Should I carry passport with me all the time?

[brianthainess]

I M O  the cops are looking for people on overstay at the moment and just want to see your visa/extension expiration date, phone photo should be sufficient. I do carry mine but only if i'm going to be away for 24hrs+.

  

[DUNROAMIN]

Photo copy of first page and page with current extension stamp is all you need. This was made the norm a few years back by Immigration. 

[IvorBiggun2]

Quote

No passport required: Phuket Immigration confirms ‘passport on person’ not required despite ’Operation X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner’

Dunno if showing the link is permissible hence why I haven't put it. But the quote is directly from Immigration.

 

 

[edwardflory]

NEVER be more than 8 hours ROUND TRIP from your passport.  Go to a camera store, get a color credit card size copy made, laminate it and carry with you.  Do NOT ONLY have photo on mobile.

 

If a official stops you, they might keep your phone if they want to see original passport, with credit size copy, they have your info while you get your passport.

 

Showed my "credit card" copy to police checkpoint at our LATE KINGS viewing with no problems.

[Barney R]

The absolute best advice you got was to copy at Kodak shop , I carry that in my wallet all the time , I’ve been stopped a few times in other countries as well with the same no problem outcome . 100% better than either losing your passport or damaging ever so slightly and having to replace it which is a f***ing hassle

[OneMoreFarang]

21 hours ago, parafareno said:

you are right i was never asked for my passport before

but for driving licence many times lol

Same same. And just in case I forgot that they normally charge 100B (riding a motorcycle).

[jvs]

Send a copy of your passport and visa to your own e-mail.

If you do not carry your passport and if one chance in a million

they take you to the police station you will always be able to show

it.

[mikosan]

21 hours ago, KannikaP said:

It will be barely readable at that size, especially the Visa stamp.

Incorrect. Try it, it’s a great idea.

[Kwasaki]

5 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

looks like an autocorrect fail there. did you mean except, expect or accept?

Acept is near enough. ????

[Archie Baker]

It's ok with me.

[IvorBiggun2]

The best solution to all this tosh is to read this link.

 

Quote

Do you need to carry your passport in Thailand at all times? No, you don’t and here is why

https://tastythailand.com/do-you-need-to-carry-your-passport-in-thailand-at-all-times-no-you-dont-and-here-is-why/

[mikeymike100]

2 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

The best solution to all this tosh is to read this link.

 

https://tastythailand.com/do-you-need-to-carry-your-passport-in-thailand-at-all-times-no-you-dont-and-here-is-why/

Yes, very interesting and makes perfect sense!

What i have noticed is that a small number of posters have said you should carry your passport because its the law, but when questioned what law, nobody can actually quote which law and its reference?

[hotandsticky]

5 minutes ago, mikeymike100 said:

Yes, very interesting and makes perfect sense!

What i have noticed is that a small number of posters have said you should carry your passport because its the law, but when questioned what law, nobody can actually quote which law and its reference?

....and I think that you know why they can't......????

[hotchilli]

22 hours ago, parafareno said:

I have a copy of my passport and pictures on my phone....i am afraid to carry passport with me

is that ok?

I carry a colour photo-copy in my wallet with the latest 90 day slip.

Passport stays safe at hme

Only ever been asked once to show it in 14 years living here.

[Bangkok Barry]

22 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

A copy of your passport and also photos on your phone (showing entry stamp etc) should be more than acceptable in the rare occasion that the BiB ask for your ID. 

How does a photo of your visa stamp on your phone marry up to your passport? It's just a photo and the stamp could be from any passport.

But as the police and immigration are in effect one and the same I would expect that the police could check your status by your passport number via an app. Not sure though if Thailand is that advanced, IT-wise.

[IvorBiggun2]

29 minutes ago, mikeymike100 said:

What i have noticed is that a small number of posters have said you should carry your passport because its the law, but when questioned what law, nobody can actually quote which law and its reference?

I've Googled till my finger hurts and I cannot find a written down law quote that says a passport must always be carried. Nor can I find a legal quote for the fixed penalty if you don't. It's all cock and bull.

[hotandsticky]

12 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

How does a photo of your visa stamp on your phone marry up to your passport? It's just a photo and the stamp could be from any passport.

But as the police and immigration are in effect one and the same I would expect that the police could check your status by your passport number via an app. Not sure though if Thailand is that advanced, IT-wise.

 

They are not one and the same.

 

 

Immigration officers have much wider ranging powers. A normal tam ruat will not check your 'status' - I doubt that most would know how.

 

ID is sufficient for police (or Immigration if you can also show something regarding your status), as said, if they want to see your passport you have 24 hours to present it at a police station.

 

Whilst I have read stories of aliens being taken to a police station while a friend retrieves their passport, I have never heard someone claim that it actually happened to them.

 

For 17 years I have taken my passport out with me. I have photo ID and carry a passport copy in my wallet. I only take my passport if I am going out of province - and then it stays in a hotel safe. Never a problem.

 

I don't expect a problem in the next 17 years either.

[IvorBiggun2]

3 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

if they want to see your passport you have 24 hours to present it at a police station.

Not disbelieving you but can that be quoted?

