Thailand Just Ended Visa Runs: What's Next for Digital Nomads?

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V I D E O S    T O    W A T C H    N E X T :


Online Business Tips to Working and Traveling In Mexico: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGH0voCyOc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j&index=2

Moving to Mexico: 10 Reasons Why We Chose to Live in Guadalajara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK23vD8_xjc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_LAY7UV78YMgms-f2e1UcwN&index=23

Tips for Moving Overseas: Top 5 Remote Work Skills That Make Money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzjCrlNAL8&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j


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Disclaimer: The information in this video should not be considered tax, financial, investment, or any kind of professional advice. Only a professional diagnosis of your specific situation can determine which strategies are appropriate for your needs. Entrepreneur Expat can and does not provide advice unless/until engaged by you.   

Transcript

Speaker: 0:36

there's a quiet shift happening in Thailand right now. Something every digital nomad, traveler and long-term visitor needs to understand. Because the days of doing a quick border hop to Myanmar or Laos grabbing a stamp and coming right back in for another 30 days, well those days are officially over in Thailand and perhaps even in more countries to come. As of late 2025, Thailand has basically killed the Visa run loophole. And if you've been using those back to back to stretch a tourist, stay into six months, a year or more, suddenly you're now on the radar. Immigration officers now have the authority to deny you entry at the airport. If you're doing visa runs, they can cancel your extensions and hand you a denial letter. Even if you quote technically, follow the old rules. And this isn't random or anti foreign. Thailand is making a statement. If you want to stay long term, get a real visa. If you're a digital nomad watching this, because Thailand has always been your backup plan, your escape plan, or your one day soon destination, you need to hear exactly what changed. What to do next? Hi, I'm Justin Keltner from Entrepreneur Expat, and on this channel we help freedom minded professionals build global lives without sacrificing income, comfort, or security. Today we're unpacking Thailand's new ban on Visa runs, why it happened, who actually gets affected, and what smart nomads and remote workers should be doing instead. If you're interested in more content about global life abroad, including how to build businesses that are location independent and how to move you, your family, and your business to another country, whether that's Thailand or El elsewhere in Southeast Asia, whether that's somewhere like Mexico, where we live or anywhere else in the world. Hit that subscribe button, hit that notification bell. We're glad to have you as part of this community. Hit the like button as well. It helps us out a lot. And you can find a bunch of free resources below this video on everything from relocating to Mexico to a global relocation. Checklist to some of our other courses that help you build income abroad. So for years, Thailand tolerated visa runs. That meant people left the country for a few hours and came back in to reset their tourist stay. The tourism authority never loved it. Immigration never loved it, but it kept the ecosystem running. But they finally decided to say, enough is enough. Because crime scams and elicit online businesses started using the exact same loophole, There was a big spike in fraud centers in border towns like Maat, and an increase in foreigners, overstaying, or running pseudo businesses on tourist visas. In 2025, Thailand quietly shifted its entire strategy towards quality visitors, long-term, higher spend, stable residents. So the new policy isn't random, it's just Thailand raising the bar. As we've talked about, Mexico and so many other countries around the world doing as. Well, So what's changed? Well, now they've instituted a two entry limit, meaning that visa exempt visitors now only get two visa free entries per calendar year. After that, immigration can deny you even at the airport Stricter scrutiny. Extensions are not automatic anymore. If your pattern looks like a visa run behavior, then they can refuse the extension. Real-time entry checks. Officers can look at your last 12 months of entries and decide on the spot if your purpose makes sense, and even immediate denial of entry. Even with a valid passport and no overstay, they can simply say you've entered too often. Come back. With the proper visa and their focus is on fraud prevention. So this crackdown specifically targets routes where scam operators recycling in and out using tourist entries, but it can affect absolutely anybody going in and out of the country frequently. So the trap here is psychological nomads simply think, Hey, I'll just stay flexible. The rules always shift, but they, they're never gonna really enforce them on me. And that is one of the most dangerous things to say or to think, really, because you, you never think that the, that hammer's gonna come down. And then once it finally does, you're caught with your pants down and you don't know what to do because you're at the airport and you can't get into a country. Believe me, this has happened to friends and colleagues of ours, and it is never. Fun. Thailand really is enforcing now quietly and consistently. You can now fly into Bangkok after planning a three month stay, only to get turned around at the airport because you've already entered twice. This year and the deeper trap is relying on loopholes instead of building a real global strategy. When a country tightens its borders, the people who suffer the most are the ones who are improvising, not the ones with the proper residency work visas or relocation plans. We've been saying this on the channel for years now. You must actually obtain a legal residency visa. Including countries like Thailand, including countries like Mexico that perhaps did not previously enforce their immigration laws on the books to the fullest extent that they could, but now all of them are actually starting to do it. You need to get those things in place. They're sending a very clear message, which is that long-term tourism is not. A thing anymore. So what, what should you do overall? What's, what's your plan here? Well, if Thailand is part of your lifestyle strategy, you've gotta get ahead of this. Stop relying on those border hops. Start thinking in terms of visa categories. They have visas like a digital nomad visa, long stay visas, education visas, retirement visas, smart visa programs. Or more, or if Thailand is more of a base, perhaps consider holding your residency in a different country, one that makes tax and mobility easier, and using Thailand as more of a lifestyle destination that you come to occasionally. But the lesson really is this, you wanna build structure instead of reacting to changing rules. Immigration stability is a part of your personal sovereignty. So when the rules shift, you shouldn't panic. You should already have a plan B and a plan C. Now, they're not alone in this. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of countries are doing things exactly like this because it fits this global trend, which is countries are tightening casual, long state tourism while opening more pathways for legitimate visas. That's for people who bring skills. Businesses or investments. Mexico, Portugal, Malaysia, Panama. They're all differentiating now between tourists and long-term residents just like Thailand is now. so if you've been dreaming about living abroad, but relying on short term tricks, this is the moment to shift. Into a real plan. Pick a country where you can actually get residency, where you can build income, where you can stay long term without fear of border officers Flipping a coin. On your entry. The biggest takeaway here is that visa runs were never really a strategy. They were simply a delay for you to find a loophole while the countries were actually not really cracking down. But now, while the hammer's coming down, it's getting serious. It's not as simple as just going to a neighboring country anymore like it was before. Same thing for Mexico, same thing for Panama. Same thing for Columbia, for sure. Thailand's new policy is just another reminder that freedom does not come from loopholes. It comes from clarity structure and choosing countries that want you there long term. If you're ready to build your own relocation plan, something that gives you mobility, stability, and a real path to global freedom, then you can apply for a free consultation@entrepreneurexpat.com slash consult. We help high net worth individuals figure out exactly how to move themselves, their businesses, and their families abroad, and have a better quality of life, oftentimes for much less money, and in many cases even lower taxes as well. Always with a lot more sovereignty and personal freedom. Don't wait for immigration laws to tighten around you. Build your plan right now while you still have options. Thanks for watching, like and subscribe and check out all of the resources and courses below this video that can help you build your dream life abroad. I'll see you again very, very