The policy states that one can only stay in Thailand for 90 days in a period of six months, after which one must leave the country and stay outside for another 90 days before they can re-enter.

The rationale behind the policy as conveyed to the public is to screen the movement of foreigners in the country - who is coming and going, for how long, and with what frequency. And it is also "to clean house", as the Kingdom has unfortunately had some ill-mannered foreigners entering the country to engage in illicit business, human trafficking, paedophilia, child pornography and so on. In addition, this policy is to be stricter on the people who are working in Thailand without a work permit and living in Thailand without permanent residency, but by simply doing visa runs.

Prior to the October 1 change, visas on arrival were granted to 49 different nationalities to stay in the country for 15 or 30 days, depending on the permission given during the arrival immigration process. The visa could be renewed and extended by doing a "visa run" - crossing one of the borders of Thailand into Burma, Cambodia, Laos or Malaysia, the most popular and cost-effective destinations. Every day one can witness several dozen foreigners who stay or work in Thailand for numerous reasons doing their visa runs to one of the borders.

No doubt this policy is intended to create a cleaner and safer Thailand by keeping sociopaths and criminals out of the Kingdom. However, whether or not this policy has been well thought through is uncertain. A reality check needs to be done on the flip side of Thailand's attempt to clean up house. There are many non-governmental organisations, humanitarian organisations and research institutes that are positive for Thailand and the region as they are here to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees from Burma, do research on environmental, social, and economic issues, and to support local human-rights groups and people's movements with their expertise and know-how. The staff of these agencies often do not have a proper work permit as some of them are in Thailand on a voluntary basis. They continue to be able to stay in Thailand by renewing their visa every month through a visa run.

In reality, these organisations do not have the capacity to provide work permits to their staff. In order to be able to provide a work permit, organisations must be registered in Thailand and this is almost impossible for some, as it needs a Thai association to back the foreign organisations as a legal entity in the country. Some of the organisations do not register for cost reasons, because the registration fees for the organisation are expensive and the annual work-permit fees are not affordable since the organisations' operations rely totally on external funding. These non-Thai human-rights activists and environmental advocates will be negatively affected by this new visa policy and consequently the spillover effect will be on the country's human development and environment.

Gone are the days when foreign independent researchers or humanitarian workers could cross into Laos every month for a visa extension and return to Thailand to continue to work for a just cause. They will now have to remain out of the country at least three months before they can return because they are affected by the "cleaning house" policy.

Based on news reports of the arrest of foreign criminals, the targeted group for the new visa restrictions, sociopaths and criminals are known to be short-term visitors who just come and go. Some of them are reputed to be part of the criminal syndicates whose networks extend across Asia. While their mobility would be somewhat affected by this policy, during the three-month period that they have to stay out of Thailand, they could stay and conduct illicit activities in a country like Cambodia, which is another hub for child prostitution and human trafficking. One wonders if Thailand can keep these people out with this new policy.

This well-intended policy needs further analysis of its impact. It is premature to draw the conclusion that this policy serves the best interests of Thailand by keeping the criminals out, rather than adversely affecting those who work in Thailand for a positive cause.

The writer is an expat and a human-rights advocate who has been living in Thailand for more than six years. She has extensive experience with foreign workers in Thailand, many of whom are affected by the change in visa policy.

Valentina Soe

Special to The Nation