Thailand's ID Obsession

[ThailandRyan]

3 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

And why no real ID card for foreigners who live here legally?????

Do we really live here? Well we know the answer is yes, but to the Thai Gov't and IO's we are just esteemed guests....lol

[CharlieH]

7 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Do we really live here? Well we know the answer is yes, but to the Thai Gov't and IO's we are just esteemed guests....lol

Lets get it right, you have "an extension of stay" as an Alien ! You must accept you are and always will be an Alien. Cue music from "close encounters"...55555

 

 

[Kwasaki]

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Is the Citizen ID card still in used ?? - seems to have been scrapped unless it was re-invented as something else. 

 

https://www.gov.uk/identitycards

No idea really the internet source you post says otherwise.

The Citizen ID card was something I remember but never had I left UK 2005.

[Kwasaki]

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

Lets get it right, you have "an extension of stay" as an Alien ! You must accept you are and always will be an Alien. Cue music from "close encounters"...55555

Spot on we are aliens.

My passport picture.

 

[CharlieH]

1 minute ago, Kwasaki said:

Spot on we are aliens.

My passport picture.

 

Yes and "resistance is futile" at most immigration offices.

[ThailandRyan]

18 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Lets get it right, you have "an extension of stay" as an Alien ! You must accept you are and always will be an Alien. Cue music from "close encounters"...55555

 

 

Can I be a resident Alien please....I have an ET stuffed animal...

[VillageIdiot]

12 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Do we really live here? Well we know the answer is yes, but to the Thai Gov't and IO's we are just esteemed guests....lol

We don't even qualify as guests here.

   I wasn't invited, were you?

   We're more like party-crashers who have arrived twenty years too late and found 'a banquet hall deserted, whose lights are fled, whose garlands dead, and all but he departed.'

[Kwasaki]

2 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Yes and "resistance is futile" at most immigration offices.

You quote from the foot of my posts of many years ago, they were gorgeous and were not immigration. ????

[Golden Triangle]

And I seem to remember a spate of threads a couple of years back when people went to pay bill's, water, electricity, mobile phone accounts etc and were asked to produce passports to pay their own bill's ???????? faf

 

That was in the likes of 7/11, Tesco Express, Mini Big C, don't know if they've seen the error of their ways since. ????

[ThailandRyan]

8 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

And I seem to remember a spate of threads a couple of years back when people went to pay bill's, water, electricity, mobile phone accounts etc and were asked to produce passports to pay their own bill's ???????? faf

 

That was in the likes of 7/11, Tesco Express, Mini Big C, don't know if they've seen the error of their ways since. ????

I had that happen at Big C and I wrote about it here, tried to buy my groceries and was asked for my Passport.  Crazy stuff.

[sometimewoodworker]

9 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Everywhere I go, I am asked for my passport or ID. The banks, hotels, hospitals, provincial office, etc.

I've lived in Thailand most of my life but can't remember anywhere in Scotland asking me for ID or passport.

 

What is the obsession with ID cards? does your home country do the same?

Japan is worse as if a foreigner doesn’t have theirs they will often be taken to the police station and held in jail until someone can bring it to them, this has happened to a friend who was 50 metres from their apartment when stopped by the police.

[upu2]

To open a bank account in Singapore you need your passport

[Destiny1990]

They love uncountable signed copies of our passports here including our  accommodation adress and they don’t seem to care about identity theft either. 

[ThailandRyan]

Got lucky yesterday when I went to send a post through the mail to my insurer here in Bangkok, they took my package, looked at the label, asked me for my passport, and instead I gave the gal my Driver license, she took it with a smile.  Last time this happened they made me show my passport and neither the pink ID card or my DL worked.  Maybe things are a changing.

[micmichd]

On 3/8/2021 at 11:30 AM, KhunBENQ said:

Other countries know how to do it.

I have seen such card from South Korea for a Thai worker.

All necessary data on one card.

Readable in Korean and English.

Most countries have ID cards and you will need it of course at goverment offices, banks etc.

"Driving license is enough": for some purposes like post office or so.

Officially not at banks, airline check in and hotels.

Just yesterday my passport was searched for the right stamp at the hotel check in.

Thais are obliged to have their ID card in public.

Their citizens ID number is assigned from birth and will not change ever (very few exceptions maybe).

In the stringhold of data protection (Germany) a revolt would break loose just trying to introduce a citizen ID.

They're going to introduce a citizen ID in Germany, too. It's called Tax ID. 

[tingtongfarang]

On 3/8/2021 at 3:21 PM, Neeranam said:

I remember getting a fake student id here. 

I never carried my DL in the UK. Actually I don't have the card, just the paper one. 

Ive never had ID to show pubs and been going to them since 15.

Never showed a bank I'd that I can remember 

I got stopped in germany with the paper licence still current, police asked where the photo is?

i replied uk licence does'nt have a photo, He then asked he should know its my licence?

I replied oh thats really simple, He aksed how?

I replied its got my name on it... wow he was jumping up and down almost frothing at the mouth.

[rabang]

There are national ID cards in many countries and they are often mandatory too when going out to public places.

We don't have them in my country. Most people use driver's license which is not an official form of ID but usually sufficient. Another option is a passport. The official European ID card is less common. It is kind of redundant if you have a passport anyway, except for a more convenient size.

