Interrogated and threatened at Suvarnabhumi — Risk or hot air?

[csabo]

20 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Gosh, I could be wrong but isn't that info. captured in their system via computer?

I got the fifth degree treatment and multiple passport reads leaving the country this week. After about 6 minutes the perplexed IO finally asked me for help finding the visa I entered on. I flipped to the Non O visa and showed him the corresponding 90 day stamps. More bewildering stares. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and asked what his problem was. He said the "computer says 60 days".  I said "it's wrong, can I go now, my plane is waiting?"  I wouldn't put to much faith in thier computers or ability to operate them. 

[scorecard]

 

"I was taken out of line by customs ..."

 

Customs officials or Immigration officials?

[Thaidream]

While their computer has access to your whole history of ins and outs in Thailand- it is not as easy as pushing one button- they have to use different sections of the system to find certain things. My history dates back 48 years and I know they will not be able to see every visa; every border stamp etc on one page.  The key to further scrutiny is what your current passport shows and then they go further into the system at that point.

[Russell17au]

You can have a hundred passports from you home country and every one of them will have the same information on the chip that the computer reads. The only page that is scanned is the information page of your passport and that brings up your file complete with all warnings and notifications. Your arrival and departure in and out of a country is logged into your file on the computer and the only reason that a stamp is used is if you are stopped in the street or the property that you are working at illegally is raided there is something in your passport. So those that say to get a new passport and that will give you a clean slate do not know what they are talking about. When you present your new passport the IO will wonder why did you get a new passport for when your old one only had twelve stamps in it, which will raise red flags, and the IO will ask him/her self what are you trying to hide, plus now the majority of countries have changed over to biometrics with fingerprints and eye scans not only for visa's but also put on your new passports.

Do not treat IO's as idiots because they know more about what is going on than you think they do.

[Nong Khai Man]

4 hours ago, Formaleins said:

Agree, plus you might want to get a new noddy Holder to put you new passport in.

He's Dead Now, Isn't He ??

[seancbk]

"I was taken out of line by customs ..."

Taken out of the line before you go to the IO's counter/desk?   

Or pulled aside after you got to the IO's counter/desk?
 

[jackspade]

19 hours ago, BuckBee said:

Not so surprising he got stopped especially if lot of previous entries visa exempt and fact his passport rubbing it in their face even if entry counter terminal not flagging anything .

What is annoying though as total bu115hit threats/information from immigration officers.

I do believe some of these OP's have worse history than saying but still the immigration handling of these issues at the countries 2 main airports is shocking but not surprising as I seen it few times with my own eyes ...

 

It was actually 4.5 years ago that I first came to Thailand. I was here for 18 months, then gone for 8 months, then here for 10 or so, then gone for 12, now back for 2.

 

So I was far from 3 continuous years living in the country.  More like 3 years spread over 4.5 years.

 

 

 

[Peter Aherne]

Interestingly I seem to have got more questions from Immigration since getting my Non-O than I ever did bouncing in and out on a tourist visa. Most recently was "What do you do here" and "Do I have any Thai friends", figured my wife should count....

 

Cheers,
Peter.

[jackspade]

30 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

You can have a hundred passports from you home country and every one of them will have the same information on the chip that the computer reads. The only page that is scanned is the information page of your passport and that brings up your file complete with all warnings and notifications. Your arrival and departure in and out of a country is logged into your file on the computer and the only reason that a stamp is used is if you are stopped in the street or the property that you are working at illegally is raided there is something in your passport. So those that say to get a new passport and that will give you a clean slate do not know what they are talking about. When you present your new passport the IO will wonder why did you get a new passport for when your old one only had twelve stamps in it, which will raise red flags, and the IO will ask him/her self what are you trying to hide, plus now the majority of countries have changed over to biometrics with fingerprints and eye scans not only for visa's but also put on your new passports.

Do not treat IO's as idiots because they know more about what is going on than you think they do.

I have a strong feeling you are quite correct about all this.  I haven't for a second believed the advice about getting a new passport.  IO's are not that stupid, as you say.

[jackspade]

4 minutes ago, seancbk said:

"I was taken out of line by customs ..."

Taken out of the line before you go to the IO's counter/desk?   

