peter991 Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Flew Thai Airways Brisbane (BNE) to BKK in one of their new Boeing 777s. Nice plane, only a few weeks old. It's a 9 hour flight - so I was fairly tired when the plane landed. With one small overnight bag and my laptop, I stopped at the first money changing booth to change Australian Dollars to Thai Baht. Asked to produce my Passport. No problems. Changed the money okay - then followed the signs to Passport Control. Arrived at Passport Control - without my Passport. I had left it at the money changing booth. Because I was at a counter, I explained to the Immigration Officer what had happened. I asked her politely: (A) Could somebody please phone and ask them to either hold my Passport for a couple of minutes so I could walk back and retrieve it, or ( Could somebody pick it up for me and I will pay for their trouble. Immigration Officer then gets very excited - scrams at me: 'No passport. Can not come to Thailand. Must go back Australia! This scene attracted the Airport Police and one officer pulled a gun on me. Fortunately - HE understood my troubles and politely told me to go back and collect my passport. Phew! Five minutes later - I had retrieved my Australian passport from the smiling ladies at the money changing booth - and passed through Passport Control - with the same lady - who didn't smile - or apologise. Welcome to Thailand, indeed!!! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumnien Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Lesson learned. Keep your passport on hand when abroad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Conners Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 PMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnvic Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 ( Could somebody pick it up for me and I will pay for their trouble. That may have been misunderstood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiestyle1983 Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Immigration Officer then gets very excited - scrams at me: 'No passport. Can not come to Thailand. Must go back Australia! This scene attracted the Airport Police and one officer pulled a gun on me. I wouldn't expect them to act any more professional than that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Croc Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I asked her politely:(A) Could somebody please phone and ask them to either hold my Passport for a couple of minutes so I could walk back and retrieve it, or ( Could somebody pick it up for me and I will pay for their trouble. Immigration Officer then gets very excited - scrams at me: 'No passport. Can not come to Thailand. Must go back Australia! Sounds like you wanted to keep your place in the queue while someone else went back to fix your error. Not going to work in that situation. The most likely outcome of arrival in a foreign country without a valid passport is refusal of entry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britmaveric Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Look on the bright side - least they let you fetch your passport and didnt deport you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeaceBlondie Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Peter, in spite of all that, welcome to the land of smiles. Enjoy your stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomatopo Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Note to self: Clear Immigration first, then change money. Many, many more FOREX (SCB, TMB) booths in the baggage claim area, even more outside Customs. Second note to self: Always keep passport in hand. I seriously doubt that a gun was un-holstered, perhaps the OP was "fairly tired" and prone to some sort of hallucination? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellyoudidask Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Lesson learned. Keep your passport on hand when abroad. Are you serious ? you think he deserved this ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hecky Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Note to self: Clear Immigration first, then change money. Many, many more FOREX (SCB, TMB) booths in the baggage claim area, even more outside Customs. Second note to self: Always keep passport in hand. I seriously doubt that a gun was un-holstered, perhaps the OP was "fairly tired" and prone to some sort of hallucination? my money would be on the fact this did happen, the guy was there and knows what he saw. same thing would happen at most airports around the world now if immigration officer started shouting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayo Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 my money goes that he didn't tell the whole story, and probably got aggravated at the thai immigration, when they refused to let him "keep his place in the queue" and his own aggravation (tired etc.. whatever) casued the police to become aggravated at him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballbreaker Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Never would have happened if your passport and immigration card were in hand when you walked up to the counter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter991 Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Actually there wasn't much of a queue. I was tired - but I am always polite. I just started this thread as a warning to people of what can happen in Thailand. It was a totally over the top reaction from an Immigration Officer. Next time I will try to be more awake when I land in LOS. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumnien Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Please be very careful if you enter the Unites States and tell them you don't have a passport, but you'll give one of the kind Homeland Security folk 50 cents if he'll go look for it back down "that way". I don't think they'll be amused! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkofdavid2 Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 (edited) People who blame the victim are, in truth, also terrified of the thought that it could happen to them too. So the brains of these terrified people trigger a defense mechanism to protect themselves against such fear, and so they tell themselves, "It wouldn't happen to me because... ummm... because.... ummmm.... Oh! Because I'm not that stupid! It was his own stupidity that caused it! So I can feel safe now because I'm not as stupid as him!" Similar to another thread where a farang was beaten up by cops for a ridiculously lame reason and the other posters blamed it on the victim's "stupidity" (he defended himself from a plainclothes drunken cop on a rampage and so the cop's other cop friends beat up the victim), and where some posters even said he deserved it. Edited April 23, 2007 by junkofdavid2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartempion Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Lesson learned. Keep your passport on hand when abroad. I guess you never forgot anything in your little life isn't? Really some sweet guys on this board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumnien Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I'm not sure that we are blaming the victim as much as seriously concerned that he will befall the same consequences unless he keeps a watchful eye on his passport whilst in the Kingdom. If this had happened in many other countries he might not have fared so well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midas Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 ]Lesson learned. Keep your passport on hand when abroad.[/b]I guess you never forgot anything in your little life isn't? Really some sweet guys on this board I agree tartempion- replies like this leave me speechless sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meibanfa Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 If this had happened in many other countries he might not have fared so well. Yeah, like in Iran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_hippo Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I just started this thread as a warning to people of what can happen in Thailand. Peter It can also happen in Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma (Myanmar) Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Congo Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia And so on down to Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam Western Sahara Wales Yemen Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe So you can now find fora for these countries and warn tourists there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meibanfa Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 It would be an unusual response in most civilised countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pampal Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 NO Passport, No entry. It's the same in every country. Why didn't the OP go back to the money exchange and retrieve his passport, instead of asking the immigration ppl to do it for him, and offer them money? No excuse for laziness, the immigration ppl are not here to fetch your belongings, they are charged with immigration duties, that should be clear enough, but some people will never learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 (edited) Lesson learned. Keep your passport on hand when abroad. I guess you never forgot anything in your little life isn't? Really some sweet guys on this board Some sort of personal problem here? I thought it was good advice myself. Edited April 23, 2007 by sceadugenga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I guess you never forgot anything in your little life isn't? I guess we all do ,but not put it on a forum with the mention "Airport Horror Story"!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancelot Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I guess you never forgot anything in your little life isn't? Really some sweet guys on this board Man, you got that right. Some folks live to lash out at others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunMarco Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Can please someone go and take my passport I can' t be arsed And they say "some people leave their brain at the airport", yes the home country airport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baboon Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 People who blame the victim are, in truth, also terrified of the thought that it could happen to them too.So the brains of these terrified people trigger a defense mechanism to protect themselves against such fear, and so they tell themselves, "It wouldn't happen to me because... ummm... because.... ummmm.... Oh! Because I'm not that stupid! It was his own stupidity that caused it! So I can feel safe now because I'm not as stupid as him!" Similar to another thread where a farang was beaten up by cops for a ridiculously lame reason and the other posters blamed it on the victim's "stupidity" (he defended himself from a plainclothes drunken cop on a rampage and so the cop's other cop friends beat up the victim), and where some posters even said he deserved it. Does anyone have a link for this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kash Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 (edited) I guess he wanted the immi officer to call them (exchange booth) in order to secure the passport so that none of you sods responding to this thread(!) would steal his passport, then he really would've been in deep shit ... Edited April 24, 2007 by kash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackayae Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Next time bring the lady a can of decaf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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