BREAKING: Rumors abound! Has Big Joke been transferred to RTP headquarters?

[JackThompson]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

10 hours ago, Benroon said:

Absolute crap - decent projects are being sold before a bricks been laid 

 

Provide proof that ‘westerners are just not buying’ 

The other poster is correct.

I have friends in real estate in both BKK and Pattaya.  Western buyers are very few.  Maybe 5 percent of sales.

The foreign buyers are Asian. Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Japan, etc. 

Whoever the buyers are, empty "for rent" condo-rooms are plentiful and cheap.  Every time immigration makes life harder for longer-stay farangs, the prices drop some more, as desperate owners compete for dwindling number of renters still running immigration's gauntlets.

 

I would bet a lot of the remaining buying is capital-flight and money-laundering, given the ROI cannot possibly work - even more, as short-term-tourist renting of condos - the last resort for getting some returns from "non-tour-bus" Chinese visitors ...

 

2 hours ago, petedk said:

One of the guys already owns three upmarket condos and is looking for more. I am not sure, but I think he rents out on a short time basis to Chinese tourists. 

... is being cracked-down upon. 

 

That said, I knew someone in the business who said the only ones he considered a good investment were expensive units, as the people renting those can pay off immigration with "pocket change" (to them) - so are not affected (relayed a bit over a year ago).   This may also apply to the guy renting and "upmarket" condo to short-term Chinese visitors - a few K-Baht in the right hands could smooth it all over. 

[Dmitry2222]

I do not see message that he was fired. May be him will get higher rank. ????

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, bowerboy said:

I find it astonishing that people on this forum would really think that the high up Thais that give this kind of call give a flying truck about visa rules or how much money someone has in the bank or the trivial amounts of money generated by immigration bribes.

It's the people in the bribes-pipeline who would care.   The agent-system is a billion-baht operation, which appears to work like a multi-level-marketing system.  It must benefit "high up" types, or would have been shut-down for being so "in your face" public.  Many people involved have undoubtedly leveraged their income from this into a lifestyle which they plan(ned) to continue, and would have strong reasons to object to any interruption in the cash-flow.

 

That said, I saw no evidence BJ was shutting down the agent scheme.  When asked about it in an interview, he threw cover by claiming his IOs were "tricked" into thinking the agent-money used to get bank-letters belonged to the applicant.  Surely he was aware that seasoning is not checked for agent-applications - that is how the game works - so adding more seasoning (as was done recently to expat-retirees) would only affect honest-applicants - boosting agent-business.

 

Maybe some saw his public-grandstanding as a ploy for political-power down the road, and decided to shut him down before he could make the transition. 

 

6 minutes ago, Dmitry2222 said:

I do not see message that he was fired. May be him will get higher rank. ????

He would likely have some good dirt on many, at this point, so a move "up" into a non-public job may have been the compromise - but the terms would depend if their dirt/intel/compromat on him is significantly more damning, than his on (which) others.

Edited April 7, 2019 by JackThompson

[xylophone]

17 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

It's the people in the bribes-pipeline who would care.   The agent-system is a billion-baht operation, which appears to work like a multi-level-marketing system.  It must benefit "high up" types, or would have been shut-down for being so "in your face" public.  Many people involved have undoubtedly leveraged their income from this into a lifestyle which they plan(ned) to continue, and would have strong reasons to object to any interruption in the cash-flow.

Absolutely spot on JT and I mentioned something along these lines quite a few posts ago but perhaps my reasoning was "too obscure" for some to see the truth in it.

 

A previous consul here remarked (in private) that the amount made by the IOs in dealing with the agents who were "manipulating" the system with regards to funds in the bank, was in the many, many millions and almost beyond belief.

 

Not likely that anyone would be very popular stopping this gravy train or preventing the snouts away from accessing the trough, so there is perhaps another reason for "removal".

[Pattaya46]

56 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

Every time immigration makes life harder for longer-stay farangs, the prices drop some more, as desperate owners compete for dwindling number of renters still running immigration's gauntlets.

Every time ??

How many time did Immigration make "life harder for longer-stay farangs" ?

I see only one  (when extending the seasoning to the yearly 800-400k)

Edited April 7, 2019 by Pattaya46

[zydeco]

7 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Every time ??

How many time did Immigration make "life harder for longer-stay farangs" ?

