Thai immigration alleged 'bribe' scandal, BKK Bitcoin 'mine' raid: Tim Newton Today - Dec 8

[webfact]

 

Very senior Thai immigration police have been outed over a major visa scandal, problems at the top of Patong Hill Road, huge raid on Bitcoin mines in Bangkok, the visa overstay crackdown continues, Tesla cars now available in Thailand, 'Milli' names in Top 100 list.

 

Tim Newton Today is a daily, independent look at Thai and south East Asian regional news.

 

Thanks to our program sponsor 5 Star Marine in Phuket...
https://5starmarinephuket.com

 

TIMESTAMPS (or are they 'TIMstamps'?)

0:00 - Problems on Patong Hill, new alternative road
2:13 - Senior Thai immigration police outed over alleged Chinese visa scam
6:12 - Tesla comes to Thailand
8:40 - Bangkok Bitcoin mine raid
10:06 - ASEAN fails Burmese people again
11:50 - Milli in list of Top 100 women
12:48 - British man caught on overstay
14:40 - World city cost of living index

 

 

[proton]

Tim's advice for overstaying your permission to stay is the very best thing to do is go down to immigration, rather you than me. I would take the fine money with me to the airport and be on my way, a visit to the detention centre is not something to recommend!

[jacko45k]

28 minutes ago, proton said:

Tim's advice for overstaying your permission to stay is the very best thing to do is go down to immigration, rather you than me. I would take the fine money with me to the airport and be on my way, a visit to the detention centre is not something to recommend!

It was, in the past, suggested to go to an agent first....or get out of dodge as you suggest. A visit to immigration, if already on overstay, and the Immigration police would likely arrest you and you would be spending a night in the detention centre. Many feared them getting their claws into them.

Edited December 8, 2022 by jacko45k

[proton]

3 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

It was, in the past, suggested to go to an agent first....or get out of dodge as you suggest. A visit to immigration, if already on overstay and the Immigration police would likely arrest you and you would be spending a night in the detention centre. Many feared them getting their claws into you!

Exactly, you will be leaving anyway so why make it more miserable by ending up in IDC by going to immigration. Every report I have ever seen on overstayers who went to the airport, even long time ones, all report they just paid the up to 20k fine and were on their way to the departure lounge, with a stamp in the passport. Going to an immigration office is bad advice, to say the least. 

[Neeranam]

I thought the Bangkok Post was banned on this forum.

 

So the Chinese can't buy a visa, yet my  buddies from the UK, US and Oz can pay 20k baht a year to illegally get a visa extension, like thousands of other Westerners?

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by Neeranam

[Stargeezr]

Ref the Tesla or any EV if you use the AC, you will not get the distance, the company says you will.

  I bet you will not get more than 3 quarters of the distance. In Canada, the same goes when in WInter.  you need the heater

on for the time you are driving. The cost of replacing the battery will be at least 1o thousand dollars,

and check the tires on the Tesla, they are special as well. Do your home work, and a hybrid will always get you to what ever destination

you want to get to as long as you keep petrol in the gas tank. Just saying.

Harvey M

[stoner]

20 hours ago, Neeranam said:

yet my  buddies from the UK, US and Oz can pay 20k baht a year to illegally get a visa extension

hanging out with the good crowd eh. if your buddies are on illegal visas maybe brush up on the company you are keeping. 

[zzaa09]

20 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I thought the Bangkok Post was banned on this forum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wishing Tim was....

[jacko45k]

17 minutes ago, stoner said:

hanging out with the good crowd eh. if your buddies are on illegal visas maybe brush up on the company you are keeping. 

I knew so many who preferred to do this as they vehemently did not want to keep 800k here.... they did not trust the banks or the system! Some claimed they made money on investments they did not want to lose. None of them were unsavory characters. Ready to go at the drop of a hat was a common sentiment. 

[stoner]

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

None of them were unsavory characters.

every single one of them was breaking the law. unsavory. 

 

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Ready to go at the drop of a hat was a common sentiment. 

of course they were......they knew their shady status here. 

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, stoner said:

every single one of them was breaking the law. unsavory. 

Some claimed they had valid extensions, they looked exactly the same as mine. You are probably aware also some do not consider it illegal... there is provision in the immigration law for a higher ranking officer to sign off on a requirement legitimately. Before that, they were signing BS stat decs or affidavits at their Embassy! ED Visas that require no school attendance etc etc. 

[Neeranam]

31 minutes ago, stoner said:

hanging out with the good crowd eh. if your buddies are on illegal visas maybe brush up on the company you are keeping. 

They are well to do guys actually, and like most who use agents, didn't realize they were illegal, as immigration police pointed them it that direction. 

[stoner]

1 minute ago, jacko45k said:

there is provision in the immigration law for a higher ranking officer to sign off on a requirement legitimately

yes and none of the visa you mention were legit were they....regardless of what your savory friends thought. both the corrupt official and visa holder should be held to account. 

 

 

[proton]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

They are well to do guys actually, and like most who use agents, didn't realize they were illegal, as immigration police pointed them it that direction. 

Not very bright then to let themselves be misled by officials into paying 20k for something they could get for 1900 baht ????

[stoner]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

They are well to do guys actually

well to do guys on illegal visas. i wonder if other criminals would receive the same status from you ? 

 

they are breaking immigration laws by skirting around the system right ? even the officials involved are breaking the law but thats not what were on about here. 

 

officials are given discretion on making decisions regarding legal visas and proper applications. not shady agent deals or fake deposit ones. 

