24 Hour's Registration

[thaimee]

another piece of the jigsaw puzzle...

Q: Thai immigration Member

24 hours registration

As stated on the arrival card, a foreigner, who changes his address from the one he stated in that form,  has to report to the local police within 24 hours. Actually I have never heard of any foreigner, who really did this.

I stated my local address in Bangkok, which is an apartment in my wife’s name. No further reports have ever been made (except filling out my arrival card every 3 months when re-entering the kingdom / NonIm multiple). As we quite often spend some time in our house upcountry, the question occurs, to whom I will have to report in that case. I doubt to find any person at the local police station, who is familiar with the legal procedure. Just because most likely nobody else has ever asked for it. So I’m afraid to cause a lot of confusion by trying to meet that requirement.

I wouldn’t like to wake up “sleeping dogs”. On the other hand I would like to avoid any kind of future hassles. Any advice on how to handle this?

A: Admin Jan

This is an example of a rule that in fact is difficult to fulfil.

If you live in BKK and are going to visit a friend in Chang Mai for a week, you should in fact, according to the law, drop by the police station in CM on your arrival and report it. Then, when you came back to BKK you had to report that you are back. It’s a hassle, and living permanently here they don't expect you to do so.

The rule is mostly meant for tourists. Many of them are travelling around the country, and in case something happens the authorities likes to know where they are.

For us living here it’s a bit different. They only want our permanent address, so that they know where to get in touch with us in case they need too. So, what you are doing is ok. In case you are staying long periods (more than 2-3 weeks) in your up country house, we recommend that you report it to the local police station though. But you don't need to change it at Immigration.

Why they also want us to report is a question of tax. If you rent a house, like I’m doing, many landlords “forget” to pay tax of the rent. The landlord has to report to the police that you are staying in his house, but because of the tax they do not always do so. But if you report that you are living there, the authorities can look into who owns the house and if the landlord has reported that you are renting it.

I’m registered with Immigration at my workplace, Rajabhat Institute Udonthani, even though I never lived there. I have asked if Immigration want me to change it, but since it’s easy for all authorities to get in contact with me at RIUT, they prefer I keep it that way. I just made sure that my landlord did report it to the police when I moved into his house. Then everybody is happy.

How to register? The local police station should have a form to fill in. At least they got that in Udon. If it’s a small local police station it might give some confusion first time, but if they have guesthouses or hotels in the area they should know how to handle it, because those places report to the police every day.

Does this answer your question?

A2: Admin Jan

so which forms to obtain...

You need 2 forms to do the address/house notification at the Police or Immigration:

TM30 + TM30 Appendix

They can both be downloaded here:

http://www.thaiimmigration.com/apf/TM30

http://www.thaiimmigration.com/apf/TM30APP

Cheers

Jan

Thaimee.