Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Visa transfer letters. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com. I do have to say, Pattaya Mail especially, I think one of the authors down there is a guy named Barry Kenyon and I cite Pattaya Mail frequently, I never remember exactly looking at who wrote things, I am just  looking for the data to sort of cite in these videos as I go along but if I haven't made it abundantly clear, it is my understanding Mr. Kenyon is like a living legend down in Pattaya and for good reason. The things that he writes are really, really quite good. I think he was the former British Honorary Consul down there so if you are in Pattaya and you ever want to know who is sort of the source for information, especially on how things work for expats and things, I would say that he is definitely top of the list as one of them. That said, moving forward this article is titled: British Embassy withdraws passport transfer letter. Quoting directly: "With effect from June 1, the British Embassy in Bangkok will no longer provide a confirmation letter to nationals who have obtained a new British passport. An Embassy press release states that the Thai Immigration Bureau has agreed to transfer Visa stamps from the old to the new British passport without such a letter. Other nationalities (non-British) may still need to provide an Embassy letter and should contact their local Immigration Office for confirmation."

So, couple of things going on here. First of all recognize this is about British passport holders only, okay. Now what is this letter? Well when you are transferring a Thai Visa from one passport to another, let's say your passport is expiring; you go down to your Embassy; you apply for a new passport, it takes a few weeks, comes back, now you have got your new passport. You have to take that passport to Thai Immigration and have your former Visa stamps and status transferred over to your new passport. There is a letter associated with that. We deal with it all the time in an American context. The Americans issue you a new passport, they also issue you a letter, it's got a stamp on it, it is all embossed, looks real cool. It says Hey, effectively and I am paraphrasing: "hey Thai Immigration, this guy has got a new passport. Move his visas over from his old passport to his new passport if you please." Thai Immigration looks at that and says yes we will do that, and they transfer it over. 

They go into other details in this article. I urge those who are watching this video go check that out on pattayamail.com directly, but long story short, apparently that was never legally required at least in the British context and therefore they went ahead and phased that out. I am sure in the aggregate it probably saves their Embassy a lot of money not having to issue these pieces of paper over and over with some ink and things on them which doesn't seem like much but in the aggregate it probably does add up. That said, this appears to be something that pertains to British Nationals only, at least as of the time this video. I am going to do some further research and we will certainly update you on this channel if things change pertaining to other nationalities as the situation evolves.