Immigration proposes much harsher penalties for failing to report foreigners staying in Thailand

[Peterw42]

5 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

It's not only the immigration nuisance. It is also the exceptionally low quality high arrogance workforce. Unless an entrepreneur is building a enterprise of grilled pork stands, there really is no business case for hiring a bunch of Thais. 

What about all the foreign car, electronics, whitegoods factories that hire millions of Thai workers

[55Jay]

Just now, Fex Bluse said:

That sounds like a terrible experince.

 

It seems they are doing their best to harass foreigners out. Fortunately I don't travel as much as I used to, but, at the busiest, I was travelling out of the country every 1.5/2 weeks or so, mainly around Asia. 

 

Of course, they are too challenged to automatically link the customs database with theirs. 

It wasn't that bad, just really impersonal and petty compared to what we'd become accustomed to - but that's fine, whatever....   I was annoyed the way she appeared to be all done after poring through my documents at the speed of cold molasses, then at the last second, whips out the 43 year old obscure reg and clubs me over the head with it.   Like, "Psych, bet you thought you were good to go, right?  Ha ha!  Gotcha, sucka!"  Yeah, ok, fair play, you got me.  Good job.  Catch 5 more dodgy farangs like me, you might make employee of the month.

 

But there it is.  Just another benefit of being an on-side, predictable, boring "long stay" non-immigrant farang.  Immigration checks us in officially at the airport.  I provide my (same) home address on the Arrival Card and then must report in person to the Immigration office by the next business day that we actually made it from the airport >>>>> to the house.  Granted, it is a 4-hour drive, anything could happen along the way. 

 

Extensions.  90-day reports.  24 hour/housemaster reports.  Various photos posed around the house.  Maps.  Make sure the neighbors don't mind mixed marriages and give us a favorable review.  Copies of our bank accounts, passports/DOBs, and other personal info laying around god knows where, or recycled for routine use around the office. 

 

Wouldn't it be something if Immigration wanted to collect our social media account info, which bars and restaurants we go to in our neighborhood/village, what kind of motorbike/vehicles we have and their license plate #s.   That's borderline crazy behavior you might expect from a psycho, massively insecure ex-girlfriend stalker, so I don't think they would ever go that far.  Would they?  ????

[Jumbo1968]

10 minutes ago, Derek B said:

Exactly

I think one of the biggest reasons Thailand is paranoid is because it was never colonised so don’t know what it’s like in the outside world, they are very ‘blinkered’ and not prepared to veer.Likewise I can’t see the kids at school being taught geography or history of the globe educating them about the outside world.

Like I said more or less in an earlier post they see Farangs as walking ATMs.

[Grusa]

8 hours ago, moe666 said:

Please tourist do not have a clue their where abouts is reported to immigration when the move about the country. It may make it harder to rent a apartment as the landlord will want nothing to do with it

Anything that makes it more difficult for short term airbnb tourists is welcome.

[BritManToo]

29 minutes ago, chrisyork said:

My suggestion. This needs an "Indefinite Leave to Remain" (substitute five years or whatever, to taste) category tacked onto the top the Visa system that takes that foreign passport holder out of the reporting system altogether. Then a waiver added for the rest to cover stays in one place of less than one week.

Why would they do that when they don't want white people here?

[Grusa]

4 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I think one of the biggest reasons Thailand is paranoid is because it was never colonised so don’t know what it’s like in the outside world, they are very ‘blinkered’ and not prepared to veer.Likewise I can’t see the kids at school being taught geography or history of the globe educating them about the outside world.

Like I said more or less in an earlier post they see Farangs as walking ATMs.

And great leader has them believing Thai will be the next universal language of diplomacy.

[ttrd]

RE - In the past you would see maybe 5% Caucasians, now for weeks I have not seen a single farang anymore. Same applies on the domestic flights between Udon and Bangkok which I use very often; in most cases there is maybe one or two other Caucasian on the plane.

 

Maybe you should take a better look as the foreigners do not use whitening cream so after a long period in the country they may not be that easy to discover in the crowd ...

[connda]

9 hours ago, z42 said:

I understand the need for border security, but treating all foreign visitors as potential criminals whose whereabouts need to be confirmed under threat of arrest simply isn't the way forward.

 

This initiative is hardly likely to be welcomed by any side, be it the tourists or the tourism operators / hoteliers.

