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No need to worry says Bangkok Immigration Commander


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I'm disappointed with Thaivisa, it just seems they want to bring as many people to their website as possible - spread a rumour here, spread a rumour there, then act like the big hero - wahey we have solved the problem! Genius!

Please stop doing this!

Maybe. But the fact is Thailand is a total mess of lawlessness. Laws change all the time and confusion is total.

Thavisa can't do miracles to understand what is right and what is wrong , so better to report everything....than we will be more confused than ever, but this is Thailand...everybody behaving well in Thailand IS NEVER AT SAFE, any officier can always abuse you and you haveno rights whatsoever.

I expect corruption to rise ten folders with these unclear laws, cops will abuse tourists to extort them money.

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So with all respect to you, Scott, do you think it is a good way to disseminate official information that a high-placed official talks informally, whether on the record or not, to you and you go on an unofficial website and give your interpretation of what was said?

Edited by JLCrab
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I'm disappointed with Thaivisa, it just seems they want to bring as many people to their website as possible - spread a rumour here, spread a rumour there, then act like the big hero - wahey we have solved the problem! Genius!

Please stop doing this!

Stop doing what? This is no rumor. This is from the Deputy Commander of Immigration. Above him is the Deputy Superintendent, Superintendent, and finally, the Commissioner General. That makes him pretty high up and I take it pretty personally that you call this a a rumor when I am the one who spoke to the Colonel and I am the one who did so before. This isn't tabloid gossip and you can do one of two things, believe it, or not. It makes no difference to me at all.

I assume he meant both of the threads where things were 100% clarified by the hua hin boss.

I am baffled how anyone can talk to the boss of immigration on this issue, and not ask about the 24 hour TM28 reporting as stated by hua hin.. If they had his ear etc..

One starts to think the confusion and speculation is encouraged.. And the information drop fed.

There is limited time and limited access. It will be answered eventually.

Any confusion or speculation is due to people not always hearing what they want to hear. This and people trying to interpret things in any way, shape or form that can help them with their situation. It's very simple. If an official tells you something, you report it. If he doesn't follow through or it doesn't make sense, the onus is on the official. But if the public is being told something by immigration, my own suggestion is to believe what is being said until otherwise changed, disputed or disproved. Perhaps Hua Hin jumped the gun or misinterpreted something, I don't know. But I do know the names of those who gave me information, and all are high ranking officials. For me, that's enough.

I did also make it a point to ask if overstaying by a day gets the person banned for five years. YES. If they are arrested, they get booted and a five year ban. If they turn themselves in, the penalty is 500 baht a day up to 20,000 baht for the first 89 days. It's pretty simple—don't overstay—if by chance you are going to overstay, turn yourself in to immigration before being caught and banned.

Let me point out I wasnt calling your information into question..

And I dont doubt Hua Hin said what they said (I would love to see the transcript of any call with the hua hin boss tonight)..

But the left hand right hand issues at the moment are reaching fever pitch.. and you cant really blame the farang community when such different views are coming from those who are supposed to be in charge of the rule book.

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Why are some people still complaning? This issue is cleared up, so what is your problem than?

Or will some people have a problem when they are asked to show their pasport?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

One issue.. Of 3.. Is cleared up..

TM30's for people not in a hotel... and TM28s for stays of more then 24hours.

These were ALWAYS the biggest issues (well maybe once hua Hin said no IDs other than origional passport).. Yet thats sidelined.

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FOR SALE
Brand new men's cargo shorts and pants with extra large bottoned-securty pockets in front. Very ugly, dated styling and perfect for a passport with extra pages.

Cheap. OBO

Edited by lifeincnx
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Why are some people still complaning? This issue is cleared up, so what is your problem than?

Or will some people have a problem when they are asked to show their pasport?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I will. If i am asked to produce my passport on the beach, It going to be a problem.

Several passports being stolen already in Thailand because before i was carrying them all the time.

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While it is good to hear from a senior official, I don't see how it is going to change things much: if a police officer suspects you are on overstay they want to see your passport. If you do not have it with you then you are still going to be held or 'fined'...

It's no change except for TV members who labor under the wrong impression and continually parrot this erroneous information: "Thai law says you have to carry your passport on your person at all times."

In fact a mod once deleted my post when I denied that this is the law and I basically advised what Deputy Commander Voravat says. After that I gave up trying to reveal the truth on this point.

It's reasonable and lawful that you be able to produce that passport if asked, however, and even be held until you do.

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Alright, but please remember to ask local police office too. They are the ones who are the recipients of the reports as per the Immigration Act section 37(3) and 37(4). It would be interesting to hear if the BiB actually know about it.

<snip>

I had the missus ask (she is up-country for the funeral of her Aunty) the Head of Police over there and he said "that he didn't hear anything about it (yet)".

But YMMVAPB. thumbsup.gif

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you know guys, in Putin's Russia the situation when foreigners have to carry a passport with them at all times is for many years already.

My English friend (a black guy) was stopped by police in Moscow city centre having no photo ID with him, so they took him to the police station located at the very remote suburb of Moscow (about 20km from the centre) and held in a police cell with drunk criminals until I retrieved his passport from hotel sad.png

The atmosphere here is very bad really.

My guess is that this had more to do with the color of his skin than any issue with his documentation.

He stands out, in Moscow. That's just how it is.

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Hey ... this is fair. I've lived internationally 40 years and always carry a copy of my passport and visa but rarely carry my original passport. Had it nicked once and that was a real mess. I think Ex-patriot ID cards are the way to go. Sure they can make fake ones but if it is ever checked with a database game over for the fraud.

