Got some questions at BKK (at departure)

[RJRS1301]

13 minutes ago, murraynz said:

some customs officers are very arrogant...when my bags were searched, nothing has ever been found, my laptop and phone were returned later-nothing found...they refused to disclose what they were looking for..at one stage-somebody said they suspected i had 'objectionable material'.. not so..

i dont like answering their mindless questions about why i go to thailand and what i do there---its my own private business-i dont do 'small talk'.. they dont like that attitude..??

ive travelled to many countries over past few years...recieived worst treatment from nz customs than from any other immigration -anywhere...had  several minor hiccups with thai imm, nothing major...

Perhaps they are doing the job they have been trained for?? They are the gatekeepers to the country, and have legislative rights to ask questions to ensure safety of all persons

[RJRS1301]

12 hours ago, Noper said:

Do you even got this attitude at DEPARTURE from Western country? I understand this on arrival if IO suspect something illegal. But I have this experience at departure, like IO want to show how she hate Westerners.

On departure from KL I was asked why I travel frequently to Borneo, explained that I go for cultural reasons, friends, and annual World Rainforest Music Festival. IO was surprised at the answers, and stated they had never travelled there even though only 90 minute flight away.

I know they have a right to ask the questions, be polite, keep it friendly they are trained to do a role. Accept it

[RJRS1301]

47 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

The topic is leaving the country. Now let’s hear your ( fake ) story of what happened when you left the USA? Your bags also were not searched JUST because you arrived from Thailand. It is also NOT possible ( for many years now) to arrive to anywhere in the USA non stop from Thailand. They often asked where your flight was from. The answer would be Dubai , Doha, Hong Kong, Tokyo , Istanbul etc. Not Thailand. All countries have a habit of searching your bags and most are not smiling at you. 

They are trained to do a job, not there for friendly smiles, and remember you may well the 20th person whose dirty undies they have had to go thru that day

Having taken the wrong bag by accident one day . opened on arrival at home as it was identical to mine, except it was unlocked which I though was strange, ( was certain I had locked mine)  and contents were confronting and smelly. 

Gladly called airline and reported having taken wrong bag, wanted the stuff out of my possession.

[Tony125]

 

 

 

2

19 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Bogus comment.

I have been confronted and had all my bags searched "not friendly" in the US several times all because I arrived from Thailand.  Much more confrontation in the US then here from my experience.

 

 

Maybe because of attitude? First came here in April 2000 and when flying back to USA IO pulled me out of line and sent me to a desk and table where a female IO was checking contents of bags. Because was one of my first trips over I had a carry on and 2 large bags on wheels because I was bringing back a lot of cheap souvenirs. Female IO asked why 2 bags what's in them, why was I going to Thailand, etc. I informed her it was a cheap trip, low cost hotels, modern amenities/malls ,nice beaches, easy to get around and I was bringing back a lot of cheap Thai T-shirts , silk scarves and stuff as gifts to friends and family. She said any knockoffs? I said no but had s few designer scarfs in with my regular ones. Also flashed a photo book showing places in Thailand I had been. She waved me on , never opened a bag. Guy behind me had an attiude because we were talking /holding him up--when he got to the IO I heard her say dump your bags on the table and remove the contents. 55555

[RJRS1301]

19 minutes ago, Tony125 said:

Maybe because of attitude? First came here in April 2000 and when flying back to USA IO pulled me out of line and sent me to a desk and table where a female IO was checking contents of bags. Because was one of my first trips over I had a carry on and 2 large bags on wheels because I was bringing back a lot of cheap souvenirs. Female IO asked why 2 bags what's in them, why was I going to Thailand, etc. I informed her it was a cheap trip, low cost hotels, modern amenities/malls ,nice beaches, easy to get around and I was bringing back a lot of cheap Thai T-shirts , silk scarves and stuff as gifts to friends and family. She said any knockoffs? I said no but had s few designer scarfs in with my regular ones. Also flashed a photo book showing places in Thailand I had been. She waved me on , never opened a bag. Guy behind me had an attiude because we were talking /holding him up--when he got to the IO I heard her say dump your bags on the table and remove the contents. 55555

They are doing a job they are trained to do, treat them with respect and they will more than likely return the courtesy.

Why do people think IOs are untrained and only trying to irritate travellers??
In many countries  IOs are university trained often with degrees in either criminology  or psychology ( then trained by immigration and customs) possibly better qualified than many air travellers

Perhaps some attitude adjustments and basic respect may change the manner of how you are treated. 

Edited April 11, 2019 by RJRS1301

[rumak]

On 4/10/2019 at 10:50 AM, SammyT said:

'm always bemused by these types of threads. It's an immigration officer's job to be vigilant and curious and ask questions. I get asked questions in Western countries all the time (i.e. why do you spend so much time in SE Asia, what do you do for work etc) because it helps them profile people

I would hazard a guess that a lot of independent types one finds in Thailand don't care too much for being "profiled".    I got pretty tired of it in my younger days (returning to the us of a .  I acted nice...them, not so much

[SammyT]

1 hour ago, murraynz said:

i dont like answering their mindless questions about why i go to thailand and what i do there---its my own private business-i dont do 'small talk'.. they dont like that attitude..??

