Crackdown on illegal foreigners: Many claiming to be students to get fake visas

[rooster59]

Crackdown on illegal foreigners: Many claiming to be students to get fake visas

 

Image: Manager

 

As the crackdown on illegal foreigners in Thailand continues it has emerged that many of those arrested are conniving with language schools to get fake visas so they can stay in Thailand on a yearly basis.

 

The scam - that Thaivisa understands has been going on for years - is well understood by the Thai police and their top crime buster Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakpal who yesterday reported more arrests.

 

Manager said that a total of 1,088 had been arrested in the crackdown. Surachet, the deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, said there had been more than 3,000 raids over the last year.

 

Thaivisa understands that there has been confusion in the Thai media that many of those arrested were teachers. The reality is that they are foreigners masquerading as students who get long visas then commit crime in Thailand.

 

And they certainly don't attend classes.

 

They are able to get year long visas instead of a much shorter period.

 

Several language schools and what is loosely termed as "international" schools are now set to face charges after the Thai police operating under the "X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner" banner have uncovered a network of illegal activity that includes staff of the schools themselves and corrupt immigration officials. 

 

Charges are soon to be laid that refer to the alleged falsification of visas on behalf of foreigners.

 

Manager reported that many of those arrested were "people of color" with Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone named as countries where the bogus students hail from. 

 

Time will tell whether Maj Gen Surachet - known by the affectionate moniker of Big Joke in the Thai media after a series of high profile busts - will be able to nail alleged corrupt officials in immigration that is a section of the Thai police itself.

 

Source: Manager

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-05-05

[Raymonddiaz]

Thai made fake visas to foreigners. Why are only the latters are arrested? Get them all... Come on Big joke! 

[mommysboy]

So TEFL teachers took the usual pasting from Thai Visa bigots.  Enough of the crazy arguments about illegal teachers being rife in Thai schools.

[RichardColeman]

So just get immigration to check the teaching ability of any African's with a teaching visa on arrival. Should not be hard to figure out who's  a fake. Pay me a salary and I'll do it myself.

[PJPom]

Who came up with the name Big Joke, this man is far from being a joke. I hope Surachet is allowed to continue, he creates an impression that a part of the Thai police force might be redeemable. I also hope he is VERY careful, accidents happen in the strangest ways.

 

[JAG]

6 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

So TEFL teachers took the usual pasting from Thai Visa bigots.  Enough of the crazy arguments about illegal teachers being rife in Thai schools.

Are you not used to it by now "MB"?

 

All those experts on education (they know all about it - after all, they went to school for years back along) posting from an altitude of 1.2 metres - the median height of a Pattaya bar stool!

 

Edited May 5, 2018 by JAG

[ezzra]

"Language schools" are one of the biggest visa mills in Thailand allowing

thousands upon thousand of mickey mouse people to come and stay in 

Thailand legally, and i wonder why it took the authorities many years to wake

up to it...

[humbug]

this article is clearer but stillnot the whole truth. There are teachers from this site stating that their schools were visited to make sure their visa/permits were correct. Schools that is not language schools. So who is telling the truth? I am going 100% with the teachers in this site telling the truth and the tourist police trying to calm the panic 

[darksidedog]

While the education visa is a little more checked up on than it used to be, large chunks of people get it, as it is very simple to get and renew for years and years. Many of the so called schools don't care if you turn up or not, as long as they have been paid. A friend of mine had one for 10 years and used to attend the school once or twice a month if that. Much less hoops to jump through than for retirement or other visas, so hardly surprising that it has been abused, often with the collaboration of immigration staff, who also get a bung, to let questionable applications through.

[JAG]

35 minutes ago, humbug said:

this article is clearer but stillnot the whole truth. There are teachers from this site stating that their schools were visited to make sure their visa/permits were correct. Schools that is not language schools. So who is telling the truth? I am going 100% with the teachers in this site telling the truth and the tourist police trying to calm the panic 

Well I've been following these stories, and whilst there have been plenty of posts from teachers complaining about their schools help (or lack of) in the visa/work permit process, I only recall one (a one-liner which seemed to me rather tongue in cheek) reference to immigration coming to "his school" to look for him.