I see only one  (when extending the seasoning for the 800k)

And locking up 400K forever.

[55Jay]

He was the Junta's man, on call, a useful idiot dispatched with a team of media to tackle minor stuff to keep the sheeple distracted, amused and angry while more important moves were being made.  He was becoming too accessible with his Facebook page, which exceeded his mandate and the general, inaccessible do-nothing nature of the RTP/TP.  And so now his time in the spotlight is over, no doubt regular Boys in Brown are relieved this fire and forget cowboy isn't out there making them look like the lazy, do-nothing idiots they are.

 

I was pleased as hell yesterday at the big market in my city, perusing various flavors of Vape juice as a fat Thai cop waddled by on his way to the noodle shop.  Ahhhh, back to "normal"!  ????????

[JackThompson]

17 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Every time ??

How many time did Immigration make "life harder for longer-stay farangs" ?

I see only one  (when extending the seasoning for the 800k)

Going after those using tourist-visas for repeat stays from multiple angles (remark-stamps, no 2x-entries nearby, illegal airport-denials, etc) was the most recent hit, preceded by the increase in agent-type fees and hassles for ED Visa users - but those only affected the fraction remaining after the massive-damage effected by the prior "crackdowns" on visa-exempt entries. 

 

The initial move boarded-up entire sois of businesses, while the latter moves knocked out additional guesthouses and restaurants which had managed to survive the first strike.  It was during the 2nd "lighter" phase that I lived here, and saw high-floor sea-view condos drop 45% in rental-cost. 

[JustAnotherHun]

I don't see how Immigration's making life harder for me. I visit them once a year to get my extension and very few times in all the years to do a 90-days-report. That's it.

The "hardest" thing is the long queues if I show up in the wrong moment.

Edited April 7, 2019 by JustAnotherHun

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, Dmitry2222 said:

I do not see message that he was fired. May be him will get higher rank. ????

NO.

Don't even expect to hear anything official about him anymore.

His complete "social media" has been terminated, even the Thai Wiki article has been removed.

I found it stunning that I can't find his name mentioned in "The Nation" online today (in contrast to other media).

All on vacation or already purged his name?

Big Joke does not exist anymore.

Don't ask immigration people about him because they might not remember that he has ever existed.

[moe666]

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

It's the people in the bribes-pipeline who would care.   The agent-system is a billion-baht operation, which appears to work like a multi-level-marketing system.  It must benefit "high up" types, or would have been shut-down for being so "in your face" public.  Many people involved have undoubtedly leveraged their income from this into a lifestyle which they plan(ned) to continue, and would have strong reasons to object to any interruption in the cash-flow.

 

That said, I saw no evidence BJ was shutting down the agent scheme.  When asked about it in an interview, he threw cover by claiming his IOs were "tricked" into thinking the agent-money used to get bank-letters belonged to the applicant.  Surely he was aware that seasoning is not checked for agent-applications - that is how the game works - so adding more seasoning (as was done recently to expat-retirees) would only affect honest-applicants - boosting agent-business.

 

Maybe some saw his public-grandstanding as a ploy for political-power down the road, and decided to shut him down before he could make the transition. 

 

He would likely have some good dirt on many, at this point, so a move "up" into a non-public job may have been the compromise - but the terms would depend if their dirt/intel/compromat on him is significantly more damning, than his on (which) others.

Billion bhat business, do you have some facts and figures tou back this claim up

[55Jay]

1 hour ago, Pattaya46 said:

Every time ??

How many time did Immigration make "life harder for longer-stay farangs" ?

I see only one  (when extending the seasoning to the yearly 800-400k)

Dragging the 24-hour "Honey, I'm home" reporting requirement out of 1972 obscurity, is a real drag, and should be a glaring embarrassment for Tech Thailand 4.0.  My Mrs. rationalized them out of fining me for it a few weeks ago.  Mate of mine just got done for 800 Baht 2 days ago.

 

2 steps forward toward shutting down the unquality farangs taking advantage of Thailand's <deleted> dysfunction.  1 step back hassling the above-board ones who remain.  ???? 

Edited April 7, 2019 by metisdead
Profane acronym removed.

[Pattaya46]

28 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

I found it stunning that I can't find his name mentioned in "The Nation" online today (in contrast to other media).

