Another visa agent arrested! This one was using fake stamps for migrant workers

[webfact]

Another visa agent arrested! This one was using fake stamps for migrant workers

 

Picture: Naew Na

 

Thailand's Immigration Bureau has announced the arrest of another female visa agent using fake stamps on extensions.

 

This time the woman was charging up to 13,000 baht to migrant workers for falsifying their documents. 

 

Sukanya, 33, a Thai national, came to the attention of the IB after a Myanmar woman called San Da Win went to immigration on July 30th to say that she suspected the stamp on her Non-LA visa was a fake. 

 

Checks soon proved it was.

 

She had paid 13,000 baht to Sukanya for the stamp that permitted her to stay in Thailand until the end of March next year.

 

A sting was conducted. Sukanya admitted that she had been using a fake stamp for some time while working at a shop (that appeared to be a visa agent) in the Minburi area of northern Bangkok. 

 

She would mix up real extensions with fake ones so as to avoid detection.

 

She charged at least 5,000 baht for her service. 

 

The IB are convinced that her activities are part of a wider fraud and are expanding their inquiry. 

 

Earlier in August another Thai woman was arrested for allegedly using fake stamps for foreigners though she was soon back at her desk working for an agent in Bang Na. 

 

In that arrest an American man was also arrested after many ganja plants were found growing upstairs. 

 

Source: Naew Na

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-08-27

 

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[CorpusChristie]

She was using fake stamps , not paying the I.O .

Dont worry, nothing to do with us currently getting visas from legitimate agents who get stamps officially with a payment being made 

[Dart12]

was her real one broke? Not exactly like it's got a counter on it ???? 

[CorpusChristie]

Just now, Dart12 said:

was her real one broke? Not exactly like it's got a counter on it ???? 

She didnt have a real one 

[Dmaxdan]

Oh, the peace of mind that I don't use an agent to gain my extension stamps....

[Bigtimecharlie]

I used my visa agent to renew my UK passport, arrived very quickly and is Black, it is probably fake too 55555

[tonray]

3 minutes ago, Bigtimecharlie said:

I used my visa agent to renew my UK passport, arrived very quickly and is Black, it is probably fake too 55555

Check to see if it has a picture of Margaret Thatcher on the data page... 555

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

She was using fake stamps , not paying the I.O .

Dont worry, nothing to do with us currently getting visas from legitimate agents who get stamps officially with a payment being made 

I think that you are a bit naive about legitimate agents not paying immigration.

I have been standing in the head man's office waiting, for my annual extension (he loves to make me wait an hour or so - I do not pay him any extras) and an agent walks in with a pile of passports for him to 'process'. A 100 baht note in each passport. Needless to say that the agent was served before I was. VIP charge?

[CorpusChristie]

18 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

I think that you are a bit naive about legitimate agents not paying immigration.

I have been standing in the head man's office waiting, for my annual extension (he loves to make me wait an hour or so - I do not pay him any extras) and an agent walks in with a pile of passports for him to 'process'. A 100 baht note in each passport. Needless to say that the agent was served before I was. VIP charge?

I meant "proper " money , rather than just a drinks worth

[Scot123]

I think it is quite smug of those who think using an agent is legal just because it's what they do so must be legal. Wake up! It's illegal!!! You are required to do your visa in person plus having money put into your account to fraudulently show the requirements again is illegal. The clampdown will come it just takes one man at the top to take over a bit like Big Joke then all the tears. All this nonsense of "I do it for convenience" What tosh! Paying 15-20k every year for 30 minutes in an immigration office having your documents checked..... Tears before bedtime......

[digger70]

5 hours ago, Bigtimecharlie said:

I used my visa agent to renew my UK passport, arrived very quickly and is Black, it is probably fake too 55555

       ????          blue

Full introduction will be phased in and from mid-2020 all new passports will be blue. The colour is not the only change, in a first for the British passport, the back cover will also carry its own symbolic design – the floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales embossed.Feb 22, 2020

[sanuk711]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

This time the woman was charging up to 13,000 baht to migrant workers for falsifying their documents. 

That's a lot of money for an migrant worker, who is usually under paid re the rest of the Thai work force.

 

 

[Thingamabob]

I have never used an agent in nearly 40 years, nor will I. 

[Bangkok Barry]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Earlier in August another Thai woman was arrested for allegedly using fake stamps for foreigners though she was soon back at her desk working for an agent in Bang Na.

