Tourist complains about crowded visa office, shoddy treatment by Thailand

[Andrew65]

12 minutes ago, kevin612 said:

Absolutely, the immigration office wants money. money is number 1, then covid 19.

If we take our Thai ladies to the UK, our immigration people will also want £ £ £????

[madmitch]

If I'd been subjected as a tourist to such treatment I'd probably refuse to set foot in the country again but talk about the Immigration measures having a major effect on the country's future tourism are probably wide of the mark.

 

A few thousand people have been affected by this but they were expecting close to 40 million this year prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. It's a drop in the ocean, even if you take into account others reading about the issue on social media.

[nomad2019]

Would love to start a petition to thai government to stop harassing westerners and relax visa rules untill everything is sorted.

T

[cornishcarlos]

Just now, nomad2019 said:

Would love to start a petition to thai government to stop harassing westerners and relax visa rules untill everything is sorted.

T

 

There already is one on change.org 

[Tropicalevo]

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

What details are necessary? Announce a blanket extension policy NOW and work out the details later.

 

Why is that so bloody difficult?

 

Because that would make life easy for the illegal workers and real overstays. ie since pre virus days. There are still lots of them in the Kingdom.

We all know that there are people in Thailand, living 'under the radar'. Unfortunately it is because of them that life for the genuine tourists is so difficult.

[spidermike007]

Sorry guys, but you deserve all the flak we could possibly dish out to you. You have spent years abusing us, directing racist and xenophobic venom our way, putting inane roadblocks in our way when it comes to the renewal of a retirement or marriage visa, and now you are asking us for tolerance and understanding? Sorry. Not gonna happen. You should be a peak efficiency right now, since there is barely anyone coming, or going out of the country, and barely any tourists here. So, what I think I am hearing is just more excuses for poor service, and a total ability to take responsibility for your actions, or inactions. Man up. Do your jobs. Stop moaning. You deserve the criticism. If you cannot handle it get another job. IF YOU CAN find one! You have no sympathy from the downtrodden ex-pats, that is for sure. 

 

At this time of economic shutdown, when tens of millions are without an income, you should be grateful you even have a job and a salary. Accept it. Be grateful. Be nicer. Get some humility. Your job is alot more than many of us, and most of the nation has.  

 

And this is an opportunity for you to improve. Think you guys can do that? More services should be available online anyway. You are asking us to stay home after all.

 

Get your act together! Be responsible. Waive all extension requirements, for now, and waive all 90 day reporting. This is a time of crisis, right? 

 

[aussienam]

4 hours ago, petermik said:

They only want our money.... we are looked at as parasites here...????

Dirty farangs. Clean Chinese.  

[Wongkitlo]

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

I bet it's not just in Thailand. I have an old friend, ex-Thailand-hand who lives in KL, will be interested to hear how things are there during this time.

Australia has a reputation for hard line immigration approach but they just ask people stranded to send an email to get an extension. 

[jak2002003]

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

If we take our Thai ladies to the UK, our immigration people will also want £ £ £????

Yes that is true, but your Thai ladies will not be having to go to immigration every 90 days for the rest of their lives, or each year to renew their visa, with a constantly changing and seeming endless list of documents and copies of stuff that is not needs as the info is all on immigration computer anyway. 

 

The good ladies would also not be crammed up in over crowded hot immigration offices for hours on end when there is a serious disease outbreak when people are supposed to be staying at home and also using social distancing to prevent the spread of a deadly virus.  I suspect they don't have to take their landlords and property owners along with them either, or photos of themselves outside, and inside their home.  

 

 

[Wongkitlo]

51 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Because that would make life easy for the illegal workers and real overstays. ie since pre virus days. There are still lots of them in the Kingdom.

We all know that there are people in Thailand, living 'under the radar'. Unfortunately it is because of them that life for the genuine tourists is so difficult.

The government offered that as a reason but what does showing what hotel you are living in do to help anything? It is easy to go to a hotel, get a tm30 report, go to immigration and then leave and go somewhere else and do whatever you want. Having a person turn up at immigration and show pictures of their hotel is not going to prove anything. Same with bringing a landlord. People often sign a lease and then disappear after a month or two. I don't think someone on overstay is going to go anywhere near immigration so how do their procedures help stopping that? I understand even Thais can't get work at the moment so where is all this illegal work? Anyway what is more important? People's health and wellbeing or a few people on overstay or working illegally.

