Reason for anti-falang rules?

[DingDongLing]

I am under the impression that countries want MORE tourists to come and spend money.  Stay as long as possible and help the economy grow.  Does anyone know of any reasons why it keeps getting harder for us over the years?

Does thailand really have a huge number of tourists that overstay and go broke like the following story?

 

12 hours ago, Dexlowe said:

A couple of years back I started to notice this English guy who hung around the fruit section of Big C Extra. He didn't appear to be shopping, and he was acting kind of furtively. After a few quick glances he would grab a bit of fruit and stuff it in his mouth, then casually walk away. With oranges (his apparent favourite) he would quickly rip them apart, stuff half in his mouth and leave the peels among the fruit tray. For months I used to walk past the orange trays to check for discarded peels to see if he had visited, and sure enough there would be. Used to crack me up. It was out-and-out stealing, but I found it quite amusing. He was also a regular at Friendship, sitting outside shirtless among other regulars and with a bottle of water. I wonder what happened to him?

 

[SteveK]

Thailand has historically often hosted some of the shiftier farangs, who were either into something suspect or couldn't return home for whatever reason. And then you've got the reputation as being a sex-pat haven. I suppose they want to clean up their international reputation, and in doing so have become more stringent regarding who they allow to stay as a long-term guest. The financial requirements ensure that the guests do not become a financial burden for whatever reason, whilst also attempting to weed out the types of characters you mentioned above.

 

Thailand still wants as many visitors as possible - they just want the people who turn up, drop 100k, and leave 13 days later. They don't want long-term visitors who get by on 20k a month, and have little emergency funds to hand should something go wrong, which seems fairly reasonable. Despite all the complaints, Thailand visa policies are still much easier to adhere to than countries like Canada or the UK.

 

Thailand isn't anti-farang, it's anti-poor (at least when it comes to allowing foreign visitors into the country). If you're rich enough to get the elite visa, I doubt very much that they would care what race, or even what species you are!

 

 

[sammieuk1]

Did he have a blond comb over this orange man and make noises like an elephant????

[madmen]

lot of scum here from major criminals to desperate old men stealing fruit. Its no wonder the The Thais are cracking down

[losworld]

1 minute ago, madmen said:

lot of scum here from major criminals to desperate old men stealing fruit. Its no wonder the The Thais are cracking down

yes there are criminal undesirables but that is hardly an issue for retirement reform... what are you smoking?

[SteveK]

4 minutes ago, losworld said:

yes there are criminal undesirables but that is hardly an issue for retirement reform... what are you smoking?

I'm sure there are plenty of criminals on long term visas. And I'm sure that the Thai authorities know this. Why is removing foreign criminals from the country not important in your eyes?

 

Tightening up the visa regulations, and having more overstayer crackdowns will surely purge many foreign undesirables, I just wish my home country was as proactive in this regard.

[losworld]

why not simply not allow anyone in with criminal records duh or you one to presume that everyone is guilty until proven innocent?

[SteveK]

2 minutes ago, losworld said:

do you think a hardened criminal gives a dam?

I would not have expected hardened criminals to worry about hydro-electric power, to be honest.

[lemonjelly]

You need to understand that many policies in Thailand are knee-jerk reactions implemented by Ministry bosses in BKK; feasibility studies etc are retrospective here, if at all.

[DingDongLing]

9 minutes ago, SteveK said:

I would not have expected hardened criminals to worry about hydro-electric power, to be honest.

I seriously know one that talked about that before.

 

I do not think thais care about the source of income, so criminals who robbed a bank back home but not here, are welcomed to spend their loot

[DingDongLing]

My point of the thread is still, all these anti farang rules just lower thai economy overall. 

 

If they are criminals, they will get arrested here.

 

If they are poor and stealing fruit, they will get deported eventually (hopefully)

 

 

[SteveK]

9 minutes ago, DingDongLing said:

If they are criminals, they will get arrested here.

Hopefully after they have put 800k into a Thai bank account - suddenly seems like a good idea for the Thais, doesn't it?

 

9 minutes ago, DingDongLing said:

If they are poor and stealing fruit, they will get deported eventually (hopefully)

Maybe. Being poor would appear to be more of a crime in Thailand than eating an orange at Big C.

[DingDongLing]

1 hour ago, SteveK said:

Hopefully after they have put 800k into a Thai bank account - suddenly seems like a good idea for the Thais, doesn't it?

 

Maybe. Being poor would appear to be more of a crime in Thailand than eating an orange at Big C.

He ate the orange constantly, daily, for months.  I assumed stores had great security as its only 200 baht a shift

They probably caught him at eventually if he kept coming

 

 

 

[DingDongLing]

2 hours ago, SteveK said:

 

Thailand still wants as many visitors as possible - they just want the people who turn up, drop 100k, and leave 13 days later. They don't want long-term visitors who get by on 20k a month

 

So they would want the tourist that comes once every year or 2 and drops 100k in a week but KICK out the retiree who is spending 20k every month for years?

 

Why not keep both.  Retire will leave his thai wife most of his money anyways in the will. 

[DingDongLing]

SIck of these visa trips.  I might just stay in cambodia/Laos next time. 

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, losworld said:

yes there are criminal undesirables but that is hardly an issue for retirement reform... what are you smoking?

Is it not possible that some people who have the annual so called retirement visa also have a shady background?

 

Is it not possible that Thailand wants to stop folks who can't support themselves well from 'retiring' here? (Already been said in post # 2.)

