Integrity Legal

2022 was a very important year in Thailand. The pandemic in Thailand was deemed endemic and the emergency decree was ended. As a result, Thailand reopened to virtually unfettered tourism in the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2022. The impact upon the Thai Immigration apparatus was substantial. As of the time of this writing it remains possible to enter Thailand without vaccine documentation (although there was a brief moment when this was in question). Concurrently, under a present rule it is possible to enter Thailand in visa exempt status and receive 45 days upon arrival as opposed to the standard 30 days which was being issued prior to March of 2020.

The American Immigration system, meanwhile, appears, for all intents and purposes, to be getting more difficult to deal with. Much of the process is redundant and the National Visa Center seems to have an agenda to create the most an obtuse neo-Soviet system which results in a quagmire for anyone wishing to bring their spouse to the USA on a CR-1 visa or IR-1 visa. The K-1 visa process is not much better with people waiting for well over a year and a half to obtain K-1 visa and thereby be reunited with their loved one in the USA. Across the board, American immigration has never been quite as difficult to deal with as it is at this time, in this blogger’s humble opinion.

On a different note, there has been a major policy development in Thailand which seems poised to have tremendous legal and economic ramifications for Thailand. With the legalization of cannabis in 2022, Thailand quickly saw economic gains in terms of the business activity which quickly sprang up shortly after these developments were announced. The legalization of cannabis has created new opportunities in the Thai agricultural sector along with likely developments in the medical fields along with industry. Presently, the cannabis industry in Thailand remains largely unregulated, but there are hard and fast rules. Notably, those wishing the operate a dispensary in Thailand are required to obtain a controlled herb license. Such licensure is only available to Thai citizens. Foreigner nationals may have an ownership interest in a Thai company which operates in the cannabis space, but foreign ownership interests cannot be more than one third of the overall equity in the business entity. Foreigners are only allowed to make up one third of any corporate governance mechanisms in Thailand (i.e. corporate boards of directors). As a result, foreign participation in the Thai cannabis economy is likely to remain limited in the years ahead. That stated, the evolution of cannabis law in Thailand remains to be seen, but we will keep this blog updated on these topics moving forward.

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