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Too slow, poor service, not enough staff and corrupt - Dusit Poll gives Thai immigration the thumbs down!


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3 minutes ago, vinegarbase said:

I remember one time in CM immigration a few years back they made a pregnant lady break down crying because she came to Thailand to have her baby and was on a visa exemption which took longer than she expected. She was there to extend another 30 days and they initially denied her and were criticizing her loudly about why she didn't get a tourist visa since "she knew" she was going to be in the country longer than 30 days which she didn't know. They were talking about how she was going to have to take a bus to Burma to exit the country and do a land border run to do another 30 days. This Farang lady was about to have a baby any day. I have never seen such spiteful people in my life it really made me want to rush up and knock the teeth out their forked tongues mouths. They could have easily granted her another 30 days for 1900 baht like normal. I still to this day don't know if they ultimately gave her the 30 day extension or not. 

The lady should have reported this incident to the head of Thai Immigration and the Thai Embassy, along with sharing this with the Thai Tourism Bureau. ????  

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2 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

And you can't speak a word of Thai, even though you are MARRIED to a Thai women?!

 

 

Who said that?? 

So you think it's normal that immigration officers can't speak a word english? I don't, to me it just shows the lack of respect to foreigners..and that they let us wait for 4 hours only proves that more.

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7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...And a whopping 27% complained of corruption despite the Lt-Gen's "no tips" crusade..."

 

You mean merely putting up a sign that says "No Tips" didn't end corruption as we know it? That is shocking news! No way! I can't believe it! It is impossible!

 

I would have sworn that it would work...

 

 

(sarcasm alert)

I do not know if you were already there 5/6 years ago but at the time it was the mafia at 100%!

But since "Housekeeping" was done at Koh Samui. No comparison possible like the 5000฿ for the yearly extension. 

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7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...And a whopping 27% complained of corruption despite the Lt-Gen's "no tips" crusade..."

 

You mean merely putting up a sign that says "No Tips" didn't end corruption as we know it? That is shocking news! No way! I can't believe it! It is impossible!

 

I would have sworn that it would work...

 

 

(sarcasm alert)

I do not know if you were already there 5/6 years ago but at the time it was the mafia at 100%!

But since "Housekeeping" was done at Koh Samui. No comparison possible like the 5000฿ for the yearly extension. 

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58 minutes ago, fruitman said:

Who said that?? 

So you think it's normal that immigration officers can't speak a word english? I don't, to me it just shows the lack of respect to foreigners..and that they let us wait for 4 hours only proves that more.

As far as I know, all the CM Immigration officers speak English.    

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1 hour ago, vinegarbase said:

I remember one time in CM immigration a few years back they made a pregnant lady break down crying because she came to Thailand to have her baby and was on a visa exemption which took longer than she expected. She was there to extend another 30 days and they initially denied her and were criticizing her loudly about why she didn't get a tourist visa since "she knew" she was going to be in the country longer than 30 days which she didn't know. They were talking about how she was going to have to take a bus to Burma to exit the country and do a land border run to do another 30 days. This Farang lady was about to have a baby any day. I have never seen such spiteful people in my life it really made me want to rush up and knock the teeth out their forked tongues mouths. They could have easily granted her another 30 days for 1900 baht like normal. I still to this day don't know if they ultimately gave her the 30 day extension or not. 

An absolute disgrace no doubt, but dare I say rather typical from Thai IMO's. These people are utterly convinced of their superiority, they expect to be treated like royalty day in day out, just so we can stay here for another year. 21st century Nazi's indeed.

 

I hope that poor woman eventually got the help that she needed.

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I never understood why they moved Immigration to Chaeng Wattana which has no BTS or MRT connection . Before I could walk to Suan Phlu and even after the move they still handled re entry permits on Saturday mornings for a while. They definitely need more offices in the Bangkok area. It would be nice too if consulates around the world would have the same requirements. Give Big Joke a chance though...He cannot move mountains overnight and has seemingly made progress in some areas. 

