Thai Immigration continues overstaying crackdown, passport checks take place across Pattaya

[Caldera]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

That being said, based on daily reports of arrests of those on overstay it seems many were hoping to lay low or avoid Immigration, yet are still being found. 

When Big Joke was in charge of immigration, he already made the bold claim that they've all been caught.

 

Sensationalist headlines aside, the truth is that they keep finding people with hundreds or thousands of days of overstay to their name - whenever they look and wherever they look.

 

I keep thinking that those they manage to catch are just the tip of the iceberg. 

[smedly]

4 hours ago, riverhigh said:

Once again, please provide the link to the Thai law or immigration regulation backing up  your understanding of the requirement of foreigners reqiured to carry their passport. Until I see the regulation linked to a Thai govermnment website I will default to the law that you are required to show your proper National ID. Just because the immigration officers accepted copies, mobile photos, etc. of your passport on the tree town raids it does not mean they will do the same on future raids. In future raids they can fine you or lock you up in a cell at there discretion if you don't have your passport. If you can't show your passport it's up to the immigration officer how to apply the law. You have no  recourse. 

do you carry yours everywhere ????????

 

### give it a rest will yah 

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, HuskerDo2 said:

It amazes me that they still have 90 day reporting and all the other silly rules for a law abiding Farang to stay there. Just like having people leave the country for one day only to return. WHAT IS THE POINT? What does that really accomplish and how does it improve the validation that someone is abiding by the rules and not being a problem for the country.  The good/honest people are doing the 90 days reporting. The bad guys who overstay aren't. So find a better process Thailand. Quit treating the honest guests of your country like criminals and more like they are welcome. 

Great post until you mentioned "guests".

[BritScot]

6 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

The law only says that your passport must be available for inspection at reasonable notice, it doesn't say you must carry it with you all the time.

Getting taken to a police station in handcuffs is not in the holiday brochure!@@@! Even when I lived in Thailand I hated it when the police raided/shookdown bars/entertainment establishments. I also hated seeing groups of armed police going down the street together.

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

Perhaps because people who ignore visa regulations also ignore other laws, I imagine that's probably true.

I will never overstay, but if I do not agree with any laws,  

I will ignore them and just break them if I can find a way round them.

 

 

 

 

[mikeymike100]

5 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

Some years ago an Immigration Dept Major General was quoted as saying that it's OK to just carry phoiocopies of passport/visa.

Not at all disagreeing with you, but as you can see there is some confusion over what the 'law' does and does not say!

The raids in Pattaya Tree town that are on going by the police have netted a few over stayers. The article says that copies or pics on a phone of your passport particulars etc are acceptable.

The problem is that the police are known to be not very consistent and what happens today, may change tomorrow.

There is always one cop you may meet who insists on seeing your passport?????

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Dude it is their country, not yours. They make the rule of law you obey. If nit to your liking then we'll don't follow the rules and see where that gets you, oh yeah fined and possibly jailed....

What about people who decided they wanted to retire here about say 15 years ago, because the rules then were far easier than they are now? I would never retire here today under the present system which treats you like a prisoner on parole with the ridiculous 90 day reporting.

[NeoDinosaw]

21 hours ago, Onerak said:

I understand clearly the reasons. It is the vast majority of posters in this forum that don't understand and bash Thai immigration because their voices are insignificant outside this forum and they constantly  need validation from insignificant people in this forum.

who are you calling insidnificant ?

 

 

[nigelforbes]

44 minutes ago, BritScot said:

Getting taken to a police station in handcuffs is not in the holiday brochure!@@@! Even when I lived in Thailand I hated it when the police raided/shookdown bars/entertainment establishments. I also hated seeing groups of armed police going down the street together.

In over 20 years here I've never even come close to anything like that, not even remotely. I've never been asked for my passport by the police and I've never been anywhere that was raided. Folks don't seem to understand that as far as Thai people are concerned, the word passport is synonymous with ID, offering a drivers license or any other form of ID works just as well, except in banks.

[nigelforbes]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Was anything that he posted incorrect or irrational?   

 

Surely you can do better?

I'm slowing warming to you LL.

[Rimmer]

Some troll and off topic posts removed also replies

[Boomer6969]

6 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Looks like almost 10 million tourists see it differently then you, it has not seemingly put them off now has it.

The attraction of sex and drugs is too overwhelming.

 

[bbi1]

7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Got the tourists, now lets harass them so they never return

The harassment of tourists and the stupid closing time of 2-2:30am every night should be the tip of the iceberg for tourists. Don't bother spending money or coming to Thailand, go somewhere else instead. They don't want you here.

[PETERTHEEATER]

9 hours ago, talahtnut said:

I'm staying indoors for a few days.

That wont hide you. This is Operation X-Ray. I have a lead-lined jacket for sale......????

[Neeranam]

7 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

No his wings were clipped because he was Investigating corruption with the new immigration system which got to close to someone higher up......

300,000 illegal retirees paying 20,000 baht to bypass immigration requirements, mostly keeping money in the bank = 6 Billion baht

[ben2talk]

How does this improve safety? Surely the dangerous people have tons of cash to sort their visas…

[mikeymike100]

17 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

How does this improve safety? Surely the dangerous people have tons of cash to sort their visas…

Exactly! This raiding of clubs/bars is weeding out a few overstayers that have committed the cardinal sin of overstaying their permission to stay.

Meanwhile there are cartels of Chinese, Russians and more who are committing serious crime, spending serious money to the police to be left alone?

