It's Official: No more tips, back-handers or tea money to corrupt immigration officers

[monkfish]

"Big Joke true to his word:"
Really! by putting up a sign saying no Tips?
Great work how many were arrested?
Why do they even call them tips? Nothing to do with Tips 
Guess now they can blame it on the tourists for giving them money.
 

[shackleton]

Never had a problem with the Immigration personnel  in Chaeng Wattana 

always treated me with Dignity and respect found then very helpful plus no extra charges 

I will be there next week doing my Yearly Non O retirement 

will let you know how things go  

[JackThompson]

17 hours ago, giddyup said:

18 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Is this going to affect possible 'tips' where agents obtain extensions for people too poor to have the required baht in the bank for 90 days? Or is this just at the airports!

If that happens there will be a mass exodus of falangs from Thailand.

I'll be happy if they just enforce processing of in-person applications in accordance with the published-rules only - to prevent some personnel forcing people who meet the published-qualifications to agents.

 

If they want to go the extra-step of stopping agent-applications based on retirement which bypass the required financials, they would be wise to adjust those requirements down to match the actual cost-of-living and income of the average retiree in Thailand.  A median UK state-pension and USA social-security payment amount could serve as a guide - the goal being to maximize foreign-sourced income and its benefit to Thai businesses.

[The Teacher]

18 hours ago, KamnanT said:

A good start - full credit to the man for confronting the issue head on in his first days in the position.  Next stop: land border crossings with Laos and Cambodia, where the immigration police have been demanding "stamping fees" for years.  Millions of baht per month going into someone's pocket.

So now they are admitting to corruption and bribery in the Immigration dept ??. Go figure 

[thairookie]

Big Joke has a Big Job awaiting him @ Land Department in Pattaya.

 

 

[JackThompson]

18 minutes ago, shackleton said:

Never had a problem with the Immigration personnel  in Chaeng Wattana 

always treated me with Dignity and respect found then very helpful plus no extra charges 

I will be there next week doing my Yearly Non O retirement 

will let you know how things go  

This is reported as normal at that office.  Agent-use at Chang Wattana is strictly optional.  Unfortunately, this is not the case at some other offices for some services - based on many reports and my own personal experience. 

[NoshowJones]

17 hours ago, The manic said:

Why do you hate IO do much?  What have they ever done to you? I find them helpful and efficient 

I hate them, it has been mentioned many times in my posts. Though I do admit I have never had any problems at airports or borders. 

There is also the fact of how they have treated and still treat a very prominent Thaivisa member and good friend of mine.

[Sumarianson]

Big Joke is no joke. I have a feeling if this guy continues like this, he could be the next PM.

[Jorgendk]

Now let’s be fair… Before I got my yellow housebook I needed a needed a Confirmation Of Residence for my Driving license.
Went to Mukdahan immigration, and got one. No Fee.
Mukdahan immigration has never asked for any payment for anything, part from the official charges. I have never been asked to pay for 90 days reporting or anything else.
The only thing I have been asked is whether I would like a cop of coffee. ( And that is free as well ) If any help is needed with any forms, they will do anything to help you. ( No fee )
90 days reporting is usually done within 5 minutes, but it did take 10 minutes one time, and they apologised for that.
 

[Media1]

Does this include the by Thai law free residence certificate

[Media1]

25 minutes ago, Sumarianson said:

Big Joke is no joke. I have a feeling if this guy continues like this, he could be the next PM.

I would not vote for him. Lacks education 

[NoshowJones]

19 hours ago, THE REVERAND said:

How long are they going to leave this person loose. He is a total embarrassment and is  defiantly living  up to his title "The Big Joke" 

The real "big joke" is his stupid rank, Major/General???? What a poser.

[joecoolfrog]

16 hours ago, overherebc said:

True, but falling off your motorbike when drunk or worse causing injury when you have no licence or insurance, like a few I know doesn't leave you in the best possible financial position.

Well if thats your concern , about 5 million Thais need to relocate elsewhere.

[Jorgendk]

41 minutes ago, Media1 said:

Does this include the by Thai law free residence certificate

YES

[Benmart]

20 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

Lets say a year or two, and then revisit and if still in play I'm impressed.

I live in the present and am thankful for the news of today.

[Blue Muton]

3 hours ago, rwill said:

I have only dealt with the immigration offices in Nakhon Pathom and Ratchaburi.  I have never been asked to pay anything extra.  And all of them were friendly and helpful.  Have not had to pay anything for a residency statement either.  

Pretty much the same for me at Ayuthaya and Suphanburi offices, except for the 1,000 Baht "fine" for a "late" 90 day report. 

 

What I do see, however, every time I visit, is agents handing in bundles of passports, openly flashing the cash and walking around like they own the place (which is perhaps pretty close to the truth). I was under the impression that the passport holders were supposed to be present but that's clearly not what's happening.

