gaikhao

With the failure of Iran to do any damage with its missiles, The USA need not respond, so this matter should close.

6 hours ago, RocketDog said:

I am very sad to report, first hand, how this happened. I was literally sitting next to Mr. Cook in the Huahin IO when this happened. It actually happened the morning of Jan. 2, not 1 as was reported. The office was closed on Jan 1 of course. 

 

Before he actually sat before the agent the staff was kind to him, finding him a comfortable chair near the desk until his ticket was called. 

 

The young male agent spoke very good English as he gently and compassionately told Cook that he had not reported for 13 years and carefully asked him why he had not. The other agents witnessed the event and seemed stunned as well and appeared horrified, apparently knowing what would surely happen. The agent asked if he had a wife and he replied that he did. He said his wife told him he didn't have to report because he was married to a Thai. The agent asked him to call her and he said she was working. He seemed dazed, probably senile, and did not seem to comprehend what was happening. I cannot fault the staff's behavior in any way, but the commanding officer should have trouble facing himself in the mirror for quite some time to come. 

 

At that point my 90 day report was done so my Thai GF and I left. We discussed it and fervently hoped the local office supervisor would use his discretionary power to mitigate the penalty. How foolish of us. 

 

The man was more pale and weak than the pictures show, walking very slowly even with a cane. The man could not be a criminal even if it was his fondest ambition. He would probably fall and break a hip if he tried to kick a cat. 

 

We will probably never know the whole story but apparently his Thai wife was not really taking care with his immigration status as one would hope she would, for whatever reason. It is  probable that she loved him and was simply ignorant of the immigration law. The fact that she was working implies that  he was not flush with retirement funds. 

 

I'm guessing he has no future in Britain so this is likely a death sentence. I cannot imagine that this will help Thailand's image in any way. 

 

If the immigration authorities treat him this way, a word to the wise, they will treat any of us the same way. It gives me pause to re-examine my own future here. 

 

Very sad indeed. 

The commanding officer has no reason to  show remorse. He did his job as was his duty. Yes, it is a sad event, but please be reasonable and  use common sense.

Of course he might look  angelic now. 80+ year olds can look relatively harmless.  You fixate on his present state, but what  was he doing 15 years ago, or even 10?

Ok, his wife was allegedly taking care of his immigration file. What type of person moves to a foreign country and pays no attention or makes any effort to know what the regulations are?  Your argument for looking the other  way, expects one to believe that this man was oblivious to the rules, that he lived in a bubble, never having read a newspaper, listened to the radio or watched the television news in the past 13 years. What did he do for medical care? Without immigration status, no 30 baht  piggyback for him. Was he one of the foreigners running up  unpaid medical bills?  Please.   

It is an annoyingly  too common scenario where men blame their girlfriends or wives for their predicaments. Never, ever, do we see women trying this  excuse.

The man may very well have dementia and his wife grown weary of caring for him. Or, she may have been the typical woman in the "trade" who married him and she  didn't know any better. I don't know. However, this too is not a  legitimate excuse for the failure to comply with the regulations.

However, like you, I do hope he isn't put in the detention center if he is feeble minded or otherwise incapacitated as it will kill him. 

It's events like this that strengthen the Thais resolve on the enforcement of minimum income requirements, and despite all the farang  protestations  to the contrary, the Thais are right.

1 hour ago, BestB said:

Oh yeah, no doubt he was A hardcore criminal 

Maybe he was. I do not know this person, but the fact that he is 83 means nothing, since we do not know what he did 25 years ago.

The sad reality is that  there have been a  number of  foreign criminals who have hid out in Thailand over the years. A rapist, or murderer or pedophile at age 40 doesn't magically become a beautiful person at age 80: They just become an older person.  The fact that someone is elderly  is irrelevant to the issue at hand.

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

hmmmm .... 83 and will be going back,  it won't be a very nice home coming.

I expect he has nothing except the OAP

Sometimes these people leave a legacy of pain and debt when they leave their homelands, so going back delivers on the adage, as ye sow, so shall ye reap.