[Bangkok Barry]

2 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

They are not one and the same.

 

 

Immigration officers have much wider ranging powers. A normal tam ruat will not check your 'status' - I doubt that most would know how.

 

ID is sufficient for police (or Immigration if you can also show something regarding your status), as said, if they want to see your passport you have 24 hours to present it at a police station.

 

Whilst I have read stories of aliens being taken to a police station while a friend retrieves their passport, I have never heard someone claim that it actually happened to them.

My post was to say that having photos on your phone of your passport page and your visa stamp proves nothing at all, as there is no evidence that both were photographed in the same passport. So, although I appreciate your post, it does not relate directly to what I wrote.

[hotandsticky]

1 minute ago, Bangkok Barry said:

My post was to say that having photos on your phone of your passport page and your visa stamp proves nothing at all, as there is no evidence that both were photographed in the same passport. So, although I appreciate your post, it does not relate directly to what I wrote.

 

 

Apologies, I didn't mean to infer that either  -  I was just posting my experience and used your post to quote from.

[Kwasaki]

42 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

I've Googled till my finger hurts and I cannot find a written down law quote that says a passport must always be carried. Nor can I find a legal quote for the fixed penalty if you don't. It's all cock and bull.

It's probably a recommendation that in a foreign country carry your passport as means of ID. 

 

I would say it's generally excepted a copy or other forms of ID in which passport is needed to obtain such are suitable.

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

How does a photo of your visa stamp on your phone marry up to your passport? It's just a photo and the stamp could be from any passport.

I'm not sure about all passports - each page of a British Passport has the Passport number ‘punched’ into to (tiny pin holes)... So a photo of an individual page of the passport with a stamp on can be ‘marred’ to the main ID page (see photo below). 

 

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

But as the police and immigration are in effect one and the same I would expect that the police could check your status by your passport number via an app. Not sure though if Thailand is that advanced, IT-wise.

While both the regular Police and Immigration Police are both part of the Royal Thai Police Force, they are a separate unit. 

I don’t think the regular RTP have access to immigration records, but they do have access to colleagues in the Immigration police who do - so they can ‘run the checks via a colleague’ who has access. 

I don’t know of any app - they have to either go to a terminal or contact a friend who is currently at a terminal and has access to the Immigration database (i.e. the same one the terminals at the airport access). 

[IvorBiggun2]

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 they have to either go to a terminal or contact a friend who is currently at a terminal and has access to the Immigration database (i.e. the same one the terminals at the airport access). 

 

What a load of tosh. What happens week-ends and holidays? Or the the friend is sick ?

[kokopelli]

I must be the odd one out! When I go to the bank on business I am asked for my Passport and also at True Mobile Office, not a copy.  Although I do keep a full size laminated copy with me as well as a wallet size laminated copy.  And, if at Immigration, my Passport is required.

[richard_smith237]

51 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 they have to either go to a terminal or contact a friend who is currently at a terminal and has access to the Immigration database (i.e. the same one the terminals at the airport access). 

What a load of tosh. What happens week-ends and holidays? Or the the friend is sick ?

 

You're showing you have no idea...    

 

Thats why you should carry your passport around with you. 

 

A couple more points: 

Officially, NCO’s cannot ask for your ID / Passport - only commissioned officers can. 

Also, officially, Only Immigration officers can ask for your Immigration status. 

 

Of course the BiB are a law unto themselves and don’t really follow ‘official procedure’ anyway which is why regular police sometimes ask for ID. 

 

IF the Police suspect overstay they can contact immigration to check.

IF they have the passport number they an check in with Immigration at the Airports who have access to the Immigration Data base.

 

Ultimately - if you cannot prove who you are, you could be held until such a time you can. 

[richard_smith237]

51 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

What a load of tosh. What happens week-ends and holidays? Or the the friend is sick ?

The Police have more than one friend - they have a huge network of friends and colleagues.

 

Even if stopped on the street, a commissioned officer if provided with your passport number could,  within the hour have all of your details.... every visa you have had, every entry and exit you have made since 2012.... even with different passports... they’d have every photo of you ever taken on exit and arrival at the airport. 

 

This is fact - I’ve seen it a number of times first hand. 

 

Just because you don’t know something or have any understanding or experience of it - it doesn't mean its tosh.

[shackleton]

As like many people I carry a copy of my passport with the immigration  visa  stamped inside as well 

In all the years here have never  been asked to show it 

 

[Aussieroaming]

I have never carried my passport in BKK, though we all have to take our passport with us when we travel or do business where a passport is a required document. I have never been stopped and asked for my passport by the RTP.

[IvorBiggun2]

7 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

I have never been stopped and asked for my passport by the RTP.

Same as me. And in 17+ years I've never known anyone to be asked for it by the RTP. Not even when involved in a auto accident.

 

4:10 minutes in

 

 

[SunsetT]

On 11/25/2022 at 12:46 PM, richard_smith237 said:

whenever I go out of the province... i.e. on Holiday to Samui, Phuket, Trat etc...  I always bring my passport with me (it stays locked way in my bag). 

Well of course because you would need it to check into hotels and to check-in for flights.....if flying.