rejected entry and sent back home.

[steve187]

Just now, samsensam said:

 

hence I didn’t make the difficult trip to the London embassy from my rural English location to obtain a tourist visa.

 

couldn't you apply by post? it's quick and easy.

or local consulate

[ubonjoe]

20 minutes ago, Bert Jones said:

For example, if you travel to Israel on one passport then to an Arab country on a different passport...the Arab immigration would know...or would it? are the databases linked by country?

No they are not linked. Each country has in own records that are not shared with others.

[JackThompson]

8 hours ago, Toadie said:

I have been Thailand 6 years on back to back TV. Visa runs with passport full of overstays. As long as I have funds and a reason (wife died and I'm still close with family (true)) they haven't thought twice or queried me over it.

Yet, meanwhile, some older snowbirds from Europe gets the n-th degree. Maybe your stated-reason (Thai family) creates some slack (most will not have that reason) - or perhaps you just haven't hit the magic-number on the roulette-wheel yet.  I hope you always enter OK, but would recommend not entering through dangerous entry-points, to avoid a potential problem in the future.

 

8 hours ago, Toadie said:

False marriages reportedly a problem recently in media.

Of course there are a few who do this, but no reason to create a gauntlet which does Exactly Nothing to reduce fake-marriage extensions.  It's just an excuse to make things difficult for honest applicants, to force them to use agents.

 

Remember the ED-Visa "crackdown"?  A lot of "media" on that was created, at the time, in order to raise the payoffs for those using these visas, carried out via "no hassle" fees, paid through the schools per-extension.  When that "event" / crackdown was manufactured, at least one school in the Pattaya area had an "arrangement," such that they sent SMS alerts to their students, "Show up tomorrow, because immigration will be visiting to verify attendance."  This was combined with the obligatory 3K Baht "no hassle" fee per student-extension, of course.  A guy who attended there (on his 2nd study-language, at that point) lived near me at the time.

 

8 hours ago, Toadie said:

Just renew your passport. Passports are only linked in your home country not here.

This is not correct.  The only place they are not currently linked, is when dealing with Thai-consulates - though that may change soon.

 

8 hours ago, Toadie said:

I have always found IO pretty straight forward and given the numbers coming through their not sending plane full back.

It's a lottery if one has a longer-stay / frequent-visit history.  Most folks don't want to fly 1/2 way across the planet with a dice-roll at the end, determining if they get in or not - even with "good odds."  The damage done to Thailand's reputation / the good of the country via arbitrary denials of entry is not a consideration.  From their perspective, all longer-staying visitors (a made-up term defined in-the-moment by an IO/supervisor) should be paying tribute, or just go away.

[JackThompson]

4 hours ago, Essecola said:

Agents. I have looked high and low for these so called agents through whom I can pay the tribute these ppl want. I don't believe they exist. Spending an absurd amount of my time always having to worry about the next visa. Go to sleep upset. Wake up upset. Repeat. Might as well just go home and be there. I don't need a visa to be at home.

Some are advertised on this site.  I just did a web search and the first agent-hit says, "Providing the finances to support your visa application."  The guy (farang) looks like a used-car salesman - a perfect fit for dealing with some immigration offices.

 

3 hours ago, cleopatra2 said:

Do not offer to show the money unless asked by the IO. 

Saying look I have the money, can be misconstrued as offering a bribe 

But some who did not show it, got stamped for "not having money."  No way a guy with stamps all over the world, and flying in from the UK, with cash to show, "Cannot afford their stay" in Thailand.  The supervisor knew he was committing fraud, and didn't care. 

 

That bad-apple has probably been taking bribes/payoffs his whole "career" as a "public servant," but smart enough to do them in back-rooms with trusted associates, so he doesn't get caught.

[Bert Jones]

Thanks Joe.

[007 RED]

1 hour ago, Bert Jones said:

That's very interesting to know 007, thanks for posting. I would imagine the system software can also match dual passport holders, so not much point switching between the 2. For example, if you travel to Israel on one passport then to an Arab country on a different passport...the Arab immigration would know...or would it? are the databases linked by country?

