Advice On Old Counterfeit Visa Stamps

[purpleflower]

Hi all

I am travelling back to thailand in 2 months, and need to know what you all think about whether or not i should change my passport.

i was there last year, and sent my passport to the malaysian border via a travel agent on the islands.

didn't really understand at the time the seriousness of it, but do now. some friends of mine were arrested last year for having counterfeit stamps.

i got out of thailand no problem at all, so i'm wondering if my stamps are infact 'real'?

does anyone know what numbers surround the border of a legal stamp?

am i completely out of my mind going back on the same passport, or are the chances slim of getting caught?

have been searching on the net for some answers, but cant seem to find any.

any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

thank you all.

sarah

[chingy_]

get a new passport, better be safe than sorry

[LivinLOS]

There was a serious one and a not so serious one..

Look around the Thai re entry (square box) stamp... B81 and IIRC B01 being the minor and major problems...

The B01 was a known forged stamp and the B81 was a suspicious stamp even though it was in real use at Padangbasar...

I had a B81 stamp that was genuinely applied in Padangbaser that was refused and questioned in Ranong and I had to then go back to Padangbaser (and pay some overstay as I could not do it in time) to have a subsequent exit and entry stamp applied then Ranong was happy after that !!! That was a genuine visa stamp that was simply ignored by Ranong with no explanation and any attempt at questioning / politely argueing simply got me the 'would you like to be detained' end of argument and give up gracefully.

I would suggest simply replacing your passport if you have either of those stamps in there.

[purpleflower]

thanks for that livinlos.

B133 is the number on my exit stamp, and the same number is on the reentry stamp.

any idea if that is a real one?

or how would i find out? probably not easily.

thanks again for that.

[LivinLOS]

Well I just went through my passport looking for a 133 stamp (to verify that it is legit and raises no eyebrows for me) but I dont have one... Curiously I have only 2 digit numbers on ALL my stamps for Myanmar / Malaysia / Bangkok arrivals...

Also I seem to always have different numbers for the Malasian entry stamp as the thai entry stamp on the same day.. Having both the same from 2 different governments seems a little odd !!

Personally I would not take the risk and just get a new one..

[huski]

some friends of mine were arrested last year for having counterfeit stamps.

did your friends use the same service as you?

I had a B81 stamp that was genuinely applied in Padangbaser that was refused and questioned in Ranong and I had to then go back to Padangbaser (and pay some overstay as I could not do it in time) to have a subsequent exit and entry stamp applied then Ranong was happy after that !!! That was a genuine visa stamp that was simply ignored by Ranong with no explanation and any attempt at questioning / politely argueing simply got me the 'would you like to be detained' end of argument and give up gracefully.

even if they were wrong, you did the best thing by not freaking out

get a new passport, better be safe than sorry

that's for sure

[kenkannif]

Purple,

Can you PM me who you used? And also what did you get?, just a stamp in or a Non-imm B or longer tourist Visa? If it's just a stamp in I wouldn't sweat it (although better safe than sorry so take the above advice and get a new passport!), if it's a Non-imm B that's probably what they'll catch you out on. Bear in mind as SOON as your friends told Imm they used a Visa agent their legit stamps became fake stamps....even though they may actually be kosher the way they were obtained makes them invalid!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

It may well be no problem, but for 100 percent safety, get a new passport. There were some real stamps stolen by sacked immigration officers who opened their own little immigration business.