Thailand keeping track of foreigners – the TM30 reporting form

[homeseeker]

"If you’re an expat living permanently in Thailand and travel to other places within the country – any other address other than your usual home address – you need to inform immigration once you’ve returned. "

 

That is what the 1st post says.

 

Then in the radio video re Chonburi it is categorically stated that once a TM 30 is submitted there is no need to submit a new TM 30 for travel inside Thailand for those on 1 year extensions unless there is an address change.

Which is correct?

 

What is the practice at CW (Bangkok immigration) re those an 1 year extensions  who have already submitted a TM30 but are away from that address for a while but stay inside within Thailand? 

Is a new TM30 needed or not?

 

 

[Scouse123]

5 hours ago, Oxx said:

Has anyone had any recent success using online registration for Bangkok? I submitted my application six weeks ago and have had zero response.

 Similar time I submitted now and still no response. If you look at the rolling/scrolling text on the website, it says in Thai that they are  upgrading the system. I don't know however if that is any good to any of us, because any excuse to fine us, they will usually.

[Fex Bluse]

What a circus. 

 

While the video may be partially helpful, it cannot be relied upon. 

 

We need to wait for the written law in the Government Gazette or similar. 

 

Then, a check of the written law with an immigration official. 

 

Even after these checks, there will be large inconsistencies across Thailand - as there always are in Thailand. 

 

I've been saying that this kindergarten country is stupid for years.

 

Some part of me is happy that the Thai Defenders Brigade finally must acknowledge just how idiotic the country is. 

 

The solution is to move to a country less stupid. 

 

Good luck everyone 

[holy cow cm]

6 hours ago, z42 said:

An absolutely ridiculous regulation. Completely unnecessary and rife for abuse by those in a uniform who aren't so well intentioned.

I would guess that reporting and movement restrictions for Thai nationals on bail (after conviction) for crimes up to and including murder don't have to adhere to such anal regulations.

Yes but that is ok because their hardened criminals are THAI. Your comparison for our treatment is unfortunately right on the mark, and that is sickening. 

[lannarebirth]

Neither my wife or myself have ever filled out one of these nor do we plan to.

[shady86]

7 hours ago, Oxx said:

Has anyone had any recent success using online registration for Bangkok? I submitted my application six weeks ago and have had zero response.

Submitted mine nearly 2 months ago, still pending. Not expecting them to update so they can happily collect more fines and cause inconvenience to people. 

[Almer]

How about this, drive from Issan to Bangkok on the way stay with friend in Korat just overnight in his rented condo, drive onto Bangkok stay with daughter in her rented condo 2 nights, drive back to Issan staying in Air Bnb 1 night. 

My friends landlady in Korat works so will have to take time out to report, twice.

The owner of my daughters condo works ( for the government) and will have to take time out to report.

I don't know who owns the Air Bnb but they will have to take time out to report.

When we arrive back in Issan my wife will have to take time out from her work to report.

It is suggested  that the TM30 allows IO to keep track of good and bad, may i suggest it will send the good to other countries with there pensions, and do nothing to control the bad, what it will do is swamp an already creaking immigration system with more filing,  by the way this was not a journey we made but are about to make, and the response from all owners except Air Bnb who we wont know who they are, was, well what do you think ??  Keep it clean its a family forum

[ajahn]

4 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Nice concise and clear explanation. Thank you. I agree with posters that it is one of the most absurd regulations ever put in place by a nation. You pass thought immigration at the airport....then next day they want you to go to local immigration. The immigration at the airport are part of the same organisation for goodness' sake. Why don't the airport immigration put your address on a central computer instead of messing about with farangs' lives. 

My guess, and it is only a guess, is that it’s all about jobs for the boys and girls. The more bureaucratic faff there is, the more people can be employed in the civil service to cater to the faff.

 

A side question: the chap on the Jomtien video stated that those on one yr/extensions reporting to that office did not need to file a TM30 after travelling inside Thailand. Do they have to file a TM30 after a trip outside the country, say a weekend in Cambodia or elsewhere?

[MeePeeMai]

4 minutes ago, ajahn said:

Do they have to file a TM30 after a trip outside the country, say a weekend in Cambodia or elsewhere?

 

Yes, which is ridiculous because we have already given them our home address on the TM6 form upon returning to Thailand.

[Speedo1968]

What happens if you are working for a Thai company, rent an apartment in Bangkok, travel every week to different places within Thailand often staying overnight or a couple of nights, perhaps returning to Bangkok before going on to a another place before returning to Bangkok for the weekend ?   How could one report each time to an Immigration office if they were having to visit another place the next day ?

[Number 6]

7 hours ago, pookiki said:

I hope that the Thai government realizes that the need to report a 'new' TM30 after domestic travel will discourage expats from taking trips in Thailand in order to avoid the constant annoyance of his/her landlord.  The requirement for a TM30 'should' be waived for all persons required to do 90 day reports.

