Hippies may not enter Thailand

[nickstav]

6 hours ago, garyk said:

I kinda get a kick out of posts like this. Back in the day I had just sold a house and had about 100K to invest. I was eyeing a Mutual fund. I turned up at the bank with hair to the middle of my back, shorts and sandals. I still own the fund by the way and the banker and I became friends. Him in his suit, and I at the time looking like a bum. I have enjoyed talking to him for years. He always cleared his schedule for me and we rarely talked about finances. 

Was that here or back home?  If back home a totally different thing. I don't like it, but sometimes you gotta play the game to get what you want. BTW, back in the day I had hair to the middle of my back too 555.

[nickstav]

3 hours ago, oldhippy said:

I think it is wrong to stereotype people for the clothes they wear, with the exception of suits and uniforms.

Of course you're right, but this is Thailand, where everything is based on an illusion of respect.

[Roy Baht]

Even now, Thai immigration doesn't want people dressed like dirtbags

 

No tank top, no shorts, no flip-flops, etc.

 

You're asking government officials to let you stay in their country.

Show some respect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Arkady]

22 hours ago, jackdd said:

This notice is not a police interpretation, but a translation of a ministerial order (from the ministry of interior), which i also included in my first post: http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2523/D/103/7.PDF

The translation on this sign looks about right to me.

My apologies.  You are right.  It is a ministerial regulation from 1984.  You would have thought they could have reviewed things in the last 35 years, rather than just dusting off this anachronism from the days that Thailand had only about half a million tourists a year and its rice exports were a more important source of foreign exchange than tourists.

 

Barring entry to foreign tourists arriving in Phuket for a beach holiday wearing sandals, while they are being passed by hordes of Thai passengers also wearing sandals, would make the Thai government a complete laughing stock around the world. 

[Just Weird]

On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 6:05 AM, glegolo said:

Not a single answer to to the topic, great reading guys..

...while your complaining about it, don't forget that includes you!

[Arkady]

I think the mentality harks back to the military dictatorship of Phibul in the 1940s when he tried to modernise Siam by introducing a Western oriented dress code for Thais that was compulsory for entry to government offices, including the wearing of hats by ladies. The illustration below shows the types of dress that were no longer allowed on the left, including shirtless men and women and Muslim style sarongs for men. The people on the right are wearing Western dress or acceptable forms of polite sarong outfits for women. Sandals were also banned and the ban remains to this day for racing days at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, which is why you see stalls renting proper shoes outside the gates. Phibun also introduced the military style uniforms that civil servants still wear today, including teachers and postmen, and the regulation haircuts for school children, not to mention the ceremonies to salute the national flag at 8.00am and 6.00pm.

 

[Just Weird]

On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 9:44 PM, jackdd said:

 

This came up in another topic, and i was wondering if such a ministerial order was really issued.

I was able to find it, from 39 years ago: http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2523/D/103/7.PDF

But i couldn't find if this was ever rescinded. Does anybody know if it ever was?

If this is still valid and immigration police ever notices it there is a chance that it could cause problems for some backpackers who still like to dress like this today.

As it is not currently mentioned in The Immigration Act, B.E. 2522, it is fair to assume that it is not covered by that Act.

[jackdd]

7 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

As it is not currently mentioned in The Immigration Act, B.E. 2522, it is fair to assume that it is not covered by that Act.

http://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/thai-immigration-act-entering-and-departing-the-kingdom-sections-11-22/

Section 16

In the instance where for reason of national welfare or safeguarding the public peace, culture, morality, or welfare, or when the Minister considers it improper to allow any alien or any group of alien to enter into the Kingdom, the Minister shall have power to exclude said alien or group aliens from entering into the Kingdom.

(See the first line of text on the sign)

[Farangwithaplan]

17 hours ago, nickstav said:

But if there is one little thing wrong with your paperwork and you are dressed like a slob they might just tell you to come back tomorrow with the proper documents, whereas if you are dressed neatly and show the proper respect they might cut you some slack and help you fix the problem right there so you don't have to come back. I have seen people turned away and told to come back tomorrow.