Whilst most overstayers are not a serious threat, the ones that are a serious threat are never apprehended? These are the ones running illegal casinos etc and can afford to pay their way out,!

[jacko45k]

6 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Why don't immigration officers crack down on all of those farangs here who use an agent to provide them with their yearly extensions, you know the ones that pay the agents upwards of 20,000 baht per annum.

Well one reason, I just did that yesterday!. .....  And because immigration make a lot of good money out of this. You heard of the analogy don't kill the goose! But cheapskates avoiding doing their Extensions or not having the right Visa... go get them! Those cheating with nonsense ED Visas... go get them!

Those not having the 800k...(not me by the way), they pay an agent, immigration get a payment, someone signs off on it. Is it really illegal.?.. I am told not. An overstayer, blatantly illegal!

[jacko45k]

6 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

I had an old friend who used to moan about it, and he used to do the 90 days by mail. He now uses an agent and has to do the 90 days in person. I got the impression that he had become rather 'lazy'!

In Jomtien, one hands your passport in outside.... it comes back to the desk a little later....online even easier!

[jacko45k]

4 hours ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:

Good point. I am in that position. Had to pay 16k to an agent who did everything. Another 500 bht for the 90 day report.

Not sure where you live, but if you have the required 800k sitting pretty, a retirement extension should be about 10,000 (as it is in Pattaya), and a free 90 report included. You would have to get your bank letter yourself.

[ThailandRyan]

6 hours ago, Neeranam said:

A Thai ID is very useful to have ???? 

For a citizen....pink card for a non Thai is usefully, well for me it has been.

[ThailandRyan]

3 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

What about people who decided they wanted to retire here about say 15 years ago, because the rules then were far easier than they are now? I would never retire here today under the present system which treats you like a prisoner on parole with the ridiculous 90 day reporting.

Your view is incorrect....I don't need to report every 90 days. Own a condo and a house, retired and living a great life...

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Not sure where you live, but if you have the required 800k sitting pretty, a retirement extension should be about 10,000 (as it is in Pattaya), and a free 90 report included. You would have to get your bank letter yourself.

Due to health issues I am unable to do it myself. Although I have and have always had the 800k in a separate bank account, the agent required nothing except any bank book, even with virtually nothing in it. That is the point, I did not have to get the usual bank letter myself, and everything was done by courier. 

Normally I do the 90 day report using the phone ap, no problem, but the visa extension uses a different address and I would have to go to an IO with a TM30 form to do it.

There must be many retirees in my position who would find it difficult to get the visa extension through normal channels. But I must say the agent service was excellent.

[Andrew65]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

In Jomtien, one hands your passport in outside.... it comes back to the desk a little later....online even easier!

The only time I did it there was 6 or 7 years ago, and I had to go inside. Obviously changed since then, but it was very quick when I did it there. 

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

Your view is incorrect....I don't need to report every 90 days. Own a condo and a house, retired and living a great life...

Incorrect info. Whether you own a condo (like me) or not is irrelevant. Congrats if IO have not latched on to you. I never bothered doing the 90 day for decades until they realised.

Also, you cannot own land here (unless you have 40 mil to invest) so any house you might own on the land us not 100% safe. Any measures like using a company to own land can be cancelled if you rub someone up the wrong way. Of course many do it anyway and good luck to them. I would prefer to go for a long term lease or Usufruct. Still does not alter the 90 day thing though.

[NoshowJones]

45 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Your view is incorrect....I don't need to report every 90 days. Own a condo and a house, retired and living a great life...

How you manage that is your business I suppose.

[Salerno]

18 minutes ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:

Incorrect info.

Not necessarily incorrect, more, lacking in information. Couple of options to make it less "incorect" off the top of my head

1 Regularly take outside trips -  90 days resets every time you enter therefore, quite possible to not to need to do a 90 day report (not so easily done during the height of covid obviously).

2 Be on an elite visa and live in Bangkok - "technically" you don't have to physically do a 90 day report as they do it for you.

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

24 minutes ago, Salerno said:

Not necessarily incorrect, more, lacking in information. Couple of options to make it less "incorect" off the top of my head

1 Regularly take outside trips -  90 days resets every time you enter therefore, quite possible to not to need to do a 90 day report (not so easily done during the height of covid obviously).

2 Be on an elite visa and live in Bangkok - "technically" you don't have to physically do a 90 day report as they do it for you.

Yes, but Ryan seemed to indicate that he did not have to do the 90 day report since he owned a condo and house. Otherwise, why even mention it? Perhaps he can enlighten us further.

[Salerno]

1 minute ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:

Yes, but Ryan seemed to indicate that he did not have to do the 90 day report since he owned a condo and house. Otherwise, why even mention it?

Because some people like purposefully leaving out pertinent info to wind people up. Re the house and condo, I read that as a separate issue in that it was just a mini-brag to highlight that he lives a very comfortable lifestyle here in response to the claim he was replying to.

[Shocked farang]

12 hours ago, VinnieK said:

Well..as a Chinese he can blend in easily and yes maybe he can buy himself out of trouble.

Asians can play the system way better than a dumbass, high-moral-ground farang 

I wonder how these millions of Sino-thais got to live here in the first place 

Seems there is special treatment for Chinese here.

Thai IDs (for a price) etc.

 

The Sino Thais are a different category as they came in different waves of immigration many generations ago and are now perceived as part of Thai society.