Norwegian on way to see Thai girlfriend arrested after faking his Certificate of Entry

[webfact]

Norwegian on way to see Thai girlfriend arrested after faking his Certificate of Entry

 

Picture: Thai Immigration

 

Thailand's immigration bureau reported that they arrested a Norwegian man with a fake certificate of entry (CoE) at Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

The man presented the document to officers at the illustration desk at the airport but they immediately became suspicious. 

 

A subsequent check with the Royal Thai Embassy in Oslo showed that the document was a fake. 

 

Picture: Thai Immigration

 

It looked official with a stamp and said that he would be arriving from Norway on the 16th of January and quarantining under the Alternative State Quarantine program at a hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 57.

 

The man was in Thailand on his way to see his Thai girlfriend but was handed over to the airport police instead.

 

Picture: Thai Immigration

 

The IB website also reported on the arrests of Singaporean and Pakistan nationals who had entered Thailand illegally. They were picked up on the biometrics system after being questioned on the fourth floor departure area at Suvarnabhumi.

 

They also reported on three drugs busts involving methamphetamine and cocaine.

 

Source: Thai Immigration

 

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[4MyEgo]

He obviously didn't get it online here in Thailand did he ????

Edited January 28, 2021 by 4MyEgo

[richard_smith237]

I wonder how many people have actually got through with Fake Documents ?

 

I wonder if there is a digital link at the Airport. 

 

 

The question was posed way back in July on a CoE / ASQ thread where someone suggested faking the documents. The obvious answer to that is that consequences for getting caught out are too severe, i.e. Black list from Thailand, its just not worth the risk. 

 

And with that comes the answer to many of Thailands legal woes - ‘its not worth the risk’... should be the the response when drink driving etc... (I know I’ve digressed).

 

 

What dumfounds me is that anyone can now enter Thailand, visa exempt etc - so there was no need to fake the CoE in the first place. Or did the ’Norwegian’ think with faked documents he could ‘escape’ the 2 week quarantine, and thus thought it could save some money on the ASQ ???

 

 

------

 

I have a CoE from a previous entry and did wonder if its fit for further entries. Of course, I won’t risk that and simply apply for a second CoE when I return again. I think the CoE process has bene streamlined and is relatively pain-free now.

 

[allane]

I have a good laugh anytime I see the TAT, or anyone else, talking about "vaccine passports". How would this ever be made to work ?  Everyone and his dog would be creating and printing their own "vaccine passport" on their home computer. Immigration officials would have no way of knowing if it was authentic.

[NCC1701A]

at least he is dressed nicely. 

[KoreaElte]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

I wonder how many people have actually got through with Fake Documents ?

 

I wonder if there is a digital link at the Airport. 

 

 

 

 

 

My experience entering on a legit COE in November 2020 is that the process was tight and surprisingly well managed once you got the embassy to issue one. That was the only chaotic part.

 

From airline check-in to ASQ completion it was all tight. The embassy in my case was working with the airline so they knew exactly whom to expect. Could not have checked in with a fake. It was a repatriation charter. Some countries allowed "semi commercial" flights and I suspect YMMV you could check in with a fake but you would not get far because at Suvernabhumi it was very much a whitelsist-only affair. They knew exactly who was arriving and you could not reach an immigration desk if you were not on the list of arrivals.

 

Some reported hiccups where they were legit arrivals but not on the list and they were all manually scrutinized. MofA at the time seemed to have a list with expected arrivals and everyone arriving was checked against it.

 

Kudos to the guy for at least arranging ASQ for himself and not just entering on fake docs and heading straight to a party....

[KoreaElte]

29 minutes ago, allane said:

I have a good laugh anytime I see the TAT, or anyone else, talking about "vaccine passports". How would this ever be made to work ?  Everyone and his dog would be creating and printing their own "vaccine passport" on their home computer. Immigration officials would have no way of knowing if it was authentic.

+1 I saw these news today and I was excited about the concept. For about 3 seconds. Then Photoshop came to mind. People don't care. I guaranteed you the first day a vaccine certificate / pass / document is out there someone will do a 1800dpi scan of it and start selling templates for bitcoin and there will be plenty of takers.

