richard_smith237

I've been stopped at Asoke and asked for my passport too.... That doesn't mean its a legal stop. There are regulations that the Police ‘should’ follow... but when we see them riding around without helmets, how can we expect them to follow their own regulations. As I understand it, ONLY an Immigration Officer can enquire about your Immigration Status. Only a Commissioned Officer (any Police) can ask for ID, OR, an non-commissioned officer in the presence of commissioned officers in a raid or at an official check-point.

You seriously think that those foreigners with no permission to be here, regardless of the length of time, should not be arrested and dealt with? What do think should happen to them when discovered, told "Tut, tut, overstay, never mind, off you go" so that there would be no need for anyone to ever get a visa/extension? Perhaps your rationalisation is that those on overstay should be left alone with no consequences and those legal foreigners who do renew their extensions should just have to get on with it? You're not wrong at all... Of course over stayers should be dealt with accordingly, they have broken the law. But, there does seem to be a ‘clamp-down’ and a disproportionate amount of focus. IF the Thai police applied this level of focus to ALL crimes it would easier to suggest this is the police simply doing their jobs... instead there seems to be an ‘element of targeting foreigners’ about this... Why aren’t over charging taxi drivers being dealt with the same way ??? OR, any other regular indiscriminate crime we see and witness daily here ? (Perhaps because the others don’t have 20,000 baht to pay a fine ?.... there’s no profit in targeting other crimes). I’m cynical... but I have learned to be here.

He wouldn't have to pay "triple price air fare" if he had been here legally. & Someone else could get a ticket for him... (not triple fare of course)... I don’t think the ticket has to be purchased through Immigration.

Are you sure about that ? IF I’m not mistaken - only Commissioned officers can ask for ID (Government issued photo ID). An immigration officer needs to be present IF they want to check the Immigration Status of a person in the street. That said: If as you pointed out, the Immigration Police have asked for regular police to arrest someone for overstay, they are accused of ‘committing a crime’ and can be checked - in this case I believe an Immigration officer still needs to check the information (passport).

He's not harming anyone but one doesn't have to harm others to commit criminal offences. In isolation, a 15-day overstay does no less harm than a 1500-day overstay. Agreed... yet some people on this thread want the overstayers to face some rather extreme penalties... For an offence which (apparently) does not have an impact on anyone I’m not sure why someone who has overstayed for 15 days would face so much hate.

If thats the case, then fair enough. I do think it would be somewhat of an own-goal if the BiB were running spot checks on foreigners in the street - IF this isn’t happening and they (BiB) are dong their jobs intelligently and catching genuine overstayers then fair enough.

Saw them try to get a guy for 10 days overstay last week. Turned out to be a mistake in their computer records, but they were gonna get him! There are a lot of reports of overstayers in the medial recently - clearly there is an ongoing crack-down... I went out to watch the football the other night. While heading out it did cross my mind if I was going to get hassled by any BiB to show my passport and prove immigration status... (in light of all this news and apparent crack-down). I didn’t have my passport, nor had I taken a photo of the entry stamp (from the previous week). Of course, nothing happened, but the thought did cross my mind. I’m wondering if this is the thin end of the wedge and foreigners are going to get hassled, OR, if the BiB are responding to intelligence, reports, flags on the immigration computers etc...

I wonder if it has something to do with the return of tourists and concerns by the powers that be that perhaps Thai people will start to think too positively of foreigners as they see how necessary they are. I suspect that now foreigners are back, the Immigration Police can make a lot more money. They may be shooting themselves in the foot by clamping down too early and frightening off a huge ‘crop’ of potential future overstayers they could extort !!!

IF someone overstaying a day or 15 days is not just a minor or indiscriminate issue - how much of a serious crime do you think it is ?? I’m not defending over stayers... they know they laws, they either tried to break them or circumnavigate them... and yes doing so is wrong. But, there seems to be somewhat of an over-reaction, particularly on this forum by posters who want to see over-stayers face serious penalties ???... I’m just trying to work out what some people thing is so horrifically criminal about someone staying a bit too long ? So... What is the issue you see caused by someone who has overstayed by 15 days ? what harm is he causing someone ?

Its been done to death... but not this year and the topic is somewhat in a constant phase of evolution as new places pop up.... The subject is somewhat personal, depending on what type of burger you like. i.e. a large patty, or a smashed patty... Thus: Large Patty - New Your Style Steak and Burger (Sukhumvit 22) . Smashed Patty - Easy Burger (On Nut - Sukhumvit Soi 50) These articles cover a lot of the burger places. https://thethaiger.com/guides/best-burgers-to-try-in-bangkok-2022 https://bk.asia-city.com/restaurants/article/best-burgers-bangkok https://guide.michelin.com/th/en/article/dining-out/5-burgers-in-bangkok-every-meat-lover-should-try

you're really equating overstaying on a government issued visa and jaywalking ? totally see how you made that connection. The point Jing was making was rather obvious... the Police are cracking down on seemingly extremely minor and indiscriminate issues... There is suddenly a wave of reports of foreigners on overstay getting caught. Of course, they shouldn’t be overstaying, but neither is it a ’throw away the key’ type of crime some on this forum seem to think it is. I wonder how this ’targeting’ of foreigners is carried out or if it is impacting regular tourists. Are all tourist assumed to be guilty of overstay, stopped by the Police and have to prove otherwise [that they are not overstaying] ???.... OR, are these people who are caught for overstaying initially stopped and caught for some other reason then their overstay status is discovered ???

