Picture: Naew Na

 

Thailand's Immigration Bureau Chief Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang and many of his minions were at yet another press conference along with their now famous vinyl boards to announce the arrest of a young Moroccan man.

 

The 23 year old was caught at the Suvarnabhumi concourse trying to check-in for a flight to Russia. 

 

Biometrics confirmed the details in his passport that he had overstayed 300 days. He had no money for the fine and was promptly detained. 

 

A vinyl board screenshot published by Naew Na seemed to contain different details to that which they reported.

 

ASEAN NOW's Sunday columnist Rooster highlighted the time wasted at IB briefings on trivial matters with their costly PR boards in this week's The Week That Was column.

 

His comments even included a rather prophetic signing off quip about Moroccans.

 

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Was that really the smartest move by airport immigration?  This guy presumably had a valid flight ticket and was about to leave Thailand.  Without any money to pay his overstay fine, the Thai government is now responsible for keeping him in detention, giving him food etc.  They could have just said 'OK, not our problem, get on the plane and we are rid of you...'.

1 minute ago, simon43 said:

Without any money to pay his overstay fine, the Thai government is now responsible for keeping him in detention, giving him food etc.

And he still doesn't have any money to pay.

5 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Was that really the smartest move by airport immigration?  This guy presumably had a valid flight ticket and was about to leave Thailand.  Without any money to pay his overstay fine, the Thai government is now responsible for keeping him in detention, giving him food etc.  They could have just said 'OK, not our problem, get on the plane and we are rid of you...'.

They should have waved him goodbye with the ban

BUT It would involves logic

Not a Immigration or even Thai strong point

They should make previously-arrested convicts make these vinyl boards while behind bars! ????????????

Given there has been a visa amnesty for god knows how long, meaning his sin was minimal, detaining him rather than let him go on his way really wasn't smart, but then this is immigration we are talking about, so intelligence probably shouldn't be expected I guess.

13 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Was that really the smartest move by airport immigration?  This guy presumably had a valid flight ticket and was about to leave Thailand.  Without any money to pay his overstay fine, the Thai government is now responsible for keeping him in detention, giving him food etc.  They could have just said 'OK, not our problem, get on the plane and we are rid of you...'.

Yes it make sense to many of us but we're NOT Thais right?... 

Looks like he will be staying in IDC for the foreseeable future.

I have heard that some people live permeantley in IDC . They cannot or dont want to get back to their home Country , so they live in IDC, possibly for ever 

15 minutes ago, poohy said:

They should have waved him goodbye with the ban

BUT It would involves logic

Not a Immigration or even Thai strong point

Possibly the staff don't have the authority to make those decisions. 

And I hope the git does at least a year in IDC. 

24 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Was that really the smartest move by airport immigration?  This guy presumably had a valid flight ticket and was about to leave Thailand.  Without any money to pay his overstay fine, the Thai government is now responsible for keeping him in detention, giving him food etc.  They could have just said 'OK, not our problem, get on the plane and we are rid of you...'.

So you will do that with all crimes?

I do wonder what the relationship is between the sign making shop and the immigration office is .

   The money paid for the vinyl posters must come from public funds , I do wonder whether immigration pays special rates for the numerous posters they order and whether theres any gratitude money paid back in cash ?

25 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Was that really the smartest move by airport immigration?  This guy presumably had a valid flight ticket and was about to leave Thailand.  Without any money to pay his overstay fine, the Thai government is now responsible for keeping him in detention, giving him food etc.  They could have just said 'OK, not our problem, get on the plane and we are rid of you...'.

So that everyone will then overstay their visas a year or more and then expect to just waltz on out of the country? If he had the money for a flight to Russia...he has (or can get) 20k to pay his fine.

Well. If they let broke people leave without paying the fine, then there isn't really a fine anymore..

I dont think thats a good idea. 

I know this has been happening as long as tourists have been coming to Thailand, but as highlighted by the Hungarian woman on a 10 year overstay - Have the immigration service no shame, every time they go through this public display does it not also display their incompetence in doing their job? Hey, look at us, we let this guy walk around for a year on an overstay and the only reason we caught him is because he handed himself in at the airport.

4 minutes ago, recom273 said:

Hey, look at us, we let this guy walk around for a year on an overstay and the only reason we caught him is because he handed himself in at the airport.

You would have thought they would have picked it up at one of his 90-day checks.  This is surely exactly the kind of situation they're designed to prevent.

Frankly they should remove the maximum overstay fine

Charge it per day indefinately until its paid or take a 3 year jail sentence in Thailand if its not cleared after 30 days in immigration detention

 

Soon stop that nonsense dead in its tracks in the first place with a few posts on social media

The immigration police chief plus some high ranks with a neat presentation about a single case of overstay (without further charges, no high ranking criminal?).

They must be bored to death.

Would such happen in your country?

