have now although we didn't see a Decree promulgated on this until about 5, 6, 7 years ago but after that it went down to kind of at least an unofficial policy for a while and then an official policy of you get 30 days; you get two a year is just sort of the bedrock. You know you can get two 30-day Exemption Stamps a year. Past that and even in that sort of framework, always remember Thai Immigration has full discretion to determine whether or not you are eligible for admission to Thailand. So again, they may make a determination that even with the prevailing Decree, there's a reason to not allow someone in. But then after two entries on 30-day stamps in each calendar year it gets rather nebulous; you get up to four I think that's kind of the bright line. At that point Thai Immigration wants to know what you are doing and they may not let you in. Three is even still nebulous; I have seen people have problems trying to get a third 30-day stamp in a given calendar year. 

I thought of making this video specifically after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: The mixed legacy of General Prayut's nine years in power. Quoting directly: "Other positive features included the establishment of the Eastern Economic Corridor to create a high-tech and import-export hub in three Central provinces (including Pattaya's Chonburi region) and Prayut's personal decision in 2015, to allow tourists from dozens of Visa-exempt countries to extend their initial 30 day stamp by a further month at local Immigration Offices without needing to leave Thailand. History is never kind to coup makers for all the obvious reasons, but Prayut's 9 years were not wholly negative." Yeah, I urge those who are watching in this video go check out that article in detail. I have been sort of accused of being like an apologist for him or whatever. No, I don't consider myself that, I have just been here throughout all this time and I know that it is a nuanced sort of thing that the country was in a predicament shall we say back 9 years ago and we got through it as best we could. I've been critical of things and I have shown praise where I thought it was needed and again as noted, it's been a nuanced situation, kind of mixed bag if you will. 

Back to the main point and again I urge those who are interested in reading that article go check out that article on pattayamail.com, main point of this video being, yeah 30-day exemption stamp policy has evolved over time and it could continue to evolve. As noted there, General Prayut went ahead and allowed certain folks from a certain 60 countries that up to that point could not extend by 30 days in country, began allowing them to do that. Arguably that had probably a positive impact on tourism and probably the Tourism Industry and the ancillary industries associated with tourism here in Thailand.

Now that said, over time this could evolve further; it could get strict again; it could get difficult to come into Thailand using 30-day stamps on a regular basis. And quite honestly utilizing 30-day stamps to try to live here is a bad idea for variety of reasons. It can lead to blacklisting or just being told what I kind of call the 'Unofficial Blacklist' where they sort of see that 'hey you were trying to live here on tourist visas; you need to go away for a while’, and basically what you will sometimes see when you are dealing with immigration in that context. So the thing to take away from this video is the 30-day exemption stamp policy has been an evolving thing and I think it will continue to evolve as time goes on.