Thailand suspends TM 6 immigration forms (arrival/departure)

[george]

Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post

 

The Government of Thailand has put a halt to the obligatory TM 6 immigration forms for foreigners arriving in the country via land or sea, effective from April 15 to October 15.

 

This resolution, approved by the Cabinet on April 9, is a response to a suggestion by Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, according to ministry spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul.

 

This pause in the requirement for the TM 6 form, which foreign visitors use to provide necessary details to authorities, is anticipated to reduce overcrowding at immigration checkpoints and thus promote tourism, stated Traisuree. The requirement for the form will not apply to international visitors who arrive by air.

 

The TM 6 form suspension will be implemented at eight immigration checkpoints for those entering by land: Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaeo, Mueang district in Mukdahan, Mueang district in Nong Khai, Chiang Saen in Chiang Rai, Padang Besar and Sadao in Songkhla, Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat, and Betong in Yala.

 

 

For those entering by sea, the checkpoints are at Pattaya, Sri Racha and Sichang in Chon Buri, Map Ta Phut in Rayong, Samui in Surat Thani, and Phuket, Krabi and Surat Thani immigration checkpoints.

 

“The ministry is assured that this measure will help alleviate congestion at immigration checkpoints and spur tourism and the economy. The government will also monitor various facets of the impact and will come up with proper measures later.”

 

Migrant workers

 

In a related event, over 10,000 Cambodian migrant workers have returned to their hometowns for the long Songkran holiday, as observed by Police Colonel Naphatpong Suphaporn, superintendent of Sa Kaeo provincial immigration office. He mentioned that immigration police officers were operating every counter at the Sa Kaeo checkpoint and managed to clear all queues within three hours.

 

In Nakhon Phanom in the northeast, numerous Lao migrant workers also returned home for the extended holiday. One Lao worker mentioned that her company was closed for a fortnight, so she decided to make numerous purchases in Thailand to take back to Laos.

 

However, due to the conflict in their home country, not many Myanmar workers wish to return home during Songkran, and many fear being conscripted, according to local reports.

The Ministry of Labour has rescinded re-entry fees for migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar from April 1 to May 15, reported Bangkok Post.

 

This measure aims to uplift the spirits of migrant workers who desire to reunite with their families and celebrate Songkran without bearing any additional financial burdens.

 

-- The Thaiger 2024-04-13

[ChaiyaTH]

Pause it, why not just terminate it permanently, it is nonsense in the first place and by air you don't get it too.

[OJAS]

14 minutes ago, george said:

The TM 6 form suspension will be implemented at eight immigration checkpoints for those entering by land: Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaeo, Mueang district in Mukdahan, Mueang district in Nong Khai, Chiang Saen in Chiang Rai, Padang Besar and Sadao in Songkhla, Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat, and Betong in Yala.

 

This appears to imply, however, that there may be other land immigration checkpoints in addition to these 8 at which the TM6 requirement will not be relaxed!

[Guderian]

Well you haven't had to fill one in if you arrive by air for several years, and the world hasn't ended. Why not just abolish it completely? And then do the same for the TM30 and 90-day reporting.

[OneMoreFarang]

Imagine all those TM6 administrators who store and analyze all those papers. There must be big warehouses full of them.

What should all those people do if there wouldn't be the TM6 anymore? 

[JackGats]

They write "pause". Semantics may not be their forte. Maybe it meant "abolished". The TM6 serves no purpose, apart from being able to fine those who lose it.

[quake]

TM-6

TM-47

TM-30

 

would be nice to see them all gone. for ever.

Grow up Thailand.

 

[FARANG KIWI]

19 hours ago, OJAS said:

 

This appears to imply, however, that there may be other land immigration checkpoints in addition to these 8 at which the TM6 requirement will not be relaxed!

Two come to mind immediately that I use:  Chiang Khong & Chong Mek.

[Kerryd]

On 4/13/2024 at 2:19 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

Imagine all those TM6 administrators who store and analyze all those papers. There must be big warehouses full of them.

