Tomtomtom69

My guess is, he'll be showing up in Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam within weeks of being deported from Thailand to try the same scam he was involved in here.

Those are either English teachers, diplomatic staff, visiting businessmen or consultants but go to any office and you'll find maybe 1 or 2 westerners working there no more. 30 or 40 years ago, there were many more. Nowadays, Thais can do things on their own. Very few Westerners work in Thailand generally speaking. Wages are relatively low and bureaucracy/restrictions on hiring foreigners makes it unattractive to most companies. Bangkok is not the type of place to come for work if you're a foreigner, especially outside of the educational field, where most foreigners work.

I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm stating that Urs' time in the Kingdom is coming to an end and for good reason. I think he should leave, both for his safety and for everyone else's.

Yes, exactly.

Not sure if that's really the case, but if you're going to the trouble of traveling to a border then you might as well spend a few days outside of the country before returning.

Which is exactly why I hope / assume Urs is in hiding or wearing a mask or other disguise when out in public and generally trying not to be recognized, because this case has clearly brought great danger to his personal safety. Yet some fool who's out of his mind laughed at my post, when it's quite obvious that Urs' life continues to be in danger. If he was already the victim of an attempt on his life, Urs needs to leave the country immediately and permanently once he's allowed to.

Her Russian boyfriend was often present at news conferences when this story first hit the news.

It's already been decided he won't be allowed to stay in Thailand. Anutin said so himself. Also, with this case being as high profile as it is, being Urs, he needs to be careful not to be randomly attacked in public. I assume he's been in hiding for the past 5 months? Staying at home? Or at least wearing a mask or something to disguise his appearance.

Clearly then, the doctor and her Russian boyfriend are keeping it going, probably so they can stay in the limelight.

Exactly my thoughts. It's not like the political party is changing. Not to mention the PM herself is the one who has been promoting Thai "soft power". Why then would she scrap the DTV visa or greatly amend it? It might be amended eventually but not this soon and not as a matter of urgency.

Yes I think its just the ranting of an angry expat who doesn't like seeing more foreigners come into the country due to easier entry pathways. No one suggested that visa free entries are unlimited. As always, it's at the discretion of the immigration officer. Aranyaprathet immigration still routinely denies legitimate tourists entry into the country on their second entry following a stay in Cambodia for a few days. Other entry points will now also scrutinize arrivals but probably not as strictly. Still, if someone comes in for the 3rd or 4th consecutive time with no visa and no time spent outside the Kingdom, then it won't look good (same as is already done at most airports). As for the DTV, it might be tweaked eventually but it was the new PM herself who is the "soft power" queen. Therefore, given its the same political party in power, to suggest she would scrap this visa or make it much more restrictive as a matter of urgency is pure fairy tales on the part of the writer. Immigration tends to transcend governments; they continue where the old one left off.

No, if that were the case, this case would have been resolved months ago, back in April perhaps. I don't think it will be forgotten about at all. Urs will also be deported (if I were him, I would begged to voluntarily be permitted to leave the country back in March, never to return). Of course, this would have meant providing compensation in an out of court settlement at the time too. I'm wondering why this case wasn't settled out of court long ago. Did the Swiss man insist on taking it to court?

Nonsense. They'd be fined something small and that would be it.

Seriously, if you can't afford to do a simple visa run, you shouldn't be here. The rules are what they are. Better yet, qualify for a visa, which doesn't require you to undertake a visa run or live in Laos or Cambodia, where visa runs aren't required. Expats don't "fund" jobs here. Nor are expats major employers either. Thailand isn't Dubai, where you have foreigners working in every industry or every kind of job. Just look around you - westerners are mostly relegated to English teaching, working in education or running their own businesses. A large number of expats/foreigners work online for offshore entities. I'd seriously reconsider your entitled attitude. Thais can sort out their own lives and don't actually need us here. 98% of the country is largely westerner-free, which proves that Thais are getting by just fine on their own.

Interesting how different governments are reacting. Switzerland, which has a reputation for being more conservative and protecting people's rights (relative to most other western countries) isn't planning any vaccination campaigns or any measures against this. On the other hand, an Australian tourism lecturer is fear mongering, suggesting that countries might screen arrivals before entering or introduce mandatory vaccination for hard hit countries (well, I can see the Congo introducing it or countries requiring it for arrivals from there) but not in general terms, if travel does not involve Central or West Africa. Australia for its part is "being urged" to screen for monkeypox at the borders. China is doing monkeypox screening of arrivals from abroad and goods for 6 months, but unless you have actual symptoms, you'll not even notice the process as 99.99% of people will be passing through without incident. China has employed Thermal scanners at all entry points into the country for something like 20 years now.

So? Just go to Laos. If you can't afford to purchase a Lao visa or fill in a form, you're not the type of foreigner Thailand needs.

Laos did that in mid 2022. They simply banned arrivals from and citizens of most West African countries.

Like last time, I won't be wearing a mask ever.

As usual, the Thai medical police state goes into panic mode over nothing. I won't be complying with any measures. Like last time, I won't be wearing a mask. I'll just go everywhere unmasked. No one can force me to do anything against my will. I know a good lawyer who successfully sued the Thai government about this last time and he and his family were able to go everywhere they wanted mask-free throughout the entirety of the Covid "pandemic". Similarly, I won't be vaccinated. It's not happening.

The golden Triangle border crossing to Laos is like 35km away from Mae Sai. Just go there. What's the obsession with Mae Sai anyway? I don't get it.

If it was Mae Sai, no you didn't. That border closed to foreigners on July 1, 2023. I know because I went there July 4 to confirm what I had basically already known and immigration told me it was indeed closed to us "whities". I was staying in the Golden Triangle, having just re-entered via Chiang Khong from Jinghong, Chinathat previous evening and had a bit of time to check things out in the area.

I can answer the last one. If entering by car, no issues. Just hide the Beer Lao in a spare suitcase or under your seat. Thai customs is extremely lax (generally speaking, Laos is relatively lax too, especially at the larger and busier borders). Cambodia is as lax as Thailand, as is Myanmar (when they're open). Only Malaysia is strict. I'd definitely follow the rules to the T when entering Malaysia.

It wasn't a border run. I was heading down to Kuala Lumpur for a business event. Thus, the day after arriving in Penang, I continued to Kuala Lumpur with the event taking place on days 3 and 4 of my stay. I then returned to Penang for a night and Krabi for another night on my way back to Bangkok. Had places to stop off along the way and shopping to bring back. Can't do that by plane. Also, I prefer driving. I'll drive as long as I am able to...anyone can get on a plane and fly and one day, when I'm way too old to drive thousands of Km, I'll probably do the same (unless there's a high speed train by then. For now, driving it is, unless I'm very short on time.

Ok, understood. So probably early March 2020 or somewhere around then.. Thanks for confirming. Either way, the IO asking for that bribe was not on.

Locals can't cross there either; only traders can. Being Thai or Burmese alone isn't enough; it's a dangerous area and that border never really reopened in the post Covid period.