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Two immigration officers dismissed for visa-stamping travel documents they knew to be forged


Jonathan Fairfield

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I am happy to see any corruption dealth with.

I have been here 13 yrs, always did all immigration myself, never used an agent or didanything under the table.

One day in Pattaya I was complain8ng aboujt having to get there at 5 am to get a que number........an agent offered if I pay 28,000 it can all be done without meever going there.

I was concerned that I would try to re enter and immigration realizes its false.

 

I am no alter boy, rules are made to be broken.......in some cases.

 

But for me......I dont mess with Thai Immigration, I would hate to be forced to leave for something stupid.

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16 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I didn't understand that reference either... Not sure what's going on with that...

 

Meanwhile, sure like to hear the outcome of these cases below:

 

 

Were actual criminal charges ever filed against these folks, particularly the officers?  Did their cases ever go to court? And what if any has been the outcome?   Or did they just quietly drift away into the Thailand night....

 

Probably still picking up their wages at the Office of Unfair Trading, (or Inactive Posts Department) but as we never hear any follow up stories we will never know!

Edited by sambum
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14 hours ago, Mavideol said:

call me crazy but I would like a meeting with B.J, I have a very heavy weight on my chest and (for the obvious reasons) can't write about it but would be willing to explain to him face to face, if he speaks another language besides Thai,  without a translator (3rd party translations get distorted) maybe he's an open mind type guy and could listen to some of us, I don't know but it's an idea, we keep claiming that we don't count, they don't need us or want us, maybe it's not the case and we are all wrong, maybe they do $$$$ value us

Huh?????

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16 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

As far as I can tell, the financial requirement fraud problem is essentially an immigration "internal affairs" problem. Fire corrupt officials and ban visa agents except for those who can't make immigration trips for health reaasons, and the entire financial fraud problem would end overnight, with none of the idiotically inefficient paperwork needed to verify bank balances on a year round basis. Big Joke: put the fear of God in your subordinates, not in peace loving and law-abiding senior citizens.

Totally agree with you, but it will never happen, too much fiddle money involved, with BJ and his mob probably creaming of the lions share.

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2 hours ago, mikebell said:

He could then move on to various Immigration offices to research why the rules for various visas differ from branch to branch.

Yes indeed - it makes a mockery of their Rules and Regulations.

 

I can not understand why this situation has been allowed to go unchecked for years - oh, sorry. I realise why this situation has been allowed to go unchecked for years - silly me! I remember a certain Immigration Officer (IO) stating to someone who complained that there was nothing in the Immigration rules to say that a certain requirement had to be met and the IO stated quite loudly (so that everybody waiting their turn could hear)  " I make the rules here!"

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15 hours ago, Mavideol said:

but would be willing to explain to him face to face, if he speaks another language besides Thai,  without a translator (3rd party translations get distorted) maybe he's an open mind type guy

Could be a Win Win I’d be willing to go along anyone know how to contact him? Put a post out for a “Town Hall” Meeting he would probably appreciate it and show he listens maybe he won’t change 

his mind but at least we tried and he listened. 

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2 hours ago, Bob12345 said:

There is no announcement coming from the RTP without a big poster with all the details in the background.

Reminds me of a re-enactment a few weeks back on the news. The guy needed to take a dump at the toilet..... part of the re-enactment....

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15 hours ago, Mavideol said:

call me crazy but I would like a meeting with B.J, I have a very heavy weight on my chest and (for the obvious reasons) can't write about it but would be willing to explain to him face to face, if he speaks another language besides Thai,  without a translator (3rd party translations get distorted) maybe he's an open mind type guy and could listen to some of us, I don't know but it's an idea, we keep claiming that we don't count, they don't need us or want us, maybe it's not the case and we are all wrong, maybe they do $$$$ value us

I remember a post a couple of weeks ago when the Head of Immigration (I don't refer to him as Big Joke as there is nothing funny about the man) stated that ex pats had nothing to worry about - he was going to make it easier for them to stay here, and literally days later announced changes to the extension of visa requirements that did exactly the opposite by doubling the length of time for money to be "seasoned" in a  Thai bank, and making it a requirement that half of it had to be there permanently!

 

So "maybe they do $$$$ value us" is about the only part of your post that sounds anywhere near correct, as he forgot to add the word "affluent" before "ex pats"! (And before anybody says it - I don't think 800,000 baht is "peanuts"! - especially when multiplied by the number of people that it applies to!) 

Edited by sambum
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What? Sacked!? SACKED!!! No 'Inactive Posting' available, like reading the papers in an aircon Thai bank lobby? What on earth is happening to the revered brown envelope culture of old, I'm flabbergasted! 

Edited by Small Joke
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17 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I didn't understand that reference either... Not sure what's going on with that...

