Major hassle at Sungai Kolok on a border bounce...

[baboon]

I am on a multiple entry Non O and went to Sungai Kolok yesterday.

All was fine stamping out and no problems in Malaysia. Back in Thailand I filled out the Arrivals form and handed in my paperwork to a jovial officer.

 

Who suddenly became a lot less than jovial. My visa was issued in London, not Malaysia. He did not like this at all. I was bombarded with questions on how I had obtained a visa from London (I am a British citizen), why did I think I could enter on such a visa, was my marriage genuine, was there even an embassy in London and plenty of other questions equally impossible to prove or answer.

 

They've got my passport and a valid visa inside. My TM7 card. My photos. My fingerprints (now up and running at Sungai Kolok), my wife's phone number and STILL they aren't satisfied. Isn't it all on their computers, for God's sake? 

 

I was finally reluctantly admitted, after the line behind me became increasingly frustrated. However I feel it was a skin of the teeth thing.

 

No, I was not required to show cash. And because the majority of border crossers there are Thai and Malay, I suspect the officer just really didn't know what he was doing: What does it matter who issued the visa as long as it is valid?

 

Just a heads up to you all about the way the wind is blowing. Increased security is not making life any easier at all...

Edited July 15, 2019 by baboon

[jabis]

Could it be Big Oud making a lasting impression here? ????

Edited July 15, 2019 by jabis

[baboon]

1 minute ago, jabis said:

Could it be Big Oud making a lasting impression here? ????

He might want to start by instructing his officers that a visa is a visa, no matter where it was issued.

[jabis]

4 minutes ago, baboon said:

He might want to start by instructing his officers that a visa is a visa, no matter where it was issued.

When has the chief of immigration had to instruct anything here though ????

[baboon]

16 minutes ago, vinniekintana said:

It is customary here in the south to put a lil sumfin inside your pport

...otherwise, all kind of 'problems' arise

I admit to not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I don't think they were after any oil to grease the wheels in my case. I thought that was more confined to Sadao and Padang Besar.

Not saying you are wrong, mind you. 

[farmerjo]

Baboon,just wondering would a pink id card or yellow book  presented to them been helpful?

I will do the same thing but Nongkhai in August.

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by farmerjo

[baboon]

40 minutes ago, farmerjo said:

Baboon,just wondering would a pink id card or yellow book  presented to them been helpful?

I will do the same thing but Nongkhai in August.

 

Mate, I honestly don't know. They may have been after a tip as a previous poster suggested. Or they may not know what they were doing, given a white face is a rarity there.

Oh, he did ask me for a receipt from the London Embassy as though I would have that 8 months into my visa. Why would I? And then for photos of my wife. No, none to hand either. They are at home. Send Chumphon Immigration or police to check if you think I am lying. I have given you the same bloody address for the past 14 years....

 

I simply cannot offer any practical advice other than 'Be prepared for the worst'.

Edited July 16, 2019 by baboon

[NanLaew]

By 'border bounce', I assume a same-day exit and re-entry? They've been bouncing people who come back 'too soon' at other, southern land border crossings with some being refused and told to fly in from Penang instead.

 

Initially it sounds like an IO who's on the wrong wavelength. However, following the prevailing "they don't want us here" stream of consciousnesses, maybe this IO's view is the OP is married to a Thai national so should have a single Non-O with annual extensions and be using re-entry permits for his foreign gadabouts? Furthermore, he may reason that if the OP has got this visa simply as a means to subvert the newly enhanced seasoned lump-sum deposit in a Thai bank measurement of suitability to breath the same air as Thai people, then he's skating on thin ice.

 

Personally, I don't subscribe (yet) to the "they don't want us here" school of self-pity but if I was harassed as the OP was, I would certainly be royally pissed-of as well.

[baboon]

5 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

By 'border bounce', I assume a same-day exit and re-entry? They've been bouncing people who come back 'too soon' at other, southern land border crossings with some being refused and told to fly in from Penang instead.

 

Initially it sounds like an IO who's on the wrong wavelength. However, following the prevailing "they don't want us here" stream of consciousnesses, maybe this IO's view is the OP is married to a Thai national so should have a single Non-O with annual extensions and be using re-entry permits for his foreign gadabouts? Furthermore, he may reason that if the OP has got this visa simply as a means to subvert the newly enhanced seasoned lump-sum deposit in a Thai bank measurement of suitability to breath the same air as Thai people, then he's skating on thin ice.