Off her nuts on something else then ????

Erm... because it thins the blood so much and can be extremely dangerous. Are you planning on starting a warfarin thread each year ?? May 2020 - Started by ??... https://aseannow.com/topic/1163505-warfarincumidin-and-orafarin/ March 2021 - Started by ??... https://aseannow.com/topic/1211711-warfarincoumadinorfarin/

I guess most of them are wrong according to you... A non-immigrant visa is not a temporary classification of visa in Thailand, it establishes you as a ‘resident’ (not to be mixed up with permanent residence - which is also different). Of course you are free to continue interpreting any of this any which way you feel like... there is plenty of information out there to agree with or disagree with. The sensible advice is always get a Thai Licence if here for any duration other than a short term tourist. No further discussion with you from me in this matter.... You’re just going to throw out the ’trolling accusation’ at anything you disagree with you... (you don’t even know what trolling is).

Thats your interpretation of what is meant by a ‘temporary visa’... A tourist visa is a temporary visa, as is a visa exempt entry. A Non-Immigrant visa falls under the ‘resident’ classification of visa not a temporary classification of visa. It is my understanding that those with Non-Immigrant Visa’s should be driving in Thailand under a Thai Passport... but you can believe what you want to.

Even when spoon fed you can’t find out for yourself... .. Section 42-2 of the Motor Vehicle Act. This explains it..... https://tdl-service.com/what-type-of-drivers-license-do-i-need-to-drive-in-thailand/

Can you quote the law which says so, or did you just make this up? Do some research.... https://driving-in-thailand.com/motor-vehicle-act/ https://driving-in-thailand.com/motor-vehicle-act/ http://web.krisdika.go.th/data/outsitedata/outsite21/file/Vehicle_Act_BE_2522_(1979).pdf And this trip advisor contribution provides good information although is not a direct quote of the law - it is accurate. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g293915-c133830/Thailand:Driving.License.Requirements.html

Portugal? Don’t feed the troll...

That’s wrong. Or can you quote the section of the law which says so? Nope, you [FriendlyFarang] are wrong.... Kennw is quite correct.... Those on resident visa’s must have a Thai Licence ( a resident visa is considered a Non-Imm B of any type or / and an extension of ).

Thats actually the issue here... When the BiB do not know the details of their own laws because they simply follow the path of their colleagues. Its always better to ‘do it cleaner and better’ and remove any ambiguity whatsoever by getting a Thai Licence. The ease of obtaining a Thai licence should make all these licence discussions pretty much moot. We can argue the idiosyncrasies of the ‘exact’ laws all day long, but if the BiB is demanding a fine, even when they are wrong or in a ‘grey area' there is not much we can do.

It most certainly does not. Some police officers may accept it - one even accepted my passport but try making an insurance claim without an IDP. Mileage may actually vary... My first accident in Thailand (20 years ago) - Only a UK driving licence (No IDP), no issues. The BiB looked at my UK driving licence, the Insurance didn’t. Second Accident in Thailand (about 10 years ago) - Thai Licence, BiB not involved. Insurance just took a glance at my licence, that was it. Wife’s accident (6 years ago), no BiB, insurance didn’t check her licence at all (she’d left it at home). ------ But, all of that aside... This has gone round in circles enough. A UK license is sufficient without an IDP. Theoretically, if on a resident Visa (the driver needs a Thai Licence). Again... mileage may vary, but in my experience (and that of friends with whom these things have been discussed) insurance in Thailand tends not to be too concerned as to whether the driver has a licence or not !!!...

It came home…. The football that is…. Apparently it landed somewhere in the uk !!! A great game, well done to the French. England played very well. A penalty has to hit the target…. The French may consider themselves a little lucky, sometimes teams need that. This one’s gonna hurt it was England’s best chance at a World Cup win for a generation… they still played so well. No player on either team had a poor performance.

This story maybe confirmation bias... but this seems to happen a lot in Hua Hin ? Or, because this happened in Hua Hin where a lot of Westerners live it is more news worth to aseannow ?

Comparing a G8 nation to a developing nation... .. Do you have a point ?

Your reactions may be fine and well within limits for driving / riding. But, with certainty your reactions are not as fast as they were when you were younger, no ones are. Compare playing sports in your 20’s and early 30’s to 40’s... theres a huge difference. I agree to ‘simply applying an age limit’.... But would also test that with the question... Why not let 15 year olds drive ? - some are more mature and quite capable drivers - limits have to be set somewhere. I think 70 is a reasonable age limit for drivers to be medically evaluated before driving, 70 year olds may not like that - but a policy which is more safe for the populace is not going to be popular with those tested. I’d expect to see comments such as ‘at 80 years old I’m safer than 90% of the Thai’s driving around me’ and they might be quite correct, but we also need ‘aggregate regulation’. Of course, these regulations need to be backed up with better road safety in general - its wholly unfair to isolate age on its own when there are so many other more serious issues out there on Thailand roads. For motorcycling, reaction is more important, reaction time and making the correct reaction is of critical importance. At 60 a motorcyclists reaction to an emergency situation in front of them is much slower than at 30 year old, the metric is dynamic and also relies on other factors such as experience not just of riding, but also of specifically riding in Thailand and then of course individual attitudes and character of the individual, risk taking etc. I hope that when I am 60 years old I’m not so self-assured to falsely believe that my reactions are as good as they were in my 40’s, my perception will have altered and slowed.