What should all those people do if there wouldn't be the TM6 anymore? 

That was exactly why they said they stopped requiring them at the airports a couple years ago. Seems all those forms were going into boxes when then went into warehouses where they've been stacked and stored ever since they first started making those forms.

I thought they'd stopped using them everywhere though and was a bit surprised when I came into Thailand from Cambodia (at Aranyaprathet) last Nov and had to fill one out.

And many forms at Immigration still ask for your "TM.6" number - which people who arrive by air can't give because - no TM.6. So if people arriving by Air don't have to enter a TM.6 number - why expect anyone else to do it ? Especially as most arrivals are by air. Makes the whole "TM.6" requirement pretty redundant.

And the information on them was pretty much useless for the most part. Age and nationality was probably the only useful data. You can bet most people lied about their income level and had no clue what their address in Thailand was going to be.
 

[hotchilli]

On 4/13/2024 at 11:45 AM, george said:

The Government of Thailand has put a halt to the obligatory TM 6 immigration forms for foreigners arriving in the country via land or sea, effective from April 15 to October 15.

Just stop it all together... 

[klauskunkel]

On 4/13/2024 at 11:45 AM, george said:

The TM 6 form suspension

The inactive form will relocate to the Prime Minister's office where it will sit in a corner.

[Nickcage49]

I haven't had to fill one of these out for at least a couple of years when arriving by air. 

 

What's the point anyway?

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

why expect anyone else to do it ?

Never ask "why?" in Thailand. There is no why. There just is. 😉 

[george]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Never ask "why?" in Thailand. There is no why. There just is. 😉 

 

The reason is that this change needs a cabinet decision, and can take time. Expect the TM6 to disappear completely within 6 months.

[Sydebolle]

On 4/13/2024 at 11:49 AM, ChaiyaTH said:

Pause it, why not just terminate it permanently, it is nonsense in the first place and by air you don't get it too.

Face saving step-by-step; they cannot simply abolish which they were cherishing for decades. Hence "temporary" in Thailand has a completely different meaning and, in many cases, can mean permanent. In six months nobody will talk about it anymore. 
Remember the customs declaration slip you had to fill in aboard aircraft arriving in Thailand? Disappeared also on a temporary basis as customs officers collected them after baggage collection and threw them into a big empty cigarette transportation box which they got from the duty free shop just next to them. 

[Skeptic7]

Yet we have to show copies for annual extension and new PP update. 

[Henryford]

The TM6 in my passport is slowly falling to bits with age. What do i do when it crumbles to dust?

[Sydebolle]

Provided the article is complete, then the TM6 still applies (along the Thai-Laotian border) at:
 

Ban Huak Border Checkpoint - ด่านพรมแดนบ้านฮวก
Huai Kon Border Checkpoint - ด่านพรมแดนห้วยโก๋น
Phu Doo Border Checkpoint - ด่านพรมแดนภูดู่
Nam Hueang Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge - สะพานมิตรภาพน้ำเหือง ไทย-ลาว
Bueng Kan border checkpoint - ด่านพรมแดนบึงกาฬ
Nakorn Phanom Third Thai–Lao Friendship 3 Bridge - สะพานมิตรภาพไทย-ลาว แห่งที่ 3

It also applies to all crossings with the Kingdom of Cambodia except Aranyaphratet, it seems ......... 

[paul1804]

On 4/13/2024 at 2:05 PM, Guderian said:

Well you haven't had to fill one in if you arrive by air for several years, and the world hasn't ended. Why not just abolish it completely? And then do the same for the TM30 and 90-day reporting.

That would be too intelligent!

[Maitdjai]

On 4/13/2024 at 11:49 AM, ChaiyaTH said:

Pause it, why not just terminate it permanently, it is nonsense in the first place and by air you don't get it too.

They can't let really go, what they love too much. Paper stacks, photocopies, complicated circumventing around 27 corners, instead of taking the obvious shortcuts.