Absolutely. I will not be traveling to see wife's relatives and friends the few times each year.

 

We will take one holiday to ______ where I know the national park minions cannot be bothered to register me.

 

Any and all other trips will be international.

 

I have no intention of buying some crap condo at ridiculous prices and bringing in cash at manipulative rates against me - will not be buying property here until this nonsense is rescinded.

 

I will reevaluate Thailand in 4, 6 years and may very well go back to States.

 

I'm tired of tracking myself, being held financially responsible for Thai people's laziness or ignorance of the law.

 

The streets in Bangkok are smelly and filthy as is the air. The BTS is wholly broken.

 

I will take the money I've earned here and all potential I am as a high earning tax payer and potential condo owner and leave.

 

[MeePeeMai]

5 minutes ago, Speedo1968 said:

What happens if you are working for a Thai company, rent an apartment in Bangkok, travel every week to different places within Thailand often staying overnight or a couple of nights, perhaps returning to Bangkok before going on to a another place before returning to Bangkok for the weekend ?   How could one report each time to an Immigration office if they were having to visit another place the next day ?

In that case, I would simply not file a TM30 until I returned home for more than a few days or a week (since you stayed in hotels the whole time and the hotels are required to report your stay).

 

If the hotels you stayed in do not report your stay then that is on them and not you.  I stayed in a hotel in Bangkok for a couple of nights and went to my local IO after returning home to file a TM30 and was told that the hotel I stayed in did not report my stay so therefore I did not need to file a TM30 that time.  I asked how would I know if they report me or not and she just smiled and said "you won't".

 

I then asked if the hotel will be fined for not reporting my stay and they replied that they WOULD NOT be fined.  The Officer stated that hotels don't always report foreigners only staying for 1 or 2 nights and "it's not a problem."

 

Therefore if you hop, skip and jump around all over Thailand and stay in hotels then you are covered... but at some point you should report that you have returned home and file a TM30 so as not to have a problem when doing your annual extension etc.

[Number 6]

17 minutes ago, Speedo1968 said:

What happens if you are working for a Thai company, rent an apartment in Bangkok, travel every week to different places within Thailand often staying overnight or a couple of nights, perhaps returning to Bangkok before going on to a another place before returning to Bangkok for the weekend ?   How could one report each time to an Immigration office if they were having to visit another place the next day ?

And the stupidest irony. If you return Tuesday you must report Wednesday or you'll be fined. BUT if you return Friday it can wait until Monday because they can't be arsed to staff up. Which goes to show it can all wait 72 hours. Which goes to show it really doesn't matter at all. Just another scam in Thailand.

[shady86]

  Yes, which is ridiculous because we have already given them our home address on the TM6 form upon returning to Thailand.

 

 

More paperwork, more regulations = more money for them.  

 

This is how jobs are created in Thailand. Make things more complicated so everyone gets involved and earn their living.

 

 

[Number 6]

55 minutes ago, MeePeeMai said:

 

Yes, which is ridiculous because we have already given them our home address on the TM6 form upon returning to Thailand.

And where else would law abiding people who are working or have families immediately go to after their trip abroad so if the police needed to find said law abiding citizens - they would be in their homes.

 

1. Yellow shirt make work program hires = votes

2. Yet another money spinner.

[MeePeeMai]

Just now, shady86 said:

52 minutes ago, MeePeeMai said:

 

More paperwork, more regulations = more money for them.

And less money for us.  The price of my printer's ink cartridges is just crazy and it seems that I have to replace them every other month (not to mention the diesel for my 3 hour round trip, paper for my printer etc..)

[hgma]

Thai immigration hasn't got a clue where neighboring country foreigners are located, simply because nobody asks, Lao person comes in on a 30 day exempt, pays an entree fee and of you go for the next turn -around, while Western foreigners can come in 2 times and then need to change to a TV single or multiple( 6 months valid) Most expats are home stayers, meaning live in a village or town for years on an end, no fuzz, yet are frisked to the bone.

[fullcave]

8 hours ago, mikebell said:

Hear, hear.  I thought the Government were trying to encourage visiting lesser known spots (like Issaan) to encourage tourism in non-famous areas?

Hmm, and I thought they were trying to stamp out tourism once and for all. 

[Fred white]

I'm on a retirement visa so according to this when we go up North to visit our niece for a week I have to fill out one of these?

[Redline]

That should help bring in foreign business ????

[tjo o tjim]

So, on an METV, renting a place in Bangkok to store our stuff and spend 1-2 weeks in as a base. 

 

Do we need to file TM30s after we go traveling around the country?  Seems like an odd requirement for the METV, as the whole purpose is tourism... and they appear to discourage it.