 

They would need a rapid antibody test on arrival. Crazy times. Blood test before immigration counter.

[trainman34014]

Are those Trainers proper uniform for the Civil Servant.........or is he 'Excused Boots'  ?

[Sheryl]

33 minutes ago, KoreaElte said:

 

Kudos to the guy for at least arranging ASQ for himself and not just entering on fake docs and heading straight to a party....

 

I would not assume he had genuinely booked ASQ. 

 

Little point to faking COE in that case. 

[richard_smith237]

37 minutes ago, KoreaElte said:

 

My experience entering on a legit COE in November 2020 is that the process was tight and surprisingly well managed once you got the embassy to issue one. That was the only chaotic part.

 

From airline check-in to ASQ completion it was all tight. The embassy in my case was working with the airline so they knew exactly whom to expect. Could not have checked in with a fake. It was a repatriation charter. Some countries allowed "semi commercial" flights and I suspect YMMV you could check in with a fake but you would not get far because at Suvernabhumi it was very much a whitelsist-only affair. They knew exactly who was arriving and you could not reach an immigration desk if you were not on the list of arrivals.

 

Some reported hiccups where they were legit arrivals but not on the list and they were all manually scrutinized. MofA at the time seemed to have a list with expected arrivals and everyone arriving was checked against it.

 

Kudos to the guy for at least arranging ASQ for himself and not just entering on fake docs and heading straight to a party....

 

 

How tight and well managed exactly?

 

All the staff are doing is checking a paper document.

 

I too returned on an Embassy arranged repatriation flight (in July), but now the CoE is issued with just a booking. 

 

Thus, I am speculating whether or not a more authentic looking fake would be picked up at all. 

 

Perhaps, as you mention, the Embassy forwards all CoE’s registered to a specific flight so that the arrivals team can check the passenger off the list (as you say ‘whitelist only affair’).

 

 

 

 

[bubba]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

I wonder how many people have actually got through with Fake Documents ?

 

I wonder if there is a digital link at the Airport. 

 

 

The question was posed way back in July on a CoE / ASQ thread where someone suggested faking the documents. The obvious answer to that is that consequences for getting caught out are too severe, i.e. Black list from Thailand, its just not worth the risk. 

 

And with that comes the answer to many of Thailands legal woes - ‘its not worth the risk’... should be the the response when drink driving etc... (I know I’ve digressed).

 

 

What dumfounds me is that anyone can now enter Thailand, visa exempt etc - so there was no need to fake the CoE in the first place. Or did the ’Norwegian’ think with faked documents he could ‘escape’ the 2 week quarantine, and thus thought it could save some money on the ASQ ???

 

 

------

 

I have a CoE from a previous entry and did wonder if its fit for further entries. Of course, I won’t risk that and simply apply for a second CoE when I return again. I think the CoE process has bene streamlined and is relatively pain-free now.

 

 

1. Visa exempt entry requires a CoE. All entries currently require a CoE.

 

2. The CoE is only valid for one entry. Mine stated it was valid only for the specific date and the specific flight shown on the e-ticket that I was required to send them. 

[Farma]

I was watching closely at the pre-immigration desk just inside the immigration queue area. The lady immigration officer took and kept my COE. She had a long list which i presume were arrivals from my flight and checked my COE against that list before directing me to the actual immigration desk. I honestly think it would be hard to sneak in with a fake COE.

[timendres]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The man was in Thailand on his way to see his Thai girlfriend but was handed over to the airport police instead.

 

Won't be visiting her again any time soon. Always amazing the "spell" that Thai girls can put on otherwise rational men.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, timendres said:

 

Won't be visiting her again any time soon. Always amazing the "spell" that Thai girls can put on otherwise rational men.

 

Rational? He's Norwegian.

[anfh]

2 hours ago, KoreaElte said:

+1 I saw these news today and I was excited about the concept. For about 3 seconds. Then Photoshop came to mind. People don't care. I guaranteed you the first day a vaccine certificate / pass / document is out there someone will do a 1800dpi scan of it and start selling templates for bitcoin and there will be plenty of takers.