Clearly you failed the "attitude test" and that's why they decide to search you a bit harder. I don't blame them. 

 

I generally just answer their questions - it's just them doing their job, not small talk. I'm sure they don't personally give a rats ass why you're in Thailand, so I wouldn't really classify it as small talk. 

[SammyT]

42 minutes ago, rumak said:

I would hazard a guess that a lot of independent types one finds in Thailand don't care too much for being "profiled".    I got pretty tired of it in my younger days (returning to the us of a .  I acted nice...them, not so much

Yet I'm sure you expect an Immigration department to be vigilant? Kinda hard to do that without "profiling" people and upsetting the ones just looking for a reason to get bent out of shape about it. It's generally less than 2 minutes of your time, I don't see the point in getting upset about it. That's just me though. 

[RJRS1301]

7 minutes ago, SammyT said:

Clearly you failed the "attitude test" and that's why they decide to search you a bit harder. I don't blame them. 

 

I generally just answer their questions - it's just them doing their job, not small talk. I'm sure they don't personally give a rats ass why you're in Thailand, so I wouldn't really classify it as small talk. 

Profiling is part of what they are trained to do.

They also are required to detect [possible importation of contraband, offensive materials, items which need duty paid on them, and we as frequent travellers could be going any illegal activity.

They have a job to do, respect that, they no more want "small talk" with you, than an interview with the FBI.

 

 

[bluebluewater]

21 hours ago, Noper said:

Yep, I understand when questions is asked in friendly matter, like in Western countries. But here I got something like - "<deleted> you are doing in Thailand" with angry expression. 

My answer:  Playing pool, drinkin' and shaggin'.

[RJRS1301]

 

59 minutes ago, bluebluewater said:

My answer:  Playing pool, drinkin' and shaggin'.

And possibly some code in your immigration profile to question each time due to your attitude towards them.

You want respect, offer some back.

 

[allen303]

 

Decide to leave our car at my brother’s house in Alabama and fly out of Birmingham AP. Got to check in at 06:00 am, gave the guy at the counter our US PP. He looks at me and says, no can do, you don’t have a visa for Thailand. I told him look a few pages over for a ME O. He then looked at the wife and stated you can’t go, don’t have a visa for Thailand. I informed him she was Thai and don’t need a Visa and showed him her Thai PP. Also said FYI, you can get a 30 day on arrival and don’t need a Visa (he had the Deer in headlight look). Never did that again, left the car with a good drinking buddy in Fl from then on.

 

Arrived in Atlanta two years ago from South Korea (old says, if you die and go to hell, you still have to go through Atlanta AP) and going through customs. I decided to be extra friendly to the customs guy. He hands me my customs form back and I move to the next lady. She takes my form and does the old left turn signal to the inspection counter. Now, we have like 40 minutes to make a ¼ mile run to the train, then over another ¼ mile to our gate to board to Florida, plus recheck our bags. I get to the counter and 4/5 Koreans or in front of me with 4 large cardboard boxes taped up. The lady cuts open the first box and starts pulling out all these plastic bags of plants and things, she goes off saying on hell no. Another guy opens another box and same thing. These boxes were full of al kind of mushrooms and things. The lady looks at me and asks, do you have anything to declare, I said nope. She stamped my form and I was on by way.

 

Bottom line, be polite and answer the question, nothing else. They are looking for anything out of the ordinary.

[Sheryl]

3 hours ago, murraynz said:

 

i dont like answering their mindless questions about why i go to thailand and what i do there---its my own private business-i dont do 'small talk'.. they dont like that attitude..??

 

 

They are not looking for detailed explanations/answers and certainly not small talk.

 

One or two word reply is all - "vacation",  "work", "school",  "I'm retired and I live here" etc.

 

As much as your answer they are looking to see how you react to  being questioned, whether you get flustered or belligerent etc. This is a very common Thai police tactic. I guess on the assumption that people with something to hide will get rattled when asked a lot of questions.

 

Just stay calm, and answer in a few succint words.

[KhaoNiaw]

I've had it a few times going out. When they check the passport they see where I work, handwritten next to the extension stamps. It's just a friendly chat I think that usually starts off with a smile and something like 'Oh you work at ...?' Maybe another question or two in English or Thai. Last time, the guy was chatty in Thai, wanted to know how long I'd been there and if I knew his sister!

[Shaunduhpostman]

Agreed that it's probably just part of their job to check things, but I have been wondering about the IO's  on the way out since one guy back in September at Don Muang questioned me about what I was doing in leaving the country every 3 months on a multi non-O and coming back as opposed to what he seemed to feel I should be doing, renewing my stay at internal immigration.

