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

[monkfish]

3 hours ago, lujanit said:

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

I know an Immigration officer they told me most snitches are Farang they're quite amused by that fact lol. Just saying.

[Stump]

His Kangaroo suit was less conspicuous in the  country village then the city BUT his downfall is there are no Kangaroos in Thailand..

[legend49]

proved no match for immgration's BMW Smart car after he was snitched on by fellow villagers.

 

Cant be the DUMB car that caught him as he was dobbed in by fellow villagers. Back luck IMO's no kudos here this time, must be hard justifying the 6 BMWs that sit in CNX Immigration car park most of the day.

[lemonjelly]

Imagine the Thai uproar if Australian immigration showed a poster referring to a Thai as an animal. 

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, lujanit said:

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

I wonder how many derelict / ignorant / abusive / violent or dishonest foreigners who frighten folks and kids have been reported by Thai folks?

[ThaiBunny]

Just now, lemonjelly said:

Imagine the Thai uproar if Australian immigration showed a poster referring to a Thai as an animal. 

You mean Peter Dutton hasn't done that already? Australian politicians are generally pretty adept at the dog-whistle - take the current coronavirus isolation on Christmas Island. It's Dutton and Scotty From Marketing reassuring the "Quiet Australians" that "we're keeping you safe from those filthy diseased Asians"

[4MyEgo]

18 minutes ago, White Christmas13 said:

I got my pension at 65

You got in just before the changes, I was slightly off, moreso thinking when I get mine at 67, i.e. if I qualify, age scale below for those interested.

 

 

Date of birth	Age Pension age	Date Age Pension age changes
Born between 1 January 1954 and 30 June 1955	66 years	1 July 2019
Born between 1 July 1955 and 31 December 1956	66 years and 6 months	1 July 2021
Born from 1 January 1957 onwards	67 years	1 July 2023

 

 

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, Antonymous said:

 

This is very hard to believe. So Thais are now supposed to report if they see any farang 'wandering around'? And then the IO will send the batmobile to investigate? Nonsense.

Have to agree there, after talking to some of my villagers it seems they have no idea what hoops we have to jump through, visa extensions and 90 day reports aren't on their radar. Even my mother-in-law doesn't understand why I have to travel to Bangkok every year to get my embassy letter from the German embassy, "why? You live here, you have a Thai son, a house, what do you need a visa for"? So I don't understand snitching for overstay, how would they even know? One would have to be down and out and be causing trouble to get a report made. Even my pu yai baan has no idea that I need visa extensions, after 14 years of being here he just considers me as a village inhabitant who has the right to be here.

[Blue Muton]

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.

Wow, you're not allowed to take a private or company pension before you're 67 if you're an Aussie? That's harsh if true.

[sapson]

I think i am missing something here ,,,isnt the BMW smart car just a load of <deleted>?.

 

Its just a BMW with a laptop computer able to access a wifi network and immigration records.

 

So a guy using a honda wave and having a smart phone with wifi could do the same.

 

The detection comes from the brilliant highly skilled act of looking in the guys passport to detect an out of date stamp......and another heinous criminal overstayer causing mayhem is taken off the streets.

 

Drunk drivers kiddie fiddlers wife bashers can relax,... the cops with smart cars have bigger fish to fry.

 

Pathetic.

[DLock]

53 minutes ago, Yadon Toploy said:

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.

 

Why is people getting caught for overstay "nonsense"?

 

Why can I expect it to "get worse"?

 

99% of foreigners abide by the requirements to stay in Thailand legally...so a mass exodus of 1% of rule breakers is hardly a concern. 

[4MyEgo]

10 minutes ago, Blue Muton said:

Wow, you're not allowed to take a private or company pension before you're 67 if you're an Aussie? That's harsh if true.

Two separate things, A) The pension is from the government, i.e. if you qualify under the assets test you get it.

 

B) There is superannuation, your employer by law is required to put in 9% last I knew, and was to go to 12% over so many years, i.e. increasing till it got to the max, you could also do a salary sacrifice and contribute to it, and you could take it at 55 if you retired, however if you did do that, i.e. before 60 you would pay tax, however if you reached a thing called "preservation age" you could take out a lump sum of say around $190,000 AUS and pay no tax and the balance after 60 so you don't pay tax on it, there are also other options to take it like a sort or pension.

 

I retired at 55 no pension, super I took at 57 "preservation age and when I turn 60 in August, I will take the rest out, when I hit 65 will return to Oz do my 2 years and wait till I reach 67 to apply for the pension, i.e. if I can qualify for it under the assets test, and then once I have it will come back here to live.

[Mitkof Island]

3 hours ago, lujanit said:

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

I wish more would do so. Are you guys hiding here?

[IamNoone88]

Seems like a guy minding his own business and wanting to live his golden years in peace ... no visa, yes wrong, but he seems like no fugitive or criminal on the run. I would have thought a priority would be to find those guys .... not wasting resources on a pensioner.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Why do these people insist on overstaying knowing very well that the long arm of the law will eventually catch up with them? I can’t imagine that it would be a comfortable existence, having to look over your shoulder all the time. 
Could it be that they are fugitives from their own country? If so, then Thai immigration is doing everyone a big favor by rounding them up. 

Simple Hypothesis:  After taking a 20% hit to his currency exchange, and rising prices, he finally said "That 800,000 would go a long way in a small village and spartan budget.  it will last me a lifetime ... literally"  Plus the cost of reports and annual renewals.  Etc.  So he decided to just live a quite solitary life and fade off into the sunset.  But, he got caught, and so begins a new chapter in his life.  Sad, but true. I am sure somehow Thai Visa will vilify Thailand for creating systems that find law breakers and punishing them, but this is the amazing double standard that this site exists for.  I am done now ... please proceed to tell me about Farangatopia where compassionate immigration laws allow broke people to just live in your country. (???) Where IS this place????

