Dual citizens US/EU which passport to enter Thailand?

[murikamba]

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

Did the IO match your Korean passport and US passport on their computers when you switched them up?

I did not know if they match it or not in their computer. They did not say anything. They just stamped me in for 30-day. My Korean passport was brand new and it has only one entry in Thailand so far. My US passport is almost full (two pages left. I have applied for a new one in Bangkok) and it also has a 10-year ME Indian Business visa good till 2029.

Edited January 6, 2020 by murikamba

[adakgb19]

8 hours ago, murikamba said:

I have two passports. Korea and US. I entered using Korea Passport that gave me 90-day stay. Flew to Seoul and entered using US passport that gave me another 30-day stay. Don't want to mess with immigration, their 90-day reporting, and TM30 nonsense. So I am flying to Singapore and would attempt another entry using my Korea passport. Will see what happens. Trying to avoid land border crossing. It is very tiring for me.

Hey this is very interesting! Please, let us know here what happens when you try it next time. By the way, did they scan your fingerprints? And is your name in both passports same?

I think it would be very advantageous to have 2 passports as 2 complete separate identities not linked together.

[elviajero]

9 hours ago, adakgb19 said:

Hey this is very interesting! Please, let us know here what happens when you try it next time. By the way, did they scan your fingerprints? And is your name in both passports same?

I think it would be very advantageous to have 2 passports as 2 complete separate identities not linked together.

You cannot use two passports for any length of time before they will get linked. It will almost certainly happen on the first or second entry.

 

Swapping passports just adds to suspicion and possible entry problems.

[JustAnotherHun]

Using passports of different countries could possibly confuse IOs. None of the two pps is better than the other, so I would choose one and then stay with it for further entries.

[NCC1701A]

On 1/5/2020 at 6:04 AM, adakgb19 said:

Maybe am I overthinking it?

 

On 1/5/2020 at 3:35 PM, adakgb19 said:

For the fingerprint scanners, has anyone tried obfuscating their fingerprints upon entering/leaving? Available methods may include very fine sandpaper and/or potentially a bit of fingernail polish. That would make fingerprints hard to read and recognize. One could claim no knowledge of any wrongdoing because many things could have caused this naturally. This is called plausible deniability.

It remains to be seen what their response would be and how many cases like this they are seeing each day. This may be a question for a separate thread though.

You are now. 

[Old Croc]

If you plan to start a business there are advantages with a US passport.

 

The US-Thai Amity Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations between the Kingdom of Thailand and the United States of America was signed on May 29, 1966 to give special rights and benefits to American citizens who wish to establish their businesses in Thailand.

[NCC1701A]

On 1/5/2020 at 2:14 AM, adakgb19 said:

2) Allegedly, Thailand has begun collecting biometric information.

some good answers so far to your question but be careful of members here that have nothing but contempt for Thailand.

 

Thai immigration is fully computerized now with modern biometrics in the form of fingerprint scanners, facial recognition (most likely non real time), fake passport detectors and linked domestic and international databases.

 

It is corruption that keeps these systems from fully functioning.    

 

[sencelebi]

I am a dual citizen too. And US passport always has it's  privileges over any other passports.. And locals like Americans more than Europeans. Also if you decide to open up a bussiness, US passport will help you lot because US citizens can own 100% of the bussiness.  You still need 2 Thai nationals as a partner in the company but their share can be 1% or less combined.

[Max69xl]

On 1/5/2020 at 6:04 AM, adakgb19 said:

Many thanks to all who responded!

In all honesty, yes, I was hoping I would get the option of gaming the system by switching between the two passport. That way I would not have to apply for visa should I wanted to stay a bit longer. But since I will link the passports together that won't probably be an option.

My other EU passport is German. Another reason why I wanted to use my US passport this time is because I live in the US. If asked by Thai immigration about my personal business I guess it might come across weird stating my US residence while using German passport. Maybe am I overthinking it?

Yes, you're overthinking it. Like a previous poster said, if staying here long term as a retiree,the German passport is the best choice when using the >65k monthly method because of the income letter from your embassy/consulate. If staying here short term it won't matter which passport you're using. 

[Matzzon]

Pick your poison

[ThaiBunny]

On 1/5/2020 at 8:00 PM, elviajero said:

Yes, plenty.It’s a manual system so it’s not guaranteed the passports will be linked. The system flags up possible links to the IO who then has to confirm and link the passports.

Right, so Fred Nerk DOB 1/1/72 has entered several times on a UK passport. He then enters on an Australian passport, same name, same DOB (pretty obviously). You're saying it's entirely (bad) luck if an IO asks if he's the same person

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

Right, so Fred Nerk DOB 1/1/72 has entered several times on a UK passport. He then enters on an Australian passport, same name, same DOB (pretty obviously). You're saying it's entirely (bad) luck if an IO asks if he's the same person

I would say it’s normal to get your passports matched. And lucky if you don’t.

 

The system alerts the IO of the DOB and Name match and it would just be laziness on the part of the IO not to match the passports.