Edited May 5, 2018 by JAG

[Jonathan Fairfield]

38 minutes ago, PJPom said:

Who came up with the name Big Joke, this man is far from being a joke. I hope Surachet is allowed to continue, he creates an impression that a part of the Thai police force might be redeemable. I also hope he is VERY careful, accidents happen in the strangest ways.

 

Big Joke was a nick name given to him by Thai language media. 

 

And like you say he is far from a joke.

 

This week alone he has overseen:

 

ED visa crackdown

illegal foreigners

A shady condo developer in Phuket targeting foreigners

Street racers

Drug bust at a Bangkok bar

Call centre scammers

Shady cosmetics operation
Fraudulent tour companies
Romance scam targeting a Chinese woman
Survanabhumbi thief
Man impersonating police officer threatening Indian tourist

 

He's doing real police work - lots of it
 

[JAG]

7 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

While the education visa is a little more checked up on than it used to be, large chunks of people get it, as it is very simple to get and renew for years and years. Many of the so called schools don't care if you turn up or not, as long as they have been paid. A friend of mine had one for 10 years and used to attend the school once or twice a month if that. Much less hoops to jump through than for retirement or other visas, so hardly surprising that it has been abused, often with the collaboration of immigration staff, who also get a bung, to let questionable applications through.

When I first came to live here I decided to take some Thai language lessons. I paid in advance for a series of lessons. The proprietor of the "school" explained that she could (for a fee) arrange a visa for me. She pushed it hard, even showing me photographs of herself with a number of Immigration Officers. I explained that I had a perfectly valid visa. She rather gave me the impression that she could cause trouble with Immigration if I didn't do so.

 

When the time came to discuss a further course of lessons she suddenly decided that she was 'too busy".

[HAKAPALITA]

So TEFL teachers took the usual pasting from Thai Visa bigots.  Enough of the crazy arguments about illegal teachers being rife in Thai schools.

Whats crazy about that, unless your one.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Oziex1]

So Mr Big Joke is gaining celebrity status by doing what the other members of the RTP are not doing, their job.

I see his intrepid crime busting is selective and populist, and to complete the picture he has an attractive sidekick.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Just now, Oziex1 said:

So Mr Big Joke is gaining celebrity status by doing what the other members of the RTP are not doing, their job.

I see his intrepid crime busting is selective and populist, and to complete the picture he has an attractive sidekick.

Who is a fluent English speaker 

[robblok]

9 minutes ago, JAG said:

When I first came to live here I decided to take some Thai language lessons. I paid in advance for a series of lessons. The proprietor of the "school" explained that she could (for a fee) arrange a visa for me. She pushed it hard, even showing me photographs of herself with a number of Immigration Officers. I explained that I had a perfectly valid visa. She rather gave me the impression that she could cause trouble with Immigration if I didn't do so.

 

When the time came to discuss a further course of lessons she suddenly decided that she was 'too busy".

I know of a friend (over 50) who just paid 30k to a immigration officer to have his retirement visa OKed without the required funds. 

 

I can still remember the problems i had with marriage visa with immigration coming to visit 2 times and wanting to speak with neighbors. So many hoops to jump through. 

[lemonjelly]

59 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

So just get immigration to check the teaching ability of any African's with a teaching visa on arrival. Should not be hard to figure out who's  a fake. Pay me a salary and I'll do it myself.

This is about fake students, not teachers. Do try and keep up.

[PoorSucker]

1 hour ago, PJPom said:

Who came up with the name Big Joke, this man is far from being a joke. I hope Surachet is allowed to continue, he creates an impression that a part of the Thai police force might be redeemable. I also hope he is VERY careful, accidents happen in the strangest ways.

 

The right translation from Thai should be Big Jok. 