 

When I handed the officer my passport, he rifled through my passport impatiently back and forth shaking his head. "Many, many visa....Why you don't do in Thailand?" Rather than complain about the state of things regarding immigration too much I mentioned the main reason I do that is that for Kalasin you must go all the way to Nakorn Phanom immigration, much closer Khon Kaen does not handle our area, its closer to go to Laos and I said also its very clear what I should do also if I want to continue my stay in Thailand by leaving every 3 months on a multi non-o. I did not want to drone on and on about their own lengthy list of requirements which are ridiculous, mainly that even if i did go through the gauntlet at Nakorn Phanom I would still be faced with having to travel up to Nakorn Phanom to file the 90 day reporting which makes the whole rigamarole of an internal renewal stamp completely pointless. The officer was polite enough about it but still didn't seem to get it or believe me that Nakorn Phanom is actually further and with no direct transpo service from Roi Et whereas to Mukdahan/Laos transpo exists in my area and he laughed and said, "OK, you can do, but why go out all the time, no need, no need!  Go to Laos too far, go to Cambodia very far away." He stamped me out but then asked my wife about it as well.

 

The guy was reasonable about it enough, but just the fact that he is questioning me about what he admitted himself is allowed by immigration as though it were odd and almost not acceptable makes me uncomfortable.

[aspenbkk]

i get that also when leaving asking what im doing here i reply vacation and then im asked another 6 times the same question i reply vacation 6 times more its getting silly here i never over stay and my visa im only here for 5 weeks even though i can stay for 3 months i wanted too.

[scorecard]

23 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Bogus comment.

I have been confronted and had all my bags searched "not friendly" in the US several times all because I arrived from Thailand.  Much more confrontation in the US then here from my experience.

 

 

Well said, and even with appropriate visa in advance and letters of invitation to a professsional seminar at aprestigious yank university there were rude and inappropriate comments and questions:

 

- "Well we all now what Thai girls do, don't we?"

- A male Thai attendee, a football champion, who had previously been waiting in the passport queue wearing a beanie, which he took off well before his turn to stand on the footprints, was asked by the female imm. office "why were you wearing a beanie before, are you a gay?"

 

 

[Jaggg88]

21 hours ago, jspill said:

In almost every report like this it's a female IO. Pick a line with a guy 

I've had bad experience with female IO. Leaving Thailand last year the female IO insisted my wife complete a landing card so she exited the queue and filled one in. The female IO's queue was long so my wife joined a shorter queue and the male IO asked why she had completed a landing card and my wife pointed to the female IO and he shook his head and tore up the card. He said you don't need one because you are Thai.

[mstevens]

15 hours ago, murraynz said:

many people in nz have seriously weird ideas of what 'goes on' in thailand---ie. underage sex, sex slaves, drugs etc.... after 12yrs i havent encountered these things as part of 'everyday life' in thailand-even pattaya...

i cant help how other people minds work.....its their problem...

Sorry, but this is not my experience. Most people I know have visited Thailand and they see it as just another country, one with hot weather and hot food. Even those who have not visited Thailand are inquisitive about the place without any of the silly old stereotypes from more than twenty years ago that are just that, old stereotypes.

 

If you really are a New Zealander, you'd know New Zealanders are very well travelled and are not in the dark about what a lot of places are like. If you think most New Zealanders hold these old stereotypes then I wonder about the people you hang around with because I don't know anyone who thinks like that.

[moontang]

I have been stopped leaving the us..at a walk across port.  I was asked how much money I had on me...confiscating cash is their new pastime.

[Date Masamune]

22 hours ago, allen303 said:

 

Decide to leave our car at my brother’s house in Alabama and fly out of Birmingham AP. Got to check in at 06:00 am, gave the guy at the counter our US PP. He looks at me and says, no can do, you don’t have a visa for Thailand. I told him look a few pages over for a ME O. He then looked at the wife and stated you can’t go, don’t have a visa for Thailand. I informed him she was Thai and don’t need a Visa and showed him her Thai PP. Also said FYI, you can get a 30 day on arrival and don’t need a Visa (he had the Deer in headlight look). Never did that again, left the car with a good drinking buddy in Fl from then on.

 

Arrived in Atlanta two years ago from South Korea (old says, if you die and go to hell, you still have to go through Atlanta AP) and going through customs. I decided to be extra friendly to the customs guy. He hands me my customs form back and I move to the next lady. She takes my form and does the old left turn signal to the inspection counter. Now, we have like 40 minutes to make a ¼ mile run to the train, then over another ¼ mile to our gate to board to Florida, plus recheck our bags. I get to the counter and 4/5 Koreans or in front of me with 4 large cardboard boxes taped up. The lady cuts open the first box and starts pulling out all these plastic bags of plants and things, she goes off saying on hell no. Another guy opens another box and same thing. These boxes were full of al kind of mushrooms and things. The lady looks at me and asks, do you have anything to declare, I said nope. She stamped my form and I was on by way.

 

Bottom line, be polite and answer the question, nothing else. They are looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Never get behind a gang of Asians with boxes at SFO airport. They find all kinds of crap in there even live animals.

The questioning was pretty common until I got the US Global entry system authorization.

Two times I felt irritated was the guy who agent who thinks Taiwan and Thailand are the same and asked about prostitution or porn I don remember. My laptop was not searched. Another dude insisted I write the full street address of the mariott hotel right at the airport there I was going to and kicked me out of line and I did not have it or any way to research it. Just went to another line. As for the Thai Female IO'sbeing chatty lately I think maybe they like me.

Edited April 12, 2019 by Date Masamune