This obviously refers to 'Grace'. So, after the big news that she was arrested with fake visa stamps how is she back working again? Did anyone read how she squirmed off the hook?

[bodga]

9 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

I think that you are a bit naive about legitimate agents not paying immigration.

I have been standing in the head man's office waiting, for my annual extension (he loves to make me wait an hour or so - I do not pay him any extras) and an agent walks in with a pile of passports for him to 'process'. A 100 baht note in each passport. Needless to say that the agent was served before I was. VIP charge?

This is  like the Land  Offices in Bangkok and Hua  hin who due to lack of  business  have increased their price from "greedy"  to "greedy bastards" 2000 to 7000 baht per case. This is so any sales run smoothly instead of them being extremely awkward, whole countrys a  joke with corruption

[Nout]

10 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

I think that you are a bit naive about legitimate agents not paying immigration.

I have been standing in the head man's office waiting, for my annual extension (he loves to make me wait an hour or so - I do not pay him any extras) and an agent walks in with a pile of passports for him to 'process'. A 100 baht note in each passport. Needless to say that the agent was served before I was. VIP charge?

I go with my agent to IO. Pass her the money, she takes her cut and passes the rest to the IO who takes my documents and bank details after which we leave and return with completed extension.

[mrwebb8825]

16 hours ago, digger70 said:

       ????          blue

Full introduction will be phased in and from mid-2020 all new passports will be blue. The colour is not the only change, in a first for the British passport, the back cover will also carry its own symbolic design – the floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales embossed.Feb 22, 2020

Pansies and Daisies? ????

[RobU]

 

On 8/27/2020 at 5:49 AM, Bigtimecharlie said:

I used my visa agent to renew my UK passport, arrived very quickly and is Black, it is probably fake too 55555

No it is probably a genuine passport the colour is not black, it is a very dark blue (you have to put it next to genuine black to see the difference or view it in very bright light). The colour was changed from Burgundy to Dark Blue when we left the EU. It is the original colour of UK passports before we joined the EU

[ChipButty]

On 8/27/2020 at 9:45 PM, bodga said:

This is  like the Land  Offices in Bangkok and Hua  hin who due to lack of  business  have increased their price from "greedy"  to "greedy bastards" 2000 to 7000 baht per case. This is so any sales run smoothly instead of them being extremely awkward, whole countrys a  joke with corruption

I have it on good authority the land offices are worse than any immigration office add Phuket to your list

[Andre0720]

On ‎8‎/‎27‎/‎2020 at 7:36 PM, Thingamabob said:

I have never used an agent in nearly 40 years, nor will I. 

Simply because you had other options. For some people, it is the only option...

[giddyup]

4 minutes ago, Andre0720 said:

Simply because you had other options. For some people, it is the only option...

It's a requirement to have either 400K, 800K, or the correct amount each month, not an option.

[BangkokReady]

On 8/28/2020 at 10:07 AM, mrwebb8825 said:

Pansies and Daisies? ????

Rose, shamrock, thistle, leek.

[RobFord]

On 8/27/2020 at 10:06 AM, CorpusChristie said:

She didnt have a real one 

555. It doesn’t matter if it’s real or fake. I suggest that if you can meet the visa requirements of the Thai government go to immigration for confirmation. Good luck. 

[Mike Teavee]

On 8/27/2020 at 3:02 PM, Scot123 said:

I think it is quite smug of those who think using an agent is legal just because it's what they do so must be legal. Wake up! It's illegal!!! You are required to do your visa in person plus having money put into your account to fraudulently show the requirements again is illegal. The clampdown will come it just takes one man at the top to take over a bit like Big Joke then all the tears. All this nonsense of "I do it for convenience" What tosh! Paying 15-20k every year for 30 minutes in an immigration office having your documents checked..... Tears before bedtime......

Again... It's nonsense to suggest that everybody using an Agent is somehow doing something illegal, there are lots of us who use Agents just for the convenience...

 

My agent charges 7,000 THB on top of the 1,900 extension fee and for that they:-

• Complete all the paperwork & do the photocopies (including map to Condo)
• Book the appointment
• Drive me to CW
• Escort me to the Bank to get the letter stating I have the funds in my account (which I obviously have to sign-for) & the passbook updated
• Get a photocopy of the updated bank book 
• Hangs around the correct desk while I have a seat 

At this point I

• Sit with the officer checking the documents & sign anything extra that needs to be signed
• Have my Photo taken
• Take all my documents to the Immigration Officer who does the Visa

Once this has been done the Immigration Officer takes my passport & bank book to the chief immigration officer & I leave it with my agent to collect once it's been fully approved (Or I could sit & wait 1-2 hours & collect them myself), then I collect them from their office whilst on my way to lunch a couple of days later. 