As Ubonjoe said in post #32, individual countries immigration databases are not linked.  So in your example, provided that you use one specific passport for entering an Arab Country and the other passport for entering Israel, then each country will not know that you have a second passport.

 

However, if you do have two passports and use one on your first visit for example to Thailand, then on a later visit you use the second, the Thai Immigration IT System will identify that you have two passports and they will be linked in the Thai Immigration Database so that the IO can see your entry/exit history.

 

FYI – The immigration software is also capable of identifying a person who holds dual nationality with passports issued by both countries if the person presents a different passports on each visits.

[Toadie]

If you're really worried about facial recognition just get someone punch you in the head few times. Would not recommend it though.

 

There are huge limitations to facial recognition and global databases tracking everyone's movements. Its call personal freedom and liberty which some countries take very, very seriously.

 

Then if it did exist. I'd clean up parking / speeding tickets globally, possibly library books. Then move on to uni debt, taxation. Money laundering, fried their the ones running the system? Their the ones controlling the system.

 

Bloke visiting his GF? She'd have to be mine and really, really good. Nah not happening.

 

Genuine reason, genuine ability to support yourself. No problems. Mistakes do happen until we have this God system.

[scorecard]

23 hours ago, Lovelypaiday said:

 

Yes, the return home was as efficient as I could have expected

 

 

That’s a worse case scenario for me, while I could afford it, it would still be a big dent into my savings, I’m only 30 and would prefer to spend the money by investing it to further my education/career ect

Flight home was free???

[scorecard]

9 hours ago, Toadie said:

If you're really worried about facial recognition just get someone punch you in the head few times. Would not recommend it though.

 

There are huge limitations to facial recognition and global databases tracking everyone's movements. Its call personal freedom and liberty which some countries take very, very seriously.

 

Then if it did exist. I'd clean up parking / speeding tickets globally, possibly library books. Then move on to uni debt, taxation. Money laundering, fried their the ones running the system? Their the ones controlling the system.

 

Bloke visiting his GF? She'd have to be mine and really, really good. Nah not happening.

 

Genuine reason, genuine ability to support yourself. No problems. Mistakes do happen until we have this God system.

 No he has a Thai partner but goes and comes intermittently. 

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

Flight home was free???

For a denied entry, the airline has the responsibility under international agreements to return you to your last departure point. The airline terms and conditions often, in principle, entitle the airline to try to recover the cost from you, but whether this is enforceable without a signed indemnity form is questionable. That would depend on the jurisdiction where they were attempting recovery. If you already have a paid return flight from that airline, they will usually grab it, and it is difficult to do anything about it. Anyway, very few travellers know the international regulations and their rights in respect of denied entry (which, by the way, are completely different from deportation).

[lamyai3]

5 hours ago, scorecard said:

Flight home was free???

I think he meant free as in not fully booked, seats were available. Most likely already had the return ticket of a flight purchased in the UK - they wouldn't have allowed boarding from there without a return/onward flight if no visa had been obtained. 

[yellowboat]

On 1/20/2019 at 12:10 AM, FritsSikkink said:

If you have money get an elite visa.

Or forget Thailand entirely, save B500,000 and spend time in Vietnam and Malaysia. 

[puukao]

life is crazy.  some people are lucky, some are unlucky.

 

I won't say you are unlucky or lucky, since maybe this guy saved you from something.  

 

but it's a big headache, for sure. 

 

i have overstays, never remember where i am staying, not cash on me, one-way ticket, and nobody cares.  i'm white, clean cut, and can speak a little thai.  now i have two years of holding a work permit, so might be even easier.  next time i'll have 20k for show, and i do get a new passport within the year.  

 

but maybe my luck will run out.

 

we never know.

 

good luck

[brewsterbudgen]

Or forget Thailand entirely, save B500,000 and spend time in Vietnam and Malaysia. 

His girlfriend is Thai.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[SOTIRIOS]

...maybe because you said ....'partner'....???

