Anyone ever caught without passport in random immigration check? Immigration has a database of all farangs?

[pbrock]

Anyone ever caught without passport in random Thai immigration check? What happen?

 

Was any alternative means of identification such as passport copy, black and white or color accepted? Or Thai driving license accepted? Or other kind of ID? Enough to look up visa status in computer and be free to go?

 

Dragged to police station, detained and waiting for some third party to bring in the passport?

 

What if no one can be reached who could bring the passport? Detained for a long time and deported?

 

They really don't escort the the farang to its apartment and check the passport? They'd really go through the hassle of long detention and deportation instead?

 

What does immigration the passport need for anyhow other than convenience or faster processes? Doesn't immigration they keep digital copies (arrival cards, passport scans at border) in some computer database anyhow? I suppose it's all in the computer anyhow? Expecting too much? If they refuse to look at the database, then what's the point of the database?

 

They'll make a photo at each border entry and scan the passport. Isn't that sufficient to identify someone who's revealing their real name? Wouldn't that even be sufficient to identify someone who can't reveal their real name?

[jackdd]

21 minutes ago, pbrock said:

Anyone ever caught without passport in random Thai immigration check?

The only case of "random Thai immigration check" i've ever seen is when they check people in "visa run vans" near the border, other than that i've never seen Thai immigration doing random checks and i've travelled quite a lot in Thailand and also in border regions.

In random police checkpoints i was asked for my passport one single time, i did have my passport with me back then, but i doubt it would have been a big problem if i wouldn't have had my passport with me.

About which "random Thai immigration checks" are you talking?

[Psimbo]

I carry a credit card size colour photocopy of my details page and latest 90 day report. The local (Phuket) police commander stated a number of years ago that a copy was sufficient in the first instance.

 

Never been asked to produce them in nearly 15 years here. A quick glance at my Thai driving licence seems to satisfy them on vehicle checkpoints.

 

Immigration do check- I was in a hotel in Pattaya last year, checking in with my Thai driving licence. I was called downstairs a couple of days later to face three plain clothes Immigration cops. It turned out there was a minor anomaly on my driving licence with the spelling of my name and they thought it was a fake. From his smart phone the IO accessed the LTO database and was able to see they were at fault (one spelling of my christian name with an 'n' and the other with an 'm').

 

As a follow up he went through my passport page by page, checking every stamp. It was a bit intimidating at first but once they realised I was above board they loosened up a bit and were quite amicable by the end of the process.

 

This was during a crackdown on guesthouses, non-registration of guests and overstayers last November. Things have eased up again since but even guesthouses that did not register guests in  the past are now following the correct procedures.

 

I have since updated my licence! 

 

Edit: I am on a Retirement permit. Immigration has only called around once in the 7 years I have been in my current apartment to check if live in it. They didn't even come upstairs, just asked the receptionist if I lived there. I was passing at the time and asked if they wanted to see my passport but they didn't bother.

Edited December 27, 2018 by Psimbo

[dennis123]

For a fee the police will drive you to your home to pick up your passport.

[pbrock]

2 minutes ago, jackdd said:

About which "random Thai immigration checks" are you talking?

Checkpionts when driving by car from Mae Sai and other car check points. I wasn't driving myself and no one was interested in me. Perhaps because traffic police is a different department?

 

Otherwise random checkups on the street for pedestrians or in bars I only know them from reading the forums a lot and hearsay which I am not sure is believable.

 

[jacko45k]

I have never ever been stopped and asked for my passport in the Pattaya area. 

I am regularly stopped by traffic police who either want to see my licence or m/c tax. 

Nevertheless I have photos of my Passport, Extension and entry stamp/TM6 in my phone.

Even driving in other provinces I have never been asked for my passport in 10 years, but would usually have it with me for hotels etc. It was many years ago in Northern border regions where a road stop asked for it. 

Edited December 27, 2018 by jacko45k

[TSF]

I was on a bus a couple years ago heading to the Thai-Lao border on way to having a little holiday at Pakse. Bus was stopped by police and he asked to see all foreingers passports. When he saw my UK passport he told me to follow him into the police station. I was starting to get worried why, but everything was in order regarding my visa. In the police station I was taken into a large meeting room where there were about 30-40 unimformed police officers and I was taken to a lectern and handed a microphone and told to give an English lesson to the police.

 

So seems they were having this meeting and someone decided at the last minute it'd be good to have a native speaker give an English lesson, so they pulled one (me) off the next bus to the border.

[BritManToo]

11 hours ago, pbrock said:

Checkpionts when driving by car from Mae Sai and other car check points. I wasn't driving myself and no one was interested in me. Perhaps because traffic police is a different department?

Those checkpoints are immigration, but they are only looking for Burmese.

White foreigners are totally ignored.