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39 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Wrong.

What is on many threads of this forum is that a few embassies decided to stop to provide these Income Letters. :sad:

There is not even one thread about Thai Immigration stopping to accept these letters, and so the big majority of embassies will continue to provide them.

English is apparently not your first language, or certainly not your strong suit as evidenced by your grammatically incorrect and stilted replies. 
I am in fact very adept at English reading comprehension.
I submit that the communication difficulty, including the inability to understand that it was TI policy change that caused the policy change at the four subject embassies, and which has ipso facto been discussed in many threads, is almost entirely on your side.
It is OK. Not all of us have been endowed with great ability.

There is not even one thread about Thai Immigration stopping to accept these letters, and so the big majority of embassies will continue to provide them. "

Kindly provide us with the name of any other country that does or will continue to provide notarized affidavits via their embassy without legal access to citizen's income information?
And yes, EVERY thread on the subject is about, or derived from, Thai Immigration's announced decision to no longer allow the notarized affidavits as sufficient proof of income. 
A number of posts have remarked that they never did meet the written requirements of Thai immigration, but have been accepted for some time until it became obvious that a significant number of people were lying on the affidavits, and the stated penalty for perjury was entirely useless in compelling compliance.

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47 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Wrong.

What is on many threads of this forum is that a few embassies decided to stop to provide these Income Letters. :sad:

There is not even one thread about Thai Immigration stopping to accept these letters, and so the big majority of embassies will continue to provide them. :smile:

No. Bill Miller is correct, and it is not his job to prove anything, you are the one who has not been able to absorb the basic details.

The whole point of the story, as rehashed in countless threads, was that immigration will now require the embassies to actually confirm the veracity of the claimed income, not just provide the notarized affidavits that were accepted before.

One by one, the embassies are withdrawing the service because confirming the actual income would require more work than they are willing to provide on behalf of their citizens and, in any case, the claimed income often does not exist.

In general, in forums, it is a bad idea to go head-to-head with an opponent who has a better grasp of basic grammar than you. This is not an argument you can win.

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9 minutes ago, donnacha said:

No. Bill Miller is correct, and it is not his job to prove anything, you are the one who has not been able to absorb the basic details.

The whole point of the story, as rehashed in countless threads, was that immigration will now require the embassies to actually confirm the veracity of the claimed income, not just provide the notarized affidavits that were accepted before.

One by one, the embassies are withdrawing the service because confirming the actual income would require more work than they are willing to provide on behalf of their citizens and, in any case, the claimed income often does not exist.

In general, in forums, it is a bad idea to go head-to-head with an opponent who has a better grasp of basic grammar than you. This is not an argument you can win.

Well done. You are a much more patient person than I.
 I have never been a proponent of the "no student left behind" theory.  Some folks are happy and complacent with their lot, and not all are capable of being dragged into higher functioning.
The following excerpt is from an article one of my personal favourite authors, and a very funny fellow he was, too. He knew more scurrilous limericks than anybody else I ever met. ????

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, {the World?}, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”


 Issac Asimov

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7 hours ago, Easy Come Easy Go said:

Seeing as you are married to a Thai, and living in Thailand, wouldn't it be logical to learnt to speak Thai? 

The point is why in a department specifically designed to deal with foreigners they can’t find personnel who can converse in the Lingua franca ( p.s. it’s not Thai as Prayut imagines). If much less educated staff working in bars etc in tourist areas can manage it what does that say about Thai officialdom? 

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9 minutes ago, donnacha said:

No. Bill Miller is correct, and it is not his job to prove anything, you are the one who has not been able to absorb the basic details.

The whole point of the story, as rehashed in countless threads, was that immigration will now require the embassies to actually confirm the veracity of the claimed income, not just provide the notarized affidavits that were accepted before.

One by one, the embassies are withdrawing the service because confirming the actual income would require more work than they are willing to provide on behalf of their citizens and, in any case, the claimed income often does not exist.

