Transcripts of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the notion of which expats are "best treated" here in Thailand. The first thing you have got to understand I think or the first thing to parse out is the difference between an Expat and an Immigrant. 

Now if you come to Thailand with an Immigrant mindset and you are ultimately looking to obtain Permanent Residence in Thailand, Permanent Residents are treated very differently under the Immigration Act of '79 compared to Non-Immigrant Visa holders. So Permanent Residents for example don't need to deal with all of the issues associated with Permanent Residency most notably they don't have to deal with 90-day reporting; TM 30 reporting; they don't have to renew their visas etc. 

Now if you are coming to Thailand as an expat and you are looking for a Non-Immigrant Visa, there are a number of options. For example Thailand Elite is somewhat popular; Thai Retirement Visas. There is currently talk, although we have not seen anything promulgated with respect to Long Stay 10-Year Visas here in Thailand. There has been a lot of talk about this; there was a lot of talk in the past about this. We have yet to see it come to fruition. I am of the mindset that this is probably going to be something that applies to very narrow set of prospective travelers to Thailand but yes there are different aspects to different types of visas. Some people like the Thailand Elite Visa because they just like having the peace of mind of knowing that it is sort of front loaded. Meanwhile, if you meet the Retirement Visa criteria, I see no reason to think there is any reason to believe will see any changes to that regime anytime in the future and we could see people extending almost in perpetuity until they no longer need a visa i.e. they pass away.

Meanwhile, one Visa category to really look at, again if you are looking to maybe transition from an expat over to an Immigrant is a Business Visa because those who have a Business Visa and Work Permit in Thailand so long as they meet the standard criteria associated with residency, they can convert over to Permanent Residence here in Thailand. What does that mean? Well that means you can basically if you do your time in status with a Work Permit and a Visa, you can eventually apply for Permanent Residence. Once granted, you don't have to worry about visas at all at that point. 

So what visa treats expats the best? In the sense of their long-term prospects, Marriage Visas can kind of act the same way as a Business Visa if you have a Work Permit so I will state that here too. Under any circumstances those who have a Business Visa or a Marriage Visa with a Work Permit in terms of long-term prospects, they may be treated better in the long term than any other Non-Immigrant Visa holder.