1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

I can't stand my ground as that would mean sleeping over at the immigration office.

You could staple a small note (in Thai) to the front cover of your passport...

.... "Please do not stable anything into this passport"...

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

I can't stand my ground as that would mean sleeping over at the immigration office.

Would reporting the damage to the passport to the police be an option?

After all, I would need a police report to apply for a new passport and to get a refund of my expenses from my travel insurance.

6 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

You could staple a small note (in Thai) to the front cover of your passport...

.... "Please do not stable anything into this passport"...

That's a good joke.

They have that hateful habbit of stapling every absurd paper at Thai immigration. This should be banned. As try to argue with the immigration lady or chap. They will then make life hell for you at the counter. They are God after all. It's real despicable.

10 minutes ago, SingAPorn said:

They have that hateful habbit of stapling every absurd paper at Thai immigration. This should be banned. As try to argue with the immigration lady or chap. They will then make life hell for you at the counter. They are God after all. It's real despicable.

Gawd.. There are some snowflakes here... Immigration officers are simply human like everyone else.

Asking them not to use a stapler is not going see you deported !!

Obviously, if such criminal behavior is undertaken out of sight, there is little you can do about it, but for those about to witness the crime in progress... its ok to speak out !!.... "Oiy ya bugga... don't you dare"...

Norse from Bangkok had no issues and

Thai Airways checked my pages and had no comment either on my return.

27 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Norse from Bangkok had no issues and

Thai Airways checked my pages and had no comment either on my return.

What is your point.

Nothing should be stapled into pp.

It's a bad habit especially by Thai immigration.

Some countries are extremely strict.

Bali one example.

Immigration is in the wrong in stapling anything into pp.

Did my TM30 at Jomtien this morning with a brand new passport. When the lady IO reached for the stapler I said “No staple please!”, and she was happy to use a paper clip.

18 minutes ago, CygnusX1 said:

Did my TM30 at Jomtien this morning with a brand new passport. When the lady IO reached for the stapler I said “No staple please!”, and she was happy to use a paper clip.

Exactly what you should do.

When I posted first page that it's illegal had few thumbs down from ignorant folk.

Never allow anything sampled into pp. Possible exception the Note Pages at end of pp

Strictly speaking pp is property of issuing embassy

I agree. A really bad habit of theirs.

6 hours ago, CygnusX1 said:

Did my TM30 at Jomtien this morning with a brand new passport. When the lady IO reached for the stapler I said “No staple please!”, and she was happy to use a paper clip.

I know why they do it, falang lose the tm30s, it needs to be in there for many years most likely

11 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

What is your point.

My point is, I used my old passport, new one waiting at embassy, and had no comments whatsoever about any of my pages, and was relieved I could fly out and back in on my old PP without anymore stress.

I will make sure no one will staple my PP ever again, and ordered a PP cover.

What's up with you? You sound a bit annoyed? I was just relived, that's all

3 hours ago, Hummin said:

What's up with you? You sound a bit annoyed? I was just relived, that's all

You shifted from early posts...

Such as...

"Since I was going to Thailand, she said they know about the problem, but if I was heading for another destination, she would tell me to get a emergency passport if I wanted to board the flight."

The fact you entered Thailand with zero issue is not the concern.

The other part of my post you quoted was some countries are extremely strict. Gave Bali as example.

Bottom line don't allow Thai immigration to staple rubbish into your pp.

On 2/19/2026 at 8:52 PM, Jingthing said:

Easier said than done!

I just got my residence verification certificate upon returning to Thailand last month, they used to staple it to the back, Chonburi IO put it in with a paperclip - okay, now the back cover has a paperclip indentation on it, but no damage…..

On 2/20/2026 at 8:19 AM, DrJack54 said:

And that was done in front of you.

Why not complain

After my return, my wife went straight into immigration just before lunch to file the TM30.

The lady there took my passport, even complained that it was lunchtime, disappeared into the back, and guess what? She stapled my passport again — even though we have told them a few times now not to do it. 😄

Told here next time we came by to transfer visa, and her comment was, yes some airports do not like

The officer who transferred my visa, was clearly tempted to staple it too. He even looked a bit annoyed and told me I had to make sure I did not lose the TM30.

So yes, this staple practice is not going to end anytime soon. Some habits in Thai immigration seem carved in stone.

Especially when doing TM30, it is out of sight, and not always done on the desk in front of you.

Maybe AseanNow could make the effort and send out a warning to every immigration office and do all of us a favour?

Edited May 7May 7 by Hummin