7 hours ago, harada said:

A Thai woman once told me that farangs are just walking ATM machines

 

Not me, I have always been referred by her as her personal bank manager, now I don't know if that was a promotion or whether she previously thought of me as being a walking ATM, but she has always referred to me as her personal bank manager, come to think of it, chauffeur too, i.e. when I ask her to drive, she replies with a smile, why I need to drive when I have a chauffeur..., me thinks me should ask for a pay rise ????

Edited October 2, 20187 yr by 4MyEgo

I never beeen asked for tip at DM. If I was asked I’d tell them use it

to upgrade the terminal......

 

maybe he’s talking about tip as in advise.....   Don’t spit in the wind And that sort of thing.

Everything in this country is designed to separate you from your money that is why some governments call this place the land of scams. It is the same with all religions too.

So Big Joke wants to implement a "No Tip" policy with signage.

It's not perceived as a tip if it's put to the foreigner as a "mandatory fee".

 

Any "No Tipping" signage would be a waste of time. If Big Joke is serious about eliminating this scam, he'll post signage with the official fees for each service and a notice not to pay anything in addition to the posted fees at every Immigration office and checkpoint.

I have to ask, are ypu guys special. Been coming to Thailand for 20 years living here for 8 years and the only thing I have paid immigration for has been the residency certificate. Cheaper than my Embassy. I have never been asked for extras at airport immigration or any other office.

Oh the suggestion,

That there is dishonesty in the immigration department of Thailand.

what ever next,   this just can't be true. .

 

Must be about time for a lost bag of money,  to be returned to it's rightful owner at the airport, plus a photo op with a bunch of grinning numpties, with big fat guts in the picture.

When is a tip not a tip? 

When it is a bribe????

Seems to me BJ is already planning to start this investigation by refusing to accept that bribes are demanded and taken.

Edited October 2, 20187 yr by thesetat2013
typo

Who has never experienced the immigration chap making hassles, making life complicated for a farang wanting to extend his retirement visa or similar at any immigration office and hinting that the fast track process will be say 500 THB and the work gets done ?  This is disgusting corruption that will deter even more quality expats and retirees from wanting to settle down in Thailand ...and the western media is regularly reporting such issues.

 

You can get very discreet body cams (disguised as tie pins or glasses) that discreetly film any rotten corrupt official who tried to make your life miserable in Thailand. If such thing happens, go straight to the anti corruption bureau in Bangkok and make sure they get the footage and make sure that they get aware that after reporting the corruption issue,  if you mysteriously "fall off" your balcony on your ground floor, many other people will take up matters and the footage with the media as it would be more then suspicious.

Edited October 2, 20187 yr by observer90210

Not sure about now but a few years ago there was a similar scandal in Phuket. The Chinese

coming in on the night flights were paying 300baht each to immigration staff. This was explained

not as a fee or bribe but a tip for helping the Chinese (who could not speak English-Thai)fill out

the immigration forms. 

20 hours ago, hobz said:

Good point. The Chinese might be known for being rude. But China has highest average iq in the world and the younger ones are social media savvy etc... Problem is that Thais are pretty bad at fixing obvious problems so this will simply deter the higher level Chinese and leave only the china trash horses left...zero baht bus tours etc..looks good for numbers but horrible for Thailand.

 

The higher level Chinese are already venturing to more up market destinations like Japan, Europe and the US and the more adventurous are visiting more exotic destinations.  On a recent trip to Cuba I found Havana absolutely crammed with young Chinese tourists, both groups and independent travellers, and they were probably touring the Caribbean, the US and Caribbean or Latin America and the Caribbean which is an expensive trip from China. 

 

Thailand already has a reputation as a low end destination in China and most of the Chinese tourists that visit are on their first overseas trip.  When they have more money most go somewhere else that is more prestigious to tell their friends about.

9 hours ago, Ulic said:

Not sure about now but a few years ago there was a similar scandal in Phuket. The Chinese

coming in on the night flights were paying 300baht each to immigration staff. This was explained

not as a fee or bribe but a tip for helping the Chinese (who could not speak English-Thai)fill out

the immigration forms. 

 

I have never faced any serious corruption from Immigration but this reminds me of something that happened to me in the PR section at CW some years ago. I was told there was a new requirement to translate one's passport details to get the annual endorsement and to save my trouble the staff would do it themselves for 500 baht which they said was cheaper than using a translation service downstairs and was certainly quicker. I just paid over the money to save trouble but never saw the translation and, of course, didn't receive a receipt. It is quite possible that that Immigration, which is responsible for reading and processing details on thousands of foreign passports daily without the help of Thai translations, decided it had selectively lost the ability to read and understand passport details.  If so, I wondered whether the staff had produced their own certified translation stamp.  That was fortunately the last annual endorsement I did before I got citizenship, so I can't say if this is still going on.

 

On 10/2/2018 at 7:53 AM, Cyclone88 said:

I have had many from Jomtien and have never been asked or heard of anyone paying 1000 baht.

The going price is 300 baht.

Sorry but I don't believe for 1 minute you were charged 1000 baht.

He’s telling the truth I was charged 1000 baht about 2 yrs ago.

13 hours ago, moe666 said:

the only thing I have paid immigration for has been the residency certificate.

Which is exactly what should be for free...