[richard_smith237]

OK, so we all know that anyone following the news has made their decision already. 

They either chose to remain in Thailand hoping things would improve, or they already left. 

 

Those who remained did so believing they could continue with Visa extensions etc as they have in the past - they didn’t believe the situation would get worse.

Perhaps many of these ‘tourists’ are not really tourists but those living here. 

 

Regardless of the reasons, the risk of viral spread must now supersede any Immigration objectives, these people are already in Thailand. 

 

Thus: There are a couple of intelligent options: 

1) Lazy Option: announce a complete amnesty on Visa’s and exempt everyone from Visa requirements until this passes.

2) Decent Option: Set up a system whereby those aliens who would otherwise be requiring visa renewal to be able to do so remotely (via internet) posting their passport and copy of stamp etc - there are immigration officers who are not working (who would otherwise be at airports) who could handle this. It takes organisation to implement, but it could be done. 

 

The lazy option works for now, and this provides safety for the Immigration Officials, the safety of the tourists / aliens, the safety of those others using transport etc....  anything else is madness at this time. 

[Andrew65]

6 minutes ago, Wongkitlo said:

The government offered that as a reason but what does showing what hotel you are living in do to help anything? It is easy to go to a hotel, get a tm30 report, go to immigration and then leave and go somewhere else and do whatever you want. Having a person turn up at immigration and show pictures of their hotel is not going to prove anything. Same with bringing a landlord. People often sign a lease and then disappear after a month or two. I don't think someone on overstay is going to go anywhere near immigration so how do their procedures help stopping that? I understand even Thais can't get work at the moment so where is all this illegal work? Anyway what is more important? People's health and wellbeing or a few people on overstay or working illegally.

Hotels have to keep records of their guests though, by law. Although an old friend lived in a hotel for 14 years & still had to do his 90 days etc.

Part of why Air B & B has been a contentious issue. If someone is staying at a place for less than 30 days (I think), the place has to be registered as a hotel.

[robsamui]

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

Social distancing... Some stupid sods around.

Why are immigration so determined to make problems for tourists?

They are helping to trash tourism here in the future, with their crazy antics.

The biggest problem with immigration officials in all small provincial offices is that they are essentially undereducated - as with all Thais. Also, they are specifically trained to work in an exact way, and lack the initiative or creativity to adjust, or find solutions, to new situations.

 

Instead of getting understandably angry at them, try to imagine that, instead of people wearing official uniforms, you are dealing with a whole bunch of people wearing 7-11 uniforms - I can't imagine there's much difference in aptitude or ability.

 

These are exceptional times, leading to floods of people (farangs) all of which have distressing visa scenarios, combined with an easily-spread disease which makes everyone edgy and nervous.

 

The situation is heightened by the rapidly-changing attitudes of central government and the ongoing poor communications between Bangkok and it's far-flung outposts.

 

Not to mention the conflict with the traditional Thai instruction that all immigration directives are up to the discretion of individual immigration officer - this has always been a nonsense but under these new emergency circumstances it's become yet another Thai farce.

 

Try to keep it in mind that 99% of Thais are conservative, shy, gentle folks who would much rather disappear through a back door for an hour than face a confrontation in a situation they are not trained to cope with.

 

Be patient with what's happening now - the staff at immigration are probably at their wit's end. It's not these individuals who are sinking Thailand's tourist boat; that's already been achieved by the simple soldiers who are currently running the nation and their insane lust for the tourist $$ at any cost and the outmoded and unreliable computer infrastructure - plus their open racism . . . not to mention their inability to take decisive and positive action - none of which is being well-perceived by the rest of the world.

Edited April 5, 2020 by robsamui

[marko kok prong]

28 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Yes that is true, but your Thai ladies will not be having to go to immigration every 90 days for the rest of their lives, or each year to renew their visa, with a constantly changing and seeming endless list of documents and copies of stuff that is not needs as the info is all on immigration computer anyway. 

 

The good ladies would also not be crammed up in over crowded hot immigration offices for hours on end when there is a serious disease outbreak when people are supposed to be staying at home and also using social distancing to prevent the spread of a deadly virus.  I suspect they don't have to take their landlords and property owners along with them either, or photos of themselves outside, and inside their home.  

 

 

Why do you have to go to to the office every 90 days,post it,do online,or use an agent,try using a bit of initiative.

