I do not expect things to go back to where they were the "crazy ideas" he had were not exactly his, they were part of the existing laws. Anyone expecting things to revert to the "good old days" has I would expect, a bit of a surprise coming. I for one expect things to actually get a LOT worse in the future.

I doubt that this has anything to do whatsoever with his performance as a cop in his immigration role, I would think that (as someone already posted) he has stepped on someone's toes!

Somebody in high places has lost all their cheap illegal labour force

15 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

33 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Only US, UK & AU.

And Denmark  

No. Denmark Embassy announced latter that it would in fact continue to deliver documents showing income for Immigration purpose.

Just now, natway09 said:

Somebody in high places has lost all their cheap illegal labour force

 

actually. one hopes his spin doctors have been told told to pack their bags too, and follow him...

Hmmm must be a big loss of face for him, give him a few weapons and see if he can get even (starting at the top)

BAD GUYS OUT - GOOD GUYS IN ????

34 minutes ago, silver sea said:

Why shouldn’t we be required to check in to Immigration every three months, so they know we are still living where we say we are. Hardly Big Brother.

Unless you have changed address, there's no point in doing the report.

55 minutes ago, silver sea said:

We are living in a foreign country. Why shouldn’t we be required to check in to Immigration every three months, so they know we are still living where we say we are. Hardly Big Brother.

We have already told them 4 times prior, TM6, Tm28, Tm30, yearly extension, and why not just presume we are still here unless notified.

The mighty have fallen, hard.  Have NO love for the man, but if I were his friend, I would tell him to take some vacation time to avoid the media feeding frenzy. 

12 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

No. Denmark Embassy announced latter that it would in fact continue to deliver documents showing income for Immigration purpose.

Other 3 embassies could have do the same... but didn't.

Really? I haven't seen that. While Certainly possible  I can't see anything on the embassy website and it isn't listed as an item in the news section. Item 4 is still

Quote

14.11.2018  10:02

 

The Danish Embassy in Bangkok can no longer issue income certificates/pension letters as a supporting document for obtaining a one-year visa through the Thai authorities.

 

Troll post removed

57 minutes ago, silver sea said:

 

 

How is 90 day reporting onerous?! 

 

We are living in a foreign country. Why shouldn’t we be required to check in to Immigration every three months, so they know we are still living where we say we are. Hardly Big Brother.

 

And the fine of 2000 baht for being late is hardly a ‘borderline scam’ either. You have 90 days to plan ahead and a ‘window’ of just over 3 weeks within which to turn up at Immigration (15 days before and 7 days after the due date).

 

If you are so disorganised that not even a financial penalty can get your a** in gear then there’s no hope for you. 

 

I was sad when I heard about Big Joke. It seemed to me that he had made a genuine effort to make a positive difference, particularly with his crack down on corruption in his department.

 

As others have suggested, his apparent success and popularity has made others jealous, or has threatened some powerful people’s income streams. He has only been in post a short time. Didn’t take long for these vested interests to kick back at him.

 

Reminded me of the old legend of Icarus who flew too close to the sun. Although, judging by some of the gloating posts here, others see him as a later day Satan ????

 

 

Funny you should mention that.  Was talking to some Chinese students who were doing their 90 report.  They thought it draconian and dumb.  As foreigner living in China, you just need to get your housing contract and some other incidentals and everyone is really nice.  It is just a formality and as long as you try to comply, nothing bad happens.  You do that one time, not every 90 days.  You get more smiles at immigration in China than you do in Thailand

19 hours ago, zydeco said:

Sounds as if he is being ordered to all but stand in the corner with a dunce cap on.

he has been doing that ever since the army mob got in power 

11 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

The mighty have fallen, hard.  Have NO love for the man, but if I were his friend, I would tell him to take some vacation time to avoid the media feeding frenzy. 

Too late for that. 

Maybe a bit of good news for some retirees who were worried about leaving 800k in the bank all year ,sure 800k for 3 months is fine but for almost a year for most inpossible including me .let's hope they slacken the noose 

19 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Maybe not reversed but hopefully put in a locked filing cabinet in a storage room somewhere and ignored.