 

Personally, I don't subscribe (yet) to the "they don't want us here" school of self-pity but if I was harassed as the OP was, I would certainly be royally pissed-of as well.

My account is of what happened to me yesterday. Just that. I am not looking for an argument or to get one up on other posters.

[lopburi3]

14 years here but has a visa from a country halfway around the world I suspect was the rationale of officer.  Had his passport been traveling without him or another local issue of a foreign visa?  Does UK stamp your passport on arrival/departure?  If not even more suspicious.  But you could have shown exit/entry to Thailand when visa was issued to help prove.

 

We are shooting in the dark trying to guess; but visas are issued by MFA/Consulates so immigration may not have good data on them.

[puchooay]

 

22 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

OP has got this visa simply as a means to subvert the newly enhanced seasoned lump-sum deposit in a Thai bank

There have been no "newly enhanced" rules regarding extensions based on marriage.

[baboon]

1 minute ago, lopburi3 said:

14 years here but has a visa from a country halfway around the world I suspect was the rationale of officer.  Had his passport been traveling without him or another local issue of a foreign visa?  Does UK stamp your passport on arrival/departure?  If not even more suspicious.  But you could have shown exit/entry to Thailand when visa was issued to help prove.

 

We are shooting in the dark trying to guess; but visas are issued by MFA/Consulates so immigration may not have good data on them.

Again: I can only assure you that I have done nothing illegal. I am genuinely married and have been for 15 years to the same (Thai) woman and have a daughter with her.

I have nothing to hide other than my bewilderment at the frankly stupid questions I was asked: How did I get a visa from London and expect to enter Thailand from Malaysia? Who could sensibly answer that...?

[jacko45k]

8 minutes ago, baboon said:

How did I get a visa from London and expect to enter Thailand from Malaysia? Who could sensibly answer that...?

I suspect he was confused by the fact it was a multiple entry . Maybe never seen one before. Option 2 is, where is the 100 baht note!

[ubonjoe]

19 minutes ago, baboon said:

I have nothing to hide other than my bewilderment at the frankly stupid questions I was asked: How did I get a visa from London and expect to enter Thailand from Malaysia? Who could sensibly answer that...?

I am assuming it was not the first entry to the country since the visa was issued in London since you wrote it was a border bounce.

The only way I could see the officer asking those silly questions is if you were trying enter the first time with it.

Probably an inexperienced officer making problems due to him not understanding how a multiple entry visa works.

[lopburi3]

38 minutes ago, baboon said:

Again: I can only assure you that I have done nothing illegal. I am genuinely married and have been for 15 years to the same (Thai) woman and have a daughter with her.

Was not trying to say otherwise - just that officer may have wondered why the visa was from London if you lived in Thailand - suspect most would be using locally issued visas for such entry if not on extensions of stay.  That you might travel to visit family or others in UK and obtained then might not  have occurred to him.

[cornishcarlos]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

maybe this IO's view is the OP is married to a Thai national so should have a single Non-O with annual extensions and be using re-entry permits

 

Then the IO needs some extra training.. The multi entry Non Imm O is for visiting Thai wife, among other things, so is a perfectly valid visa for the OPs purpose of entry. Whether it was his 1st entry on that visa or 5th, is irrelevant and so is the border crossing he arrives at.... Just a case of untrained staff, in a position of power, making life difficult because they have no idea...

Edited July 16, 2019 by cornishcarlos

[jackdd]

You should get the proper visa if you want to live in Thailand and stop abusing the system. A multiple entry visa is for people who frequently travel into Thailand for shorter stays, not for living in the country all the time. No sympathy for people like you *

 

Maybe they had some cases of fake visas at this border crossing in the past, so he wanted to make sure that yours is genuine.

 

* Just kidding

Edited July 16, 2019 by jackdd

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, puchooay said:

 

There have been no "newly enhanced" rules regarding extensions based on marriage.

There most certainly has WRT proof of financials. Maybe not as OTT as the changes for retirement extensions but depending on what Immigration Office one uses, some changes have been reported.

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Maybe not as OTT as the changes for retirement extensions but depending on what Immigration Office one uses, some changes have been reported.

The only change is that some offices are wanting proof the 400k baht is still in the bank on the date a person goes back to get the one year extension stamp after the 30 day under consideration period.