[Neeranam]

On 3/8/2021 at 5:16 PM, ThailandRyan said:

My pink ID card used to work at the post office for ID as well as my driver license, however, nowadays they continue to ask for my passport whenever I wish to mail a simple letter or package either in country or out of the country.  Insane that you can not just mail an item by obtaining the correct postage, and then they even want your phone number.

Indeed. 

I had to pay my daughter's University fee yesterday at Krung Sri Bank. 

Everything fine then 'passport!' 

"I don't have one because I'm not going anywhere " 

Then to stop the confusion, I showed my Thai ID. 

They seem to like the feeling of superiority by acting like an immigration policeman. 

 

[Neeranam]

On 3/8/2021 at 8:45 PM, upu2 said:

To open a bank account in Singapore you need your passport

What if you don't have one? 

[brianthainess]

On 3/8/2021 at 12:13 PM, shy coconut said:

If you were a foreigner using the NHS I am sure you would need some form of. ID 

Just how would they know you are a foreigner. You do not need a NI number if you don't work or make benefit claims. Many UK citizens don't even speak english.

[Peter Denis]

On 3/8/2021 at 11:16 AM, ThailandRyan said:

My pink ID card used to work at the post office for ID as well as my driver license, however, nowadays they continue to ask for my passport whenever I wish to mail a simple letter or package either in country or out of the country.  Insane that you can not just mail an item by obtaining the correct postage, and then they even want your phone number.

Yes, it is insane that some Thai Post offices only allow you to mail a letter or package on presentation of your passport.  But the phone-number I have no problems with as that would allow them to easily contact you when there is an issue with the delivery.

[Scott Tracy]

National identity card optional; however, a national identity card or passport is compulsory for German citizens aged 16 or over, and valid identity documentation is compulsory for other EEA citizens

 

according to wiki, referring to German citizens.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_identity_cards_in_the_European_Economic_Area#Overview_of_national_identity_cards

[Fairynuff]

On 3/8/2021 at 11:33 AM, KhunBENQ said:

And Thailand does not. The "pink card" is of limited value.

Thai script only, no relation to your original data except birthday.

Limited value is better than no value. Personally I find my pink card useful because it’s often used instead my passport, though not always

[ThailandRyan]

My Pink non immigrant ID card as well as my yellow book are all in Thai script.  Makes it easy when I use the card for ID at the bank.  My Thai DL's have both my name in Thai and English, unsure why they did that.  Headed over to the local Amphur next week to have my Pink ID card address changed to match the DL's.  Talked with an IO when I did my 90 day report and they told me it should be no problem.  Lets hope so, even though the address on the Pink ID card is the one that is on my yellow house book for my house in the north and not the one where I currently live that is on the DL's..

[NoshowJones]

On 3/8/2021 at 11:16 AM, jackdd said:

Get a Thai driving license, good enough on most occasions.

Never mind most, what about all? There are still some hotels where you must have your passport, nothing else accepted. I know, it happened to me yesterday booking in to a hotel in Petchabun. If we are not leaving the country, we should not be having to carry our passport at all. another case of TiT.

I believe this is all down to the unelected "PM" and his soldiers.

[NoshowJones]

On 3/8/2021 at 11:38 AM, ezzra said:

As there are so many fraudsters and ID theft in this country, the only sure way to identify yourself is by showing a valid ID and i don't blame them...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't believe Thailand is any worse than any other for identity theft or fraudulent people.

Thailand is just authority mad, typical soldiers and their parade ground mentality.

[jackdd]

13 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

There are still some hotels where you must have your passport, nothing else accepted.

Yes, sadly some hotels follow the law (TM30 report), for which they need information only found in our passports and not on driving licenses or pink ID cards ????

But so far I've never really had a problem with it. If they insist on passport I show them the photos showing the relevant information from my passport on my phone (and they write down my permission of stay date and arrival card number, so they can complete the TM30 correctly), on rare occasion they asked me to send these pictures to them.

[Freddy42OZ]

On 3/8/2021 at 10:40 AM, Neeranam said:

Everywhere I go, I am asked for my passport or ID. The banks, hotels, hospitals, provincial office, etc.

I've lived in Thailand most of my life but can't remember anywhere in Scotland asking me for ID or passport.

 

What is the obsession with ID cards? does your home country do the same?

 

My home country has Government issued ID cards and they are used a lot, in fact a lot more than here I'd say. 

I carry mine with me here as it is accepted instead of a passport.  

[Peter Denis]

5 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

My home country has Government issued ID cards and they are used a lot, in fact a lot more than here I'd say. 

I carry mine with me here as it is accepted instead of a passport.  

Before I relocated to Thailand, and visited the country during holidays I always made use of my home-country (Belgium) issued ID-card when renting a motorbike.  I resented the idea of having to provide the rental shop with my passport (I never carry the original with me, only copies), and as far as I recall they always accepted that foreign ID-card for my rental. 

[orchidfan]

On 3/8/2021 at 7:13 PM, VillageIdiot said:

Pssst!  I don't think they trust us.

    Maybe because so many of us have turned Thailand into "A sunny place for shady people."

   To paraphrase W.Somerset Maughan's great quip about Monaco.

Actually old chap it's Somerset Maugham......not Maughan!

(Lots of people mispronounce his name)

I loved his tales from Malaya.