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Alright, but please remember to ask local police office too. They are the ones who are the recipients of the reports as per the Immigration Act section 37(3) and 37(4). It would be interesting to hear if the BiB actually know about it.

<snip>

I had the missus ask (she is up-country for the funeral of her Aunty) the Head of Police over there and he said "that he didn't hear anything about it (yet)".

But YMMVAPB. thumbsup.gif

Ok, that's what I suspect as well, not well known .. it's been in the law for ages and might have even made sense in 1979 when there weren't that many tourists going around. If it ever has been actually used since 1979 or has just re-surfaced now .. any oldtimers who remember reporting to police stations of their whereabouts in the 80's?

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Alright, but please remember to ask local police office too. They are the ones who are the recipients of the reports as per the Immigration Act section 37(3) and 37(4). It would be interesting to hear if the BiB actually know about it.

<snip>

I had the missus ask (she is up-country for the funeral of her Aunty) the Head of Police over there and he said "that he didn't hear anything about it (yet)".

But YMMVAPB. thumbsup.gif

Ok, that's what I suspect as well, not well known .. it's been in the law for ages and might have even made sense in 1979 when there weren't that many tourists going around. If it ever has been actually used since 1979 or has just re-surfaced now .. any oldtimers who remember reporting to police stations of their whereabouts in the 80's?

Agree with this, and like to add that there is probably good reason why the laws stopped being enforced - as the number of foreigners grew it became steadily more difficult and then impossible to manage.

Let's see if tomorrow's announcement brings some 21st century thinking to the party...

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I did also make it a point to ask if overstaying by a day gets the person banned for five years. YES. If they are arrested, they get booted and a five year ban. If they turn themselves in, the penalty is 500 baht a day up to 20,000 baht for the first 89 days. It's pretty simple—don't overstay—if by chance you are going to overstay, turn yourself in to immigration before being caught and banned.

This merits it's own thread : 1 day overstay can result in 5 year ban if apprehended.

There were other threads that appeared to confirm that the ban would only kick in after 90 days of overstay, even if apprehended / arrested.

There are many legitimate reasons why someone might be on an overstay of up to a few weeks. The most common one of course is going to be a lost or stolen passport which needs to be replaced before you can travel.

Emergency travel documents can be used to return home but if you're travelling on to a country which is not where your passport is issued this won't really help you.

On a good day it takes 4 weeks to renew a UK passport, even longer when it's lost or stolen. However I believe the last 'good day' was in January sometime and people are waiting months to get their passports renewed right now, I've read some reports of people waiting 3 months for a new passport and people have been forced onto an overstay due to this issue.

Edited by metisdead
16) You will not make changes to quoted material from other members posts, except for purposes of shortening the quoted post. This cannot be done in such a manner that it alters the context of the original post.
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Well, whaddyaknow. An utterly reasonable and, yes, friendly statement that should assuage all those posters who have been calling Thailand a police state, a concentration camp, and the reincarnation of North Korea. I hope the guy who asked if he would soon be forced to wear a Yellow Star didn't leave in a panic already. Or, maybe not.

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Did Thaivisa.com contact Police Colonel Voravat Amornvivat for this clarification or did he notice the commotion and contact Thaivisa.com? Just wondering

If I've understood correctly, it was Scott Mallon who talked to Colonel Amornvivat (or the other way around, Scott can tell himself ?) and brought his replies to George's attention, who then followed up by making direct contact ?
In any case, direct contact is a good thing.
Edited by DrTuner
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I'm disappointed with Thaivisa, it just seems they want to bring as many people to their website as possible - spread a rumour here, spread a rumour there, then act like the big hero - wahey we have solved the problem! Genius!

Please stop doing this!

Stop doing what? This is no rumor. This is from the Deputy Commander of Immigration. Above him is the Deputy Superintendent, Superintendent, and finally, the Commissioner General. That makes him pretty high up and I take it pretty personally that you call this a rumor when I am the one who spoke to the Colonel and I am the one who did so before. This isn't tabloid gossip and you can do one of two things, believe it, or not. It makes no difference to me at all.

Any reporter or journalist worth their salt will have 2 or 3 reliable sources on which to base a story.

Not: The official story today from this guy is... Tomorrow; The official story today from this guy is... etc.

How about talking to several officials on the same day about the same subject?

Flimsy reporting...

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Did Thaivisa.com contact Police Colonel Voravat Amornvivat for this clarification or did he notice the commotion and contact Thaivisa.com? Just wondering

If I've understood correctly, it was Scott Mallon who talked to Colonel Amornvivat (or the other way around, Scott can tell himself ?) and brought his replies to George's attention, who then followed up by making direct contact ?
In any case, direct contact is a good thing.

I put some written questions into immigration last week. I followed up Tuesday, and was told the Colonel would contact me. We spoke for about 30 minutes this morning. A short while later, George called me, and I gave him the information.

Those slightly down the ladder are not making changes without the Commissioner's approval. The Commissioner knows his people have been speaking with me, and they also know what I have said publicly.

Like I wrote earlier: Commissioner General, Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, and Deputy Commander (Colonel Voravat).

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Any reporter or journalist worth their salt will have 2 or 3 reliable sources on which to base a story.

Not: The official story today from this guy is... Tomorrow; The official story today from this guy is... etc.

How about talking to several officials on the same day about the same subject?

Flimsy reporting...

Because getting 3 of them to have the same rules is like herding cats..

This is what we have.. Slapdash rule implementations different in different place.. all while a certain segment of the expat population keep chanting "its the law"..

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