Immigration chief: Don't scare the tourists away by being too strict - we need them and their money

[thailand49]

Thailand is truly the Land of Smiles, you can look anywhere and everywhere in the world the stuff they come up with and say daily do they go to school to learn it or it just comes naturally?????

[dallen52]

6 hours ago, Pilotman said:

wow, finally a sensible instruction/comment from an Immigration chief.  Bet they don't take any notice. 

He will be on the next desk to Big Joke if he carries on like this....

[dallen52]

16 minutes ago, fittobethaied said:

 

I finally figured out why the police always line up for a photo op behind the criminals they catch for a photo op. They remind me of the Japanese soldiers during WWII when a group of them would line up behind bodies of the dead for their photo op.

 

 

My stepdaughter just completed her booklet of accomplishments as a government English teacher to present to her superiors to plead for a pay raise. She included all the photos taken at all the various events in which she participated in the past few years, and those all serve to demonstrate her good works which might merit a promotion and pay raise. I guess the coppers have the same sort of system, so the more photos they produce with their mug in the background, the better chance they have for a nice pay raise. That, plus they use the photos/videos in an attempt to convince the public that they are actually fighting crime and not just robbing the public at police check points, extorting businesses for protection money, running drugs, massage parlors and gambling establishments....not to mention a host of other corrupt practices.   

 

 

I thought it was calculated from the number of 5% commissions they received from the DLT tickets written. 

[newnative]

Umm.  Tooooooo late.

[pookondee]

 So I'm wondering if folks entering on short visas and folks entering,

on say, a NON OA visa all get counted into the total tourist arrivals?

I will wager someone will soon notice that since the end of November applications for Non OA have gone from XXXX's.... to X......
or maybe even to a fat 0

Maybe this is the door opening for one of those classic Thai U-turns on policy??

[Marcallen1019]

Lol. And they wonder why tourism is down and why people are going to Cambodia and Vietnam instead of Thailand. This Government just won’t learn. 

[justin case]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

immigration officers should not be a hindrance and should show professionalism with humanity and compassion. 

lol, for real ?

 

a few months back, during divorce stage, was at immigration with my child, to provide me help in getting a visa to be able to stay with my child in thailand to raise her, as mommie is a psycho and left the building to go f. around.

 

the only thing they said was, after insisting with the head of immigration, even with my lawyer on the phone, that the head of immigration was right about LAW and not my lawyer, to get a tourist visa, not before ironically asking, who is going to do the TM30 when you return ...

 

being a tourist now after living here 10+ years as my <deleted> ex-wife does not want to provide some papers so I could go apply

[Fex Bluse]

This is one of the country's worst traits. 

 

Rather than standing for their convictions, as soon as they need money, they switch from

 

"Operation XRay Foreigner"

to

"Operation Beg and Whore for Foreigner" 

 

[Fex Bluse]

???? If you're going to be xenophobic, stick to it! 

 

I could respect that, at least. 

[FarFlungFalang]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

All the problems could have been avoided with some use of brain cells

You have to have some to have any hope of using some and as we have seen they seem to not exist in the upper levels of the department,brain cells seem to die off in the climb to the top.

[ParkerN]

1 hour ago, Stoker58 said:

Short term tourists come, stay for a few weeks, and leave. They rarely have any dealings with immigration.

it’s the long term ex-pats who are on the receiving end of all their bad attitude.

How true.

 

Last year I had a brush with my local immigration office. This year I was pleased to see the office had been closed and all the staff demoted due to concerns of corruption. Had a smile on my face for days after that...

 

 

[Rockhopper]

But it's still "ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!"

[Sergeant]

So now you see the real reason for immigration, Money, Money, Money!

