Public backs activist Sombat after US rejects entry visa

[webfact]

Public backs activist Sombat after US rejects entry visa

By The Nation

 

Sombat Boonngamanong

 

Pro-democracy activist Sombat Boonngamanong has received overwhelming public support after he posted to Facebook that his application for a visa to visit his daughter in the United States was rejected.

 

Sombat, editor of the online Lai Jut magazine, posted on his Facebook wall on Saturday that his visa application was rejected although he had previously visited the US several times at the invitation of international organisations.

 

He said visited the US for the first time as a guest of the US government to attend a seminar and present his ICT project for social development. He visited on two other occasions on invitations by the World Bank and The Rockefeller Foundation.

 

He said he had not visited over the past 11 years although his last visa had a 10-year period. During the past five years, he explained, he would have needed approval from the coup-maker National Council for Peace and Order before he could leave the Kingdom.

 

He said he wanted to visit his daughter for two weeks during her school break in September, but the US embassy said his visa was rejected for fear that he would not return to Thailand.

 

“It’s unexpected but understandable why the embassy officials think so. But I swear I intend to visit my daughter and return. I have no plan to seek an asylum there,” Sombat said in his post.

 

His post received over 4,200 reactions and was shared over 110 times. It also received over 370 comments, expressing sympathy from his friends and supporters, including some university academics.

 

Pravit Rojanaphruk, a senior editor of Khaosod English website, said in a comment that it was a shame that the US rejected an entry visa for an anti-coup campaigner after US President Donald Trump laid out the red carpet to welcome the coup leader, General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375344

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-08-26

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[BTB1977]

Good guys in,  bad guys out.  Karma American style. 5555

[Mango Bob]

Keep screwing with us with those TM30 and you will see more rejections.  Two can play the same game.

[Nowisee]

Apparently he is high risk.  
Why is his daughter going to school in USA?  Thai schools not good enough?  Hmm.

[dcnx]

Good. I’d love to see more Thais currently living in the US have difficulty with their visas.

[Totoandlilly]

You don’t need a visa to enter the USA, they have a southern border that is wide open.

[ThomasThBKK]

15 minutes ago, Nowisee said:

Apparently he is high risk.  
Why is his daughter going to school in USA?  Thai schools not good enough?  Hmm.

thai schools are so safe for thai political activists, right... 

[FarFlungFalang]

7 minutes ago, dcnx said:

Good. I’d love to see more Thais currently living in the US have difficulty with their visas.

Why would you want to see people having difficulties with their visas when they have nothing to do with the problems here?

[thaiguzzi]

9 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Why would you want to see people having difficulties with their visas when they have nothing to do with the problems here?

Yep, Thai Visa Haters gotta hate.

Any vitriol they can spew to make themselves feel better.

They done this to us so we gotta do that to them. Har har ha.

Pathetic little creatures.

You'll note, a lot of the TM30 moaners are also Brexiteers.
Now there's a conundrum ne'st pas?

Get them migrants out of the UK!

We want our freedom back from the EU!

Can't control all those Africans and East Europeans!

Yet the Thai govt just asks for a form to be filled out to keep track on er, immigrants and the baby is hrown out of the pram.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

Re, the Thai in the OP - what a sad state of affairs that he has not been granted a visa.

Still, if he'd been a Saudi, or N Korean - no probs.

Pro democracy Thai - ooh no - too dangerous.

Says more about modern day America than..............

[Chazar]

5 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

You'll note, a lot of the TM30 moaners are also Brexiteers

Gawd  you can spout some  bile  all by yourself yet whinge about others. I note Brexit affects only the UK and TM30 all nations who stay in Thailand.

[allen303]

Can you give us a breakdown of the numbers in reference to TM 30 moaners are also Brexiters?

I would bet it’s the other way around.

[losworld]

1 hour ago, BTB1977 said:

Good guys in,  bad guys out.  Karma American style. 5555

I get the point but they should have rejected supercop a while back when he went for his holiday lol. 

[mercman24]

i find that very funny, as he is a thorn in the establishments side, surely it would be in their interest for him to <deleted> off and not come back, Duh !!

[Emdog]

Current US approach to visas: Good guys out, bad guys out. Unless you're a white Northern European

[HLover]

2 minutes ago, Emdog said:

Current US approach to visas: Good guys out, bad guys out. Unless you're a white Northern European

Irish?

[ThomasThBKK]

27 minutes ago, HLover said:

Irish?

No, no one likes gingers. 

[Fex Bluse]

2 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Why would you want to see people having difficulties with their visas when they have nothing to do with the problems here?

How do you know they have nothing to do with the problems here? 

[Denim]

I have listened to Sombat many times and like his viewpoints and strong stand against the Junta and the coup. He has a lot of personal courage and has been in trouble many times for speaking out against the coup. A lot more balls than most yet through all his difficulties he has always maintained his sense of humor.

 

It's pretty clear from some of the posts that many people haven't a clue who he is and what he stands for.  

[3421abc]

Very sad to see the negative comments in this post against the Thai guy. The people responsible for these anti foreigner policies in Thailand are the military junta. This guy is clearly not on their side. Odds are he is welcoming to foreigners in Thailand as his own daughter lives in the US. Know your enemies!

[FarFlungFalang]

18 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

How do you know they have nothing to do with the problems here? 