On the home page  and there :

Surachate abruptly dumped as Immigration chief

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30367296

[JackThompson]

20 minutes ago, moe666 said:

Billion bhat business, do you have some facts and figures tou back this claim up

Unfortunately, IOs are not submitting their agent-envelope receipts for inspection. 

 

But to get an idea - just for retirement-extensions - figure 15K to 35K per-each agent-assisted application with money provided by the agent, and 6K per-each for those who have their own money, multiplied by thousands of customers across the country (tens of thousands of potential customers). 

 

Then, note that agents don't only "assist" with retirement extensions, but other types as well.  Many businesses outsource their "immigration" dealings to agents/lawyers.  "Married to a Thai" folks get the n-th degree at many offices, so must also use agents.  Volunteering orgs?  Same, same.

Edited April 7, 2019 by JackThompson

[poohy]

Reading more reliable but banned media i suspect if worst is worst he will not be mentioned again, his whereabouts and "Health" will remain secret.

For some reason hes upset someone "pretty very" high up , and hes gone!

[JustAnotherHun]

3 minutes ago, poohy said:

Reading more reliable but banned media i suspect if worst is worst he will not be mentioned again, his whereabouts and "Health" will remain secret.

For some reason hes upset someone "pretty very" high up , and hes gone!

Who cares? The puppet's dead, long live the puppet.

[bowerboy]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Absolutely spot on JT and I mentioned something along these lines quite a few posts ago but perhaps my reasoning was "too obscure" for some to see the truth in it.

 

A previous consul here remarked (in private) that the amount made by the IOs in dealing with the agents who were "manipulating" the system with regards to funds in the bank, was in the many, many millions and almost beyond belief.

 

Not likely that anyone would be very popular stopping this gravy train or preventing the snouts away from accessing the trough, so there is perhaps another reason for "removal".

 

Can you put some numbers around that?

 

How many people would be using such a service? What is the fee for that service?

 

Lets say 50,000 people used that agency service (I very much doubt it would be that many). How much does the service cost? $200? That would equate to 10,000,000 dollars and then let’s say 30% kicks back up to the immigration officers. We are talking about 3,000,000 and that would need to go through many layers with money skimmed off at each layer. This is trivial money when it’s all said and done and I bet the numbers are not that high anyway.

 

Might be a little bit of extra money for some officers but hardly something that someone at the very top of the chain is going to give 2 boots about.

[bowerboy]

13 minutes ago, poohy said:

Reading more reliable but banned media i suspect if worst is worst he will not be mentioned again, his whereabouts and "Health" will remain secret.

For some reason hes upset someone "pretty very" high up , and hes gone!

 

Good to see that at least someone gets it.

 

Big Joke is in a private prison in a private residence right now. If you don’t know what that means then maybe time to get off the concrete bench outside 7/11 and start educating yourself about the country you are living in.

[JackThompson]

8 minutes ago, bowerboy said:

Can you put some numbers around that?

 

How many people would be using such a service? What is the fee for that service?

 

Lets say 50,000 people used that agency service (I very much doubt it would be that many). How much does the service cost? $200? That would equate to 10,000,000 dollars

...

Average 20K Baht - though probably a bit higher; 20K baht is closer to $650 USD.

 

Quote

and then let’s say 30% kicks back up to the immigration officers.

It has been reported to be around 80% to the IOs, so 4K Baht per-app to the agent, the other 16K into the IO-chain, with many hands out to prevent a "crackdown" on the action.

 

Quote

We are talking about 3,000,000 and that would need to go through many layers with money skimmed off at each layer. This is trivial money when it’s all said and done and I bet the numbers are not that high anyway.

The per-each cost is much higher than your estimate, and the total number including retirees, married (add 10K Baht per-each more for married than retired, thanks to that so-called 'crackdown'), business, volunteer-orgs, etc could easily be 50K per-year.

 

Quote

Might be a little bit of extra money for some officers but hardly something that someone at the very top of the chain is going to give 2 boots about.

If it is a pyramid-scheme - likely within a hierarchy-structure like immigration - those at the top would get the fattest envelope-returns - collecting from multiple IOs under them.

Edited April 7, 2019 by JackThompson

[KhunBENQ]

33 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

On the home page  and there :

Surachate abruptly dumped as Immigration chief

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30367296

Thanks, 11:38h that was after my last view.