 Long timers know how to spend money here and being so silly means he not have clue what he is doing. His job should be base on honesty fair and control all illegals living in Thailand, Instead he wish to impress is authority on all who obey Thailand Laws regardless. Authority of all Embassy abroad gave the vetting according to law, yet he instructed his own authority that will push more to leave Thailand.I bet he would not pass Police or Army inspection by his mother of doing a job to be proud by all. Just look at the payment rules. Just look at the Mess of the TM30.  So many good companies stated wrong to place on foreigners living in Thailand & following the Law.  It is about all "MONEY"with out a cashier, Why so? Each office can split up the money stolen from foreigners. Just look at the BMW and Mercedes in parking lots? Where is Cashier security room? Why not payment by ATM? It leaves a record! Do a Permanent Residence Permit payment of 100,000 must be in cash in Bangkok? Yes that is correct, not even a bank check. If you are not allowed to renew your Visa, You must leave Thailand regardless of Bank loans, Car loans or care for wife and kids support. Surprised? I am not as it has happen to me.

I wish all foreigners who know the good part living in Thailand without immigration always. The Thai people are very kind and a pleasure to live next to. Thanks to all.

[metisdead]

Some posts using offensive generalizations have been removed. 

[agood1963]

Only want there money not a very good advert for Thailand , anyway its to late the damage as been done .

I am sure the Indians will be an asset to the country with all there cash they flash about . They do not want expats in Thailand anymore as they are to street wise  , only tourists as they can easily be ripped off quick and easy .

Edited December 9, 2019 by agood1963

[kevin612]

Finally, some nice comments from the high officials

[SupermarineS6B]

Thank God !   Finally somebody with an ounce of intelligence......... There's hope for us all yet.......

[Shaunduhpostman]

To me does not seem to be at all in touch with what tourists might be concerned with or scared of, being strict isn't the problem. If laws and regulations were clearly stated and strictly enforced, then at least I would know what I can and cannot do. The problem of going to Thailand more and more is that you don't know what will happen to you if you try to go there. What "scares" me about immigration is the selective enforcement of laws that are themselves unclear and deliberately written to provide officials with maximum leeway to interpret against whoever for whatever reason. That kind of situation, that way of enforcing laws in Thailand  might be all that Thai people know, so perhaps it doesn't seem to be a problem to people like the immigration chief, but to foreign tourists it is very off putting if not scary, because many countries are much less arbitrary and random about applying their own laws. The system in Thailand is chaotic, not least of all among many reasons because individuals working for the various govt agencies are mostly allowed to do whatever serves themselves personally as first priority, and so as a tourist you may be put in rather dire situations because what happens to you is all down to what will serve the interests of whoever is handling your case, it matters not one iota to most immigration or police officers what happens to you, they don't even seem to have any sense of doing anything wrong by applying laws without regard to people's safety and well being, as they are fully entitled to behave this way by the culture. They seem to see themselves as having a license to be the cat and the rest of the world is the mice and nothing to do with doing what is best for Thailand. For example, as we read again and again on Thaivisa  Thai consulates will happily take a person's money for a tourist visa when they quite likely know full well the applicant will travel all the way to Thailand only to be sent back home for excessive time spent in Thailand. As we read again and again in reports on Thaivisa, such people may well then be encarcerated at the immigration holding tank cells at the airport where they are extorted from for various fees such as rental fees for the holding tank cell and if they are not able to afford the inflated price of an immediate ticket home they may find themselves in an actual Thai immigration jail where one could conceivably die from beatings by Iranian gangs the not so strict Thai immigration authorities allow to run the jails, food and water deprivation, as happened to the American English teacher according a recent article in the UK tabloid press and re-posted on Thaivisa. This situation of being put even temporarily in a Thai jail is especially dangerous if they are aged or in not top condition. Of course that would be an exceptionally unfortunate situation, I would assume that few fare that badly as in the case of the English teacher, but there are innumerable ways that things could go wrong simply because nobody has a mind to do anything strictly, think sensibly or have any consideration for the welfare of others, its all do as you please land in Thailand and few of the authorities care what happens to others as a result of the way they go about their business  and nearly anything can happen. Of course, I am not one to tell Thailand how to run its society, however, if you invite and promote tourism and you don't consider that foreign people can't get their heads around how you roll in Thailand, that people can and do fall between the rather wide cracks here that these incidents are reported on internet forums if not in the media, you shouldn't be surprised people will be "scared" or simply sensible for not taking a holiday in Thailand.