In reality that is not entirely new since I can recall reports of immigration contacting the bank during the approval process to find out it it was still in the bank.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, baboon said:

My account is of what happened to me yesterday. Just that. I am not looking for an argument or to get one up on other posters.

And neither am I. Your factual report is taken onboard as the advisory notice that was intended. Trying to second guess any IO's 'rationale' in on a hiding for nothing.

[puchooay]

10 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

There most certainly has WRT proof of financials. Maybe not as OTT as the changes for retirement extensions but depending on what Immigration Office one uses, some changes have been reported.

Changes in offices??? Reported? So no rule changes with police orders? 

[NanLaew]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The only change is that some offices are wanting proof the 400k baht is still in the bank on the date a person goes back to get the one year extension stamp after the 30 day under consideration period.

In reality that is not entirely new since I can recall reports of immigration contacting the bank during the approval process to find out it it was still in the bank.

I say 'some changes' and you say 'the only change is that some offices'...

 

Semantics 'r' Us

 

Whether the rule was always in place and very infrequently applied or there's more evidence of increased enforcement of a new rule, it boils down to the same thing: depending on what Immigration Office you use and the actual Immigration Officer you have to deal with, there have been changes.

 

YMMV

[baboon]

50 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I am assuming it was not the first entry to the country since the visa was issued in London since you wrote it was a border bounce.

The only way I could see the officer asking those silly questions is if you were trying enter the first time with it.

Probably an inexperienced officer making problems due to him not understanding how a multiple entry visa works.

Yes. I entered at Suvarnabhumi and was through in two minutes. No trouble at all.

As for 'Inexperienced', the gentleman was in his mid to late 40s. One could presume he has held his position for a while, but who knows...? He also didn't seem to be able to get to grips with the fact my visa is valid until November. 

 

But to avoid accusations of fearmongering, I have used Sungai Kolok a few times previously, but my worst experience was a female officer humming and harring, before asking if she should give me 90 days or what.

You just don't know, these days.

[NanLaew]

2 minutes ago, puchooay said:

Changes in offices??? Reported? So no rule changes with police orders? 

The police orders cannot change. However, the interpretation and enforcement is all over the shop and always has been.

[baboon]

11 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

And neither am I. Your factual report is taken onboard as the advisory notice that was intended. Trying to second guess any IO's 'rationale' in on a hiding for nothing.

Agreed, 100%. I was just being cautious as you know how these threads end up with accusations of trolling, etc...

[lopburi3]

11 minutes ago, baboon said:

As for 'Inexperienced', the gentleman was in his mid to late 40s. One could presume he has held his position for a while, but who knows...?

Immigration is staffed by regular police so may well have been new to the job as there has had to be a lot of recent hiring to staff offices all over the country now.  The fact he did not understand how visa could be valid until November points to not having experience with multi entry type (normal visa is only valid for 90 days from date of issue).

[puchooay]

9 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

The police orders cannot change. However, the interpretation and enforcement is all over the shop and always has been.

Police orders do and have changed immigration rules.

 

If you have 400k in the bank for a marriage extension and they ask you to keep it in the bank for the consideration period it is hardly "all over the shop".

 

Besides, if it is not a rule change and only interpretation, the IO at a border wouldn't know about it. So your original comment is inane.

[lopburi3]

Just now, puchooay said:

If you have 400k in the bank for a marriage extension and they ask you to keep it in the bank for the consideration period it is hardly "all over the shop".

Actually this was frequently being asked 20 years ago when all decisions were made at Bangkok Hqs as they could, and sometimes did, check account balance again as part of the under consideration process.

[overherebc]

49 minutes ago, jackdd said:

You should get the proper visa if you want to live in Thailand and stop abusing the system. A multiple entry visa is for people who frequently travel into Thailand for shorter stays, not for living in the country all the time. No sympathy for people like you *

 

Maybe they had some cases of fake visas at this border crossing in the past, so he wanted to make sure that yours is genuine.

 

* Just kidding

Well, it does only allow short stays of 90 days at a time.

[baboon]

2 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Immigration is staffed by regular police so may well have been new to the job as there has had to be a lot of recent hiring to staff offices all over the country now.  The fact he did not understand how visa could be valid until November points to not having experience with multi entry type (normal visa is only valid for 90 days from date of issue).

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Judging by haircuts and mannerisms, I did think that something was not quite right, now you mention it. Also I noted the lack of females.