And copied from Thaiger

Edited April 7, 2019 by KhunBENQ

[balo]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

Don't even expect to hear anything official about him anymore.

His complete "social media" has been terminated, even the Thai Wiki article has been removed.

 

They can try to erase him all they want , but Google never forgets . 

"Surachate"  gave me 161000 hits . 

 

Probably more hits if I try with his Thai name. 

 

[mokwit]

20 minutes ago, bowerboy said:

 

Good to see that at least someone gets it.

 

Big Joke is in a private prison in a private residence right now. If you don’t know what that means then maybe time to get off the concrete bench outside 7/11 and start educating yourself about the country you are living in.

They could read a tweet by AMM and become a Thai insider like you.

[phutoie2]

Immigration Line account has not been changed yet. BJ is still all over it. 

[poohy]

2 minutes ago, mokwit said:

They could read a tweet by AMM and become a Thai insider like you.

Or even follow MR *** on FB you can learn lots that way!

[KhunBENQ]

1 minute ago, phutoie2 said:

Immigration Line account has not been changed yet. BJ is still all over it.

Isn't it outrageous that they fired him on the eve of a long weekend?

Now the IT/admin staff has to do extra shifts

Wait for them to get through.

It's quite simple to purge his personal accounts but wiping from the official sites is an arduous task.

Of course the immi website also still shows him on top of the orgchart.

https://immigration.go.th/orgchart

[mokwit]

3 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Look to Bahrain and a big loss of face for the answers.

IMO too long after that - would have been immediate.

[marcusarelus]

14 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Look to Bahrain and a big loss of face for the answers.

Not what the Thai insiders say. 

[malagateddy]

Please read the book about Colonel Tim Collins..1st Royal Irish Guards .. SAS...brilliant man and very protective to the men under his command.
The UK " establishment " did not like the TRUTH and so they " made it very hard for him "
Scum like blair brown dr ha ha john reid and company could not take THE TRUTH imo.
Just thoughts running thro my mind..
Happy to say that imo the war criminal and sociopath blair is probably one of the most hated people in the UK
Cheers

 
Good to see that at least someone gets it.
 
Big Joke is in a private prison in a private residence right now. If you don’t know what that means then maybe time to get off the concrete bench outside 7/11 and start educating yourself about the country you are living in.

Sent from my SM-G7102 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Laughing Gravy]

9 minutes ago, malagateddy said:

Please read the book about Colonel Tim Collins..1st Royal Irish Guards .. SAS...brilliant man and very protective to the men under his command.
The UK " establishment " did not like the TRUTH and so they " made it very hard for him "
Scum like blair brown dr ha ha john reid and company could not take THE TRUTH imo.
Just thoughts running thro my mind..
Happy to say that imo the war criminal and sociopath blair is probably one of the most hated people in the UK
Cheers

 

Sent from my SM-G7102 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

Another excellent read is also about this man

Gen Sir Peter de la Billiere

 

Great  Soldier and was stitched up by the establishment.

 

Just for reference he was The Royal Irish Regiment not Guards but still a great man.

Edited April 7, 2019 by Laughing Gravy

[chrisinth]

22 hours ago, sambum said:

Over the year an ex pat spending 50,000 baht a month = 600,000 baht a year.

 

How many Thais spend that a year, or indeed how any tourists  (no matter how well heeled they are) spend that on  a holiday?

 

Sam, we seem to have crossed wires as to my comment. I was responding to a statement made about retirees, not tourists, about what people think is a considerable sum. Again, not about tourism or tourists.

 

But even given that, to try to show a visual of what I mean, as you state probably rightly, your average spending for an ex-pat would be about 50,000 baht a month. Some a lot more and some a lot less, but as an average. Now try and measure the accumulated figures for ex-pat income against the banking and industrial sectors of Thailand. One set of figures are measured in millions and the other in billions. These are the figures governments look at.

 

600,000 baht (your average ex-pat spending) would buy a new, lower end car or pick-up, I think that is a know fact. If you removed a vehicle from the roads of Thailand for every ex-pat living here how much of a difference do you think you would see in vehicle numbers? You wouldn't visibly see anything. This, IMO, is similar to how the government sees these figures, a drop in the ocean of realistic financial figures. 

 

So I still stick to my comment about what 'a considerable sum' means when looked at on different tiers.

Edited April 7, 2019 by chrisinth