[ravip]

18 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

But it's still "ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!"

That's the Elixir on this planet! Who would say no to money?

Plenty money, plenty honey... isn't it what's everyone is talking about in here???

 

[ricklev]

I genuinely wonder if he ever considered creating and publishing clear rules on how many tourist visas and visa waivers are permitted in a specific time period.  That would go a long, long way in quelling the fear.  Most people want to follow the rules if they only know them. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by ricklev

[yogi100]

1 hour ago, Stoker58 said:

Short term tourists come, stay for a few weeks, and leave. They rarely have any dealings with immigration.

it’s the long term ex-pats who are on the receiving end of all their bad attitude.

Not always. My pal is retired and visits Pattaya for a holiday for a month 5 times year. He got detained at Swampy and was accused of working in the LOS. Although they finally let him in it was touch and go while they had him in an interrogation room and grilled him for 40 minutes.

 

He's not a long term ex-pat but the experience certainly left a bitter taste in his mouth.

[Thaidream]

2 minutes ago, SupermarineS6B said:

Thank God !   Finally somebody with an ounce of intelligence......... There's hope for us all yet......

Yes, finally a sensible attitude from Immigration.   However, I believe he was given the word from on high, that his minions were being much too strict in enforcing the Immigration Law and thus partly responsible for the decline in tourists.

 

Now, let's see how it plays out in reality-

 

- No more reports of people being interrogated at the airports and being denied entry.

 

-No more pics and write=ups about  people with a few days overstay being treated as the  reincarnation of Jack the Ripper.

 

-Posiive reports of  local Immigration offices  grandfathering holders of old O-A Visa and extensions actually  be given with no hassles and no medical insurance needed

 

-Positive reports of individuls being able to get their extensiosn without being asked for more and more paper when they have been in the system for years.

 

-Positive reports of the TM30 fiasco going back to the way it was before- no more fining for nonsensical situations.

 

When I start seeing these reports, then I will believe the good General has told his people to  ease up. 

 A few smiles and actually handing a passport back to a visitor instead of throwing it would also be positive.

[Puchaiyank]

Sorry darling.  The separation and divorce is irreversible!

[noone223]

Taiwan, Korea and Japan - Better Value for money, 3 months on arrival, no hassle.

Honest cops, honest locals, better morals.

Leo pop gan mai bpra tet thai.

Thank you for the interrogations at the airport, if it wasn't for the attitude...

One would've never known how inferior you are to those 3 countries.

 

 

 

 

[Chazar]

7 hours ago, SmartyMarty said:

What's the problem?

intermittent enforcement /invention of  rules

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

And he has stated plainly that Thailand needs the tourists' money. 

Which is why in part many don't return... they get the feeling their being exploited instead of being welcomed genuinely!

A warm smile and warm welcome goes a long way instead of "give us your money & leave on the next flight policy"!

[noone223]

Just now, hotchilli said:

Which is why in part many don't return... they get the feeling their being exploited instead of being welcomed genuinely!

A warm smile and warm welcome goes a long way instead of "give us your money & leave on the next flight policy"!

or even, "show us how much you have" , and even if its above the requirement, we still might send you back.

[Caldera]

That's a very welcome change of attitude.

 

"He told his minions not to be overzealous."

 

I hope his overzealous minions who are infesting Bangkok's airports will get the message.

[Chazar]

2 minutes ago, noone223 said:

or even, "show us how much you have" , and even if its above the requirement, we still might send you back.

or  show us 20k at the  airport in CASH................stupidest thing ive ever  heard

[natway09]

Did I not hear yesterday that the "hordes of Indians coming " have solved the countries woes