[mvdf]

35 minutes ago, TSF said:

In the police station I was taken into a large meeting room where there were about 30-40 unimformed police officers and I was taken to a lectern and handed a microphone and told to give an English lesson to the police.

 

Right. Colorful imagination there. A well-embellished story. Some would naively buy it but most will see straight through this invented fiction.

 

[roo860]

I was on a bus a couple years ago heading to the Thai-Lao border on way to having a little holiday at Pakse. Bus was stopped by police and he asked to see all foreingers passports. When he saw my UK passport he told me to follow him into the police station. I was starting to get worried why, but everything was in order regarding my visa. In the police station I was taken into a large meeting room where there were about 30-40 unimformed police officers and I was taken to a lectern and handed a microphone and told to give an English lesson to the police.
 
So seems they were having this meeting and someone decided at the last minute it'd be good to have a native speaker give an English lesson, so they pulled one (me) off the next bus to the border.

How long did they hold the bus for while you gave the English lesson?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[OJAS]

38 minutes ago, roo860 said:

How long did they hold the bus for while you gave the English lesson?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

More likely that @TSF had an exceedingly long wait for the next bus, I think!

[BestB]

Was caught up in club raid. They accepted photo of passport and visa stamps in your phone . I did not have either.

 

off to HQ, about 2-3 hours wait while they checked data base and let go.

Edited December 28, 2018 by BestB

[Pattaya46]

13 hours ago, pbrock said:

Anyone ever caught without passport in random Thai immigration check? What happen?

Happened several times in late checks in several Pattaya discos.

From what I have read in news or forum :

- Most of times tourists are not checked and just let go
 

13 hours ago, pbrock said:

Was any alternative means of identification such as passport copy, black and white or color accepted? Or Thai driving license accepted? Or other kind of ID? Enough to look up visa status in computer and be free to go?

- When checked, a photocopy of passport was accepted,

  but pics of passport pages on a mobile phone were not...

- Depends of the type of control. If no Immigration Officer with the Police, your DL may be enough.

 

13 hours ago, pbrock said:

Dragged to police station, detained and waiting for some third party to bring in the passport? 

What if no one can be reached who could bring the passport? Detained for a long time and deported?

- Yes

- Don't know for sure, but think they can organise to "escort" you to your home or hotel

Edited December 28, 2018 by Pattaya46

[samsensam]

 

this topic often rears it's head. i've been stopped by police twice in 20 odd years but not asked for my passport. i have never met anyone who has been asked to show their passport in a random check. i have never seen police stopping foreigners and asking to see their passports. live in bangkok.

 

is this really a common happening/problem?

Edited December 28, 2018 by samsensam

[TonyClifton]

I have lived here on and off for 13 years.  I have never been questioned.

[NCC1701A]

14 hours ago, pbrock said:

What does immigration the passport need for anyhow other than convenience or faster processes? Doesn't immigration they keep digital copies (arrival cards, passport scans at border) in some computer database anyhow? I suppose it's all in the computer anyhow? Expecting too much? If they refuse to look at the database, then what's the point of the database?

Farang think too much.

 

don't forget about corruption. the corner stone of everything Thai.

[JackThompson]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Those checkpoints are immigration, but they are only looking for Burmese.

White foreigners are totally ignored.

Used to be the case - maybe still is in some areas.  But I recall 2 or so years ago when they suddenly started checking mine - and they had never done previously, at the same checkpoints.  After that point, they checked every time at every checkpoint. 

 

To be clear, I am referring to the checkpoints on highways a few KM inside the Thai border, when traveling in a bus or van; I have never been "stopped on the street" and asked for anything.

[dotpoom]

It is no longer a requirement to carry your passport on your person.

[ubonjoe]

23 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

It is no longer a requirement to carry your passport on your person.

I don't think that is entirely correct. You are still required to have a identification with you and as foreigner your passport is technically the only form of ID that you can use.

Immigration the police and others have said a copy of your passport would be accepted. But in certain situations they could still insist on the seeing the original.

I personally would never be very far from where my passport was in case it was required. I certainly would not travel around the country without it.

[1337markus]

This comes up every year, and every year a RTP authority states what is required. Pity people dont read.

[pbrock]

25 minutes ago, 1337markus said:

This comes up every year, and every year a RTP authority states what is required. Pity people dont read.

Latest statement, where can I find it?

[thaibreaker]

Yes, the immigration police do indeed have random checks for passports. No doubt about that. Not only at borders. I was checked just outside of a shopping mall in Bangkok, and couldn`t show my passport at the time. Gave them my name and nationality, and they did indeed call in to their office to check my status.

 

So yes, if you are stopped by the immigration, they will usually check you out before they take you down to their station. But it all seem to depend on nationality, or the color of your skin. Several Nigerians caught at the same time, were not that lucky, but I doubt they had valid visas at all. At least they acted like that.

