Immigration's BMW "smart car" nabs snitched on overstaying Australian pensioner - he thought hiding in a country village would keep him safe

[Misterwhisper]

1 hour ago, Beggar said:

"A vinyl board had a heading indicating that the suspect was a "hiding kangeroo" and INN referred to the arrested man as "from the land of kangeroos" in their headline."

 

This is a good development to avoid mixing up Australia and Austria. 

I wonder how they would describe an Austrian, then.

 

"hiding ibex"?

"from the land of yodeling"?

 

In any case, I think it's rather denigrating if a state agency and the media use such stereotypes to describe a person. If western immigration agencies would refer to an overstayer from Thailand as a "hiding water buffalo" or "from the land of fermented fish sauce" the public would be outraged - and rightfully so.

[Pravda]

Word on the street is that immigration confiscated a vehicle and will use it as additional fleet in rural Thailand

 

[Creasy]

I can see a Netflix series, similar to Narcos  about Immigration chasing foreigners in Thailand .

[Gecko123]

From the land of done over back to the land of down under.

[Gecko123]

Why is immigration arresting kangaroos? Doesn't Thailand have an animal control department?

[metempsychotic]

2 hours ago, rkidlad said:

What does this even mean? He was snitched on. That’s how immigration suspected he was on overstay. What on god’s green earth does a waste-of-money BMW have to do with it? Other than the fact that the immigration officers could have been driving a tuk tuk and it would have made zero difference to the outcome. 

Actually a bicycle, smartphone and sim card would suffice.

[RJRS1301]

I guess the technology in the car allowed immediate access to confirm passport details and any visa extensions . Why else mention BMW Smart car?

Do they get a discount for advertising BMW???

 

[Gecko123]

How many of you are thinking that could never happen to me? Even if everyone in my village knew my visa had expired, no one would even dream of turning me in to immigration? Show of hands? Nobody?

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by Gecko123

[toofarnorth]

57 minutes ago, Grumpy John said:

It took my wife 9 years to figure out I was from Australia, not from Austria!   And that's after 3 trips down there!  It got tiring explaining Australia is between Indonesia and New Zealand......and Austria is next to Yermany. 

I have a m8 called Bruce who lives nearby , not too sure where my wife thinks he is from . I could ask but I know she will say

'You clazy man he from Ban Sala '. 

[jayceenik]

1 hour ago, cyril sneer said:

i expect every white face is reported repeatedly and 99% of the time immigration respond to say they are here legally

Yes. We just moved in my TGF's house in her village. I know there are snitches around as a couple months ago Imm Ubon came to check on a local younger Brit who lives down the road from us.  The guy is legally married to a member of my TGF's family and has legal Stay Permit. Apparently they questioned was what was a not retired farang doing in this quiet village.

I'm waiting for my "visit" LOL ????  But I'm on old retired senior !!

[CraigInBangkok]

14 minutes ago, Creasy said:

I can see a Netflix series, similar to Narcos  about Immigration chasing foreigners in Thailand .

I reckon it would end up looking more like Benny Hill

[chainarong]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

63 year old pensioner, WOW, last check, you had to be 67 + to get the pension in the land of Oz. Maybe he is on a disability pension ?

 

I can tell you one thing, if these clowns think they are funny by claiming this guy to be a hiding kangaroo because of his nationality, it just goes to show how pathetic and child like minds they have, real "racists" trying to justify the taxpayer dollars spent for their BMW ride.

Yeah , if he's 63 he wouldn't even qualify for the previous age of 65 

[Misterwhisper]

17 minutes ago, Creasy said:

I can see a Netflix series, similar to Narcos  about Immigration chasing foreigners in Thailand .

First episode will have a run time of 34 seconds -- as we see brave and determined immigration officers chasing after an overstaying elderly foreigner trying to make his get-away using a zimmer frame.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, murikamba said:

I applaud these Thais who are doing great service in catching farangs on overstay. Farnags think this is his country but it is not. My question is how does others know he is on overstay unless he talks to vilagers how easy to hide in rural areas without police permission (that is what Thais think of Immigration).

I reckon if a villager in Bahn Nawk Noi reports a farang in a village to their local cops, they call the immigration cops who do a quick check on their increasingly updated and accurate database. When it shows that there's no record of ANY farang living in or near Bahn Nawk Noi, then even the RTP can put 2 and 2 together and they jump in the smart car and as they say, the rest is history.

 

They won't know he's on overstay until they find him, get his passport and look up the database. If he's legal and just wanting a quiet life or if hiding in the boonies from his yabaa-crazy, gogo dancer ex-girlfriend, then you'll never hear about it. If he's illegal, they run to the local print shop, get the color placards made, call in the media and we get to read all about it here on these hallowed pages where we can take the Mickey out of them.

[Misterwhisper]

31 minutes ago, Pravda said:

Word on the street is that immigration confiscated a vehicle and will use it as additional fleet in rural Thailand

 

Now just fix a BMW decal there somewhere and it'll be perfect.

[CNXexpat]

2 hours ago, lujanit said:

I wonder how many foreigners have been reported by xenophobic thais to Immigration.

