Two Thai immigration officers transferred for allegedly taking visa extension bribes

[Neeranam]

Anyone here ever use such a service? 

[Susco]

4 minutes ago, Prince77 said:

Hang the guy who posted this issue on his facebook page.

 

Hang the guy??  You mean, give him a statue of course...........oh wait, you are one that NEEDS corrupt IO. Right?

[peterdarby]

No way…

[Krataiboy]

If they really want to stamp out corruption, how about starting at the top instead of the bottom?

 

[JeffersLos]

11 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Nonthaburi wanted me to pay 500 baht for a lost TM-6 arrival card even with a police report.  I refused and was eventually able to locate the card in the bottom of a backpack I had used months before. 

Handing over 500 baht has to be better than getting a police report, then indignantly rummaging through old backpacks, then going back there again. 

[Trevor Collins]

12 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Good. I have personal experience of immigration demanding similar bribes to extend visas of foreign workers under our employ. 

Ditto, I was asked for tea-money to extend my visitor visa, when I was in-country dealing with my wife's UK visa application.

[Trevor Collins]

Perhaps picking up litter at the side of a Bangkok expressway would be a more suitable punishment...

[Trevor Collins]

12 hours ago, ezzra said:

Only two ?...

It's a start....

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

If they really want to stamp out corruption, how about starting at the top instead of the bottom?

 

because it is much harder

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, JeffersLos said:

Handing over 500 baht has to be better than getting a police report, then indignantly rummaging through old backpacks, then going back there again. 

I often lost mine and was never charged. The target naive looking guys, and older ones.

[Soikhaonoiken]

Only 2, ????????,  haha, they haven't been looking to hard, this practice of accepting bribes in immigration goes on in most IO

[IAMHERE]

'THEY' could not possibly find inactive posts for all ; is what I'm thinking. Heard that while out at a rice patty.

Edited July 22, 2020 by IAMHERE
add weasel words so I'm not convicted of computer slander crime.

[ericthai]

13 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Why now? It's been going on for years and on a lot bigger scale than it is now

come on you know how it works. Every once in awhile the govt cracks down on something/someone to show progress is being made.  Of course the Top guy gets a slap on the wrist and for the other two, I'm sure they will eventually end up at an inactive post. 

[ericthai]

11 hours ago, JusticeGB said:

Stationary shops will have to shut down if they can't sell brown envelopes. There's a rumour that you must buy certain jobs so without brown envelopes and staying in situe for at least 3 years you would lose money on the job you bought. 

No rumor, moving up in govt jobs you pay! My wife's uncle is a principle and he had to pay to get this position. 

She has a cousin on the police department (who's an ass) but he had to pay for his position too. 

[OJAS]

11 hours ago, JusticeGB said:

Stationary shops will have to shut down if they can't sell brown envelopes.

And the Royal Thai Mint will have to make drastic cut-backs in the number of new 1,000 THB notes produced.

[DJ54]

Couldn’t find an English translation of the details...

 

Could it be entrapment? ...... one never knows without details..

[mikosan]

15 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

It will if only stupid farang grow some balls upon arriving at an immigration office. No receipt. No pay. What's the officer gonna do? 

They tried to charge me 4-500 Baht (no receipt) to transfer my old passport stamps to my new one. I refused to pay. Did I get kicked out. No.

Did I get my stamps transferred? Yes no problem. No charge.

That's interesting, because I was charged the same 500 baht for the same service, but they gave me a receipt, which led me to believe that it was lawful.  Oh well.

 

[Chiang Mai Bill]

Considering the amount of corruption within the Immigration Service and the Police, IF there is a wish to stop such corruption then these officers should have been sacked immediately!

 

Transferring them to administrative duties is no deterrent to the ''others'' taking bribe money.

 

The Government is inept by letting these men maintain their jobs.

[Airbagwill]

1 hour ago, mikosan said:

That's interesting, because I was charged the same 500 baht for the same service, but they gave me a receipt, which led me to believe that it was lawful.  Oh well.

 

R4ceipt? Lawful?? HAH!!

[torturedsole]

My mum taught me to share and share alike.  'Twas a good lesson in life.  

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

Their chief has been reprimanded for allowing illegal activity to occur on his watch.

Probably in on the cut to turn a blind eye.

[Crusader]

This will never stop...I see it every time I go to immigration - and they do not seem to be trying to hide the fact that it is happening.

[dinsdale]

21 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

I thought it was acceptable, well according to many TV posters it seems to be.  Taking bribes is that not part of the Agent process.  Nonthaburi wanted me to pay 500 baht for a lost TM-6 arrival card even with a police report.  I refused and was eventually able to locate the card in the bottom of a backpack I had used months before.  Even have copies of everything but if you do not have the original they get all pricked out.