 

"My point of the thread is still, all these anti farang rules just lower thai economy overall. "

 

The funds used in Thailand by farang on 'retirement' are not that great in total as a % of he overall economy. If your thinking (and some folks do think) that 90% of families in Essan are supported by a farang, then your way out of touch. And in any case Thailand should and does aim to bring money into Thailand through manufacturing and trade and the economy should be build like this, not reliant on retiree spending. 

 

 

[DingDongLing]

15 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

 

The funds used in Thailand by farang on 'retirement' are not that great in total as a % of he overall economy. If your thinking (and some folks do think) that 90% of families in Essan are supported by a farang, then your way out of touch. And in any case Thailand should and does aim to bring money into Thailand through manufacturing and trade and the economy should be build like this, not reliant on retiree spending. 

 

 

Yes tourists DIRECTLY and INDIRECTLY contribute a larger then reported portion of the economy, last year alone 2.3 trillion baht was claimed by REPORTED (probably for tax claims)  farangs. 

 

That does not count all the indirect money spent by girls family 

 

and ESP not count all the times the baht was passed around in the economic circulation by thais to further improve their economy.  

 

If tourism stops right now and all the farangs go home, the economy will be reduced by at least 1/3, more so as time goes on.  The baht circulation of farang money that was introduced indirectly by farangs wills cease to exits and once again....

 

more wealth will be transferred OUT of thai then IN.

 

I know some of you will not understand my point but try

[Bang Bang]

4 hours ago, DingDongLing said:

I am under the impression that countries want MORE tourists to come and spend money.  Stay as long as possible and help the economy grow.

Your second sentence not only contradicts the first, it's likely flat wrong. A long-stayer by definition is not a tourist. Moreover, a retiree on a budget (=typical long-stayer) almost certainly puts less into the economy than 4 1-week tourists.

 

A previous poster hit the nail on the head: Thais are not anti-farang, they are pro-rich. Case in point, million-baht Elite visa holders are VIPed through airports and have zero immigration hassles to deal with. Another: see the difference in treatment one gets anywhere from shops to restaurants if one is sharply dressed with a stylish haircut vs. casual with a 2-day stubble. I know superficial but Thais are big on appearances. And money talks really loud here.

[TheMysteriousMrTesla]

1 hour ago, DingDongLing said:

SIck of these visa trips.

Then why not get visa or extension that doesn't need visa trips?

 

I've not left the country for 5 years or so and visit immigration once a year, it's hardly a major drain on my time.

[Sealbash]

My point of the thread is still, all these anti farang rules just lower thai economy overall. 
 
If they are criminals, they will get arrested here.
 
If they are poor and stealing fruit, they will get deported eventually (hopefully)
 
 

Are you under the impression that immigration rules only apply to caucasians?


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[Kwasaki]

9 hours ago, DingDongLing said:

I wonder what happened to him?

Lets hope he got caught and kicked out. 

[Gecko123]

Very few high-profile criminal arrests have been made in all of these immigration sweeps. Vast majority have been overstay or work permit violations. Contrary to TVF folklore, very few Africans have been arrested for criminal activity either. A few romance scammers, boiler room operators, maybe one or two drug dealers (not big time traffickers), that's about it. If you live in the bowels of lower Sukumvit maybe your perspective is distorted, but generally speaking the claim that Thailand was a haven for international criminals on the lam has been grossly overblown.

 

In rural Thailand, 90% of foreign guys are family men; biggest crime: littering. Number of people on retirement visas involved in criminal activity is close to zero. Equating scruffy appearance with criminality is simple-minded profiling. Crimes of passion aren't closely correlated to socio-economic status either.

 

[DingDongLing]

10 hours ago, TheMysteriousMrTesla said:

Then why not get visa or extension that doesn't need visa trips?

 

I've not left the country for 5 years or so and visit immigration once a year, it's hardly a major drain on my time.

Yes report once a year like a criminal on good behavior.  Tell them what you do and where you live.   

 

What type of visa? 

 

Great username, why did u choose that?

 

[DingDongLing]

10 hours ago, vinniekintana said:

A novel theory here..

Most of Asia (from Burma eastwards),  has traditionally been insular/xenophobic.

This fact is reflected in visa policies.

 

I consider most countries in that geographical space as milder versions of N. Korea.

 

People here say Philipines/indonesia/viet/cambodia treat farangs MUCH better.

[CharlieH]

8 minutes ago, DingDongLing said:

Yes report once a year like a criminal on good behavior.  Tell them what you do and where you live.   

 

What type of visa? 

 

Great username, why did u choose that?

 

No, you got that wrong !

You report every 90 days and the visa/extension is annual.(dependent on visa classification)

[rott]

18 hours ago, losworld said:

why not simply not allow anyone in with criminal records duh or you one to presume that everyone is guilty until proven innocent?

Bit of a contradiction there with the "or". But I think I know what you meant.

[samsensam]

as others here have said, thailand isn't anti foreigner, it just doesn't want certain types of people in the country - which is the same as any switched on country. any foreigner prepared to follow the rules - and it's really not that difficult, can visit/live quite happily in thailand.

[SheungWan]

4 hours ago, DingDongLing said:

People here say Philipines/indonesia/viet/cambodia treat farangs MUCH better.

So why are they still here?

[baansgr]

Most guys like this is due to the fact they lost all their money to a Thai hooker and her family.....blame the thais if anyone.

[geronimo]

Lets hope he got caught and kicked out. 

He went on the pith...

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