In general, in forums, it is a bad idea to go head-to-head with an opponent who has a better grasp of basic grammar than you. This is not an argument you can win.

Well done. You are a much more patient person than I.
 I have never been a proponent of the "no student left behind" theory.  Some folks are happy and complacent with their lot, and not all are capable of being dragged into higher functioning.
The following excerpt is from an article by one of my personal favourite authors, and a very funny fellow he was, too. He knew more scurrilous limericks than anybody else I ever met. ????

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, {the World?}, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”


 Issac Asimov

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9 minutes ago, donnacha said:

No. Bill Miller is correct, and it is not his job to prove anything, you are the one who has not been able to absorb the basic details.

The whole point of the story, as rehashed in countless threads, was that immigration will now require the embassies to actually confirm the veracity of the claimed income, not just provide the notarized affidavits that were accepted before.

One by one, the embassies are withdrawing the service because confirming the actual income would require more work than they are willing to provide on behalf of their citizens and, in any case, the claimed income often does not exist.

In general, in forums, it is a bad idea to go head-to-head with an opponent who has a better grasp of basic grammar than you. This is not an argument you can win.

Well done. You are a much more patient person than I.
 I have never been a proponent of the "no student left behind" theory.  Some folks are happy and complacent with their lot, and not all are capable of being dragged into higher functioning.
The following excerpt is from an article by one of my personal favourite authors, and a very funny fellow he was, too. He knew more scurrilous limericks than anybody else I ever met. ????

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, {the World?}, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”


 Issac Asimov

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4 hours ago, Willatl said:

It's their country, don't like something? go somewhere else. I will say for the most part "land of smiles is bull shit

 

That's a bit simplistic view.  Maybe its a good idea if you are a single guy on there own with no friends, family or assets to cart about with you.  

 

Anyway, for most people living here the good things outnumber the bad.  So they stay. 

 

But, people have the right to complain about something if it's bad don't they?  

 

Every country has good and bad points.  If you settled somewhere, have a home, family, friends and are enjoying it, it would be really dumb to just pack up and leave because of a few annoying things.

 

 

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It would help if all immigration officials all follow the same rules and don’t make it up as they go along. Just because they are having a bad day, there is no need to take it out on those who are just trying to get the paperwork done. 

 

I won’t even mention the endemic corruption involved by some of them. 

????????????

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If they made it simpler, used better tech etc, they wouldnt need 50% of the staff.

Like everywhere here they have an abundance of cheap labor and usually relatives, so they create work to keep them all in jobs! Literally creating "something to do" for them with the archaic practices and pathetic volumes of paperwork that needs signing by three sets of bosses etc before anything can progress.

 

Its like playing a game of human "snakes n ladders" depending on which office and who you see on the day ! No consistency anywhere.

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I've lived in HH for two years now, and had nothing but good experiences with Immigration. Fast, courteous, not corrupt. Last month all the Immigration Staff went to BKK to meet Big Joke. Only one officer was left in Bluport Mall convenience Immigration Office. She only took 10 minutes lunch break, so that she could process all the people waiting in line. Very well done.

 

Even the police here appear above board. After I complained that they focused too much on foreigners for traffic stops, police made a point of pulling over an equal number of Thais as well. Really! (Whether the Thais pay fines at the same rate as foreigners, well . . . at least things appear on the up and up. Makes it easier for the tourists to stomach parting with their money).

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2 hours ago, nchuckle said:

The point is why in a department specifically designed to deal with foreigners they can’t find personnel who can converse in the Lingua franca ( p.s. it’s not Thai as Prayut imagines). If much less educated staff working in bars etc in tourist areas can manage it what does that say about Thai officialdom? 

That's a valid point. But seeing as this country has one of the worst English educational systems in SE Asia, probably not going to change soon. 

