‘Big Joke’ vows to get rid of 7,000 overstaying foreigners by end of month

By The Nation

 

Pictures: Thai Immigration

 

Acting Immigration Police chief Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakpal, who recently got the job because of his relentless crackdowns on foreigners living unlawfully in the Kingdom, vowed on Friday to get rid of 7,000 overstaying foreigners by the end of this month.
 

Surachate, better known as “Big Joke”, made the promise in a 2.30am press conference at the Montien Hotel ar park on Surawong Road in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district.

 

He addressed reporters to announce the results of his 37th “Operation X-Ray Outlaw Foreigners” in which he had dispatched police to 265 locations around the country the day before. The targeted places included tourist destinations, language schools and private schools.

 

 

He said 700 foreigners had been arrested during the latest crackdown. Of these, police found that 247 had sneaked into the country without a visa, 104 were overstayers and 349 had failed to report their residential addresses or violated the alien business law.

 

Immigration police and tourist police have so far checked 5,071 spots around the country and arrested 3,501 foreigners with either lapsed visas or no visas, Surachate said.

 

He said he has been told that a further 7,000 foreigners were still in Thailand on expired visas and all would be deported by the end of October.

 

He also threatened legal action against any Thai employers who hired overstaying foreigners or those without visas at all.

 

 

Surachate has targeting foreigners who had no right to be in Thailand since he was he deputy tourist police chief, when he labelled his first crackdown “Operation Black Eagle”.

 

He has habitually chosen odd hours to announce the results of his weekly crackdowns.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30356757

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-10-19

24 minutes ago, webfact said:

vowed on Friday to get rid of 7,000 overstaying foreigners by the end of this month.

As far as I am concerned he can go for his life catching them all. If you can't play by the visa rules, you have no right to be here. Those of us here legally cop continuous flak from the bad reputation such people give the rest of us.

37 minutes ago, webfact said:

He said he has been told that a further 7,000 foreigners were still in Thailand on expired visas and all would be deported by the end of October.

Big Joke seems to be a Pokemon fan. Just gotta catch em all!

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He said 700 foreigners had been arrested during the latest crackdown. Of these, police found that 247 had sneaked into the country without a visa, 104 were overstayers and 349 had failed to report their residential addresses or violated the alien business law.

I just wonder roughly what percentage do in reality report their address?

I'm sure it will be a flash in the pan, but who knows.

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Immigration police and tourist police have so far checked 5,071 spots around the country and arrested 3,501 foreigners with either lapsed visas or no visas, Surachate said.

So, 10,000 more checks to reach that 7000 number in 13 days. 

 

Good luck with that...

I don’t know if big joke has anything to do with it but news from Sydney is that a person who fled to Thailand a year ago after a particularly brutal murder has just returned to Sydney and been arrested.

He has been in Thailand for twelve months so obviously knew the ropes or paid the right people , maybe Thailand will stop being such a safe haven for scum, we can but hope.

Overstayers, criminals and other people who doesn't follow the laws should be arrested, fined and deported. It's just common sense, and this will put a relief on the burden for normal folks who're adhering to the laws and not become a subject for a minority who doesn't. But honestly, I think this is just a PR move for BJ and we don't really know what these numbers truly are. 

2 hours ago, darksidedog said:

As far as I am concerned he can go for his life catching them all. If you can't play by the visa rules, you have no right to be here. Those of us here legally cop continuous flak from the bad reputation such people give the rest of us.

Quite agree, I hope he does away the the dodgy visa services providing extensions for those without the funds, those people need to go home.

Great Stuff

????Should have done it loooooooooooong ago...

taking into account that anyone deported will be held at IDC before they are forced to pay for their plane ticket home, and that they can only purchase their plane tickets from the IDC office at a conservative mark up of 100%, if the mark up is an average of only $1,000 USD, then that's a nice little $7,000,000. dollar cash cow. Nice earnings for one month.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

104 were overstayers and 349 had failed to report their residential addresses or violated the alien business law.

Are they arresting & deporting  people for not reporting their addresses ?

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Acting Immigration Police chief Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakpal, who recently got the job because of his relentless crackdowns on foreigners living unlawfully in the Kingdom, vowed on Friday to get rid of 7,000 overstaying foreigners by the end of this month.

Have to admit, I enjoy BJ's enthusiasm, but he is pushing the boat out if he expects to locate, identify, charge and deport 7,000 'known' overstayers in the next 13 days. If he achieves this, I will voluntarily eat my words.

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

He said 700 foreigners had been arrested during the latest crackdown. Of these, police found that 247 had sneaked into the country without a visa, 104 were overstayers and 349 had failed to report their residential addresses or violated the alien business law.

More alarming to me however are the other facts & figures in this drum-beating OP, especially the ones highlighting the border security of Thailand. In his attempt to surround himself and his team with honour, he has also shown how porous the borders of Thailand are.

 

Another question arises as well; are the 349 people who failed to report their residential addresses going to be deported for this? That. IMO, would be extremely harsh.

1 minute ago, sanemax said:

Are they arresting & deporting  people for not reporting their addresses ?

Good question. saw another recent report regarding this. I'd guess only a fine, but who knows?

Don't recall seeing the outcome of the previous article.

 

1 minute ago, chrisinth said:

Another question arises as well; are the 349 people who failed to report their residential addresses going to be deported for this? That. IMO, would be extremely harsh.

That does seem to be a separate issue from the overstayers/no visa people .

I would expect that no one here illegally is going to report their address , if you were overstaying , you are hardly going to go to immigration and tell them where you live .

