Brit and Singapore pensioners rounded up in Bangkok on long overstays "to protect Thailand and stop losses"

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

I can’t help but feel sorry for the Brit, he’ll be deported back to the UK that he’s not visited in over a decade with likely no where to stay & hardly a pot to p155 in.  
 

The UK is No Country For Old Men 

Then why didn't get himself set up with a legitimate extension? It isn't that difficult as most of know. And even if he didn't have the necessary financials, there's always the agents, as our 'use an agent' brigade are always quick to point out.

 

Sorry, I've no  sympathy for this guy.

[VinnieK]

2 hours ago, swerve said:

Two proper overstays.  Hats off to the Brit.

We should start an ' Overstayers Hall of Fame' and give awards!

 

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The first man arrested was 76 year old British pensioner Joseph Taylor whose passport showed he had permission to stay until November 26th 2011.

Be honest, this guy probably arrived with some savings, had a good time, and as the UK government freezes pensions for those abroad, has slowly seen his income get to the point of being unable to pay an agent after the rent and food comes out.

 

76 - he can just go home now and get in a warm care home - 13 years on the raz and a bed in a care home seems quite a good end of life to me

[d4dang]

So did the rat get paid? How much? The Old Salt was spending his pension supporting the Thai economy.

 

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, kidneyw said:

Jesus, how fast do they think a 76 year old can run?

They have to try to make him sound like a danger to Thai people.

[John Drake]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Immigration had been told by secret informers that two old foreigners were living in Sukhumvit Soi 42/1

Don't annoy your neighbors. 

[transam]

More grassed-up for a few bahts...........The only way the BMW click can catch them..................

[Kaopad999]

5 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

Good news, that 76 yr old brit looks like trouble. Thailand is now safe.

 just becasue someone looks incomcent, dosent always mean to say they are ... 

At the end of the day, he only has himself to blame as he's broken the immigration laws by overstaying his visa. i'm not saying that it's some sort of horrendous crime , but it wouldn't have been too diffuclt for him  to obtain a retirement visa which would have enabled him to remain in the Kingdom legally.  

[Bangkok Barry]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

maintain the safety of the public and stop losses to the country.

Did any reporter ask in what way they are a danger to the public, and how spending money and supporting Thai businesses leads to losses for the country?

 

No. I thought not.

[ravip]

Well... I admit I didn't read every single post on this thread. Does it mean that any person can go to any country and ignore the host country's immigration or any other laws?

 

OR, is that a privilege entitled to a selected few?

[Smokey and the Bandit]

3 hours ago, Henryford said:

Surely the Thai immigration computer can spit out a list of names/addresses of those who have not extended their official stay. Why would it take 12 years to find him (based on a tip off).

Good question? Hotels, guest houses etc are supposed to report to immigration on foreigners staying at their accommodation, TM30. If you own a condo, house,  its the same you must fill out a TM30.

So immigration must know who and where the over-stayers are, you would think?

Also 90 day reports must be done?

Somehow the system doesn't seem to be working?

[leither69]

3 hours ago, Mickeymaus said:

There could be different reasons for his overstay. Perhaps a criminal hiding in Thailand? We don't know. Also these people need to finance their stay here. Perhaps not this old guy but others start to work illegally or commit crimes to get money. In any case these people don't care much about laws and regulations. No need to have them here. And for this old guy - there are other countries with warm weather. So there are still options left if he doesn't want to stay in the UK. And don't blame Thailand for their fate. These people are to blame. 

Other than drunk and disorderly or drink driving, how many Brits resort to crime? Can only be a few at most.

[Jingthing]

Living here we must accept the laws and current political situation in Thailand.

But we can still have opinions.

My opinion is that overstays are not really objectively serious crimes and more logical to be treated as an administrative rather than criminal matter.

Like countries like Argentina do. 

If overstaying was their only crime, then we are not dealing with the crime of the century regardless.

I know many that go legally as I do resent people that don't bother.

I think that's just mean spirited.

[shackleton]

While I feel a bit of sympathy for the old Brit probably facing being deported back to the UK ???????? ????

He knows the rules of immigration staying here as a guest in Thailand ???????? 

Which the Majority of us dutifully carry out causing no problems for the future 

 

 

[hotandsticky]

Just now, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Good question? Hotels, guest houses etc are supposed to report to immigration on foreigners staying at their accommodation, TM30. If you own a condo, house,  its the same you must fill out a TM30.

So immigration must know who and where the over-stayers are, you would think?

Also 90 day reports must be done?

Somehow the system doesn't seem to be working?

 

Sorry, but there is a degree of naivety in that post. 

 

You think an overstayer gets involved with TM30's and 90 day reports.? I knew someone on 5 years overstay (12 years ago - if he is still alive he could be the record holder!)' Lived in the backwaters of Buriram with a Thai lady and picked up his state pension of 8,500 Baht p.m. (and that was when the rate was 50).

If the Immigration system was intelligent it would electronically 

[hotandsticky]

6 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Did any reporter ask in what way they are a danger to the public, and how spending money and supporting Thai businesses leads to losses for the country?

 

No. I thought not.

 

 

So are you saying that support law breaking?

 

 

Where do you draw your line - overstay, robbery, rape and murder?

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, Mickeymaus said:

In any case these people don't care much about laws and regulations.

I was out for an hour today, and lost count after 30 of Thais breaking traffic laws in various ways. Encouraging people to spy on and report on their neighbours is what happened/happens in hardline communist dictatorships.

[mikeymike100]

7 minutes ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Good question? Hotels, guest houses etc are supposed to report to immigration on foreigners staying at their accommodation, TM30. If you own a condo, house,  its the same you must fill out a TM30.