[Wongkitlo]

36 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

Hotels have to keep records of their guests though, by law. Although an old friend lived in a hotel for 14 years & still had to do his 90 days etc.

Part of why Air B & B has been a contentious issue. If someone is staying at a place for less than 30 days (I think), the place has to be registered as a hotel.

Hotels need to report arrivals but not departures. Anyone can arrive at a hotel and be reported and then leave the next day, go somewhere where they are not reported, commit a crime and then next day go to a new hotel and be reported again. As far as immigration knows they are still at the first hotel until they are reported at the next hotel. It is a completely ineffectual system which does nothing except create lots of paperwork and raises money for immigration. 

[GordyS]

5 hours ago, petermik said:

They only want our money.... we are looked at as parasites here...????

Family at the top, farangs at the bottom, everything else in between 

[pmh2009]

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

Social distancing... Some stupid sods around.

Why are immigration so determined to make problems for tourists?

They are helping to trash tourism here in the future, with their crazy antics.

Because they don't want the westerners here anymore!!!

[outsider]

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

Social distancing... Some stupid sods around.

Why are immigration so determined to make problems for tourists?

They are helping to trash tourism here in the future, with their crazy antics.

From what I can see, tourism is already pretty thrashed, even before the pandemic. Now they're nailing it down with nine-inch nails just to make sure it is. Laying the finishing touches, if you must... ????

 

[from the home of CC]

5 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

They will be shooting anyone, in immigration offices, who pull out their phones soon...

These kind of photos are a National security risk.... 

think you're confused with the Philippines..

[brucegoniners]

He's absolutely right that they should be avoiding crowds there.

 

Thailand needs to make as much as possible virtual.

 

Sadly their website is completely FUBAR. Not sure what I'll do when it's 90 day checking time (I still have 2.5 months.)

 

Their online system does not work if you last checked in at the airport. Hopefully they have changed that, but I very much doubt it.

[jlwilliamsjr18]

I have to say this.

Any tourist who got on a plane to Thailand when COVID19 was prevalent put themselves in this pickle.

It's hard to feel sorry for them.  

[racket]

Why is Thailand lagging behind? Is this how you treat your customers a.k.a. tourists? Extend all tourists visas and exempts until June 30th 2020! 

[thescot]

Typical Thailand mentality. Money first and when it's broken and too late blame someone else.

[Tchooptip]

5 hours ago, UbonThani said:

All tourists should have left 3 weeks ago. Don't these whingers read the news. Forget holidays for 9 months.

you should offer your services to the immigration you seem made to get along ????

[trainman34014]

''An announcement will be made shortly''.....as soon as we've raked in a few more Million Baht from these Dirty Farang.    And; by the way, we don't give a stuff if they all die as long as we have extracted their money first !

[Chris888]

I lived in Phuket for almost 17 years, it was always nasty dealing with Immigration.

Look at what they are doing, making people line up shoulder to shoulder with the Corona Virus running Rampant. 

Its so good to be away from Phuket, not good dealing with Phuket Immigration, sorry sorry excuse for brain dead moves.

Good God its so good to be gone from there. I feel sorry for any Foreigner in Thailand now.

Thai's are ruining the Tourist Industry, if Foreigner's have any sense, once this is over they will leave & never return.

The only Tourist's you get will be Bat eating Chinamen. You deserve what you get, you have treated Foreigner's bad for years.

[Bob12345]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Officials are working out details and will shortly make an official announcement, he added

How about first giving everybody a waiver, and then take all the time you need to figure out details?

[MangoPineappleBanana]

6 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Then having to bringing their landlord With them then travel to bank for update bankbook then traveling to ur embassy for another piece of paper, TM30’s , bedroom pictures? etc etc yeah all this is really great with and without any virus out there.

How about just pay and stay?

Pay and stay....hmm sounds a lot like elite visa

[Andrew65]

1 hour ago, Wongkitlo said:

Australia has a reputation for hard line immigration approach but they just ask people stranded to send an email to get an extension. 

Yes, Australia has a good system, I've used it myself. Also, a visit to their Embassy was a lot less expensive, quicker, and less hassle than the British Embassy!

[yellowboat]

It has always been service with a sneer or look of disgust Thai immigration.  It is just worse now that those who are stuck now feel what frequent visitors feel:  The Thai government dislikes most foreigners, and allows immigration to run wild. 

 

The cha cha buffoonery has done wonders for the Vietnamese economy.