   Stands to reason that all overstayers hadnt filled out their address card , which suggests that the 349 did have visas and got arrested solely for not filling out their address form 

Good BJ are you going after all employers of illegals.  No your not that silly.

Very good thing to get rid of the farangs who do not respect the law.

 

After that, we would like to suggest around 7'000+ taxi drivers in Bangkok who regularly refuse the meter.

 

We would also like to suggest around 7000+ immigration police officers who regularly are unaware of the rules, make up their own red tape on visa extension issues and make life complicated for the foreigners who wish to play by the rules.

 

Please also remember to tackle 7000 employees of the DLT - Land Transport Offices who also make trouble here and there on driving licence issues with foreigners.

 

And this will be a good start, Sir. Well done for your efforts to make this country a better place and keep up the good work.

1 minute ago, observer90210 said:

Very good thing to get rid of the farangs who do not respect the law.

 

After that, we would like to suggest around 7'000+ taxi drivers in Bangkok who regularly refuse the meter.

 

We would also like to suggest around 7000+ immigration police officers who regularly are unaware of the rules, make up their own red tape on visa extension issues and make life complicated for the foreigners who wish to play by the rules.

 

Please also remember to tackle 7000 employees of the DLT - Land Transport Offices who also make trouble here and there on driving licence issues with foreigners.

 

And this will be a good start, Sir. Well done for your efforts to make this country a better place and keep up the good work.

They cannot deport Thai people , its against U.N. resolutions 

8 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

I know a few people using these kinds of services.

Most are decent blokes living a quiet life in their 50's and 60's and contributing to the local economy. 

Many have the money but quite rightly don't want to keep it in a Thai bank account in perpetuity.

Graft and cutting corners is the Thai way of doing things, visas and suchlike have never been any different. If it makes life easier then why not use these services? 

"If it makes life easier then why not use these services?"

Why not? Because they are "dodgy" or illegal.

I too am a decent bloke living a quiet life in my dotage and contributing to the local economy. I choose to play by the rules, which are not that onerous, laid down by the Thais, as do the vast majority of expats residing here on a "regular" basis.. I disagree with graft and cutting corners, which is why I applaud Major General Big Joke for his "winds of change" approach.

 

 

Just now, sanemax said:

They cannot deport Thai people , its against U.N. resolutions 

So which island is going to become the new penitentiary?

 

A number of posts which are mainly trolls have been removed.

14 minutes ago, sanemax said:

That does seem to be a separate issue from the overstayers/no visa people .

I would expect that no one here illegally is going to report their address , if you were overstaying , you are hardly going to go to immigration and tell them where you live .

   Stands to reason that all overstayers hadnt filled out their address card , which suggests that the 349 did have visas and got arrested solely for not filling out their address form 

We fill out our address on the TM6 form on entry into Thailand. 

 

Isn't it then the responsibility of the house owner / landlord to register us at their / our address in a separate document?

Thanks for the heads up Biggy jokes... Overstayers run away....

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

What's he going to do when he has deported all the overstayers.

lets hope he next starts cleaning house in the Immigration departments.

regards worgeordie

 

Well, assuming that he won't complete this task as regards existing overstayers before mid-2019, he might subsequently hope to find rich pickings among Brits who are no longer able to obtain Embassy income letters!????

3 hours ago, webfact said:

349 had failed to report their residential addresses

 

What does that mean? Not doing 90 day reporting? Or not submitting TM.30 (which is not required by Bangkok immigration, but was still used in the case of the woman complaining about the noise from a nearby temple)?

39 minutes ago, chrisinth said:

Have to admit, I enjoy BJ's enthusiasm, but he is pushing the boat out if he expects to locate, identify, charge and deport 7,000 'known' overstayers in the next 13 days. If he achieves this, I will voluntarily eat my words.

 

More alarming to me however are the other facts & figures in this drum-beating OP, especially the ones highlighting the border security of Thailand. In his attempt to surround himself and his team with honour, he has also shown how porous the borders of Thailand are.

 

Another question arises as well; are the 349 people who failed to report their residential addresses going to be deported for this? That. IMO, would be extremely harsh.

No. What is extremely hash is the TV members' assertion that recklessly rounding-up people of colour and deporting them would inevitably make white dudes more acceptable and royally respected by Thai people. When the fact remains that they see us as worms. The farmers need you for their crops.

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

We fill out our address on the TM6 form on entry into Thailand. 

 

Isn't it then the responsibility of the house owner / landlord to register us at their / our address in a separate document?

TM 6 should suffice unless there is an address change which should obviously be reported.  90 day reporting should not be necessary either. They could better utilize personnel involved in these areas to upgrade  service at airports and immigration departments for the things that really count. I would not be surprised if Big Joke makes further changes in the future. Wonder when the guy sleeps though.

"Isn't it then the responsibility of the house owner / landlord to register us at their / our address in a separate document?"

 

Yes, but if they dont do it and immigration pick it up then they will fine the foreigner...its the Thai way. 

Hope he gets the job done quickly and fix all other immigration related problems quick.

Then I hope he gets moved to chief of traffic police or some type of anti corruption unit. Because this is where we really need him.

4 minutes ago, biggles45 said:

"Isn't it then the responsibility of the house owner / landlord to register us at their / our address in a separate document?"

 

Yes, but if they dont do it and immigration pick it up then they will fine the foreigner...its the Thai way. 

They will not fine the foreigner. They simply inform the foreigner that the foreigner can not make the 90 day report unless someone pays the fine. Guess who that someone usually is? The foreigner.