SoFarAndNear

You pay for promotions everywhere in the country.. it starts already in the school...

How stupid do you have to be not to recognize the fact that the currency is not baht.

Exactly my thought

How about 2 year extension for spouse?

First time 1 year extension

Second time 2 year extension

Third time residential permit (with certain requirements)

Sounds fair... or not?!

This is probably where the seized drug money in the last years finaly end up. In the "RTP" Lt. General's extra bedrooms.

1 billion cash. Jesus... how they counted that many just in a few hours? I mean this is like a 10 squar emeter room full with bank notes. And how can someone who is smart enoguh to get 1 billion baht stupid enough to simply store it in his house..

While filming their TV show, Kardashian and her family seemed to regard the group home’s conditions as impoverished. (They were also staying at an $18,000-per-night resort at the time.)

Maybe they should have stayed in a 2000 USD hotel for a weeks and save the 100.000 USD savings to Pink

none of it really improves the country's defence capability

Defence against who? The japanese? The own citizens?!

Are you sure you want a Lenovo? It's a Chinese computer.

The new ThinkPad T440s is counted as the best business notebook ever built. Sorry but your "It's a Chinese computer" statement does not count in the year 2014 anymore

May I explain you thes logan "Made in germany". It was introduced by Britain in the 1900s to mark imported foreign german products with lower quality. You know what "Made in Germany" means today.

What was the slogan in the latest TAT Video?! "No money, mai pen rai"

Most Thai kids have access to internet and have computers or mobile devices. They spend hours per day using them. Even the relative poor have fancier mobile devices than I have. The problem is that these machines are used for entertainment purposes only, which is like a new opiate for the masses. It's, in my opinion, the responsibility of the parents and schools together to not only use applications but also to create them. Even a simple spreadsheet with your school marks would do. Or a simple web blog with your holiday pictures. Activate those brain synapses you lazy rascals!

Absolutley... My nephew is spending a good 5-6 hours a day in front of his smartphone or computer. But he knows really a sh$t about how a computer works. The funny thing is that his father seems to be proud seeing his son "playing" with the smartphone all the day and just things how smart his son must be.

This story is as real as the Channel 7 daily soaps

My questions are:

Why they promote him as god example if this is the typical guy the Immigration is trying to prevent to stay longer in the country?

How he still lives when he throws a stone at a Taxi?

Why you sit down in a bar if you don't have money anyway?

How he get a visa anyway after he left stranded without money?

Is it a good idea to teach without a work permit?

All in all, how about the 99% of tourists who have no 2 years time to look for their passport and motorbike?

At the end his motorbike was really stolen, right? (Proably one of most real things in the video)

All in all this guy is the typical target of all the visa crackdowns in the past few months...

They will cooperate. They just need a little bit more time to teach every witness the truth.

Actually they want to make step forward. Closing loopholes is not really a bad idea. But closing the loopholes and still don't allow foreign ownership will for sure end in a disaster next year.

The new government is just forbid more and more and incriminate everything what people here are used to for years. Makes every one espacially anti governent easy targets for arrest. Reminds me and more of the takeover of the NSDAP in Germany 1933.

Where is they guy (said he lived over 10 years in Thailand) from the Visa Section who mocked me about my appeareance in this country when I said that I was offered to pay bribes of any kinds especially tax free land transfer (or at least much lesser then the regular tax amount). Probabl spend most of his live in his gated community because this is the reality....

WOnder how many foreigners "own" land worth more then 50 mio Baht in Thailand.

Udon Thani I really thought this place is safer. I mean far away from these Tourist things where all the bad things happens to foreigners...

A few weeks back I convinced a friend to come a few days to Udon Thani. He is coming to thailand for many years and always thought it will be boring so it tooks many years until I finally could bring him. He was absolutley surprised about Udon Thani and really liked it there also wants to spend Songkran with me at least 1 day in Udon. Sure he will read this news and now I am not sure he wants to come again.

too bad that thai justice has not been made for cheated foreigners only for thais cheated by foreigners....