You hit the nail on the head with both your posts. A little self respect and respect for the establishment goes a long way.

[BritTim]

On 7/22/2019 at 7:52 AM, LomSak27 said:

89-93 you had to fly from Bangkok to Vientiane to start your two week "tour"

This is not true. (You may be mixing up Laos and Burma from that time.)  I crossed by boat from Nong Khai in both late 1989 and early 1991 (with a visa from the embassy in Bangkok). In 1989, Vientiane and Luang Prabang were a real experience. As one of the few tourists, I was invited to tour the Vientiane Polytechnic. It was the primary engineering college in the country at the time, there being not a single university. They proudly showed me the computer lab, consisting of half a dozen donated (mostly older) PCs. There were supposedly as many as three international phone lines servicing the whole country. However, the two lines through Vietnam were almost continuously out of service. Unless working for the government, it was much easier for those wishing to make an international phone call to go across to Nong Khai to arrange it. (At the time, international calls from Nong Khai could mean a wait of a couple of hours, but you were sure to get it done the same day.)

[LomSak27]

12 hours ago, BritTim said:

(At the time, international calls from Nong Khai could mean a wait of a couple of hours, but you were sure to get it done the same day.)

 

I wrote up a nice post on Laos tourism, 92 but then reread your post and heck must have missed this.         Good story though

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

I wrote up a nice post on Laos tourism, 92 but then reread your post and heck must have missed this.         Good story though

Talking of making international phone calls from Laos, a little earlier (mid 1988, I think) I ran into sometime from a remote area of Laos who had walked for a week and crossed over into Ubon Ratchathani with almost his only reason for the trip being a need to call relatives in the US. It was his intention to subsequently spend a week walking back. It is hard to imagine, in the late 20th century, someone needing to make a two week round trip trek on foot to make a phone call, but I can assure you this is a true story. The two day walk to the nearest large town in Laos would have been pointless as it was a struggle at that time even to phone the capital from there.

[LomSak27]

  89 tell early 94, you had to buy a tour to get a Lao  visa. Sorry if that conflicts with your imagination. However there were bigger problems in 88 than finding a phone. 1987 88 Thailand and Lao had that border skirmish because of a logging company. Meanwhile back even then backpackers were out frolicking on Mekong sand bars. Laos considers sandbars  her property and in one instance swept in, grabbed em, and put them in the hoosegow. This was a winner and did it again, a couple times. We have't even gotten to the Rambo scammers out of Khon Kaen yet. There little Lao expedition in search of POW's came a cropper too. Kind of tense back then.

 

No need to think facts as obstacles. Why not incorporate them in your next tales of adventure on the Mekong.

 

Make it so  

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

  89 tell early 94, you had to buy a tour to get a Lao  visa. Sorry if that conflicts with your imagination. However there were bigger problems in 88 than finding a phone. 1987 88 Thailand and Lao had that border skirmish because of a logging company. Meanwhile back even then backpackers were out frolicking on Mekong sand bars. Laos considers sandbars  her property and in one instance swept in, grabbed em, and put them in the hoosegow. This was a winner and did it again, a couple times. We have't even gotten to the Rambo scammers out of Khon Kaen yet. There little Lao expedition in search of POW's came a cropper too. Kind of tense back then.

 

No need to think facts as obstacles. Why not incorporate them in your next tales of adventure on the Mekong.

 

Make it so  

 

There were restrictions during most of that period on travel to many (actually most) areas of Laos. However, with a visa in advance from the embassy in Bangkok, there was no problem crossing from Nong Khai to Vientiane as an individual traveller. It was also easy to get permission to travel to Luang Prabang, though it was a dangerous and uncomfortable journey by road, and reserving flights was not easy. In fact, there was a brief period when Laos opened when tourists were subject to few restrictions. That rapidly changed when two foreigners were caught having looted items from remote temples.

[BritTim]

Another memory from 1989 Laos ...

 

Back then, there was a single set of traffic lights for the whole country (in the middle of Vientiane). It was actually a tourist attraction for visitors from other parts of Laos, who would come to watch in fascination as the lights changed automatically from red to green and back to red.