Already suspended (temporarily?) on arrival by air. Now, additionally, on 6 (!) land boarder crossings.

Stupid question: Why only 6, and why exactly these?

Wow, what an achievement. 

The thrown out announcement of a new "achievement" itself, seems to be be the real purpose of the joke.

No tm6 to provide, on air arrival, "should" be relatively easy to distinguish for the I-Officers in a local office. Now "some" land crossings, and other exceptions more. It might take some time, to proof, why a person in the queue, doesn't have a tm6. In one of those, ca. 70, local IOs

with their different, special home cooked, rules. 

The masters of confusioning, and circumventing, maintaining the mountains of paper stacks, in the beurocrat "industry".

 

 

 

[Felton Jarvis]

Every now and then, some Thai official asks "Why do we do this?"   The recognition that certain information serves no valid purpose is a step in the right direction.

[Maitdjai]

2 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Face saving step-by-step; they cannot simply abolish which they were cherishing for decades. Hence "temporary" in Thailand has a completely different meaning and, in many cases, can mean permanent. In six months nobody will talk about it anymore. 
Remember the customs declaration slip you had to fill in aboard aircraft arriving in Thailand? Disappeared also on a temporary basis as customs officers collected them after baggage collection and threw them into a big empty cigarette transportation box which they got from the duty free shop just next to them. 

"Temporarily" means, that it could be thrown on table any time again. If it's only by a local immigration head, to sharpen his profile.

Another good example is the tm30. Nobody cared about it for ages.

[Felton Jarvis]

1 hour ago, paul1804 said:

That would be too intelligent!

Actually, the 90-day reports serve the function of justifying the grossly inflated staffing at Immigration. Without this requirement, most of the staff would be sitting idle and have no papers to shuffle.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Yet we have to show copies for annual extension and new PP update. 

 

Yes, I was going to caution about that.... that people who have their last prior TM6 still stapled in their passport ought to leave it there..... and not discard it.... despite the reported news above.

 

Last time I was at BKK CW Immigration to renew my retirement extension, because I had seen the practice of the TM6 forms no longer being issued to incoming air travelers, I asked the IO if I could now discard my last old TM6...

 

And they advised NO, that at least for the time being, I should keep it, as they were still asking for photocopies of it for various purposes.

 

[Maitdjai]

10 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

And they advised NO, that at least for the time being, I should keep it, as they were still asking for photocopies of it for various purposes.

E.g. wallpaper the homes of government employees?

[transam]

2 hours ago, Henryford said:

The TM6 in my passport is slowly falling to bits with age. What do i do when it crumbles to dust?

Scan and colour print it now, cut it out and put it in your passport.........😉

[transam]

25 minutes ago, Felton Jarvis said:

Actually, the 90-day reports serve the function of justifying the grossly inflated staffing at Immigration. Without this requirement, most of the staff would be sitting idle and have no papers to shuffle.

No, they could be out checking on dodgy farangy's......😛

[NE1]

On 4/13/2024 at 11:45 AM, george said:

“The ministry is assured that this measure will help alleviate congestion at immigration checkpoints and spur tourism and the economy.

That is top most on my priorities when booking a holiday , " what country can I visit who doesn't require an arrival/departure card ".

Have to build another airport to cope with people taking advantage of this ground breaking move.

 

[ningnong]

On 4/13/2024 at 4:10 PM, quake said:

TM-6

TM-47

TM-30

 

would be nice to see them all gone. for ever.

Grow up Thailand.

 

Be careful what you wish for.

 

Those requirements will one day go away to be replaced by a mandatory tracking app on our smart phones using AI to parse the data and flag anomalies.

[quake]

6 minutes ago, ningnong said:

Be careful what you wish for.

 

Those requirements will one day go away to be replaced by a mandatory tracking app on our smart phones using AI to parse the data and flag anomalies.

 

Can't stop progress.

 

Border control, could be an issue.