Love fraud isn't exclusive to Thailand. It's a conspiracy between the biopolitical State and infantilised women to prey on men and ensure dependent, authoritarian children.

Did you read the story? I don't know if it is true. Someone here wrote that his ex-girlfriend let him think that they bought the elephant sanctuary but I was not true and then she dissapeared with the money.

So where is the difference between this and a Nigerian Man who writes to a Thai woman and tells her that he is a rich business man and tries to send 1 mio Baht to the woman but first needed 50.000 THB to pay for customs so the money will arrive on the womans bank account. The Nigerian would have been arrested. Will this woman ever been arrested? I dont read many News about Thai woman who get arrested because of scamming foreigners but I read a lot about foreigners get arrested who scammed Thais.

You read many times that Thai Police Officers warning Thai people of getting scammed by foreigners. Why they don't warn foreigners of getting scammed by Thais?

Just a "sad" side story. We rented our house to a thai family few years back. When my wife once visted the tenants alone the tenants wife made the her outrageous offer if she needs help to get all our belongings (actually she was talking about the house) in case we divorce she could help her with that. The same woman smiled and chit chatted with me a few weeks earlier and complimented what a nice man I am.

If you read this Thai Immigration Officer!!! Beware I will from now going with a hidden camera to every immigration visit. I am sick and tired of this. In the last 5 years I was scammed a good 5-6 times for a few thousand baht just to get what I should get by the law. At immigration and at land borders.

In these 5 years I have been offered many things like not showing financial proofs, even a fake marriage or a visa which states me as married with someone. I never accepted any of these but I am sure there are many foreigners who accepted and then later get a lot trouble (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/776614-visas-for-men-in-marriage-scam-to-be-revoked/) and the officers who are invovled "could" face a penalty.

I have been offered so many illegal things in this country I can't even count it. Fake visas, shell companies, tax free land transfers, working without work permit, drugs, and so on....!!! AND I NEVER <deleted> ASKED FOR IT!!!!

I don't belive this. You come to the Immigration with all your papers and documents in perfect shape. And they offer you a fake marriage or fake papers showing financial proofs, when you already have real papers !!! Not one time but it happen to you all the time, yes sure

No fake statements. Just dont have to show it. You don't get it. No one will ask you directly in the immigration office for it. But if you live next to Thais who know policemen or even are policemen and sometimes even immigration officers and you get in touch with these people someone will come and offer you always things like this. Not just because you are a foreigner this is the usual way. Never realized that in most villages the biggest houses belong to policemen?

The marriage thing this was a few years ago of some police officer who I have lived next to. He didn't really offered it to me but he told me it could be done and if I need help he could give me with the connections. If it was true or not I dont know, but if you read the news in the last days you will see fake marriages are true.

You added a lot of sympathy (not legal) to your post. So, here is what you really are saying ...

I had to leave the country and needed to make a quick visa run to Laos and come back to get another 30 days ... the border does not wanted to give me 30 days entry, just 15 days of entry. I am from a country which should get 30 days and pointed on the board near his desk which shows that I am correct. He told me that I have to stay in Laos a few days then I should come back. He told my GF (my childs mother) that if I pay 1000THB he would give me 30 days instead of 15 days.

It sounds like you were doing a border run as opposed to having a proper visa. So assume you were here on a previous visa run since it sounds like you needed 30 days and not 15 to get to immigration or doing the run to kick off the next 90 Days of a Visa. So, with the crack down now in place, it sounds like the office was doing the right thing legally (maybe being generous) but allowed you to circumvent the rules for a cheap amount. I also doubt he suggested the fee but rather you wife offered (not a big difference).

The law is clear that a border agent doesn't even have to allow you to enter even if you have a valid visa. Of course that would be messed up in itself but this seems like a simply case of bribery allowing you to circumvent the rules and if I were you I would be thankful.

