Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing basically three rather narrow subsets of Visas that can be sought via Thai Embassies outside of the Kingdom, so that's Royal Thai Embassies and Consulates abroad. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Summary of visas available: January 2024. Quoting directly: "They can also arrange 10-year Retirement Visas, 5-20 year Elite Visas and the 10-year Long-Term Residence Visas. Most of these can also be obtained whilst in Thailand at Immigration or via the Thai Tourism Authority for Elite. These visas are expensive, may involve heavy financial investment in Thailand and some require comprehensive medical insurance."

Yeah okay, let's start talking about the 10-year Retirement Visa. That's the old O-X; we have done a number of videos on that in the past. The O-X Visa, as a practical matter I have never even seen one issued so I would not presume to be able to get a Thai 10-year Retirement Visa; let's just kind of set that one aside. 

Now the LTR Visa, the so-called Long-Term Resident Visa which I don't mean to sound like a broken record but it does not confer Residence in Thailand, it's just sort of a really long Visa, it's like a long non-immigrant Visa. Yeah those are out there; they may be possible. As we have discussed in many other videos, they are going to only pertain to a very narrow subset of possible foreigners who could maybe get those type of visas. Quite honestly, I have talked to a number of people who have tried to get them, we have assisted in a couple of cases with varying degrees of success. At the end of the day, the criteria is someone amorphous and we have seen a number of folks who have gone through all the rigmarole only to be denied at the end of the day. In a number of cases, I think that there are a better visas than the LTR although there are certain, again a small subset of folks who are going to be much more well served by the LTR compared to other Visa categories. 

Meanwhile, the Thai Elite Visa, as we discussed in other videos as well, this can be somewhat problematic especially at Embassies because some of the protocols are not overly clear. That said, again these are all technically possible to one degree or another. As we have discussed in other videos, the Thailand Elite Visa, now kind of being called Thailand Privilege, whatever, I am going to kind of still call it Elite, at least for the time being. It's kind of like the difference between Twitter and X, it's like when you change the name unilaterally, don't be surprised when people continue to use the old name.

But the long story short, what I am trying to say here is yeah there is an Elite Visa option out there. Again the criteria, the monetary thresholds have gone up substantially, so for a large number of people the Thailand Elite is not going to be an overly viable option. That said, LTR visas may be depending on your circumstances but I think it is pretty safe to say the Thai 10-year Retirement Visa is effectively a dead letter.