Hmmmhh... I'd be rather pessimistic about that. There is a definite possibility that his removal could be because he wasn't tough enough. 

Think of what could happen if the current army chief took over immigration, among other things..

1 hour ago, zydeco said:

Still waiting for Lovethailandelite to come give us poor slobs the real lowdown. Wonder why he is so quiet all of a sudden?

Probably busy ironing his tourist police volunteers' uniform and polishing his boots ready for songran " duty" 

A threat to his superior's positions?

4 minutes ago, KenKadz said:

A threat to his superior's positions?

I was thinking maybe something like that - he was being tipped for the top job with Prawit's backing and at age 48 would have 12 years before retirement. So that is 12 senior officers that would not get their 1 year as Chief before retiring. 12 years is along time in Thai politics but maybe 3 or 4 was seen as possible.

 

If they are going against the Watchman then they must feel his power is on the way out - just like the vendors who have appeared back on the pavement all of a sudden.

He was "doing too much"

Big Joke received unfair criticism within the English speaking community, mostly driven by "cheap skate Charlie" residents with minds stuck in an era of colonialism. I've just read 25 pages of hypocritical waffle to prove my point, but Big Joke was an enemy of criminals, frauds, and cheats, and a friend of genuine foreigners willing to accept both rough and smooth of life in Thailand.

For anyone looking for a clue as to why this change is taking place, remember that Taksin Shinawatra started his career in the Thai Police Force.

54 minutes ago, silver sea said:

 

 

If it can happen in Dallas, when Pammy woke up and found that Bobby wasn’t dead after all, and it had all been one big dream, it can happen here in Thailand too I’m sure! ???? but I guess some of you are are too young to remember Dallas 1986

 

 

 

Dallas was stupid, but Victoria Principal was a babe. Watched it sometimes just for her. Ahh...to be 16 and in love again.

 

 

51 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

No. Denmark Embassy announced latter that it would in fact continue to deliver documents showing income for Immigration purpose.

Source?

52 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Somebody in high places has lost all their cheap illegal labour force

Has he been working his way south to the seafood factories?

555

 

What a BIG joke! 

 

How the mighty fall. 

 

Loss of face...! 

Oh my Buddha... 

19 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Maybe not reversed but hopefully put in a locked filing cabinet in a storage room somewhere and ignored.

Of course there is always the other alternative...he was too lenient and rules will be further enhanced. Not that I think this will happen but just like to cover the possibilities,????

This looks like the headline of a good April Fools Joke! What the hell is going on? 

1 hour ago, mokwit said:

No, and it is a meaningless amount.

It might be in terms of the total Thai GDP, but it's a useful source of foreign currency from a group of old codgers who cause hardly any problems and provide homes jobs and livelihood to an awful lot of locals.

No reason has yet been given for the transfer.

 

How about hatred for foreigners who contribute billions to the economy, extreme xenophobia which is utterly destroying Western tourism (the Chinese are accustomed to heinous politicians, and they don't spend anyway) and rhetoric which is scaring ex-pats and causing tens of thousands to leave the country and bring their good manners, respect, kindness and fortunes elsewhere? 

 

The Biggest Joke was the worst of the worst. He was a total fraud. He had zero respect and set the nation back a decade or more. Good riddens. You were not fit for the office you occupied. Goodbye. We will not miss you one iota. Perhaps Thailand can now move forward?

1 hour ago, nchuckle said:

The embassies only decided to stop the letters when some jumped up self aggrandising official flexed his muscles. BJ's orders dealing with the aftermath was ill thought through,poorly drafted,ambiguous and caused confusion and uncertainty with expats and IOs both. The alteration of the seasoning period was a later knee jerk afterthought with vague 'leniency ' directives causing further confusion still lasting to this day. The post visa 'seasoning' makes no sense ,achieves nothing, other than maybe preventing spending of those funds in the economy.

If all the embassies had stopped issuing letters then I'd've said that it was probably the fault of TI. However, because only the fab four stopped dishing them out it leads me to believe that it was an embassy choice. Before anyone says it, although some do, I don't believe that all the other embassies check your income all the way back to source.