 

Meanwhile, sure like to hear the outcome of these cases below:

 

 

Were actual criminal charges ever filed against these folks, particularly the officers?  Did their cases ever go to court? And what if any has been the outcome?   Or did they just quietly drift away into the Thailand night....

 

I would bet that they silently drifted away into the dead of night....with no penalties....with no punitive consequences, etc. Yet, when those outside of that "favoritism" are scrutinized, most likely they are unfairly dealt with a non-democratic decision which usually means a brown envelope:)

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It might be easier just to sack the non corrupt officials.

 

There has to be a high level of trust within the government departments, including police, when teams operate to extort money from the public. 

 

Desk 8 Jomtien is still doing a thriving business. 

So some level of protection must be in place. 

 

Maybe these individuals were doing it alone and not part of the bigger picture?

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A friend of mine a reasonably high up " pretty much fair"policeman  commented on BJ

"Hes a Gorilla and honest"

 

He did not seem over enamored  but I could not tell if this was a recommendation or derogatory statement

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What also gets me thinking that this is purely PR, smoke and mirrors,  is,...

 

We have to disclose our bank accounts and details.

Just to stay here. 

 

The IO and police don't seem to have to disclose their's!!

 

First place to look is lifestyles. 

If you have a 200,000 baht job, and a 500,000 lifestyle, say no more. 

 

Should be a matter of public record for all government positions.  ????????????

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17 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

As far as I can tell, the financial requirement fraud problem is essentially an immigration "internal affairs" problem. Fire corrupt officials and ban visa agents except for those who can't make immigration trips for health reaasons, and the entire financial fraud problem would end overnight, with none of the idiotically inefficient paperwork needed to verify bank balances on a year round basis. Big Joke: put the fear of God in your subordinates, not in peace loving and law-abiding senior citizens.

What problem?

 

What is it that is causing you, the state or the economy a problem?

 

I am referring to the "financial fraud" problem stated above.

 

Edited by rott
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The blatancy that I read daily is astounding...favoritism for those with deep pockets, yet those deep pockets (even if they employ native Thais) still have to jump through the hoops to satisfy yet another restriction- that being pervasive Visas (permits) for the owners- even though they employ Thai natives. And so..typically, the so-called "relaxed"  requirements are in itself a guise. "When" the Thai people have had enough of the military's inept plans or policies, then I hope they will take the initiative to rid all of these corrupt policies which do NOT affect them in a positive way.

 

Myself? To trust a militarized way of thinking and governance that 'supposedly" benefits me is insanity.

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In defense of Thais, whether ignorance, lack of education, or simply as others adopting a certain way of thinking, it will usually take a certain episode to dissuade anyone from changing their way of thinking. Obviously, individual and how much one is affected. I am without words when anyone remains silent "if" what is considered wrong by many is simply ignored. Complacency I guess is the word here.

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  1. I sure hope that 2 of the 3 goons that got axed from the force from DonMueng airport were the two punks that gave me(U.S passport holder) a hard time when I took my 16 year old daughter(U.S. Passport holder), my daughter's 16 year old cousin(Vietnamese passport holder) her 66 year old grandma (my ex wife's mother in law/ Vietnamese passport holder) my step daughter(Vietnamese passport holder) on a tour group (5 days, 4 nights) provided by a tour company in Vietnam to Thailand back in 2014. At first one of them approached my daughter and asked her some questions and she got scared she then called me over so I went to inform them that she is my daughter and the <deleted> just told me to stay away because it wasn't my business, (I got so pissed and wish that I have a freaking AR15 at the time!) I told him that of course it is my business since she is my daughter and she's only 16, I was angry to the point that I screamed at them so loud. They then took us to the back room and started to asked for proof that each of us must have certain amount of money and that we're not allowed to get into the country!#$@% if we can't provide financial proof, I told them why they don't asked others people on our group but only single us out, I told them that I have over 2K in USD (B66,000) and 2 credit cards worth $25K so you don't have to worry about my financial situations. I also told them that I want to call the US embassy to informed them that we're being harrassed, threaten by the stupid custom officers for no reason. They finally call another dude over and said that this is misunderstanding because Thailand has encounter human traffickings, I told him that is Bull shit cuz I clearly stated who we are and we have US passports and those two <deleted> still gave us hard time for no reason whatsoever! And people always commended that Thai people are very nice, very honest, always smile and always welcome you.... Really?
Edited by LobsterBoston1980
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19 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Surachet added that since his landing the bureau’s top post last October, five immigration police officers – three at Don Mueang International Airport and the latest two at Suvarnabhumi Airport – and 37 “middle person” accomplices had been arrested over travel-document forgery, leading to the visas of some 200 foreigners being revoked.

5 months & he's only found 5.. He's not looking very hard !

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