Former immigration chief "Big Joke" comes full circle - charges against 107 allegedly corrupt immigration officers laid

[Stevemercer]

The original article is correct in saying that the reason why 'Big Joke' was removed from Immigration has never been officially explained.

 

It may have something to do with the IB's then purchase of a biometric system, signed off by the then police chief. 'Big Joke' is on the public record as saying the IB spent over 300 million baht per unit although the same brand and model of machine can be purchased for 36 million baht.

 

Whatever, that police chief has retired and it seems 'Big Joke' has the support of the current chief. Or maybe the powers-in-charge reckon it's better to have 'Big Joke' on their side where they might be able to better control him.

[Burma Bill]

Thank you Khon Kaen Immigration for your very kind assistance with the annual renewals of my retirement visa when I lived in Isaan. I wish you well. Fortunately, I now live in a neighboring country where the BS nonsense of "cash in a bank" does not exist and extending a retirement visa is simplicity itself and no corruption!

[Pedrogaz]

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

A Lexus is relatively pedestrian compared to the list in Ferrari Joe's garage!

Indeed, but he may have other cars as well. Rich Thais and corrupt Thais like to have a choice of several cars to drive and impress. Look, I don't know whether the dude is corrupt or not, but it is not outside the realm of possibility is it? Putting faith in folk from a notoriously corrupt RTP because you 'like them', seems to me naive.

[metisdead]

A post with unsubstantiated allegations has been removed.

[BigStar]

4 hours ago, mokwit said:

Seems to be increased scrutiny and document requirements at extension time aimed at determining that you really live where your TM30 says you do, if I have interpreted correctly what is going on from reports/comments here.

I'm not seeing that.

 

Visits to verify marriages have been around for quite some time. Nor do you know if it ONLY applies to Westerners, as alleged. I've never filled out any TM30 or ever had my address questioned. I present a copy of my yellow book/pink card yearly. Scrutiny of yearly extension docs is performed w/ the same rigor as ever, never any questions or problems.

[BestB]

4 hours ago, BigStar said:

Paid a lot more and have established connections. You could do that. Well, could have.

 

Have they tightened up requirements for Westerners, and only, since the scandal broke? Which ones are those?

 

actually no you could not, they were rather strict, checking every single thing. The only thing you could do is have agent "loan" you the money

 

Yes they have started to run even more checks now, scrutinizing even more than before

My Non B is up for extension and accountant says now its even more hard than before, checking and triple checking everything

[AustinRacing]

After IO came to our house for the interview (marriage) they sat in the BMW for a while. My neighbor said they’re waiting for you to give them some money. The wife handed them 1000THB. They said thank you and drove off. The issue I believe is they’re not paid adequately compared with the private sector so they (just about all of them) work on tips like waiters in USA. 

[proton]

11 hours ago, Neeranam said:

 

Khon Kaen, where I lived for 20 years, is the most corrupt area.

I regularly saw Immigration police in the gold shop inside Big C, along the road from there. They would park their clearly marked van right outside the door. It costs 1 million baht minimum to get into that area, in a starting position. 

If you used an agent to get your extension, check to see if it was issued in Khon Kaen. If it was, better to get it fixed before being deported. 

It's one of the offices up country agents in Bkk get extensions from- whatever province you live in. People getting away with it does not mean it's legal, or it will go on for ever.

[Selatan]

Haha. Never knew Joke stands for porridge in Thai. All the while I thought his nickname meant "laughing stock". 

 

The Thai word for porridge is definitely a Cantonese loanword, 粥 (jok, zuk) which stands for porridge. In Mandarin it is pronounced as zhou.

[Srikcir]

5 hours ago, SunsetT said:

With all this talk of Immigration offices, does anyone know if there is any Thai dept. or phone number that you can report any corruption or misapplication of the rules. I just left my IO who are insisting that 800k must be in the bank 3 months before Non O Retirement renewal not 2. This despite my showing them the rules and link printed out in Thai and English from the Thai Government website clearly stating that it is 2 months. The supervisor said that this only applies to the 1st year. I said that it does not say this anywhere on the website. She then came back with a sheet of the rules which apply to the initial application for a Non- O visa for retirement repeating that it is only the 1st year. She then walked away and disappeared before I could point this out!