[KhunFred]

Apparently, written at a time when not many travelers had long hair. The same travelers probably have NO hair, today. I know that during the rule of Marshall Sarit, the rules for men's dress and hair were a bit draconian. I haven't heard the term "hippie" used in many years. These days, the "hippest" music stars seem to have crew cuts.

[Neeranam]

On 7/21/2019 at 11:01 PM, Date Masamune said:

The Hippie trail to Bangkok was on a slow boat from Calcutta to Penang. Then overland. Was Penang that last chance , to get a haircut and buy some cheap clothes, and bathe, In order to facilitate entry?

 

Those days nobody had intricate piercings or massive tattooesa. Everybody wore sandles anyway.

 

Singlet or waistcoat (without inner wear?)

I thought singlet is British English for a

sleeveless t-shirt (wifebeater) ?

 

 

Yanks call it a tank top, we call it a vest. A tank top is something you were embarrassed to wear to school but mum tried to make you wear to keep warm.

[Neeranam]

When I first came here there were many more interesting people. The hippies found this place. Now, one of my neighbours is a former Scandanavian seaman and the other a former English accountant! 

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

When I first came here there were many more interesting people. The hippies found this place. Now, one of my neighbours is a former Scandanavian seaman and the other a former English accountant! 

 

  And they have got a Scottish English teacher for a neighbour 

[Neeranam]

Thais refer to these unwashed looking dreadlocked hippies as 'farang kee nok' after the variety of guava that birds eat and disperse the seeds in different locations. 

Many foreigners get this mixed up with 'farang kee NGok' which just means a bit stingy. 

[Neeranam]

8 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  And they have got a Scottish English teacher for a neighbour 

I can help them both actually, one is from Liverpool. ???? 

[KhunFred]

Just now, Neeranam said:

Thais refer to these unwashed looking dreadlocked hippies as 'farang kee neeow' after the variety of guava that birds eat and disperse the seeds in different locations. 

Many foreigners get this mixed up with 'farang kee NGeeow' which just means a bit stingy. 

I think the term is "farang kee nok".    

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, KhunFred said:

I think the term is "farang kee nok".    

Thanks, edited it. 

[polpott]

On 7/21/2019 at 5:14 PM, NCC1701A said:

many people here will tell it does not ,but it does. it is extremely important how you dress at immigration.

you are disrespecting Thai people by dressing like a slob. You should dress like you are going to a important business meeting.

Same for conducting any business at the bank.

 

Some people on here tell you that it does, but it doesn't. I wear polo shirt, shorts and boat shoes  (no underwear) whether I'm going to immigration, the bank, the supermarket or a bar. Never been given so much as a second look. I'm British, an air of supreme confidence is much more important.

[Muppet2019]

It's actual illegal in Thailand to go out in public if you are not wearing underwear. 

[chickenslegs]

12 minutes ago, Muppet2019 said:

It's actual illegal in Thailand to go out in public if you are not wearing underwear. 

This is why the BiB have highly polished toecaps on their boots - for easy checking.

[garyk]

That was news 15 year ago?

 

[oldhippy]

4 minutes ago, garyk said:

That was news 15 year ago?

 

15 years ago, 2005? - hippies in 2005?????

Unfortunately, hippies died out just after the dinosaurs.

Except for this one of course.

And even more unfortunately, there are still some dinosaurs around in 2020.

 

[oldhippy]

10 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Apparently, written at a time when not many travelers had long hair. The same travelers probably have NO hair, today. I know that during the rule of Marshall Sarit, the rules for men's dress and hair were a bit draconian. I haven't heard the term "hippie" used in many years. These days, the "hippest" music stars seem to have crew cuts.

I was going to give you a like for this post, but then I saw Neeraram likes it - there sure must be something wrong with your post, something above  my comprehension.

[garyk]

19 hours ago, oldhippy said:

15 years ago, 2005? - hippies in 2005?????

Unfortunately, hippies died out just after the dinosaurs.

Except for this one of course.

And even more unfortunately, there are still some dinosaurs around in 2020.

 

That was around the time I saw it advertised in Thailand I believe. This has been going around here on TV for years.