Want to inform what happened to two sisters of My wife yesterday at Souvannapouh AirPort.  The two sisters have been in Thailand twice before - with no problems and never overstayed.  They received the visastamp in Thai Embassy in Nairobi,Kenya.  The idea was as usual to spend 5 weeks with My wife and me in our house in Prachapkhirikhan and to spend a nice holiday on the beach.  They had cash with them - about 25000 bhat per person.  And what happened ?

 

The immigration officer took them to a room and Said to them to wait.  After about three hours They were told that their visa was cancelled and They were asked to sign a paper that They had not enough appropriate means to stay in Thailand- even if They had shown that they had enough Money. Of course They refused to sign and were then told They would be detained and brought to prison, at that point we managed to contact them but the immigration refused to talk to both me and the two sisters.

 

The sisters were later put on a nightflight back to Doha/Nairobi. And Migration officer Also Said that They don't talk to monkeys (!)

 

What would this forum recommend us to do? Should we try to get an apology from Immigration or just make the details Public in Sweden ( My home country) and in other web sites - coz this is clearly racism behaviour from Thais.

 

Immigration - Looking forward to your input

lol an apology from the immigration, not gonna happen... they can refuse anyone sadly

Maximum publicity would be good.

something ain't right about this one too, two many buttons trying to be pushed simultaneously imo

Better to publicise, especially in Nairobi ... but don’t expect an apology, that won’t happen. Immigration around the world have a great deal of power ... they can and do refuse anyone they like. If you’re two sisters are black ladies the IO has jumped to the wrong conclusion ... that they are here as “working girls” ... it was bad luck to get an IO who judges by look alone.

Unfortunately, the 'bad' Africans have spoilt it for the genuine ones. Nairobi is a hot spot exit for drugs and prostitutes entering Thailand, and I suspect orders from 'high up' has brought about tightening of whom Imm permits entering the country.

 

I am sorry for your extended family who were treated so badly, and it's a pity they didn't take photos of the IOs involved - that's if they would have been permitted to do so.

 

Next time, if there is a next time, make sure you have engaged the services of a 'honest' local lawyer, maybe from a visa firm, who could smooth the way - or at least ensure the cooperation of the IOs.

 

As for attempting to get your own back - forget it unless you want to be sent back to Sweden on your visa renewal date.  

 

 

This is disgusting. If you can get the media to take up your story, in your position I would risk it. Make sure you do not embellish the facts when dealing with the media as that could land you in trouble. Otherwise, you have no practical way of fighting this. Immigration at some of the airports have increasingly become a law unto themselves, with no control from above.

Phone the 'Immigration Hotline' and report the incident and ask for them to conduct an investigation. Hope you took names?

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-immigrant-crackdown-eyes-dark-skinned-people

 

Does anybody remember Surachate's racist comments and the "uproar" they generated? Thais almost took the streets defending human rights.

 

Not.

1 minute ago, tomazbodner said:

Use words like that is very unlikely though.

 

Unlikely for racists to use derogatory words?

Very sorry to hear this. 

 

Yes, Thai immigration stinks. I travel a lot and haven’t encountered a more sour group of immigration officers than in Thailand. Most of them look miserable. 

6 minutes ago, Rally123 said:

Phone the 'Immigration Hotline' and report the incident and ask for them to conduct an investigation. Hope you took names?

 

What else does someone need to know after seeing this? This is taught to children. 

 

 

3 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

I still don't believe they would do that. Deport someone they didn't like, yes. Use words like that is very unlikely though.

 

Something is off about this story.

If you understand Thai go hand out with a dark skinned black person for a while. The stuff you’ll hear some of them say will make you ashamed to be human.

 

Many Thais are ungodly racist. 

Not sure this scenario is entirely about skin color, because many other races of people are experiencing the same thing. 

OTT derogatory remark removed.

Tough getting in for black ladies currently. It's not the place to come for a holiday. How immigration acted doesn't surprise me one bit

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3 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

I still don't believe they would do that. Deport someone they didn't like, yes. Use words like that is very unlikely though.