Dial 05-5555-5555

[Srikcir]

Prayut "clipped his wings."

What change happened to let Joke loose?

New election?

[proton]

5 hours ago, SunsetT said:

With all this talk of Immigration offices, does anyone know if there is any Thai dept. or phone number that you can report any corruption or misapplication of the rules. I just left my IO who are insisting that 800k must be in the bank 3 months before Non O Retirement renewal not 2. This despite my showing them the rules and link printed out in Thai and English from the Thai Government website clearly stating that it is 2 months. The supervisor said that this only applies to the 1st year. I said that it does not say this anywhere on the website. She then came back with a sheet of the rules which apply to the initial application for a Non- O visa for retirement repeating that it is only the 1st year. She then walked away and disappeared before I could point this out!

Samut Prakan? I still keep it in 3 months before after hearing about them sticking to 3 months and refusing extensions. Showing them their own rules usually gets the blank ignore look.

[proton]

1 hour ago, AustinRacing said:

After IO came to our house for the interview (marriage) they sat in the BMW for a while. My neighbor said they’re waiting for you to give them some money. The wife handed them 1000THB. They said thank you and drove off. The issue I believe is they’re not paid adequately compared with the private sector so they (just about all of them) work on tips like waiters in USA. 

The issue is some of them are corrupt and some people give into it. They are quite well paid, have a job for life and early retirement on good pensions, don't pay the leeches next time

[spidermike007]

1. An arrest means nothing unless it is followed by conviction, and imprisonment. 

2. If this guy was serious, tens of thousands would be arrested. 

3. The fishing industry was never cleaned up. Maybe a few low level guys were arrested. They likely still use tens of thousands of slaves. 

4. The RTP desperately needs good PR, and he is thrilled to be their public face. The limelight is his favorite place in the world. 

 

Do any of his actions  mean anything? 

[geisha]

15 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

I wonder how many of these bad apples worked in Immigration when Surachate led that organization? 75%? 90%? Good to see he instilled such a sense of honesty and respect for the law during his tenure.

 

He is on track to be national police cheif but that position is usually the last just prior to retirement, so it will be a few years before that happens. That's the one position you can't purchase.

 

After that? Can't see him in politics.

Maybe, who knows, he’s good. No idea what age he is. 

[geisha]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

1. An arrest means nothing unless it is followed by conviction, and imprisonment. 

2. If this guy was serious, tens of thousands would be arrested. 

3. The fishing industry was never cleaned up. Maybe a few low level guys were arrested. They likely still use tens of thousands of slaves. 

4. The RTP desperately needs good PR, and he is thrilled to be their public face. The limelight is his favorite place in the world. 

 

Do any of his actions  mean anything? 

I knew you’d be back, can’t resist him can you !

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, geisha said:

I knew you’d be back, can’t resist him can you !

Well, he is great bait. He looks for the attention. And I call him out on his nonsense! 

[liddelljohn]

He should probably have himself arrested  for fraud, corruption and professional malfeasance

 

[itsari]

Big Joke is electioneering for his master 

[jacko45k]

11 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Indeed, but he may have other cars as well. Rich Thais and corrupt Thais like to have a choice of several cars to drive and impress. Look, I don't know whether the dude is corrupt or not, but it is not outside the realm of possibility is it? Putting faith in folk from a notoriously corrupt RTP because you 'like them', seems to me naive.

Of course I have not met the man, but he gets results and does not appear to fear the reaction of the high up cronies. In that respect I feel a bit more positive of him than many of his ilk. First impressions are lasting impressions, and my early  recollections are of him sorting out Chiangmai Immigration many years ago.. when it was corrupt and inefficient.

[bamnutsak]

1 hour ago, itsari said:

Big Joke is electioneering for his master 

Yes. A make-up artist applying lipstick to the pig that is the RTP.

 

The TwoPs can claim, during the "election" that police corruption has been "cleaned up".

 

He is everywhere, to the point where it seems like he must have at least two dopplegangers.