Or pulled aside after you got to the IO's counter/desk?
 

I was pulled aside after the IO looked through my passport.

[MaeJoMTB]

4 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

No it does not. They will link his histroy from the old passport the first time he enters the country with a new passport.

This has been discussed on this forum many times.

I'd like to know how, I have a very common name, must be hundreds of me if not thousands.

Assuming anyone with my name is me just doesn't work (you can also  swap middle and first names for a new passport). The UK police can't make it work, so I doubt that Thai immigration could.

Edited March 8, 2018 by MaeJoMTB

[Nong Khai Man]

"Do I have any Thai friends", figured my wife should count...

 

Errrr !! Well Maybe !!! LOL 

[Peter Aherne]

2 minutes ago, Nong Khai Man said:

"Do I have any Thai friends", figured my wife should count...

 

Errrr !! Well Maybe !!! LOL 

So far anyway....

[Russell17au]

8 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

I'd like to know how, I have a very common name, must be hundreds of me if not thousands.

Assuming anyone with my name is me just doesn't work.

(The UK police can't make it work, so I doubt the Thai immigration could)

It is not just your name that is on the information page of your passport that is scanned. There is a lot of information about you and only you embedded in the information page of your passport.

The UK police do not have the same access to the information that the UK office that supplies you with your passport does.

Thai Immigration knows more about you than the UK police simply by the information that is embedded into your passport

Edited March 8, 2018 by Russell17au

[MaeJoMTB]

3 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

It is not just your name that is on the information page of your passport that is scanned. There is a lot of information about you and only you embedded in the information page of your passport

A lot of you think the 'authorities' are a lot more competent than they actually are.

Up to you, everyone has the right to their own beliefs.

Edited March 8, 2018 by MaeJoMTB

[Peter Aherne]

3 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

It is not just your name that is on the information page of your passport that is scanned. There is a lot of information about you and only you embedded in the information page of your passport

Yup, date and place of birth already narrow's it way down....

[Suradit69]

20 hours ago, BuckBee said:

I do believe some of these OP's have worse history than saying

Yes some of these complaining posts involve inflated drama and may be missing some information either intentionally or because the poster doesn't fully understand what happened.

 

If he spent 3 full years here using visa runs for tourist visas, even if he followed each stay with long absences, that could reasonably raise questions. Immigration officers have the right and the responsibility to look for history of entries that might be suspicious.

[BuckBee]

6 hours ago, pearciderman said:

 

The only way you would know this, is if you too were one of the "border runners!

Or if I singapore national and do work with visa companies in asia  ...

[Russell17au]

1 minute ago, Peter Aherne said:

Yup, date and place of birth already narrow's it way down....

Remember when you filled in the application form for your first passport and all the information you told them, well they take that information and they history search it all and there is also a lot of security searches done and that information is embedded into the information page of your passport, and no two people have the identical history therefore no two passport for different people will ever be the same irrespective of name, and DOB being the same.

[scorecard]

Just now, Suradit69 said:

Yes some of these complaining posts involve inflated drama and may be missing some information either intentionally or because the poster doesn't fully understand what happened.

 

If he spent 3 full years here using visa runs for tourist visas, even if he followed each stay with long absences, that could reasonably raise questions. Immigration officers have the right and the responsibility to look for history of entries that might be suspicious.

 

Further, my guess is that most intelligent sincere people would expect that there are laws in place and actions to control who enters (and leaves) their original country.  I do. In fact it's a basic point - the government of any country has a responsibility to seriously protect the citizens.

 

The immigration etc., laws and actions in Thailand are there for the exact same reasons. 

 

Different point - the original subject line says 'threatened'.

 

In the details of the OP I can't see any details which warrant the word 'threatened'.

 

 

 

[alex8912]

11 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

A lot of you think the 'authorities' are a lot more competent than they actually are.

Up to you, everyone has the right to their own beliefs.

And yours is wrong. You may have a common name but you also have an exact birthdate as well just for starters on identification. It’s 2018 Thai immigration knows a lot about you. Soon they will know more. 

[Russell17au]

11 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

A lot of you think the 'authorities' are a lot more competent than they actually are.

Up to you, everyone has the right to their own beliefs.

