‘Better if you do’: Phuket Immigration chief urges foreigners to re-register addresses, even if staying off-island just one night

[soalbundy 20,070]

17 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

No, why should Immigration be expected to presume you have returned to the property you regard as home?

 

You are legally required to inform them, not them make presumptions and guesses on your behalf. 

 

You could be visiting family, friends, some new gf or whatever and staying in their residence. I don't know any police force that would accept making assumptions and presumptions as part of a procedure like this.

 

And he's being very good to remind people so they don't get fined.

why would he even want to know where I am ? Isn't the 90 day report enough, it's only paper for the waste basket and a waste of the foreigners and officers time. whenever I travel the missus registers the room, the hotel prefers it that way, no hassle for them and none for me.

[Airbagwill 1,738]

So if you go on a road trip and stay at 5 hotels in 5 days or NP campsites.....where do you register? How do you register?

[jacko45k 17,215]

Oh dear, we seem to be entering another of those Bill says do it, Bob says don't scenarios! I am thinking back to the carrying your passport or not confusion of bygone days.

I was under the impression a single night in a  Thai hotel did not require me to re-submit a TM30. We all know some immigration offices are using these regulations, that were previously loosely enforced, to drum up some fine money! At Pattaya the facilities to register a TM30 are an afterthought and poorly managed whereas everything else goes smoothly.

I am playing the 'if they don't ask, don't bother' game at the moment, gingerly doing 90 day reports or my extension, and soon a re-entry permit, hoping they don't ask.

If they really think they can know where every single foreigner is staying every single night I believe that is optimistic.

[Gandtee 2,344]

It would be interesting to know which Immigration Department Command dreams up these schemes? Do the officers expected to carryout their directives think 'Oh!. Not another useless piece of paper? Or, great! a nice little earner.?'

[Sir Swagman 682]

This has always been on the law books. Seemingly Phuket immigration has so much free time and is wanting to be swamped with nonsensical paperwork. It is, and remains, however yet another way to make life difficult for unwanted (almost all now it seems) foreigners

[memkuk 80]

Phuket soon to be renamed Alcatraz.

[rwill 1,348]

everyone living in Phuket should file a change every few days until you can no longer enter the office because it is overflowing with paper.

 

[IAMHERE 3,224]

Got to figure this requirement interpretation will not harm tourism, just ex-pats. Ex-pats can take it or leave it because most suspect they'll put up with all sorts of BS to stay in Thailand.

[Lola Bear 0]

Yesterday I went to Singapore on an early morning flight for my visa run returned same day 6 Pm . Do I now need to fill in TM 30 Form and do Immigration when they open on Monday and re-report same address . Did not stay overnight returned to my home . Thank you .

[1happykamper 362]

‘Better if you do’: Phuket Immigration chief urges foreigners to re-register addresses, even if staying off-island just one night 
Shela Riva
 

Chief of the Phuket Immigration Offce, Col Kathathorn Kumthieng, urges foreigners to re-register their addresses, just in case. Photo: Shela Riva
 
PHUKET: The Chief of the Phuket Immigration Office, Col Kathathorn Kumthieng, has confirmed that all foreigners registered as living in Phuket must re-report their address to immigration after being registered as staying in a hotel within Thailand, even for just one night.
 
The confirmation follows complaints from long-term expats that they were fined B2,000 for not re-registering their home addresses after travelling within the country.
 
“By law, it is a requirement to register your address within 24 hours after being registered elsewhere, such as at a hotel or a guesthouse,” Col Kathathorn told The Phuket News this week.

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/better-if-you-do-phuket-immigration-chief-urges-foreigners-to-re-register-addresses-even-if-staying-off-island-just-one-night-65744.php#Vp08C2R3RvBhXcr2.97
 
  -- [emoji767] Copyright Phuket News 2018-01-27  
 

By law? Well... Its a really stupid law and a law that is way overboard and not very welcoming! In full time here and its a stupid law!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[1happykamper 362]

‘Better if you do’: Phuket Immigration chief urges foreigners to re-register addresses, even if staying off-island just one night 
Shela Riva
 

Chief of the Phuket Immigration Offce, Col Kathathorn Kumthieng, urges foreigners to re-register their addresses, just in case. Photo: Shela Riva
 
PHUKET: The Chief of the Phuket Immigration Office, Col Kathathorn Kumthieng, has confirmed that all foreigners registered as living in Phuket must re-report their address to immigration after being registered as staying in a hotel within Thailand, even for just one night.
 
The confirmation follows complaints from long-term expats that they were fined B2,000 for not re-registering their home addresses after travelling within the country.
 
“By law, it is a requirement to register your address within 24 hours after being registered elsewhere, such as at a hotel or a guesthouse,” Col Kathathorn told The Phuket News this week.

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/better-if-you-do-phuket-immigration-chief-urges-foreigners-to-re-register-addresses-even-if-staying-off-island-just-one-night-65744.php#Vp08C2R3RvBhXcr2.97
 
  -- [emoji767] Copyright Phuket News 2018-01-27  
 

What if decide to sleep on the beach tonight? What if a decide to sleep at a freinds house tonight? No no no.. It's really a stupid law.. And I find very offensive. Next we'll get a GPS shoved into our body! No!

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[Mac98 1,223]

20 hours ago, captnhoy said:

sigh...I decided not to renew my permission to stay based on retirement just because of this and the other long list of petty never ending bs. Plus being treated like a dog when I do have business with them. It is not that hard to get the 6 months in country and that is now my preference. No 90 day report, no renewal BS, no money in a Thai bank. No THANKS!

 

But you will still have to report every move you make. Forget travel. Get one place, never leave it during that six months. And have no foreign guests. Just wait, soon you will have to report Thai overnight guests!

[garvon 50]

Because of the missing chromosome.

 

[crazykopite 3,710]

If they Immigration had a decent computer system that you could do temporary change of address online it would help , if I were to do this it would take a 2 hour trip just to report to them and then another 2 hour trip to get back home , the whole thing is a joke . What about the run of the mill holiday maker who over 3 weeks could move on every few days. I think it would be just as cheap in my circumstances to pay the fine if I were caught as the boat fare on its own is 600 baht to get to my immigration and that’s without taxi fares and food. 90 day reporting is bad enough ?

[Valentine 2,401]

17 hours ago, poohy said:

Sir! you will get nowhere in Thailand or on TV , using commonsense and making sensible sane comments like that

Writing an address on arrival card is not proof of your address.

When you leave the country you are tossed out of the system so when you return you have no registered address.

I don't understand why some think they have to report & register where they were staying when away from home as it is up to the hotel to do that.

Immigration does understand that if you return on the weekend or public holiday that it is not feasible to register within 24 hours.

There is an online reporting form for registering your address but is only in Thai.

I feel these 2 paragraphs from the article are important :

“However, if you become involved in an incident and become a suspect in a case for example, not re-registering your address will be a big problem. So it’s better if you do.”

Regardless, although the overall effect for most foreigners caught not re-registering their address each time on returning home to Phuket might be deemed negligible, foreigners will be liable to a B2,000 fine for each infringement and the incident will remain on their immigration record.