I've lost my tm before. They said never mind checked the computer an issued another one. That's how it should happen. Unfortunately Thailand is corrupt top to bottom. A well known fact to every Thai person. The only way to stop this is to stop it from the top down. This aint going to happen. It's a culture of corruption.

[brianthainess]

16 hours ago, sahibji said:

tip of the iceberg?

Lettuce begin.

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

R4ceipt? Lawful?? HAH!!

Yep, ever heard of:

 

- 2 sets of accounts

- second receipt book outside the official money trail

- making money by printing/selling false receipt books, often with official logos etc

 

- my old multinational started a new plant on the eastern seaboard, after successful start up 99% of the farang engineers went home, leaving workforce of about 1,200 Thais.

 

Plant operations 100% computerised, state of the art, many Thais complained they has no experience whatever with computers. 

 

CEO had a policy of being very generous to all staff. He made a new policy that any employee who bought a PC with a certain set of specs was entitled to 90% grant/refund of the cost.

 

Local PC sellers quickly started up 'no interest', '6 months to pay schemes etc. very large numbers of staff handed in receipts for the PC purchase to claim the 90% reimbursement.

 

It soon became apparent/proven that one local printing shop was making fake receipt slips, all the same format, many already had the name/logo of well known local PC sellers. And the printer would within 10 minutes print a receipt, exact same format, with another not so well known name of a PC seller and/or just a totally fake, name, address, logo.

 

Within perhaps a week hundreds of claims for the 90% reimbursement lodged with the company accountant and she noticed very quickly that 99% of the slips she had received were same format etc., and there was no evidence that the receipt had been pulled from a receipt book. Some employees submitted fake receipts from 2 or 3 computer shop names. 

 

Accountant took the evidence to the farang very approachable CEO. He immediately ordered the Thai HR manager to investigate. HR manager made many excuses to avoid any checking. CEO suspected something wrong, he called his counterpart in a giant Thai company, the silent partner in the joint venture.

 

JV local CEO and the silent partner CEO called the police who arrived quickly. They uncovered the whole scam quickly, plus the local HR manager, admitted that the claim for reimbursement he had submitted included a false receipt. On questioning several hundred employees admitted they had submitted a fake receipt. 

 

The local CEO canceled the whole scheme immediately and the HR manager was sacked and the investigation revealed that the 2 Thai employees in charge of recruitment were taking large under the table payments for jobs, they were also sacked, Police keen to look good to the Thai CEO of the silent partner (famous guy in Thailand) charged the HR manager and the 2 recruitment staff. They were heavily fined and got 90 days jail. 

 

Many months later there was an annual pay rise, all the employees who had submitted false claims got zero pay rise plus a slip telling them 'no pay rise for you for 5 years'. One farang employee had submitted a false receipt, he was sacked, company organized a flight ticket to his home city in the US and he was taken to the airport in Bkk, parent in US dismissed him, never to be employed again. 

 

As evidence of the generosity of the local farang CEO very quietly the Thai wife of the farang dismissed/sent home was contacted and she was quietly given enough cash to pay the rent, and live comfortably for 6 months and a second hand car. She admitted she was glad to see the last of her 'farang husband'. 

 

Luckily no actual reimbursement of the computer subsidy had been paid. 

 

It happens. 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2020 by scorecard

[ChakaKhan]

14 hours ago, terryofcrete said:

Should have been sacked and arrested ... oh ... sorry ... happened in Thailand ... ah... that’s a different story then 

Or America .....just ask for a guy named Roger, or anyone still in the administration

[brianthainess]

16 hours ago, sahibji said:

tip of the iceberg?

Lettuce begin.

[Jester69]

23 hours ago, colinneil said:

 

That is wishful thinking, stop ripping off their country and foreigners.????

Never going to happen.

Then stop charging 500 percent markup on National Park entry too then!

 

[brianthainess]

All those out there who have batted on about using an agent as they do, when members have had problems with immigration may now start to be a bit concerned and should try and get some money in the bank for next year. Take this immigration report as a Gipsy warning if i were you guys.

[pixelaoffy]

40 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

All those out there who have batted on about using an agent as they do, when members have had problems with immigration may now start to be a bit concerned and should try and get some money in the bank for next year. Take this immigration report as a Gipsy warning if i were you guys.

Nah! This was about a direct bribe for a Wp favour! Nothing to do with using agents to process retirement extensions. All legit!

Edited July 23, 2020 by pixelaoffy