 

Thailand needs less buraecracy, not more

That's it in a nutshell.  All foreigners are criminals unless proven otherwise and there is no way to prove a foreigner not being a criminal - so all foreigners are criminals.  Maybe you have not yet committed your crime - but it's just a matter of time.  Especially if the law can be changed to make otherwise law-abiding foreigners criminals by the stroke of a pen. 
Any first world country would be aghast at the treatment of foreigners, especially those married to Thais and who have Thai families for over a decade or more.  Average Thais?  Let's shove foreigners out the door as quickly as possible.  I wish I could go back 12 years and make a different choice based on what I now know.
God help me and others when Alzheimers or dementia or some other grave illness makes us all wanton criminals by virtue of an illness. It will be great when mentally and physically impaired farang are tossed into Thai dungeons with scant food or medical care because they -- forgot -- or don't have the capacity to file their own applications even thought they are sufficiently funded! 
"But my embassy will come to my rescue!"  Your country and embassy don't care about you. Hasn't the 'embassy letters' given you a clue?  Understand that sooner than later.  Hopefully when you are finally tossed in a cage to be sodomized and starved, you no longer are aware enough to care.

Edited March 26, 2019 by connda

[ttrd]

Just now, connda said:

That's it in a nutshell.  All foreigners are criminals unless proven otherwise and there is no way to prove a foreigner not being a criminal - so all foreigners are criminals.  Maybe you have not yet committed your crime - it's just a matter of time.  Especially if the law can be changed to make otherwise law-abiding foreigners criminals by the stroke of a pen. 
Any first world country would be aghast at the treatment of foreigners, especially those married to Thai for over a decade or more.  Thais?  Let's shove foreigners out the door as quickly as possible.  I wish I could go back 12 years and make a different choice based on what I now know.

RE - I wish I could go back 12 years and make a different choice based on what I now know.

 

Not much you can do about the past, but important to make the right choices for the future based on what you know today as if not you will continue to repeat the same regrets ...

[steve187]

8 hours ago, Youlike said:

Thanks but she's not renting it to me...we live here together and she pays it all.

your wife needs to summit a completed tm30 form to local immigration office within 24 hours of your arrival at that house,  some immigration offices require a fresh tm30 to be summited every arrival in Thailand, some do not. if you have no dealings with your local immigration office, ie residency certificate, 'visa' extension, then there is no need to complete the tm30, as they can not enforce a fine if you do not go there. plenty of threads on here about the tm30

 

[Jumbo1968]

Deep down and Thais would never admit it the majority of them very envious of Farangs and go out their way too remove cash from us.

We all know that if a Thai Male could provide the similar sort of security/lifestyle a Farang does they won’t come near a Farang.

[steve187]

28 minutes ago, csmith said:

www.immigration.co.th

not working

[damascase]

4 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Folks after they start injecting farang with mico chip implants when you go through immigration it will make things so much easier.....No more TM 30 no more checking in no more 90 day.....And if your being watched 24/7 think how safe you will feel.... 

Well, I’m sure that even with the implant you would have to visit Immigration every 90 days to have your implant checked. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the TM30 would be maintained. Check and doublecheck these aliens!

[kekalot]

3 minutes ago, steve187 said:

not working

 

it's .go.th

 

https://extranet.immigration.go.th/fn24online/

 

interestingly enough, if you click on it, it says "Login for FN hotel" and the registration page says FNHOTELREG which I assume means its for hotel registrations (heard of this before, was told people could not register, only if you had a hotel license)

or maybe its just not edited properly for purposes

[Sir Dude]

This topic does my head in a bit as I have struggled to get a straight answer to what you need to do if you have a WP and an apartment at the work place plus you have a wife who independently owns her own house and spend time at both. Do you need to report both places as it's obvious you will be at both? Even asked at the local (admittedly sleepy) immigration office and they just say that you just report the place of work if you have a residence there....but that doesn't look very reassuring when I read articles like this and the front line officer probably isn't a huge authority on this sort of thing as the wind will blow another direction tomorrow.

[tomacht8]

A foot restraint with GPS, as used for

criminals with house arrest, would be much more practical. Would save a lot of paperwork. Welcome in Thailand and enjoy your vacation.

[cryo]

2 hours ago, johnarth said:

this is way out, do you think he thinks this will impress China? and get more Chinese turos

 

5 hours ago, mommysboy said:

When I pay a credit card bill at the bank I now have to hand over my passport.  I'm beginning to feel like a crim for just living. It's a reasonable request to register a foreigner staying long term, but said foreigner should not carry the can.

Same in the UK its happening everywhere due to money laundering. 

[alex8912]

I can’t read 19 pages of stuff but has anyone mentioned that when you want to “ top up” your Rabbit card ( since Feb 15) for the Bangkok BTS they require your passport now and will make a copy and they want an e mail and/ or phone number ( which I just give an incorrect one ) they asked me this a couple days ago. I told her I don’t carry a passport and I’m sure you have encountered this many times. I told her it’s not the law anymore to carry one and this is inconvenient and just asked for 40 baht change and smiled ( she smiled back lol) 

I read the English pamphlet they give out with like a dozen reasons why they are doing this. Mainly it’s if you want a refund for a lost card. ( please like people ask for refunds of 76 baht) and I would LOVE to read a report on ANY foreigner really getting a refund easily. There is NO choice if you don’t care about a refund ( surprise surprise) 

I left and got on train and this invasion of privacy really got to me. I do like the convenience of a rabbit card especially not to have to wait in line because the stupid freaking machines DONT take Thai bank notes still. 