 

Absolutely nothing illegal or shady about it, you're just paying 7K for the convenience of having somebody do all of the running around for you & for you to be in/out of CW in 30 minutes (including the time to get the Bank Letter). 

 

Edit: Should add that I've been told the agent I use will turn you away if you don't meet the requirements & the 1st time I used them they seemed pretty adamant that I needed to have the 800K in the bank, I don't know what would have happened if I'd have wanted to use the income route as I never asked. 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Mike Teavee

[from the home of CC]

On 8/27/2020 at 3:02 PM, Scot123 said:

I think it is quite smug of those who think using an agent is legal just because it's what they do so must be legal. Wake up! It's illegal!!! You are required to do your visa in person plus having money put into your account to fraudulently show the requirements again is illegal. The clampdown will come it just takes one man at the top to take over a bit like Big Joke then all the tears. All this nonsense of "I do it for convenience" What tosh! Paying 15-20k every year for 30 minutes in an immigration office having your documents checked..... Tears before bedtime......

people can justify anything when it benefits them. Of course it's illegal, you're facilitating corruption. If caught up, you will be gone.. 

[Mike Teavee]

1 hour ago, from the home of CC said:

people can justify anything when it benefits them. Of course it's illegal, you're facilitating corruption. If caught up, you will be gone.. 

Please see Post 26 and tell me which part of that process is illegal... 

 

[from the home of CC]

21 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Please see Post 26 and tell me which part of that process is illegal... 

 

you would be okay with all the visa scamming that goes on here then in your own country? If folks were in my country paying bribes to io's via agents or whatever popular scam for the week was, I would want them jailed and deported but to each their own. I guess it depends on how you were reared..

[Mike Teavee]

56 minutes ago, from the home of CC said:

you would be okay with all the visa scamming that goes on here then in your own country? If folks were in my country paying bribes to io's via agents or whatever popular scam for the week was, I would want them jailed and deported but to each their own. I guess it depends on how you were reared..

Where in my reply did I say anything like that? 

 

I said that there are agents who provide a legitimate service so it's nonsense to say that everybody who uses an agent are doing something illegal... If you disagree with this, point out anything I did or didn't do that was in anyway illegal.

 

I could have done exactly the same thing myself so I guess you can say that me spending 7K for somebody to do some of it for me should be illegal but it's up to me how I spend my money. 

 

As I've said the agent I use will only work with people who meet the requirements, do you not have immigration lawyers in your country? Should these all be rounded up & shot as well? I wonder how many saying "All Agents are scum & should be shot" used an immigration lawyer to get their teerack a visa for their own country?

 

And I was raised (not reared, I'm not cattle) to respect the laws, certainly of a country where I'm only a "Guest", if I could not meet the immigration requirements of this country then I wouldn't live here

 

[from the home of CC]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

Where in my reply did I say anything like that? 

 

I said that there are agents who provide a legitimate service so it's nonsense to say that everybody who uses an agent are doing something illegal... If you disagree with this, point out anything I did or didn't do that was in anyway illegal.

 

I could have done exactly the same thing myself so I guess you can say that me spending 7K for somebody to do some of it for me should be illegal but it's up to me how I spend my money. 

 

As I've said the agent I use will only work with people who meet the requirements, do you not have immigration lawyers in your country? Should these all be rounded up & shot as well? I wonder how many saying "All Agents are scum & should be shot" used an immigration lawyer to get their teerack a visa for their own country?

 

And I was raised (not reared, I'm not cattle) to respect the laws, certainly of a country where I'm only a "Guest", if I could not meet the immigration requirements of this country then I wouldn't live here

 

the folks that use 'agents' for a secretarial services are a minimal number (though, as you state there is nothing nefarious in this practice) and imo Sir, you are a rarity. If I misread your actions I apologize - as I say the majority on this website are committing illegal activity in a foreign country (no matter how its justified) by misrepresenting though an intermediary by also paying a fee for that misrepresentation - a fee used to further illegality fully known by all parties. If someone wants to spend a sum for someone to be a secretary for them you're correct, its up to them and the country isn't affected. Sadly, that's a rarity in what really happens..

[Jack Hna]

This is why you never ever use an agent in Thailand. The whole shop is rotten to the core.