 

They would need a rapid antibody test on arrival. Crazy times. Blood test before immigration counter.

The only way to make it even vaguely foolproof is to have the vaccine passport linked directly to peoples own passport, ie a government official addition, rather than merely a document which can be faked .

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

2 hours ago, KoreaElte said:

 

Kudos to the guy for at least arranging ASQ for himself and not just entering on fake docs and heading straight to a party....

 

I would not assume he had genuinely booked ASQ. 

 

Little point to faking COE in that case. 

 

Indeed, the ASQ booking was only referenced in his fake CoE so I reckon he was on the ultra fast-track party bypass.

[NanLaew]

2 minutes ago, anfh said:

The only way to make it even vaguely foolproof is to have the vaccine passport linked directly to peoples own passport, ie a government official addition, rather than merely a document which can be faked .

 

Meh... chip 'em like a dog. And a barcode tattoo like Bruce Willis has.

[dr_lucas]

Faking a covid test result is one thing and quite simple, but trying to enter with a fake COE with all the cross checks immigration has in place is on a whole another level of dumb. 

[ChouDoufu]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The man presented the document to officers at the illustration desk at the airport but they immediately became suspicious. 

 

i picture that figuratively as being a long, drawn out affair.

[RichardColeman]

Will be nothing compared to the fake vaccination documents if they go down that route

[jphripjah]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

 

How tight and well managed exactly?

 

All the staff are doing is checking a paper document.

 

I too returned on an Embassy arranged repatriation flight (in July), but now the CoE is issued with just a booking. 

 

Thus, I am speculating whether or not a more authentic looking fake would be picked up at all. 

 

Perhaps, as you mention, the Embassy forwards all CoE’s registered to a specific flight so that the arrivals team can check the passenger off the list (as you say ‘whitelist only affair’).

 

 

 

 

Perhaps the immigration officers have a list of which passports have been issued certificates of entry. Such that even if your fake papers fooled the airport staff you'd be caught out by the immigration computer.

[jphripjah]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

I would not assume he had genuinely booked ASQ. 

 

Little point to faking COE in that case. 

Yes, that was my thinking too. He didn't have the time or money for ASQ.

 

But what did he think would happen even if the staff approved his documents? They walk you out of the airport and put you right in the car to your destination.

 

I think my driver was waiting specifically for me to go to my specific hotel. If there was no driver from his hotel to pick him up, he couldn't have left the airport.   You can't just hop in a cab or have your girlfriend pick you up.

 

And if an airport driver drove hm to the hotel, then what? He's got no reservation but if he tries to do an immediate runner the hotel will call authorities.  He'll be identified from his immigration photo.  There will be a manhunt for him. 

There was no way this could have ended successfully.

[TSF]

Not going to be any fake covid vax documents, nobody's going to do international travel using a paper certificate. Your vax details will be added to your online file. Your travel agent will check it before processing your bookings, the airport check in counter will check it prior to issuing your boarding passes, IOs will check it prior to stamping your passport....it's not going to be a grubby piece of paper you have spilt beer on and folded up so many times it's falling apart. 

[PEE TEE]

Amazing what lengths men go to, to get some pussy  

[EricTh]

It's not worth it getting a fake COE, it will get you banned from entering Thailand for x years.

 

There was a previous case of faking documents and he got banned.

 

Now he has not only lost his eligibility to enter Thailand but also his 'girlfriend'.

Edited January 28, 2021 by EricTh

[sghanchey]

This is what people in the U.S. are getting from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In Thailand it would have to have at least three rubber stamps in order to look halfway official. 

[Oldie]

Great that they catched this criminal. Nobody needs such people here.

[Pravda]

59 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Rational? He's Norwegian.

 

Rational? He's a tat freak.

[EricTh]

9 minutes ago, PEE TEE said:

Amazing what lengths men go to, to get some pussy  

He's young and good looking, he shouldn't have any problems back in Norway to get some girlfriends.

[PEE TEE]

4 minutes ago, Oldie said:

Great that they catched this criminal. Nobody needs such people here.

Only his girlfriend maybe