 

He's sending a US/Thai woman back, he's charging ~ 107 Immigration officers with corruption, he's going to the U.S. to lobby for TIP positioning, he's reviewing guns headed for the crusher, and that was just yesterday.

 

 

You have to admit that he got the Tu Hao genie back in the bottle rather effectively. Still some clean up on aisle 3 for the Macau888 and Forex3D "schemes".

 

[itsari]

10 hours ago, proton said:

It's one of the offices up country agents in Bkk get extensions from- whatever province you live in. People getting away with it does not mean it's legal, or it will go on for ever.

Using a agent in Bangkok when you live in what ever province and you have the funds matured for the time required  in your Thai bank account is not illegal . If the practice is illegal please mention a conviction to back up your theory .

[proton]

1 hour ago, itsari said:

Using a agent in Bangkok when you live in what ever province and you have the funds matured for the time required  in your Thai bank account is not illegal . If the practice is illegal please mention a conviction to back up your theory .

Nobody claimed what you describe is illegal. It's bribing an official to ignore the lack of funds and getting an extension from a province you do not live in which is. Latest prosecution of officers for illegal procurement of visas is ongoing, involving over 100 immigration officials. If that is not evidence I don't know what is.

[Pedrogaz]

10 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

1. An arrest means nothing unless it is followed by conviction, and imprisonment. 

2. If this guy was serious, tens of thousands would be arrested. 

3. The fishing industry was never cleaned up. Maybe a few low level guys were arrested. They likely still use tens of thousands of slaves. 

4. The RTP desperately needs good PR, and he is thrilled to be their public face. The limelight is his favorite place in the world. 

 

Do any of his actions  mean anything? 

This 'convict-the-low-level-oik' has been going on for eons. I saw a German film called Labyrinth which covered Nazi war criminals and how few of them actually got tried and convicted (double digits out of 8 million in the Nazi party, I believe). The same thing happened in occupied Japan. The Americans tried a couple of senior commissioned officers high but saved their wrath for the NCOs, but even so the numbers convicted were pitifully small....and of course no Emperor was tried. 

Chances are that this episode will end in nothing more than a slap on the wrist or 'transferred to another area' for a few of those charged. One does wonder however how long the RTP can carry on with all these scandals and retain the trust of those being policed. One can be sure that the judges will ensure that 107 officers are not going to see the inside of jail cells for long.

[Bigtimecharlie]

On 2/23/2023 at 9:06 AM, Neeranam said:

Isarn is region 4. 

Division 4 is Khon Kaen and division 5 is Chiang Mai

[Bigtimecharlie]

After Big Joke has finished with immigration please investigate the alleged corruption in hospitals, electricity, roads, schools, water, farming, airports and any other industries that you can think of!

[BigStar]

14 hours ago, BestB said:

actually no you could not, they were rather strict, checking every single thing.

Friend of mine got one of those fake Ed visas same as many Chinese. Paid B50,000. Immigration didn't check anything. And it was through a Chinese connection via his Chinese girlfriend. My point stands.

 

14 hours ago, BestB said:

Yes they have started to run even more checks now, scrutinizing even more than before

My Non B is up for extension and accountant says now its even more hard than before, checking and triple checking everything

They can't possibly scrutinize my papers more than they already did. And we're not hearing many reports verifying your point.

 

Your accountant didn't say it was ONLY Westerners being scrutinized. You haven't verified with non-Western nationalities, so actually you dunno.

 

 

 

 

[itsari]

1 hour ago, proton said:

Nobody claimed what you describe is illegal. It's bribing an official to ignore the lack of funds and getting an extension from a province you do not live in which is. Latest prosecution of officers for illegal procurement of visas is ongoing, involving over 100 immigration officials. If that is not evidence I don't know what is.

Let us wait for a successful prosecution to prove who is right or wrong .

[bang saen guy]

21 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Your liking of him means absolutely nothing. I'm sure many of the 107 charged are likeable too.

 

He drove a Lexus.....it seems an unusually luxurious car for a police officer that receives scanty pay. 

Do not know his background. Neeranam says he came from a wealthy family. Maybe he did and can afford a Lexus

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, Bigtimecharlie said:

Division 4 is Khon Kaen and division 5 is Chiang Mai

No, it is more than KK.