[ThailandRyan]

35 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Wishing Tim was....

Why, does he annoy you? If do don't cluck on the OP. I think the I formation provided is just that information. Take it or leave UT but do more research on what's spouted and don't believe one source like the MAGA crowd does or the anti-vaxxer group.

[jacko45k]

4 minutes ago, proton said:

Not very bright then to let themselves be misled by officials into paying 20k for something they could get for 1900 baht ????

And tying up 800,000/400,000 for the full and complete year. There are other advantages too, like not having to go back after 3 months. At 2.5% p,a, they got the 20,000, covered (and maybe then some) and no long line stood in the sun! I am not sure which is the dim person's better option.

[jacko45k]

12 minutes ago, stoner said:

yes and none of the visa you mention were legit were they....regardless of what your savory friends thought. both the corrupt official and visa holder should be held to account. 

 

 

In what regard.... ? An officer has the right to sign off on a requirement and yet you say that makes him criminal in some way and needs to be held to account? 

The Extensions worked perfectly well.

I am not sure you have the legal qualifications to deem them legit or not.

[proton]

4 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

And tying up 800,000/400,000 for the full and complete year. There are other advantages too, like not having to go back after 3 months. At 2.5% p,a, they got the 20,000, covered (and maybe then some) and no long line stood in the sun! I am not sure which is the dim person's better option.

The dim persons option seems to me like being tied to an agent with an extension in your passport from a province you do not live in and probably never visited. I don't have to go back after 3 months or line up in the sun.

[proton]

Just now, jacko45k said:

In what regard.... ? An officer has the right to sign off on a requirement and yet you say that makes him criminal in some way and needs to be held to account? 

The Extensions worked perfectly well.

I am not sure you have the legal qualifications to deem them legit or not.

They have the right of discretion, but only doing so when being bribed makes it illegal. Obtaining extension from a province you do not live in is also illegal. 

[jacko45k]

3 minutes ago, proton said:

The dim persons option seems to me like being tied to an agent with an extension in your passport from a province you do not live in and probably never visited. I don't have to go back after 3 months or line up in the sun.

Any agent can do the Extension,. I agree one should get one sourced from the place one actually lives... if people choose to live in rural villages they should not get Extensions sourced elsewhere, that is illegal... nothing to do with bypassing monetary requirements. 

I don't even have to go to immigration!

[Neeranam]

34 minutes ago, stoner said:

well to do guys on illegal visas. i wonder if other criminals would receive the same status from you ? 

 

they are breaking immigration laws by skirting around the system right ? even the officials involved are breaking the law but thats not what were on about here. 

 

officials are given discretion on making decisions regarding legal visas and proper applications. not shady agent deals or fake deposit ones. 

What other criminals, do you mean the ones that ganja before it was legalized this year? ???? 

 

Not sure what you are on about here, maybe started rolling the bush early?

 

Immigration officials are corrupt as hell, but that is the culture here. Did yo know they need to pay a 1-10 million baht 'entry fee' to get a prime position in a tourist area?

[Neeranam]

17 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Any agent can do the Extension,. I agree one should get one sourced from the place one actually lives... if people choose to live in rural villages they should not get Extensions sourced elsewhere, that is illegal... nothing to do with bypassing monetary requirements. 

I don't even have to go to immigration!

Actually, many of the illegal immigrants in Bangkok and Pattaya get their passports sent(by agents) to remote places like Khon Kaen and Roi Et to get that stamp. 

Police there pay less to secure an immigration spot, so do it cheaper.

 

[jacko45k]

Just now, Neeranam said:

Actually, many of the illegal immigrants in Bangkok and Pattaya get their passports sent(by agents) to remote places like Khon Kaen and Roi Et to get that stamp. 

Police there pay less to secure an immigration spot, so do it cheaper.

 

Well our discussion is more about mostly Westerners getting retirement Extensions bypassing the money on deposit requirement. Perhaps you mean migrant workers. I did have a pal getting his ext from KK, a long way from his home, had to pay a premium to do 90-day reports!

[jerrymahoney]

56 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

You are probably aware also some do not consider it illegal... there is provision in the immigration law for a higher ranking officer to sign off on a requirement legitimately.

And that same immigration law says that such a Section 35 waiver by the higher ranking official is 2000 baht not 20,000 baht.

 

Rate of fees, working fees, and other expenses
_________________

(3) Application for extension of temporary stay in the Kingdom under Section 35, per person, each time 2,000 baht

Edited December 9, 2022 by jerrymahoney

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

And that same immigration law says that such a waiver by the higher ranking official is 2000 baht not 20,000 baht.

There is still the 1900 for the Extension, and the cost of the agent in that fee! (I expect he gets what he asks for.....!)

[Neeranam]

16 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

(3) Application for extension of temporary stay in the Kingdom under Section 35, per person, each time 2,000 baht

Well any idiot can see that those paying 20,000 are not going this route, and the bent policemen are covering their behinds by quoting this law. 

[jerrymahoney]

9 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Well any idiot can see that those paying 20,000 are not going this route, and the bent policemen are covering their behinds by quoting this law. 

Fine but then (not you) don't come on here and say that the paid-for extension waiver is 'perfectly legal' when it is a bribe.

[jerrymahoney]

24 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

There is still the 1900 for the Extension, and the cost of the agent in that fee! (I expect he gets what he asks for.....!)

Oh pu-lease.

[stoner]

38 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Immigration officials are corrupt as hell, but that is the culture here

being the culture is a cop out and you know it.