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

How pathetic coming out with a comment like... Got to rid Thailand of criminal elements and foster peace and stability in the Kingdom.????

Silly bug++r is just a long time overstayer, criminal, seriously!!!

Yes, a 10+ year overstay is a serious criminal offence. I do not know this  man. Do you? Can you vouch for his  life to date? I don't know if he was spreading good cheer and  happiness or pain and sorrow. Do you?

1 hour ago, vacajan said:

The definition of crime at its narrowest! Are there no other cats to scourge?

10+ year overstay, is serious enough. What's your  recommendation - That the immigration department not enforce  its rules? The man played the system for 13 years and now he has to pay the bill.

1 hour ago, Mango Bob said:

They must be very proud of themselves to caught this dangerous person of the justice system here and get him off the streets before he does harm to others

Do you know who he is, and his background? Based on past experience, many of these people are indeed  dangerous. So what if he is 83. Was he  pristine pure  in previous years. I don't know and neither do you. Bosnian war criminals took up  quiet lives in the EU, Australia and Canada. To their neighbors they seemed polite and nice enough, but to their former  neighbours, they were brutal murderous thugs. 

There is nothing wrong with a strong baht. Yes, one sector may suffer, but other sectors will prosper, and in the grand scheme of things it is a wash, usually with an overall benefit to the economy.  Blaming the baht is a means of avoiding responsibility. Why not be honest and recognize the fact that the product offered is  poor and of decreasing quality?

Customers will gladly pay for quality. Look at other locations like Hua Hin which is booming. Intercontinental is putting up its luxurious residence project, and there is growth in premium venues. All this done without an airport, without good transport links and with a high baht. The difference is that one emphasizes quality  and the other does not. We just had annual meetings in Hua Hin and I came away impressed. I left previous annual events in Phuket and Pattaya disgusted. 

The Phuket ripoffs start the minute you walk out the door at the airport with the  inflated taxi fare to Karon/Kata/Rawai/Patong. 1500 baht to get to Karon? Seriously? 1000 baht to patong? That's more than the airfare  from  DMK for some.

Everything in the tourist areas of Phuket says rip off and disrespect. Whether it is the poor quality service or the contempt shown by the locals, it is insulting.  The last time I was in Phuket, raw sewage was still going into Patong beach and karon Beach had black water events. We had a brown out at the hotel, and there was a water shortage. I recall, not being able to walk on Patong beach because much of the space was  taken over by paraglide operators. Jetskis were everywhere. It seemed there were 100+ and of course one could see the usual rip off of jet ski users with alleged damage claims.

My driver could not stop to pick us up from a restaurant because the illegal  bike and car rentals had seized all the legal parking spaces, all done in close proximity to the Patong police box. Meanwhile the  tuk tuks were demanding 400-500 baht to go from Patong to Karon.  I could go on, but what's the point? Until this nonsense changes, no quality visitor will want to go. 

So go ahead and blame the  strong baht, but it didn't cause people to be so dishonest and disrespectful.

8 hours ago, Mark mark said:

On the subject of Bags, and waist management, thinking ahead of the curve, and about what we are actually going to do with our Garbage, ... even if we do manage it !!! .... 

 

My Good German Environmentalist friends ! ... and in Europe I think that they were the ones that started it all off I think, ... Serious re cycling, are now all a bit upset, as the Problem there is getting the waist ACTUALLY recycled !

 

Like after you carefully separate in to 4 types of garbage bins that they have over there, ... the local governments say that they just can NOT recycle most of it, ... as it costs too much money to do it ?, ...  or there just are not facilities to do it, ...

 

...  So after meticulously sorting your waist in to paper, Bio, Plastic and recycling, and "Rest Mull" (Every thing else) Bins, .... most of it is now just thrown back in together again !!! ... 75% of all of it now they say, still just goes in to land fills !!! 

Thais were recycling and reusing long before  arrogant farangs arrived. If there is a garbage culture here it is because it was  brought in by farangs. Thailand is making an effort and  you should encourage and support.