That is right MaejoMTB some of us know more about this subject than others, so I am sorry that we cannot help you the next time you make a stupid immigration mistake because you do not want to listen and you are sticking to your beliefs that you are entitled to believe and you also have the personal right to believe that the "authorities" are incompetent. That is your right so why come on here and ask questions if you are not interested in the answers and you have already made up you mind to what you believe the answer should be

[Psimbo]

'Interrogated and threatened' or 'interviewed and informed'?

 

Two completely different circumstances and the original post does seem a bit over-dramatic IMHO.

[Russell17au]

You were interviewed not interrogated. You have not listed what the threats were. In what way were you threatened? Did the IO threaten to refuse you entry next time you tried to enter Thailand on a visa exempt entry or did he/she threaten to ensure that you would be deported. What were the threats.

You have made an accusation that you were interrogated and threatened by Thai Customs. You could not even get the department that interrogated and threatened you. It should have been Thai Immigration.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Russell17au

[garyk]

I have a quick question for you guys.

I have a retirement stamp in my passport, I went to get a re-entry visa the other day and before they gave me back my passport the supervisor was called over and they went threw my passport page by page. I have had a retirement stamp in my passport for years but have been traveling to other countries and have about 20-30 stamps in my passport for entering and leaving. 

When she handed it back she kinda gave me a bad look. 

Can they do anything as far as harassing me for not staying in Thailand much, I was only here about two months last year.

Reading this thread got me kinda curious?

Edited March 8, 2018 by garyk

[BuckBee]

53 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

A lot of you think the 'authorities' are a lot more competent than they actually are.

Up to you, everyone has the right to their own beliefs.

 

36 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

That is right MaejoMTB some of us know more about this subject than others, so I am sorry that we cannot help you the next time you make a stupid immigration mistake because you do not want to listen and you are sticking to your beliefs that you are entitled to believe and you also have the personal right to believe that the "authorities" are incompetent. That is your right so why come on here and ask questions if you are not interested in the answers and you have already made up you mind to what you believe the answer should be

From my personal experience I see a lot of incompetence and see computer system is not that helpful at giving required data too.

incompetence can help or hinder you though .

Best approach as always is do your own due diligence and have suitable visas, docs and passport in best presentation you can. Some people make no effort wih visas or truly are abusing it plus have bad approach when do get questioned and then things can get awkward . Make some effort with travel plans, visas and finances and most of this drama can be avoided .

Edited March 8, 2018 by BuckBee

[ujayujay]

6 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

New passport =  new passport number  = new Thai immigration computer account.

 

No, that is an Illusion.

Edited March 8, 2018 by ujayujay

[MaeJoMTB]

46 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

That is right MaejoMTB some of us know more about this subject than others,

What could you possibly know about Thai immigration, half it's employees can't even read the Roman alphabet.

How many mistakes do they make even doing simple stuff??

Like 30 day stamp when you have a 90 day VISA.

 

If their computers have all this information on us, why do they demand everything again, on each marriage extension application?

 

[Russell17au]

8 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

What could you possibly know about Thai immigration, half it's employees can't even read the Roman alphabet.

How many mistakes do they make even doing simple stuff??

Like 30 day stamp when you have a 90 day VISA.

 

If their computers have all this information on us, why do they demand everything again, on each marriage extension application?

 

Rest assured I do know more about it than you do and I would only prove it privately not publicly to people I could trust.

Looking at your posts there is no way that I would pass on the proof to you because I believe that you would not know how to keep it private.

AII18111

Edited March 8, 2018 by Russell17au

[Russell17au]

20 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

What could you possibly know about Thai immigration, half it's employees can't even read the Roman alphabet.

How many mistakes do they make even doing simple stuff??

Like 30 day stamp when you have a 90 day VISA.

 

If their computers have all this information on us, why do they demand everything again, on each marriage extension application?

 

You are in Thailand and Thai Immigration do not have to conform to you and be able to read the Roman alphabet the same as the UK Immigration does not have to be able to read the Thai alphabet or any other alphabet that suits you. You are in Thailand and it is your responsibility to conform to what the Thai Immigration laws want. Not what you want the Thai Immigration laws to change just for you or any other nationality.