Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are asking “is Thai Immigration only concerned with short-term travel?” I have discussed in other videos how there is a major difference between the cost-benefit analysis that for example policymakers here in Thailand are going to need to do when discussing Long-Term Visa status, folks that come into Thailand with the intention to live, and short term Visa status. Now again, as we have discussed in other videos, tourism is a major component of the Thai economy and it was a component of the Thai economy that was quite literally decimated as a result of the lockdown. So coming back off of our back foot here in Thailand to try and regain that ground is proving challenging but I believe Thailand is up to that challenge. 

To that end I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Pattaya Expats lobby Thai Prime Minister for better visa treatment. Quoting directly: "A British retiree said that the Government seemed to be interested only in expanding short-term tourists by abolishing visas from mass markets." Hey let's stop there real quick. They haven't abolished visas for mass markets. They have temporarily suspended visa requirements through the high season for many of the mass markets out here in East Asia, most notably China and India are the big mass markets that visa requirements have been suspended on. So don't view this as this is like a permanent thing. In fact it is slated it is my understanding to end with high season. So it remains to be seen but it is very possible that this will revert back to status quo ante come roughly March of 2024. Quoting further: "such as China and India, and easing the life of wealthy expat professionals on large salaries. He quoted the recent announcement about 10 year executive or professional Work Permits in the Eastern Economic Corridor." Yeah, we have discussed this. The EEC, they have their own sort of business development apparatus if you will similar to the Board of Investment (BOI) but again specific only to the EEC, and it is new. They have their own protocols for dealing with things so it's going to be different than anything we have dealt with in the past. That said it provides some major benefits for those who are looking to do business here in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor. Quoting further: "offering specially discounted tax rates on earnings and confirming avoidance of 90 days reporting." Well this whole "confirming the avoidance of 90-day reporting", I don't know how they do that because all of these visas are non-immigrant and as a result if you read the Immigration Act of '79 they do require 90 day reporting. I don't know how they think they are getting around that but whatever. I have seen a lot of stuff spouted on the internet recently especially in the Tax sort of bailiwick as well as in the Immigration bailiwick that is quite honestly, kind of nonsensical. That said, it remains to be seen how this will play out. 

But the question posed again, "Is Thailand looking only at short-termers and Business Development?" Probably not too far off. Again, retirees contribute to the economy here. I made other videos on this, I don't see where folks on standard O Marriage Visa, standard of Retirement Visas are going to be sort of pushed out or anything. But yeah, at the end of the day Thailand is going to want to encourage tourism and they are going to want to encourage foreign investment so yes there are going to be other perks possibly associated with those types of travellers. Again as we have discussed in other videos, it is also possible that the rules related to standard Non-immigrant Visas, one year extensions, may change over time; it may become more stringent; there may be more requirements associated with maintaining that status. That said, as of now nothing has changed but we will keep you updated on this situation as it evolves.