[owl sees all]

2 hours ago, Number 6 said:

And the stupidest irony. If you return Tuesday you must report Wednesday or you'll be fined. BUT if you return Friday it can wait until Monday because they can't be arsed to staff up. Which goes to show it can all wait 72 hours. Which goes to show it really doesn't matter at all. Just another scam in Thailand.

So let's get this straight. If you spend one night away from the residence on the TM6, you have to fill in a TM30. And there was me thinking a TM30 only has to be filled in if the one night (or more) was spent OUTSIDE the province stated on the TM6.

 

I've never yet filled one in and I'm thinking I should have.

[MeePeeMai]

9 minutes ago, Fred white said:

I'm on a retirement visa so according to this when we go up North to visit our niece for a week I have to fill out one of these?

It's complicated.  If sleeping in a hotel while visiting your niece then the hotel should report your stay (TM30).  If staying at your niece's residence then she is supposed to report that you are staying with her at her home within 24 hours or on Monday if you arrived on a Fri or Sat (TM30).

 

Then when you return home, you (or your landlord) is supposed to file a TM30 at your nearest Immigration Office within 24 hours of arriving back at your home (if your nearest Immigration Office requires it).  The problem is that whether they require it or not depends on who you ask and on what day you ask them etc.

 

So the simple answer is yes (if it is required).  Be mindful though that you may be fined later on for not having a TM30 report on file (even if you were told that it was not required at your local Immigration Office).  Simple huh?  TIT

[MeePeeMai]

4 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

So let's get this straight. If you spend one night away from the residence on the TM6, you have to fill in a TM30. And there was me thinking a TM30 only has to be filled in if the one night (or more) was spent OUTSIDE the province stated on the TM6.

I was told many times by the Female IO's at my Immigration Office that if I stayed anyplace other than my residence (in or out of the province), and anytime I return from a trip outside of Thailand that I must file a TM30.

 

BUT.... the last time I went in to file a TM30 I was told by the (kind) male Officers that "I only need to file a TM30 when returning from a trip outside of Thailand - not any other time - and that it has always been this way."  Go figure!

 

I'll follow the male officers instructions for now.  I suddenly feel so free!

 

[owl sees all]

8 minutes ago, MeePeeMai said:

BUT.... the last time I went in to file a TM30 I was told by the (kind) male Officers that "I only need to file a TM30 when returning from a trip outside of Thailand - not any other time - and that it has always been this way."

This is the point of the TM6; is it not? Why would one fill in the TM6 and the next day (perhaps) fill in the TM30 with the same details?

 

I'm definately due for AA or deportation or a giant fine. Maybe all three!

[MeePeeMai]

3 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

This is the point of the TM6; is it not? Why would one fill in the TM6 and the next day (perhaps) fill in the TM30 with the same details?

Probably because they don't distinguish between us non-o long stay types who put our home address on the TM6 and the tourists who put a hotel or condo address on the TM6.  It's a total cluster ****

[the guest]

Carry-on with this xenophobic behavior, then foreigners will just leave.

Can Thailand's economy afford to live without Tourists?

[Fred white]

33 minutes ago, MeePeeMai said:

It's complicated.  If sleeping in a hotel while visiting your niece then the hotel should report your stay (TM30).  If staying at your niece's residence then she is supposed to report that you are staying with her at her home within 24 hours or on Monday if you arrived on a Fri or Sat (TM30).

 

Then when you return home, you (or your landlord) is supposed to file a TM30 at your nearest Immigration Office within 24 hours of arriving back at your home (if your nearest Immigration Office requires it).  The problem is that whether they require it or not depends on who you ask and on what day you ask them etc.

 

So the simple answer is yes (if it is required).  Be mindful though that you may be fined later on for not having a TM30 report on file (even if you were told that it was not required at your local Immigration Office).  Simple huh?  TIT

For arguments sake how will they know unless they stop you and check your passport

[IraqRon]

18 minutes ago, the guest said:

Carry-on with this xenophobic behavior, then foreigners will just leave.

Can Thailand's economy afford to live without Tourists?

reminds me of some lyrics from a song: i got along without ya before i met ya, i'll get along without ya now.  

[MeePeeMai]

24 minutes ago, Fred white said:

For arguments sake how will they know unless they stop you and check your passport

They can see your TM30 history in the computer ...so let's say you stayed in a hotel for a while (and they reported you), then you returned home and did not file a TM30 after returning home.  The next time you go to Immigration for a 90 day report or to apply for an extension of stay, they will see the last TM30 that was filed for you by the hotel and might ask why you never filed one after returning home (just an example).  Then they will usually say that you must file a new TM30 first before you can do your other business such as your 90 day report.  You might have to pay a small fine.

 

Not all hotels will report you though so if you travel around Thailand a lot, just state that you stayed in numerous hotels while traveling or conducting business (if on a non-B extension).  Then give them the date that you finally returned home etc.