Again, I have made some assumptions here that may be off but your post spoke a lot about non-relevant issue and you didn't share why you needed an in-out border run to get 30-days instead of a proper visa or how many in-out border runs you have recently done.

I am not trying to bust your chops and am sure you're a good person but just rubs me wrong when people call it extortion because there are circumstances here you can pay a small amount to get something you maybe are not entitled or would be more costly and timely to get the proper way ... not saying this is the case here but it often is when people complain of incident related to this type of thing.

No it was the first trip like this. Before I was with a 1 year Non Imm ED visa in the country. Also my Passport is just 1 1/2 year old.

If you read this Thai Immigration Officer!!! Beware I will from now going with a hidden camera to every immigration visit. I am sick and tired of this. In the last 5 years I was scammed a good 5-6 times for a few thousand baht just to get what I should get by the law. At immigration and at land borders.

In these 5 years I have been offered many things like not showing financial proofs, even a fake marriage or a visa which states me as married with someone. I never accepted any of these but I am sure there are many foreigners who accepted and then later get a lot trouble (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/776614-visas-for-men-in-marriage-scam-to-be-revoked/) and the officers who are invovled "could" face a penalty.

I have been offered so many illegal things in this country I can't even count it. Fake visas, shell companies, tax free land transfers, working without work permit, drugs, and so on....!!! AND I NEVER <deleted> ASKED FOR IT!!!!

Have to wonder about your appearance and who you are hanging out with as well as what immigration office. I have never been asked for a bribe or dealt with anyone I would expect would take a bribe at immigration (Bangkok). I wish there was as I would gladly pay to jump ahead in the queue. I have had them scold me for doing things wrong (too many over stays) and had them give me a longer extension than I deserved after I complained about them not being open an extended number of days.

I have paid bribes to get expedited service other places. Only difference between doing it in Thailand and the US is here it is called a bribe and goes to a low paid worker, in the US they call it an expedite fee and is a lot more and goes to the companies or entity's profits.

Be it here or anywhere else of dealing with a company or government agency, you sometimes deal with ignorant people or those demanding more then entitled. Personally I like it better here as they amount is always significantly less.

All the constant whining and exaggeration of these encounters is simply going to turn this country into what I believe most of us were happy to leave.

Edit: Never even had a police officer ask me for a bribe in all these years but have done things wrong that would have resulted in a fine and asked if I could pay less and avoid the trouble of going to the station and getting a receipt. If only such encounters in my home country could result in a $5 fine and nothing on my record or filed with my auto insurance.

dress it up however you like to make you sleep better, expedite fee, receipt free payment, whatever. its still a bribe.

@JohnThailandJohn

Example about my appereance and last encounter of being scammed. 3 months ago I was in the middle of the court proccess of getting my fathership legalized. Unfortunatly about 3 weeks before the court decision appointment I had to leave the country and needed to make a quick visa run to Laos and come back to get another 30 days. I also had an appointment at the youth welfare for an interview. After leaving the country and coming back to Thailand the officer at the border does not wanted to give me 30 days entry, just 15 days of entry. I told him I am from a country which should get 30 days and pointed on the board near his desk which shows that I am correct. I also showed him proof that I am in the middle of legalization process and had official documents from the courtyard with appointment dates and also the letter from the youth welfare with my appointment. He told me that I have to stay in Laos a few days then I should come back. I told him that I have a 1 year old child and his mother (who was with me by the way) has to work and I have to come back and take care of my baby. Then the bribing part started. He told my GF (my childs mother) that if I pay 1000THB he would give me 30 days instead of 15 days. So what do you want to do? Driving 300km to the border, waiting for hours at borders and just want to go home, so you pay. And about the drug thing. I guess you don't go out much in the night?! If you board a Taxi at most nightlife spots in the Thailand many drivers will ask you of buying jaba, marihuana etc.. but maybe it is also a thing if you are younger. I am far away from the retirement age.

@ColdSingha

Exactly and in the end you are breaking the law and it can ge used against you.