Edited December 28, 2018 by thaibreaker

[German farang]

19 hours ago, jackdd said:

The only case of "random Thai immigration check" i've ever seen is when they check people in "visa run vans" near the border, other than that i've never seen Thai immigration doing random checks and i've travelled quite a lot in Thailand and also in border regions.

In random police checkpoints i was asked for my passport one single time, i did have my passport with me back then, but i doubt it would have been a big problem if i wouldn't have had my passport with me.

About which "random Thai immigration checks" are you talking?

Might a year ago I sat together with another farang (in random BKK) outside his condomium, I had coffee, he some beer.

A picup truck stoped & 4 civiluan clothed (but visible armed) agents (2 of them identified themselfs by id as immigration police). They asked for passport & visa, backchecked by phone calls (to where ever). This was the only "random check" by immigration I ever experienced.

In the aftermath this other farang suspected some local (jealousy? he's not that poor, but greedy as hell) snitch (since no any other farang living in our area)...

[thaibreaker]

19 hours ago, pbrock said:

They really don't escort the the farang to its apartment and check the passport? They'd really go through the hassle of long detention and deportation instead?

In my case, they drove me to my apartment 10 minutes away, so I could pick up my passport. Since I had overstay at the time (a few years ago), they gave me a chance to pick up my stuff.

 

I wouldn`t count on that they do that every time though, but if they have time and you ask politely, they might do it, as they did for me.

[Mavideol]

19 hours ago, dennis123 said:

For a fee the police will drive you to your home to pick up your passport.

ahhhh the FEE!!!! it's all about the FEE!!!

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, 1337markus said:

This comes up every year, and every year a RTP authority states what is required. Pity people dont read.

All the staff have their own opinions, and as you don't know who will stop you, why not just choose an opinion that suits you.

The opinion that suits me is I carry my Thai driving licence. Passport is only for when I'm doing a border crossing.

[VBF]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think that is entirely correct. You are still required to have a identification with you and as foreigner your passport is technically the only form of ID that you can use.

Immigration the police and others have said a copy of your passport would be accepted. But in certain situations they could still insist on the seeing the original.

I personally would never be very far from where my passport was in case it was required. I certainly would not travel around the country without it.

As a visitor, I've never been asked over 30 years of visiting Thailand, and when I'm staying in one area, whether it be Pattaya or Phuket, I keep a laminated copy of my PP in my wallet, and a scan of PP, TM and entry stamps on my phone. My PP stays in the safe, unless I need it. I'd SO hate to lose or damage it!

However, when I travel around Thailand, my PP goes with me - still never been asked but once the bus I was on was stopped at a checkpoint near Korat. What appeared to be police AND soldiers, boarded the bus and I had my bumbag ready to offer my PP. They questioned several Asian people (not sure if Thai or other nationality) but completely ignored me, I'm pleased to say. 

[jgarbo]

20 hours ago, Psimbo said:

I carry a credit card size colour photocopy of my details page and latest 90 day report. The local (Phuket) police commander stated a number of years ago that a copy was sufficient in the first instance.

 

Never been asked to produce them in nearly 15 years here. A quick glance at my Thai driving licence seems to satisfy them on vehicle checkpoints.

 

Immigration do check- I was in a hotel in Pattaya last year, checking in with my Thai driving licence. I was called downstairs a couple of days later to face three plain clothes Immigration cops. It turned out there was a minor anomaly on my driving licence with the spelling of my name and they thought it was a fake. From his smart phone the IO accessed the LTO database and was able to see they were at fault (one spelling of my christian name with an 'n' and the other with an 'm').

 

As a follow up he went through my passport page by page, checking every stamp. It was a bit intimidating at first but once they realised I was above board they loosened up a bit and were quite amicable by the end of the process.

 

This was during a crackdown on guesthouses, non-registration of guests and overstayers last November. Things have eased up again since but even guesthouses that did not register guests in  the past are now following the correct procedures.

 

I have since updated my licence! 

 

Edit: I am on a Retirement permit. Immigration has only called around once in the 7 years I have been in my current apartment to check if live in it. They didn't even come upstairs, just asked the receptionist if I lived there. I was passing at the time and asked if they wanted to see my passport but they didn't bother.

30 yrs never asked for passport. I smile at cops speak polite Thai and they smile back.

[gamini]

If you live here you can always use a pink ID instead of a passport. Until I got one I always had to produce my passport for any business at the bank. They would not accept my driving licence. Now they accept a pink ID

[NoshowJones]

20 hours ago, dennis123 said:

For a fee the police will drive you to your home to pick up your passport.

A fee? Don't they get enough tea money? Stupid question. If they decide they want to come to your'e home, then they should pay, not you.