[overherebc]

33 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

Well if thats your concern , about 5 million Thais need to relocate elsewhere.

What the Thais do is 'up to them.'

Here, we are talking about guys scratching most months just to stay here.

If an expat falls off his bike in Pattaya it's very likely he will end up in one of two hospitals and his bill will be a lot bigger than Somchai's bill. It will be 'assumed' he has 65,000 a month income or 800,000 in the bank.

People who are 'retired' here on a gov' pension from UK are probably living on 25/30,000 baht a month and most likely don't have any other savings.

Some argue that using an agent to get their extension when they don't have the required income/savings is still legal because 'Imm' issued it are on thin ice.

At the moment I don't think they are the targets, more likely to be certain groups from certain countries who are here with duff qualifications etc and, trying not to be racist, they tend to stand out.

Still on topic, in 2003 many people people were caught with visas/stamps from a certain border crossing that were being issued under the table. A few IO's were transferred out and the vast majority of people who had those stamps ended up in IDC, were fined and sent home to get new visas. To my knowledge no-one was blacklisted.

Just sayin.'

[IgboChief]

20 hours ago, bangrak said:

But will the people of the Immigration Police (officers and deputies) be told, ...and to live accordingly?!

Exactly my point: that sign shows into the wrong direction, they will need to turn in around so the IOs can see it!

[Jackin1960]

So officially there are no more tips to be given. By this I guess they officially acknowledged the fact that giving tips was taking place. Does that mean that from now on giving tips will be unofficial? 

[scubascuba3]

I'm going to let the waitresses know in a couple of restaurants i go to plus gogos that no more tips allowed and show them the sign

[Caine]

11 hours ago, balo said:

I don't believe it before I see it with my own eyes.  We are talking about at least 100 000 retired people who pay agents 20k per year to be able to stay here on visa based on retirement.

 

Who borrows 800k and get the correct visa, no rules are broken , they still have a pension to live a good life in Thailand and support their Thai relatives and the economy . 

 

We'll see . but I think business as usual next year. 

 

 

 

And many more than 100,000 retirees who haven’t got a pot to piss in, the rules are being broken. Me thinks you are wishful thinking the long overdue clamp down is fast approaching. 

[blackhorse]

At jomtien Immigration I was told I needed to go to a bangkok approved office for translation to get my income statement translated.... However the lady offered to take care of my retirement extension for 15k. This happened after I was taken to an office where it was quite.

Politely declined and took my rejected paperwork to bangkok immigration where I own a condo and job done, no translation

[terryofcrete]

12 minutes ago, blackhorse said:

At jomtien Immigration I was told I needed to go to a bangkok approved office for translation to get my income statement translated.... However the lady offered to take care of my retirement extension for 15k. This happened after I was taken to an office where it was quite.

Politely declined and took my rejected paperwork to bangkok immigration where I own a condo and job done, no translation

i could not let that happen without persuing it further ... I know , I know, TIT etc. but I am just that sort of person,  and no, I have never been beaten up by taxi drivers or club bouncers after complaining or refusing to go along with whatever scam is flavour of the month.

[blackhorse]

i could not let that happen without persuing it further ... I know , I know, TIT etc. but I am just that sort of person,  and no, I have never been beaten up by taxi drivers or club bouncers after complaining or refusing to go along with whatever scam is flavour of the month.

It's a tough one. My word against hers and who to report it to? Where was big joke when I needed him

[DrTuner]

I'll give it a couple of weeks until things normalize and black label starts to flow as normal.

[hotchilli]

Is this just going to happen at high profile locations or at every land border crossing where the practice of giving an immigration officer 300 baht before re-entering has been the norm for years ??

If so I wonder how it will be monitored... maybe a hotline to report officers who have a short memory of the rules!

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

I'm going to let the waitresses know in a couple of restaurants i go to plus gogos that no more tips allowed and show them the sign

Lots of luck getting served 

[Marley01]

Now I would love to see an enterprising producer start up a thai comedy called “no tips”

they could have not just one big joke but a whole heap of little jokes too.

imagine the merchandise sales for a project like this.

I reckon “no tips” t shirts would far out weigh the Buriram United shorts everyone wears.

Robinsons could change the food part of their shops to Tips instead of Tops.

my mind is spinning with the many ways to make money on the back of this hilarity 

[how241]

It's a start in the right direction.

[Lacessit]

22 hours ago, giddyup said:

Do the illegitimate ones actually cost Thailand anything? Probably not, they are still spending money here, there's no welfare.

Good point. A retiree here with an income and expenditure of 50,000 baht instead of the required 65,000 baht/month is still putting considerably more into the Thai economy than the average Thai.