Because I say they don't.I have the far seeing eye!I can just tell they don't!Why is your question not relevant?

Maybe the people and the circumstance suggested in my reply are hypothetical so if I say they have nothing to do with the problems here then these hypothetical people don't have anything to do with the problem here.If you want to suggest a hypothetical circumstance where the people in it have a connection to the problems here you're more than welcome and if you have a hypothetical question I'll give it my best shot to try and answer to the best of my abilities.

[FarFlungFalang]

21 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

No, no one likes gingers. 

Careful they're quite easily angered.They also stick together and some are quite large.

[wwest5829]

4 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

Keep screwing with us with those TM30 and you will see more rejections.  Two can play the same game.

555 You think the rejection of this Tourist Visa Application has a direct link to Americans being made to conform to Thai Law concerning the TM30? What a wishful world to think the US government would be taking any action concerning this matter. Understand, living in Chiang Mai, I would agree that the US government should step forward to protect its citizens from any requirement to report after being out of the province for more than 24 hours but ... come on. I do not know current regulation in the US but I do remember we required this type of reporting by Soviet and other nations diplomats during the Cold War. I would support the US immediately enforcing an equal requirement placed on Thai citizens visiting the US ... seems only fair.

[FarFlungFalang]

21 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

I would support the US immediately enforcing an equal requirement placed on Thai citizens visiting the US ... seems only fair.

You can't be thinking clearly if they did that they would have to make it for all nationalities because some would feel left out then you would have 2 countries with this stupid regulation then the rest of the world would follow then the TM30 would become Thailand's most successful export and the world would become a complete mess and it would all be your fault!

[White Christmas13]

I guess Norway Sweden Denmark is not in Europe then

[ChipButty]

This could have been on the recommendation of the Thai government 

[PdJ100712]

Thaiguzzi, you have got the wrong end of the stick, I am afraid. Thai nationals who have been granted a 12-month visa for the UK, be they students, workers or whatever, are free to roam around the UK for a year, without having to report their whereabouts if they go overnight from London to Bath (for example), and do not have to leave the country every 90 days. Moreover, after 5 years, provided they have been able to get visa extensions, have stayed on the right side of the law and can show they have consistently been able to support themselves financially, they can apply for a British passport. How many European long-term residents can say that about Thailand? What Thailand wants is 50 million tourists a year and zero long-term foreign residents. I wish they would say so in not so many words.

[Denim]

4 hours ago, PdJ100712 said:

Thaiguzzi, you have got the wrong end of the stick, I am afraid. Thai nationals who have been granted a 12-month visa for the UK, be they students, workers or whatever, are free to roam around the UK for a year, without having to report their whereabouts if they go overnight from London to Bath (for example), and do not have to leave the country every 90 days. Moreover, after 5 years, provided they have been able to get visa extensions, have stayed on the right side of the law and can show they have consistently been able to support themselves financially, they can apply for a British passport. How many European long-term residents can say that about Thailand? What Thailand wants is 50 million tourists a year and zero long-term foreign residents. I wish they would say so in not so many words.

 

Unbelievable.

 

So many posters thinking this is just a tit for tat visa issue.

 

Sombat is totally against the regime that is making life difficult for expats 

 

Yet here we have a lot of posters saying som nam nah. ??

 

  Support him and you support democracy and a return to sensible governance.

 

But no. Sign an online petition protesting the TM30 rule and watch immigration cower at the might of the falang.

 

Yes , that petition did the job. It bought to the attention of immigration that some provincial offices were not taking it seriously and towing the official line.

 

Well that will be fixed and soon every province will be as strict as the central authority commands.

 

That is the result of your naive petition. Idiots. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

 

If things get worse give yourselves a pat on the back. You pointed at the loopholes and they will close them.

 

Oh yes .....and Sombat a brave voice seeking to end Junta rule . Well..

just another victim of ignorance by people who should know better.

[Brigand]

Maybe you Thai public types should approve of Thais filling out TM30s in western countries and doing 90 day reports under the same silly rules it seems OK for you to impose here on us. Sucks when the boot is on the other foot huh?

[ericthai]

5 hours ago, PdJ100712 said:

Thaiguzzi, you have got the wrong end of the stick, I am afraid. Thai nationals who have been granted a 12-month visa for the UK, be they students, workers or whatever, are free to roam around the UK for a year, without having to report their whereabouts if they go overnight from London to Bath (for example), and do not have to leave the country every 90 days. Moreover, after 5 years, provided they have been able to get visa extensions, have stayed on the right side of the law and can show they have consistently been able to support themselves financially, they can apply for a British passport. How many European long-term residents can say that about Thailand? What Thailand wants is 50 million tourists a year and zero long-term foreign residents. I wish they would say so in not so many words.

You can apply for PR or Thai Citizenship after 5 years of working and paying taxes, showing you're a upstanding person, proficient in Thai language etc. 

 

It's pretty easy for a westerner to come to Thailand, most have visa exempts so it's just make plane reservation and you're done. Would you like Thailand to get sticker and everyone needs a visa and visa approval is questionable, same as the UK, USA, etc do? 

[Redline]

The current administration is not sympathetic to pro democracy activists.  If he was a European ultra nationalist, he would be eating McDonald’s with DT at the White House