Someone that doesn't like him translated it to joke. 

[1337markus]

35 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Big Joke was a nick name given to him by Thai language media. 

 

And like you say he is far from a joke.

 

This week alone he has overseen:

 

ED visa crackdown

illegal foreigners

A shady condo developer in Phuket targeting foreigners

Street racers

Drug bust at a Bangkok bar

Call centre scammers

Shady cosmetics operation
Fraudulent tour companies
Romance scam targeting a Chinese woman
Survanabhumbi thief
Man impersonating police officer threatening Indian tourist

 

He's doing real police work - lots of it
 

Pity Big Joke cant train the other 300,000 plus BIB to work the same way/

[thhMan]

Make it simpler for foreigners to get a more permanent visa... Problem solved

[Sadanava]

1 hour ago, PJPom said:

Who came up with the name Big Joke, this man is far from being a joke. I hope Surachet is allowed to continue, he creates an impression that a part of the Thai police force might be redeemable. I also hope he is VERY careful, accidents happen in the strangest ways.

 

The name Joke, comes from the Rice porridge name in Thai, not humor -  in English

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, mommysboy said:

So TEFL teachers took the usual pasting from Thai Visa bigots. 

twas ever thus...

 

1 hour ago, mommysboy said:

Enough of the crazy arguments about illegal teachers being rife in Thai schools.

But.... the illegal teachers ARE rife in schools in Thailand or else we wouldn't be having all this "X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner" malarkey now would we?

[mommysboy]

59 minutes ago, HAKAPALITA said:

Whats crazy about that, unless your one.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

People were alleging large numbers of NNES from Nigeria, etc working illegally in schools- many of us thought that very unlikely, but others insisted it was true, citing mythical international schools in Nakhon Nowhere as hotbeds of illegal activity.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Several language schools and what is loosely termed as "international" schools are now set to face charges after the Thai police operating under the "X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner" banner have uncovered a network of illegal activity that includes staff of the schools themselves and corrupt immigration officials.

I guess there's a whole shedload of inactive post transfers coming up then.

[55Jay]

I'm not a Hang 'Em High Brigade member but overall, a good effort IMO. 

 

There's plenty for a crime busting crusader to do here, and busting foreigners bobbing and weaving in the loopholes, is low hanging fruit.  Reckon it would appeal to the average Thai because it doesn't affect them directly.

[mommysboy]

11 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

twas ever thus...

 

But.... the illegal teachers ARE rife in schools in Thailand or else we wouldn't be having all this "X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner" malarkey now would we?

No, they are not. The operation is to crack down on illegal students. Like many, you are just operating on what may have been the case twenty years ago, or was perhaps a bit of a myth anyway.  It certainly does not apply today. 

Edited May 5, 2018 by mommysboy

[kingstonkid]

Easy solution close the schools and have it harder to het licensed.  If a person is on the books and not showing up 1week shutdown.  After 3 close 1 month

 

[NanLaew]

12 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

No, they are not. The operation is to crack down on illegal students. Like many, you are just operating on what may have been the case twenty years ago, or was perhaps a bit of a myth anyway.  It certainly does not apply today. 

Oh, so when this kicked off on the 27th of April THIS YEAR, it was because there were no illegal teachers?

 

 

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

corrupt immigration officials

The present government has done well here, albeit tit for tat retaliation.

All police are being carefully watched.

Immigration in my ares had a severe slap on the wrists, by being forced to work outside, during the hottest month of the year. Renovations to the office, 555. Som nam na.

[tukkytuktuk]

Quote

For Malaysians entering by land border, there is no limitation in issuing the 30-day visa exemption stamp. Korea, Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile will get 90 days in both airport and land border.

http://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/changes-visa-exempt.php

Well there's your answer language schools. Hire Malaysian, Korean, Brazilian, Peruvian, Argentinian and Chilean teachers. Problem solved!

Edited May 5, 2018 by tukkytuktuk