I reluctantly went last night again to top up 200 baht and had my passport in hand but did not give it to her ( a different woman from a few days ago) she just started processing it and just topped it up and I left without my passport being viewed and copied!! Then I was back at this same stop again and when exiting tried to top it up another 200 baht with no passport in hand and again no problem! 

Now I have over 400 baht in my Rabbit card and will probably loose it lol????

But my point is they will soon have a way to track everyone not just by TM30 but will know everywhere you go on BTS, what time etc. This is just too much! 

[mokwit]

42 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

Wouldn't it be something if Immigration wanted to collect our social media account info, which bars and restaurants we go to in our neighborhood/village

They actually did introduce a form requesting EXACTLY this for a while - fortunately it fell by the wayside (for now.....)

[Lacessit]

48 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

What about all the foreign car, electronics, whitegoods factories that hire millions of Thai workers

Those foreign companies put a lot of time into training Thais, sometimes with unintended consequences. Such as a company I worked for that emphasized safety and the reporting of any injuries, only to have their Thai workforce conceal any injury that occurred on site, due to face considerations.

[andy6699]

9 hours ago, Youlike said:

Wenn ich bleibe in meiner Frau ' s Haus und geben alle Informationen, die der Botschaft und der Ankunft-Karte muss ich noch irgendetwas anderes tun?

Yes, when you leave the house (7/11, BigC, nudelsoup ...), immigration report when you come back, Immigration report.

[Rally123]

9 hours ago, KittenKong said:

have no problem with this as long as they only fine the owners/operators of the properties, and not the hapless tourist who probably doesnt even know that someone was supposed to register him.

What about the poor Thai who does not know that they're supposed to register a foreigner staying with them? It's not as if it's general knowledge is it? What utter idiots.

[55Jay]

2 minutes ago, mokwit said:

They actually did introduce a form requesting EXACTLY this for a while - fortunately it fell by the wayside (for now.....)

Yes, I was being sapheeshus.  <????>

[Lacessit]

I'm not too worried about this crap. I stay at my GF's village from time to time. I've never seen a policeman there, let alone an immigration officer.

As I have reason to think they could not find their posteriors with both hands, I'm doubtful I am at risk.

[Grusa]

39 minutes ago, connda said:

God help me and others when Alzheimers or dementia or some other grave illness makes us all wanton criminals by virtue of an illness. It will be great when mentally and physically impaired farang are tossed into Thai dungeons with scant food or medical care because they -- forgot -- or don't have the capacity to file their own applications even thought they are sufficiently funded! 

I have my exit strategy. If I get to the point you describe, I will have forgotten it, and not care anyway. Selfish I know, but I would rather die quickly and painlessly than be the victim of "officious striving" to keep me alive. Not to mention stuffing the bank accounts  of big medecine and big pharma.

Or immigration.

[johnmcc6]

When my family visit from England am I supposed to run to immigration and report them.

[Baerboxer]

10 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

I dont need to. It was done once by someone else, years ago, and since then I have been told repeatedly by Jomtien immigration that as long as I return to my own condo I dont need to report again.

 

I would not object to doing it if I had to, but I would object a lot to being fined because someone else didn't do it. This happened to hundreds (thousands?) of people last year.

 

Whereas Pathumthani insist it is done, each time and enforce the 24 hour rule. 

 

What will be interesting is to see if Big Joke will stop the discrepancies and different procedures between various offices and go for more uniformity.

[Baerboxer]

Just now, johnmcc6 said:

When my family visit from England am I supposed to run to immigration and report them.

 

If they are staying at your house, condo or hotel, then yes.

[55Jay]

Just now, Lacessit said:

I'm not too worried about this crap. I stay at my GF's village from time to time. I've never seen a policeman there, let alone an immigration officer.

As I have reason to think they could not find their posteriors with both hands, I'm doubtful I am at risk.

Having been here just long enough to see several "crack downs", that was my attitude.  They fade away eventually, until the next crisis blows up in their face, and then they obsess about that for a while.

 

The reaction I got from my I/O last year satisfied my general sense of that trend.  I could tell she thought it was stupid, as did I, so I filed it accordingly. 

 

Came back and bit me in the arse a year later, like a boomerang.  ????

[geoffrobbo]

10 hours ago, Lee4Life said:

Laos, Vietnam, China.....and what do you suppose those countries all have in common?

and many ex soviet countries