Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Visa exemption scheme. So this is basically, sometimes it is colloquially referred to as a Tourist Visa but in point of fact a Thai Visa Exemption is not a Tourist Visa, it is an exemption to the need to have a visa that Immigration will stamp you in for lawful status for a given period of time - usually 30 days - but again it is not a Visa. A Visa is a travel document you apply for before coming to Thailand and then land and enter Thailand on and gain lawful status thereby, it is not the same thing. Exemption means you don't need a visa; Tourist Visa is a visa for tourism purposes. 

So I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, that is bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Cabinet approves economic stimuli including Visa free scheme. Quoting directly: "After the meeting at Government House, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the Visa-free scheme would operate from Sept 25 to Feb 29 next year for visitors from China and Kazakhstan." So these are two new countries that have been added, at least temporarily to the Thailand Visa exemption scheme, China and Kazakhstan. Quoting further: Quote: "It means that visitors from both these countries will not have to apply for visas before arriving in the country..." Quoting further: "The scheme will be temporary, so its impact can be assessed," the Prime Minister said." So again this is temporary. It is somewhat similar, if folks are avid watchers of this channel recall during COVID, during the Emergency Decree they actually increased the duration of the Thai Visa Exemption scheme so the lawful status conveyed at that time was 45 days up from 30 days. And at the time they did that to account for the two weeks of quarantine that most people had to go through when coming into Thailand so they increased the exemption scheme at that time.

This was promulgated via the Cabinet so this is now at least temporarily the rules for Thai Immigration for the moment which are temporary. It only goes until March 1, well it ends February 29, so March 1 of 2024 it looks like we will be back to status quo ante. We will be back to where we were where Chinese folks and folks from Kazakhstan will be required to have a visa to come to Thailand from that point forward, again unless something changes in the interim. But for now yes, it does look like Thailand has expanded its Visa-free exemption scheme for at least the next few months.