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I taught English to Thai Immigration officers at their training Centre I don't think the place was ever used until the Government threatened that if they don't get 60% in their English exam they would lose their jobs some officers were ignorant but most were a laugh pity they couldn't bring that humor to the Airport then again I think most were background staff

 

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13 hours ago, YetAnother said:

prototype example of the wrong people in the wrong jobs; imm officers should be Helping people instead of being obstacles

Or immigration staffs attitude may have something to do with customer attitude! The times I've been to immigration the staff have been very helpful and friendly! If you're polite and friendly towards them they tend to reciprocate!????

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13 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...And a whopping 27% complained of corruption despite the Lt-Gen's "no tips" crusade..."

 

You mean merely putting up a sign that says "No Tips" didn't end corruption as we know it? That is shocking news! No way! I can't believe it! It is impossible!

 

I would have sworn that it would work...

 

 

(sarcasm alert)

That sign probably came down right after the photo was taken. Hard to follow the signs instruction when the guy with the stamp is saying you need an envelope to get the stamp.

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10 hours ago, bkk75 said:

If you are married to a Thai and living here presently, does it not make sense to learn some common immigration phrases?  

 

I don't get some expats who come here long term but don't bother to learn local language.

I will never learn it, I have nothing to say to them.

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Well I can vouch for that..SLOW. Went today to CW BKK for 1 yr "Retirement Extension" with USA Embassy Income Affidavit gotten 3 days ago. In a nutshell... 

 

Arrived @ 0735 and got queue #338.  Got #33 for service and number called @ 10am. Was out of the Visa Extension cubicle @ 1025. Female officer was cordial and actually nice.

 

Didn't get my PP w/new extension back until 1115. Immediately skeedaddled over to get my re-entry permit queue #. It was #280 and they were on #150, so had my copy made and we bailed early for lunch to beat the masses. 

 

After reopening after lunch break (@ 1pm), finally got to my number 280 @ 2:15pm. Got my PP back about 3pm and outta there for another year!

 

Was really hoping to have it all done before lunch, but place was busy and seemingly ample staff was still insufficient IMO. 

 

No complaints about "baditude" this year, which is great as did have some on my previous 2 visits. 

 

Futhermore...was not asked for any supporting documentation verifying income other than the Affidavit, of course. Also, have never done a TM30 report and was not asked anything about it, which seems to typically be the case in BKK. Last year I did a change of address at same time, which is handled in a different desk, and was fined the max for not reporting it and also fined max for no TM30, which would not have happened had I not neglected to report the address change. This year NO mention of TM30. To be clear no mention of it last year until I had to go to the change of address desk. 

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1 hour ago, MickeyR said:

I taught English to Thai Immigration officers at their training Centre I don't think the place was ever used until the Government threatened that if they don't get 60% in their English exam they would lose their jobs some officers were ignorant but most were a laugh pity they couldn't bring that humor to the Airport then again I think most were background staff

 

I hope your English language skills are better than your writing skills ????

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When I think back 10 years  when you had to go down to Bangkok to renew your visa, that uses to write a whole day off , and it would not be the first had to go back the following day because they wanted some document they  did not need the year  before, another wasted day and then another day off work, and I am only 150 km from Bangkok ,90 day was done by post you prayed and hoped the post office did not lose your  form .

Now it is a 45-minute drive in and out in 15 minutes, this is Lopburi office.

I think they have come along way and have improved the service, OK maybe CM.P Pattaya and some other big offices have problems, overall they have improved.

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I think some of the problems stem from Thailand trying to monetize tourist visas with fees and "make-work" jobs rather than look for efficient and streamlined solutions.  Look at their neighbours .. Malaysia.  90 day upon arrival.  No hassles, no extension fees, no cattle call at the local immigration office, no middle of the night border runs.

 

Thai airports have an officer with an electronic terminal that swipes your passport and can decide to allow you to enter or not.  Meanwhile, local immigration offices require forms, photos, interviews and 1900 baht.  Give the local offices the same electronic access and stop the madness.

 

What exactly do they do with all those forms and photos anyway?

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