Briggsy

I love the way the report includes Ittiphon's perspective and subsequent actions. Well done Petch Petpailin for digging out the key facts.

Checking for nits?

This seems to happen every day. I know the death rate on Thai roads is off the chart but speeding into the back of a parked lorry is exceptionally careless.

Yes, it still exists but appears to be on life support.

I think @Upnotover was helping you out as your initial post has gone wrong or you used white font, not sure.

From where I live Bang Lamung DLT 14.8 km. Sri Racha DLT 20.4 km. (It is actually in Laem Chabang and really easy to get to.) I am not sure if you are referring to a brand new 2-year licence from scratch application. Where did you get the 14-day wait at Bang Lamung from? Are you possibly referring to a 5-year renewal which is a different process. So, yep, Sri Racha definitely worked for me.

If by "bad entry point" @Rob Browder means that entry may be denied and the announced rules ignored, then, yes, that possibility exists at Suwannaphum. It denies on your history of stays and what you used to obtain permission to stay.

The crime reporters will only print stories that the police have given them approval to print. The police generally don't provide updates. (It might lead to criticism! You can't please all parties!) Thus we very rarely get updates.

Starmer does not have to call a General Election till 2029. That is a long way off. That is the reality.

Kaphrao Tee Phung (Belly-punching Basil) On Sukhumvit, 6 km North of Pattaya, Southbound side XWMC+43 Pattaya City, Bang Lamung District, Chon Buri They do khanom jeen and stir-fries. 50 Baht for a stir-fry. Very clean and a lot of care taken to make sure everything was done well. Open 7:30 am to 4:45 pm

This theory comes up again and again. However I don't really buy into it. For example the recent story of the Brit stealing gold chains on Walking Street in Pattaya revealed he entered Thailand on a "60-day visa". I think we can assume that is visa exempt. I don't think that will have any effect on visa exempt entries. I suspect financial gain is a far bigger driver. Typically senior police officers (Immigration are a branch of the police) have to make payment for promotion even when they have demonstrated they have the ability, may have to keep making monthly payments to their patrons and will definitely have lifestyles that cannot be funded from their salaries. A few will hail from wealthy families with their own businesses. The rest need extra income or the whole system breaks down. The decision to deny entry at certain points of entry is made at high but local ranks. This is while other entry points do not deny entry. What are the drivers behind this local decision-making? I do not believe a few unrepresentative tales of DTV-holding foreigners working illegally drive such major policy change, it is a myth. You only have to read the news every day or talk to foreigners here to come across illegal working. These people are on a wide range of visas. What drives change is usually much more tangible. One thing for sure is that there has never been any public comment from Immigration on the difference in policy between the different points of entry. So we will probably never know what is truly driving it.

No, the visa remains on the A4 and never gets entered into the passport. The only thing that goes into the passport is a small entry stamp along with a hand-written date 180 days in the future. (I don't think my IO had a 180-day stamp! 😀)

Verbally : "Get a proper visa" (Background : I was spending over half the year in Thailand on METV's) Stamped in passport : Section 2 "No appropriate means of supporting oneself" and Section 3 "Suspected of working illegally in the Kingdom". (Background : Neither allegation was even mentioned, never mind investigated.) The 2 untrue allegations were counter-intuitive as to successfully obtain the visa, I had to prove both employment and considerable savings in the UK. So, going back to the point of the discussion. Immigration most certainly will deny holders of valid visas entry to Thailand if they feel they have "stayed too long". One poster refused to believe that had ever happened. I guarantee it happened not only to me but to many others.

Me! 2019. Brand new unused METV issued in the UK. I was immediately denied entry and sent back to the UK. I was one of many.

Go back to 2017 - 2020 pre-Covid. Reports were daily of TV holders being denied entry for "not having a proper visa". Don Meuang probably out front but other airports too. These crackdowns are cyclical. They will come round again and I expect DTV holders to be questioned and denied entry at some point in the future.

I think this is Vietnam War rather than WWII.

You should know by now that we only get a follow up in 1% of these stories. It is all sorted out by the police behind closed doors in a manner they approve of. Occasionally we will get a follow up but your best bet is to try and find social media accounts related to the accused, his or his mates. In this case we have very little to go on. We don't even know if the surname Ezra is correct or is his middle name.

@Selatan You are right. The CCP is God's gift to the Chinese people. Long live Chairman Xi. The Chinese people are eternally grateful to the CCP for releasing them from their oppressed misery. This has absolutely nothing to do with China or the Chinese Communist Party, the one-party state or authoritarianism, absolutely nothing. Please report that back to your party handler.

Another authoritarian state, "benign dictatorship" and all that.

Where is the mandatory "brakes failed" excuse?

Precisely

As ever, he is clearly working on behalf of an employer/franchise provider/supplier who is conveniently not mentioned in the story.

Perhaps they have no other way of ensuring at the moment the applicant is not in Thailand at the point of application. Note the lead time of 10-15 working days. Applicants may not want to spend 10-15 working days hanging around in Savannakhet but may apply from Thailand and then nip out and back when the visa is approved. Having said that, it is not clear at what point in the process payment is made. Surely it must be at the point of application.

From speaking to Malaysians, they have even less trust in their police than the Chinese.

For those who have been here a long time, Pavena Hongsakul is truly immortal.