Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the 90-day reporting system. For those who are unaware, those who are in Thailand in Non-Immigrant Visa status, pursuant to the Immigration Act of 1979, those folks have to do 90-day reporting. They have to report their address to Immigration Officials every 90 days. 

This is kind of a sore point with a number of expats here in Non-Imm. status. It is not a popular system, let's put it that way; not a real popular requirement. That said, we are kind of stuck with it at least until well I guess the Immigration Act could be amended. I don't think this could really be changed in a regulatory way although I have been wrong about that in the past so I think for the foreseeable future we are kind of stuck dealing with 90-day reporting. Now on something of a positive note, they are trying to upgrade the online system and for those who are unaware, those who have experience out here, long-term expats, there has been an online system in the past. Let's just say it has been less than optimal from a usability standpoint. Now they are bringing this new one online and I have been reading about it and there may be some usability issues with it as well.

So quoting directly from a recent article in ASEAN NOW, that is aseannow.com and the article is titled: Thai Immigration launches new online 90-day reporting system. Quoting directly: "Thailand's Immigration Bureau has announced the launch of a new online 90-day reporting system. The new system which went live on December 2nd is available under the online services section of Immigration Bureau's website. Registration information must be submitted in English." Quoting further: "Once verified, a password will be sent to the registered email address." Quoting further: "Immigration says confirmation of the 90-day report should be returned within 3 days of it being submitted." 

So first of all, from a usability standpoint is this 3-day interval. Well what happens if something goes wrong and it doesn't get into the system? Do you end up going over the due date of your 90-day report? I can see where that could pose some issues. Quoting further: "Foreigners can also use the same system to log in and check the status of their application." Then this was a key point to me. I thought that this was interesting. Quoting: "It should also be noted that the online 90-day reporting system cannot be used if a foreigner is completing their first 90-day report nor can it be used to complete the first 90-day report after receiving a new passport." So again, as a practical matter I can see where this thing, yeah it could be useful especially for folks that get into the rhythm with it but for people that aren't necessarily here for a prolonged period of time and by prolonged period I mean multiple years; we do a ton of 90-day reports. We assist clients in getting that done on a daily basis frankly and they are usually clients that we are dealing with on a frequent basis anyway but, we often find I mean we tried to use the online system before. I am definitely hoping that this new online system is up to speed; it is up to snuff; it is going to be useful for some folks, but we have often found in the past that these online systems again are somewhat less than optimal and as a practical matter, we find that most people just like the peace of mind from the 90-day report that is being done in person, done all at once; you get it in there, file it and it is finished.