[trainman34014]

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. 

Tut Tut; it's a matter of 'Face' !   But where would they be without all these nasty little Thai 'snitchers' ?    What difference does it make to the average Thai Villager if there is a Farang wandering about ?   Talk about Racist !

[trainman34014]

3 hours ago, monkfish said:

Seriously?
They make a vinyl board just for this one old guy?

The Relatives of a senior person at Immigration are enjoying a lovely business in sign making these days !

[trainman34014]

47 minutes ago, monkfish said:

I know an Immigration officer they told me most snitches are Farang they're quite amused by that fact lol. Just saying.

What would you expect him to tell you ?    Come on; we all know it can never be a Thai's fault !

[spidermike007]

What they really need to start doing, is making life easier for ex-pats, not harder. Take a look at the constant changing of the goalposts. A good friend of mine just went to renew his retirement visa, which is historically probably the easiest category. He was told the laws changed last month, and now much documentation is required from his bank, using the income method, and it costs 6,200 baht, from the bank! Dozens of guys who have lived here for years and had all their paperwork in order, were being turned away. It is non-stop. Getting harder all the time.

[White Christmas13]

28 minutes ago, Blue Muton said:

Wow, you're not allowed to take a private or company pension before you're 67 if you're an Aussie? That's harsh if true.

you can get your private pension ( Super ) paid out anytime with a valued reason. I had mine paid out

when I moved to Thailand. After my return to OZ I worked for another 3 years and got that one paid

out again when I got laid off.

[Lemonltr]

47 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

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.

Big assumption to say that he stays "even though he cannot afford to" 

Even if we'll short of the required 65.000 baht monthly income he can certainly afford to. Many Thais earn the minimum wage of around 9.000 baht or less in rural areas. 

[monkfish]

5 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

The Relatives of a senior person at Immigration are enjoying a lovely business in sign making these days !

Haha yes just like they have photocopy shops maybe even the same shop lol.
Most government offices have inhouse copy machines.
 

[cardinalblue]

If it is a smart car, what is it telling us about it’s occupants?

[natway09]

Immigration can now be very proud of themselves

[hellohello123]

I love it how they have to keep on mentioning what sort of car  was used,

 

they make it sound as the thought the BMW SMART CAR got a mind of its own and decided to chase down overstaying foreigners

[misterphil]

All the over stayers in Pattaya and beyond and they drive the flash BMW to catch one that was snitched on. 

 

Get a grip. ????????????

[Antonymous]

14 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

What they really need to start doing, is making life easier for ex-pats, not harder. Take a look at the constant changing of the goalposts. A good friend of mine just went to renew his retirement visa, which is historically probably the easiest category. He was told the laws changed last month, and now much documentation is required from his bank, using the income method, and it costs 6,200 baht, from the bank! Dozens of guys who have lived here for years and had all their paperwork in order, were being turned away. It is non-stop. Getting harder all the time.

And THIS is the primary reason why it makes perfect sense to use an agent even when you have all the necessary means to get a visa legitimately. Yes, the IO can and do make changes occasionally that you wouldn't have heard about, and also on any given day and with certain officers they can and do add a rule or two that are seemingly arbitrary. Why risk this happening to you when for about 3,000 baht a year you can avoid this? 

 

I have all the means to get my Visa but choose to use an agent  for the reason above. Plus I save hours of my time and absolutely zero stress in the process. Just do it.

[holy cow cm]

21 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

What they really need to start doing, is making life easier for ex-pats, not harder. Take a look at the constant changing of the goalposts. A good friend of mine just went to renew his retirement visa, which is historically probably the easiest category. He was told the laws changed last month, and now much documentation is required from his bank, using the income method, and it costs 6,200 baht, from the bank! Dozens of guys who have lived here for years and had all their paperwork in order, were being turned away. It is non-stop. Getting harder all the time.

Can you elaborate more on what documentation and why would it cost 6200?

[gearbox]

3 hours ago, shackleton said:

Sign of the times here

He must have suspected he would eventually get caught 

With no  TM 30 , 90 day reporting it was only a matter of time 

There will be others so be aware

It is relatively easy to get a list of overstayers, as the immigration has all the data it needs - days allowed to stay, date to get in the country, date to leave the country. Simple data matching and mathematics. Finding the overstayers is way more difficult. However with the development of the face recognition technologies the police/immigration cameras can be preloaded with the faces of the overstayers, and matches would be done as the cars drive around. Currently this is what police does in Oz to spot unregistered cars. It may take quite a few years although for the Thais to roll out something like this.

 

I'm afraid worse times are coming for any overstayers around the world.

 

[bkkcanuck8]

30 minutes ago, Lemonltr said:

Big assumption to say that he stays "even though he cannot afford to" 

Even if we'll short of the required 65.000 baht monthly income he can certainly afford to. Many Thais earn the minimum wage of around 9.000 baht or less in rural areas. 

There are ways around that, which I would not recommend, but given overstay as an alternative -- would be better.  i.e. working through an agent that has back channels.  If you cannot even afford that on top of ... something like I pay which is 10,000 house rental (reasonably nice), electricity and food which should not exceed 20,000 a month if he were careful... and the fee of lets say 30,000 a year... then no... he is not going to add much to the economy at all.  In any case, each country can set it's own standards on who can stay and Thailand is still quite lax ...  Thailand has it's minimum standard and if you don't qualify - you should not be here.  I wound say the low wage labour that is here on mass does more to keep the Thai economy moving than any expat that does not even meet the minimum requirements.