[hobobo]

23 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

A time stamped selfi picture having cash in hand, then a time stamped selfi picture with cash in hand and the passport stamp of refusal might have done something. If not to just P off them more. Too late now. BTW. What is your skin color?

What's yours? (He already said that he is a Caucasian!) 

[MyFriend You]

On 1/20/2019 at 12:18 AM, NanLaew said:

Age, nationality and ethnicity are also some of the unstated criteria in any Thai IO's decision-making process.

Darker skin, disheveled dress, alcohol breath............tattoos on the face, neck, hands, spell 'criminal' in their eyes - yeah, stereotyping is alive and well in Thai Immigrations..........me and my lady had ti wait while they questioned a 40 something guy with tattoos all over his body as evidenced  by his wife beater tank top, spoke with a heavy british accent..........they (two female IO's) refused him entry and he was taken away - I understand a fair amount of Thai and heard bits of their converation with each other "Farang Na Gliete"  "Bak Men"  'Key Mao Lao'  things like that..........its all up to the interviewing officer.  I don't care what kind of Visa you have, it's up to them if you pass their station.  Quite frankly I would have thought the airlines would have had a problem letting him board, I could smell him 10 feet away.

[holy cow cm]

38 minutes ago, hobobo said:

What's yours? (He already said that he is a Caucasian!) 

Perhaps I missed that? And it could have been relevant for racist profiling from the skin color. Me be white. 

[hobobo]

1 minute ago, holy cow cm said:

Perhaps I missed that? And it could have been relevant for racist profiling from the skin color. Me be white. 

Me too. We glow in the dark  

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

Or forget Thailand entirely, save B500,000 and spend time in Vietnam and Malaysia. 

Wouldn't found to be dead in either country.

[007 RED]

8 hours ago, BritTim said:

For a denied entry, the airline has the responsibility under international agreements to return you to your last departure point. The airline terms and conditions often, in principle, entitle the airline to try to recover the cost from you, but whether this is enforceable without a signed indemnity form is questionable. That would depend on the jurisdiction where they were attempting recovery. If you already have a paid return flight from that airline, they will usually grab it, and it is difficult to do anything about it. Anyway, very few travellers know the international regulations and their rights in respect of denied entry (which, by the way, are completely different from deportation).

In the case of the OP, he posted that he had received a ‘blue stamp’ in his passport which he thinks states “lack of income unable to support himself”.  Therefore, possibly refused under Section 12(2) of the Immigration Act. This being the case, the airline would not be financially responsible for returning him.

 

Under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules (Chapter 5 of Annex 9) the airline is only responsible for funding the repatriation flight of an inadmissible person if it can be shown that the airline did not carry out due diligence in accepting the passenger for transport.  For example:

 

1)   Accepting the person for travel after having received a ‘Do Not Board’ warning code via the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS).

 

2)   The person’s travel documents (passport, visa) have expired or are obviously counterfeit, forged, altered or the person is presenting someone else’s travel document(s).

 

In such cases the airline is also responsible for the care and welfare of the passenger whilst awaiting transportation and they may be liable to a substantial fine imposed by the country rejecting entry of the passenger.

 

In the case where the airline is responsible for repatriation of a passenger deemed to be inadmissible, the airline shall return the passenger promptly to the point where they commenced the use of the airline’s aircraft.  The airline shall not return the person to a country that has already refused entry to that person.

 

In the case where the airline is responsible for repatriation of a passenger deemed to be inadmissible, the airline may recover their transportation and ancillary costs from the passenger.

 

The airline is not responsible for any costs or fines relating to the return of a person who has been deemed inadmissible when the problem is beyond the reasonable expertise of the airline or beyond the control of the airline operator, for example: Insufficient funds, or considered to be working without permission.

[cnx355]

You are not the first that is denied entry officially  for " not sufficient money to support himself" and from what I read in this forum most of them have large sum of cash money with them.

 

It seem the IO   can not find a justifiable reason to refuse entry and use this to do it.

 

Otherwise what could they write in the passport  if you are following the rules and do not break any laws.

 

And usually here the superior officer would not make his  Officer loose face and ket you in.