I wonder why the Thais know that the foreigners have no proper visa and extension. 

[Beggar]

40 minutes ago, Misterwhisper said:

I wonder how they would describe an Austrian, then.

 

"hiding ibex"?

"from the land of yodeling"?

 

In any case, I think it's rather denigrating if a state agency and the media use such stereotypes to describe a person. If western immigration agencies would refer to an overstayer from Thailand as a "hiding water buffalo" or "from the land of fermented fish sauce" the public would be outraged - and rightfully so.

It is really a problem with Australia and Austria. And perhaps the description might come from the overstayer himself. Normally Austria is described as "No kangeroos but mountains". 

[Yadon Toploy]

Getting really bad here now with this nonsense.

 

Expect it to get worse too. 

 

Can see a mass exodus soon if there are any of us left.

[Yadon Toploy]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

63 year old pensioner, WOW, last check, you had to be 67 + to get the pension in the land of Oz. Maybe he is on a disability pension ?

 

I can tell you one thing, if these clowns think they are funny by claiming this guy to be a hiding kangaroo because of his nationality, it just goes to show how pathetic and child like minds they have, real "racists" trying to justify the taxpayer dollars spent for their BMW ride.

Spot on.

[tonray]

2 hours ago, lujanit said:

I wonder how many foreigners have been reported by xenophobic thais to Immigration.

You usually only get outed if you are being an annoyance, trying to run a business, being a rude ay-hole, etc etc.

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

from the land of buffalo 

's

[Gecko123]

1 hour ago, tropo said:

I'd put money down a scorned ex-girlfriend turned him in.

Don't discount the possibility that an enemy of the wife/girlfriend or someone jealous of her reported him just to get back at her. Another motive could be someone wanting to avoid repayment of a loan, or seeking revenge after having a loan request turned down. There could be all kinds of behind the scenes machinations that the guy was clueless about.

 

In this climate, if I was on overstay or had any visa irregularities at all, I wouldn't tell anybody, and I mean anybody. And, yes, that includes your girlfriend or spouse, if for no other reason than you can't be sure who else she might tell.

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by Gecko123

[White Christmas13]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

63 year old pensioner, WOW, last check, you had to be 67 + to get the pension in the land of Oz. Maybe he is on a disability pension ?

 

I can tell you one thing, if these clowns think they are funny by claiming this guy to be a hiding kangaroo because of his nationality, it just goes to show how pathetic and child like minds they have, real "racists" trying to justify the taxpayer dollars spent for their BMW ride.

I got my pension at 65

[Mango Bob]

This seems to be the tops stories of the week for immigrations and Thai news.

[Isaanbiker]

The media said that Region 4 immigration had received a tip that a foreigner was wandering about in the Khanun area of Sisaket, though the informant did not know the man's actual address.

 

I'd have thought that it's Khun Han district and a foreigner has reported him. If so, shame on this foreigner. Ditch the snitch. 

[Isaanbiker]

10 minutes ago, White Christmas13 said:

I got my pension at 65

Good for you. Congrats. I have to wait until I'm 66.5 years old. 

[pookondee]

3 hours ago, rkidlad said:

What does this even mean? He was snitched on. That’s how immigration suspected he was on overstay. What on god’s green earth does a waste-of-money BMW have to do with it? Other than the fact that the immigration officers could have been driving a tuk tuk and it would have made zero difference to the outcome. 

The so called "smart car" is not a waste of money It can catch kangeroos on the run.

 

They should sell it to farmers in the Northern territory In Australia, where the kangeroos are considered real pests.

[JWRC]

3 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

63 year old pensioner, WOW, last check, you had to be 67 + to get the pension in the land of Oz. Maybe he is on a disability pension ?

 

I can tell you one thing, if these clowns think they are funny by claiming this guy to be a hiding kangaroo because of his nationality, it just goes to show how pathetic and child like minds they have, real "racists" trying to justify the taxpayer dollars spent for their BMW ride.

Couldn't have put it better myself. 

[bkkcanuck8]

2 hours ago, Sonhia said:

If anything, overstayers should be welcomed, after all they must still live and so spend money.

 

Tourism down, people loosing employment and yet they are kicking out overstaters that help bolster local Thai economies.

 

 

 

 

If they are an overstayer then they likely are one of two categories - one a criminal (the smaller group) - or two they do not have the means to qualify (and thus have little benefit to Thailand allowing him to live here).  It does not even indicate he is married and thus might have a reason to stay here even though he cannot afford to.   I expect there is a finders fee for turning in overstayers (a small reward).  He is definitely not smart if he thinks moving out to a small village (where you get to know who is local and who is not) to avoid immigration.  Criminals tend to be smarter IMHO.  I use to live in a small city that had the distinction of having 5 prisons... If ANY one escaped the first thing they would do his head as quickly to a major city to blend in.  If they stay local eventually with a smaller population that person will run into someone who is able to identify that he is an escapee - even without an active manhunt.  Simply put, allowing someone who does not even have the funds to stay locally is not going to improve the economy.

[White Christmas13]

3 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

Good for you. Congrats. I have to wait until I'm 66.5 years old. 

Yes it all depends what year you were born