 

Something is off about this story.

Wanna bet?

I don't understand?? An apology for what? There are many farangs who got refused because they already come several times on tourist visas, so you can't say it's racism just because these girls are black. We don't know how long and on which period they already came in Thailand...

And about the vocabulary the officer is supposed to have used, I have big doubts...

3 hours ago, Leaver said:

Not sure this scenario is entirely about skin color, because many other races of people are experiencing the same thing. 

  

       Racial prejudice , whitey  is wealthy , those were the days ..555

 

 

Removed an off-topic post.

7 hours ago, lkv said:

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-immigrant-crackdown-eyes-dark-skinned-people

 

Does anybody remember Surachate's racist comments and the "uproar" they generated?

I think it was the bad press that caused them to rename it from operation black eagle to operation outlaw foreigner. 

4 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

I don't understand?? An apology for what? There are many farangs who got refused because they already come several times on tourist visas, so you can't say it's racism just because these girls are black. We don't know how long and on which period they already came in Thailand...

And about the vocabulary the officer is supposed to have used, I have big doubts...

 

Perhaps you missed the part where he said one of the IOs referred to his sisters as "monkeys?"

1 minute ago, fusion58 said:

 

Perhaps you missed the part where he said one of the IOs referred to his sisters as "monkeys?"

oh puleez ..wake up, the odds of that exchange happening is ZERO

10 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

 

Perhaps you missed the part where he said one of the IOs referred to his sisters as "monkeys?"

and your evidence for that is ? Whether they said it or not

I'm just surprised that anyone is surprised. Many people are getting rejected for different reasons, not matter what race. Too bad they wasted time and money on a trip they weren't able to finish. Next time go somewhere else.

19 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

 

Perhaps you missed the part where he said one of the IOs referred to his sisters as "monkeys?"

This is what the OP wrote:

 

"Of course They refused to sign and were then told They would be detained and brought to prison, at that point we managed to contact them but the immigration refused to talk to both me and the two sisters.

 

The sisters were later put on a nightflight back to Doha/Nairobi. And Migration officer Also Said that They don't talk to monkeys (!)"

 

My knowledge of the English language is insufficient to figure out in the conversation with whom an immigration official allegedly referred to the two ladies as monkeys.

 

9 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

I still don't believe they would do that. Deport someone they didn't like, yes. Use words like that is very unlikely though.

 

Something is off about this story.

I tend to agree (and i don't have a lot of sympathy for IO here), The only thing i can think of is if it was a response to the ladies being very loud and abusive towards the immigration officers as they protested their denial... (not that its right, but it puts it in perspective..)

 

Op, how recent was their [the two sisters] stay before? this year, in the past 12 months, or 4 years ago etc?

 

Sukhumvit road has become somewhat of hotbed for African hookers and peddlers, Immigration are perhaps cracking down on repeat visitors, some of whom they may profile incorrectly. 

 

It's unfair on those who are honest tourists, much in the same way repeat visitors from the UK are often rejected under suspicion of working here, and usually send back under the same false regulation of lack of funds.

 

I'm not sure the Racism card can played on this one - its profiling of a repeat visitor - Agreed, a white girl from the UK is likely to be under less scrutiny and profiled differently, but a 30y/o white male from the UK is most definitely under scrutiny if he is a repeat visitor. 

 

Regarding the language used by the Immigration officer - its likely they responded in an extremely clumsy manner to what would naturally and understandably be criticism of their decision to deport. i.e. the Sisters likely had plenty to say about their deportation and the Immigration officer responded very poorly. 

Maybe they put on the arrival card: Address: Sukhumvit Soi 4. Duration of Stay: 60 days.

 

Just kidding.

40 some years ago, I worked with the US Immigration in Thailand to resettle refugees from Laos and Cambodia.  I was not impressed with some of the U.S. immigration officers, to put it mildly.  Arse-holes.