So immigration must know who and where the over-stayers are, you would think?

Also 90 day reports must be done?

Somehow the system doesn't seem to be working?

Quite so. There mat be some folks that do not inform immigration if they move accommodation, but surely the great majority do, so do immigration check on addresses where they know people have over stayed? Or just wait for tip offs?????

[Mickeymaus]

1 minute ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I was out for an hour today, and lost count after 30 of Thais breaking traffic laws in various ways. Encouraging people to spy on and report on their neighbours is what happened/happens in hardline communist dictatorships.

It could be a killer on the run. If foreigners are hiding in Thailand then the government has to check them. And I am glad that they do. Everything else would be irresponsible. 

[Bangkok Barry]

1 minute ago, hotandsticky said:

9 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Did any reporter ask in what way they are a danger to the public, and how spending money and supporting Thai businesses leads to losses for the country?

 

No. I thought not.

 

 

So are you saying that support law breaking?

 

 

Where do you draw your line - overstay, robbery, rape and murder?

Where do you read that I support lawbreaking? I was questioning the reasons given to justify arrest. Why didn't they just say they were arrested for breaking the law by overstaying, rather than spouting complete rubbish.

[CANSIAM]

Tipsters needed in Phuket !!

[hotandsticky]

Just now, Bangkok Barry said:

Where do you read that I support lawbreaking? I was questioning the reasons given to justify arrest. Why didn't they just say they were arrested for breaking the law by overstaying, rather than spouting complete rubbish.

I think the rubbish came from your side................... your empathy was obvious.

[Bangkok Barry]

1 minute ago, Mickeymaus said:

It could be a killer on the run. If foreigners are hiding in Thailand then the government has to check them. And I am glad that they do. Everything else would be irresponsible. 

They're a bit slow off the mark if it's taken all this time to track down this pair, and even then it needed a tip off. Just think how many they could have killed in that time.

[CANSIAM]

1 minute ago, Bangkok Barry said:

They're a bit slow off the mark if it's taken all this time to track down this pair, and even then it needed a tip off. Just think how many they could have killed in that time.

How long will it take to control 285,000 Russians roaming about............

[ThailandRyan]

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Then why didn't get himself set up with a legitimate extension? It isn't that difficult as most of know. And even if he didn't have the necessary financials, there's always the agents, as our 'use an agent' brigade are always quick to point out.

 

Sorry, I've no  sympathy for this guy.

Maybe he's been in a 10 year coma, never reads the news or watches it...could be many reasons. He could have thought he was a permanent resident because someone told him so many years prior that he was ...

 

If he did it with the full knowledge he was in violation of immigration rules then the man has balls of titanium...

[billd766]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I understand every nation has its laws. I am fine with immigration backing up those laws. A ten year overstay is quite an accomplishment. 

 

However, I consider integrity and honesty to be important. Saying this is about stopping some kind of loss to the nation is disengenuous. The average Thai earns around 20,000 baht per month. The average pensioner gets how much? 35,000 baht? 50,000 baht? Plus potential income from other sources. So, I just don't see any loss taking place. It is so typical of Prayuth to be dishonest. 

Plus the 20K that the Thais earn is made in country whereas the pensioners import forex to Thailand and it gets added to the forex reserves.

 

[mikeymike100]

15 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Sorry, but there is a degree of naivety in that post. 

 

You think an overstayer gets involved with TM30's and 90 day reports.? I knew someone on 5 years overstay (12 years ago - if he is still alive he could be the record holder!)' Lived in the backwaters of Buriram with a Thai lady and picked up his state pension of 8,500 Baht p.m. (and that was when the rate was 50).

If the Immigration system was intelligent it would electronically 

 

The system they have now only works if the foreigners let it work,by reporting their accommodation if you want to 'lose yourself' you can?

Any criminals in Thailand would know this, so only non criminals do the correct reporting?

So does the system work..........?

[Mickeymaus]

5 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

They're a bit slow off the mark if it's taken all this time to track down this pair, and even then it needed a tip off. Just think how many they could have killed in that time.

I would organise this differently. The immigration computer knows the overstayers. I would put their names, nationality and pictures on the Internet and offer a financial reward if someone reports one. It could be that simple... 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

2 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

4 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Where do you read that I support lawbreaking? I was questioning the reasons given to justify arrest. Why didn't they just say they were arrested for breaking the law by overstaying, rather than spouting complete rubbish.

I think the rubbish came from your side................... your empathy was obvious.

I think you need to brush up on your comprehension skills, rather than read something I didn't even hint at into what I wrote. I'll repeat it for you so you might understand it second time round: I questioned how they were a danger to society, and caused losses to Thailand. I didn't dispute that they should be arrested. I questioned the reasons given.

[Bday Prang]

2 hours ago, Chivas said:

lol its hard to believe that anyone took what I said as being overly serious

 

Where there no clues at all.........????

 Well you certainly got me , until I read your second post,  You seem to forget that many of the more sanctimonious types on here will be calling for a far more severe punishment to be handed down to this elderly gentleman ( just wait until later when " happy" hour has finished) 

 The ones who post "no sympathy from me etc"  are  just as bad,  why do they feel the need to say that? who do they  cares what they think  ( other "right minded" sorts presumably)  And as for informants, nothing lower than a grass  

Your  sarcasm was mabe a be a bit too subtle for threads of this nature

However we can't blame the immigration guys for doing  their jobs , especially  considering recent events , they are after all under orders.

 I Wish UK border force would make more effort to fulfill their job description