 

Should they have gotten rid of him by letting him go? Maybe.. But as mentioned in many posts, rules need to be enforced, and this rule of overstay makes sense. No visa or permission of stay, you leave the country or suffer the consequences.

 

The embassy of Morocco should be taking care of his case, but I doubt they'll do much to help him.

 

Hopefully, he has relatives somewhere that can bail him out.

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

And he still doesn't have any money to pay.

Perhaps he'll be lucky and bump into Jo Ferrari who'll help him out with a loan.

3 hours ago, simon43 said:

Was that really the smartest move by airport immigration?  This guy presumably had a valid flight ticket and was about to leave Thailand.  Without any money to pay his overstay fine, the Thai government is now responsible for keeping him in detention, giving him food etc.  They could have just said 'OK, not our problem, get on the plane and we are rid of you...'.

But it it was just a wave of the hand and let him go then I'm sure many tourists would be over staying.

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

And he still doesn't have any money to pay.

Or any money to buy another plane ticket?

3 hours ago, simon43 said:

Was that really the smartest move by airport immigration?  This guy presumably had a valid flight ticket and was about to leave Thailand.  Without any money to pay his overstay fine, the Thai government is now responsible for keeping him in detention, giving him food etc.  They could have just said 'OK, not our problem, get on the plane and we are rid of you...'.

Are you saying the cops have the right to ignore the law? I thought it was up to the courts to decide whether he should pay the penalty or not.

Had they let him off, no doubt posters would have been complaining about criminals getting let off.

 

Something about not wanting to do the time so don't do the crime comes to mind.

 

Mind you, I'd love it if I could have avoided all that hassle about going to immigration to extend my visa- just turn up at the airport and be allowed to fly out even with a long overstay.

To me the should have just put him on that flight ban him, dont come back and said nothing about it, But no there has to be a song and dance 

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

The immigration police chief plus some high ranks with a neat presentation about a single case of overstay (without further charges, no high ranking criminal?).

They must be bored to death.

Would such happen in your country?

 

I believe in certain western countries the criminal overstayer gets to stay indefinitely while the state funded lawyer argues the case and the subsequent appeals.

1 minute ago, ChipButty said:

To me the should have just put him on that flight ban him, dont come back and said nothing about it, But no there has to be a song and dance 

Would that apply to all of us then? Happy days with no visits to immigration needed for extensions.

This will never happen when Thailand attracts opps sorry lures the very wealthy to become tourists and residents.

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

The immigration police chief plus some high ranks with a neat presentation about a single case of overstay (without further charges, no high ranking criminal?).

They must be bored to death.

Would such happen in your country?

 

...and the incredible detective work involved in foiling this crime of the century consisted of sitting in a chair at the airport and noticing his overstay when he presented himself voluntarily for inspection. Medals and bonuses for all involved, please.

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Biometrics confirmed the details in his passport that he had overstayed 300 days.

Yes, important to bring biometrics into it - an imposter might have taken his passport to try to cash in on his overstay ????

3 hours ago, recom273 said:

I know this has been happening as long as tourists have been coming to Thailand, but as highlighted by the Hungarian woman on a 10 year overstay - Have the immigration service no shame, every time they go through this public display does it not also display their incompetence in doing their job? Hey, look at us, we let this guy walk around for a year on an overstay and the only reason we caught him is because he handed himself in at the airport.

Your post reminds me of another situation in Thai prisons.

 

They make a big song and dance and produce a steamroller and gather the national press for the traditional  steamrolling of illegal; mobile phones and how many they have captured, as well as all the illegal contraband that has entered the prison over a 1 year to 18 months period.

 

The authorities are extremely proud of themselves and plenty of backslapping going on at these ceremonies for the benefit of the public at large.

 

One glaringly obvious point they neglect to mention is the fact that, as a rule, all visits are non contact and take place with telephones through plastic separation partitions and usually a ' dead area ' of a couple or three of metres at least separating visitors from inmates.(*actual contact visits are usually once a year and not guaranteed every year *) 

 

So therefore the million dollar question that is completely ignored.......How does all this contraband enter the prison in the first place?

I don't understand the point of putting this guy in the IDC, however, what total plank manages to overstay a year, successfully avoiding detection from the RTP in their different guises, but was unaware that he has to pay 20K overstay fee .. presumably he has managed to get some kind of COVID test certificate allowing him to fly. Has he never seen 'banged up abroad'? Did he really just think that immigration would give him a slap on the wrist and let him go.

 

24 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

 

Yes, important to bring biometrics into it - an imposter might have taken his passport to try to cash in on his overstay ????

What biometrics are contained in either a Moroccan passport or the RTP database to confirm the identity of the guy, do they mean they looked at his passport photo?

Does anyone remember what happened if you got to the airport and didn't have 500B for the departure tax, back in the day?

 

I only every paid it once on my first visit, but I still kept 500B at the back of my wallet for a couple of subsequent visits for fear of not having the money to leave.