 

 

[seancbk]

On 1/19/2019 at 11:30 PM, Lovelypaiday said:

 

Yes, the return home was as efficient as I could have expected

 

 

That’s a worse case scenario for me, while I could afford it, it would still be a big dent into my savings, I’m only 30 and would prefer to spend the money by investing it to further my education/career ect

 

It's unclear from your original post whether you had an actual tourist visa to enter Thailand or you were trying to enter for free on a Visa Exempt Entry (it's semantics but you've never had a VOA (visa on arrival) as those are not available to UK citizens).   

If you didn't have an actual Tourist Visa but had several Visa Exempt entry stamps then that is highly likely to be the reason you were flagged.   


 

[MrBingley]

On 1/20/2019 at 6:33 AM, Lovelypaiday said:

Yes I can see your point, but I actually never said My current work or taking holiday was in order to accomplish investing in my education/career, I said I would prefer to keep my savings for this purpose.

 

 

 

 

Hi Lovelpaiday,

 

Thanks for posting about this.

 

How long had you spent in Thailand in total and how many tourist visas in total? Based on a report from a Swiss guy who posted here a while ago, it seems like they sometimes use 3 tourist visas a limit, even over a several year period. Maybe that was the problem rather than just your entries in the last year?

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

His girlfriend is Thai.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

 

He didn't say he has a girlfriend. He said he has a partner. There could be a difference. Not that it makes any difference to the subject at hand. Just interesting that people assume.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Bangkok Barry

[NoshowJones]

On 1/20/2019 at 12:28 AM, FritsSikkink said:

I understand you want to invest in your education/career, I don't understand that you are only working 3-4 months a year and have a holiday the rest of the year to accomplish this.

Renting out property in the UK perhaps, or having a business with someone running it for him, or both.

[NoshowJones]

On 1/20/2019 at 4:25 AM, dbrenn said:

Facial recognition is becoming increasingly very fast and accurate, so don't count on them not matching you with an alias, however many times you may have changed your personal details and passport. 

 

There was a recent case of a fugitive in China who was spotted by facial recognition from among tens of thousands of people attending a sporting event. Imagine his surprise when the police walked up to him and took him away. Pretty soon, the cops will be using it to spot anyone they don't like walking down the street. 

 

At least the OP does have the cash for an elite visa, giving him worry free access, if his next attempt is unsuccessful. 

An Elite Visa? Probably the worst method of any country taking money of people to allow them to stay, then giving back very little in return. After giving away 500.000 Bt then contributing to the economy for the next five years, then thanks and goodbye, or another 500.000 Bt for the next five years again and so on.

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Darker skin, disheveled dress, alcohol breath............tattoos on the face, neck, hands, spell 'criminal' in their eyes - yeah, stereotyping is alive and well in Thai Immigrations..........me and my lady had ti wait while they questioned a 40 something guy with tattoos all over his body as evidenced  by his wife beater tank top, spoke with a heavy british accent..........they (two female IO's) refused him entry and he was taken away - I understand a fair amount of Thai and heard bits of their converation with each other "Farang Na Gliete"  "Bak Men"  'Key Mao Lao'  things like that..........its all up to the interviewing officer.  I don't care what kind of Visa you have, it's up to them if you pass their station.  Quite frankly I would have thought the airlines would have had a problem letting him board, I could smell him 10 feet away.

????????????!

[yellowboat]

3 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Wouldn't found to be dead in either country.

Yeah, hence their further attraction.  Nobody like you there.

Edited January 21, 2019 by yellowboat

[dbrenn]

42 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

An Elite Visa? Probably the worst method of any country taking money of people to allow them to stay, then giving back very little in return. After giving away 500.000 Bt then contributing to the economy for the next five years, then thanks and goodbye, or another 500.000 Bt for the next five years again and so on.

Perhaps, but it would solve the OP's problem and give him the peace of mind to see his girlfriend, whenever he pleases, having flown half way around the world. 

 

Think of it as an optional residence tax, for which one gets the benefit of a hassle free long term stay.

Edited January 21, 2019 by dbrenn