Thai authorities have launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal activities involving foreign nationals, beginning with an immediate three-month campaign ordered by the Royal Thai Police (RTP). The measures target transnational crime, illegal immigration, nominee businesses, cybercrime and other offences seen as affecting public order and local livelihoods.

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National police chief Pol Gen Kittharath Punpetch announced the campaign on Tuesday 12 May, with police spokesman Pol Lt Gen Trairong Piwpan outlining a three-phase strategy extending from urgent operations to long-term reforms over the next two years. Authorities said the effort is intended to prevent Thailand being used as a transit point or safe haven for criminal activity.

The immediate phase focuses on intensive inspections of foreigners across the country. Police units have been instructed to compile databases and identify groups linked to drug trafficking, economic crimes, customs and tax offences, cybercrime, illegal immigration, prostitution, human trafficking and violent activity.

A proposed joint task force involving agencies including the ministries of Commerce and Finance, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, Bank of Thailand, Customs Department, Excise Department and Department of Land will coordinate operations at policy and provincial levels. Officials said priority areas will be targeted first, with ongoing assessments to determine where further action is required.

The medium-term phase, expected to last six to nine months, will see the Immigration Bureau lead investigations into visa extensions, foreign business activities and supporting documentation. Authorities said foreigners found violating laws could face revocation of permission to remain in Thailand.

Police were also instructed to expand investigations into connected criminal networks under what officials described as an “uproot and eradicate” approach. Any state officials found complicit in illegal activities will face immediate legal and disciplinary action.

Long-term measures over the next one to two years include the development of a comprehensive foreigner database integrated into the RTP’s OnePolice system. The database will connect with local agencies and support information-sharing with foreign governments to strengthen blacklist systems, arrest warrants, advance passenger screening and immigration controls.

The Ministry of Interior is separately preparing to propose a national policy committee and local mechanisms to address foreign settlement and nominee business arrangements. Deputy permanent secretary Passakorn Boonyalak said global conflicts and Thailand’s visa exemption policies had contributed to increased migration and foreign ownership concerns.

The Bangkokpost reported that officials expressed concern about foreigners using Thai nominees to acquire land, property and businesses in sectors including hotels, hospitals, private universities, restaurants and service industries. Authorities warned the trend could lead to criminal networks and illegal operations becoming more deeply rooted in the country.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now Bangkokpost 13 May 2026

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It is sad to read that it is only foreign crime.. Thai people are probably even so, but foreigners are the culprits. Why not clean the own house first before chasing others??? But therefor you need a good working RTP with no corruption of course, I forgot

In theory this kind of coordinated crackdown is long overdue, but the execution raises more questions than it answers.

A national foreigner database in the hands of police who already struggle with corruption risks becoming a tool for harassment rather than crime prevention.

It also feels uncomfortably like a populist gesture aimed more at appeasing the nationalist voices, rather than addressing the structural issues that actually enable criminal networks to flourish, either Thai or foreign!

If this government is serious, they should be looking at police reform and consistent enforcement across the board, not just another headline‑grabbing exercise that treats ALL foreigners as suspects.

I’m sad to read this. Not that it isn’t warranted. The influx of organized crime from certain countries and a plethora of ad hoc crime means it was inevitable.

This will likely be applied in an uneven manner given the corruption that is available as a tool to evade arrest and realistically the worst of the worst will be the ones that continue to operate.

Nevertheless, it’s sad that living in Thailand as a foreigner, with all its warts and quirks, has come down to this…”intensive inspections of foreigners across the country”. Perhaps it’s a poor use of words, that will be meaningless in and of themselves, but it doesn’t feel nice.

Edited May 13May 13 by wensiensheng

Clean up your own back yard first and the rest will fall into place. Police corruption problem and the Yaba problem would be a start!

I have 2 nephews who both did time for selling yabba. When they went to court their suppliers were never mentioned. Both were told if they grassed they would end up in a local canal with concrete tied to their ankles. Needless to say we all know who the suppliers were but I'll leave that one alone.

Edited May 13May 13 by Rams86
typo

It sounds to me like some of the higher ups had to write their annual KPIs and then somebody thought “Hey, this would make a great press release!”

5 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

It is sad to read that it is only foreign crime.. Thai people are probably even so, but foreigners are the culprits. Why not clean the own house first before chasing others??? But therefor you need a good working RTP with no corruption of course, I forgot

...and why not start hunting foreigners first? They are the minority, loud and disturbing ❗

The measures target transnational crime, illegal immigration, nominee businesses, cybercrime and other offences seen as affecting public order and local livelihoods.

Sounds ok to start screening people .Illegal immigration dealings is one to watch.

I wonder of they will look into the Extensions from people who are using agents without having the funds , this is a big Grey area .

5 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

I’m sad to read this. Not that it isn’t warranted. The influx of organized crime from certain countries and a plethora of ad hoc crime means it was inevitable.

This will likely be applied in an uneven manner given the corruption that is available as a tool to evade arrest and realistically the worst of the worst will be the ones that continue to operate.

Nevertheless, it’s sad that living in Thailand as a foreigner, with all its warts and quirks, has come down to this…”intensive inspections of foreigners across the country”. Perhaps it’s a poor use of words, that will be meaningless in and of themselves, but it doesn’t feel nice.

I agree- and many of us living a quiet life will be viewed with suspicion because of the bad activities of a small minority

Why don't they start by checking RTP officials bank accounts and the cars they drive and houses they live in. That's the quickest way to find links to criminals.

Sure they say foreigners I mean some of the biggest prostitution in the houses of prostitution here are run and protected by the cops they wanted to do a nationwide cleanup why don’t they start in their own house and all the illegal gambling casinos that are all around that are owned by cops or have an interest in the casinos and don’t shut them down I meant this store accountant that works for two casinos in Thailand and she said oh no problem I said what does that mean and she goes well the Police take their cut each month go figure TIT

12 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

It is sad to read that it is only foreign crime.. Thai people are probably even so, but foreigners are the culprits. Why not clean the own house first before chasing others??? But therefor you need a good working RTP with no corruption of course, I forgot

Probably because the foreigners should t even be here if they are that kind of people...what a ridiculous comment

Happy to see Russian and Chinese Mafia scum rounded up and deported, but let's face it this is just another political deflection job to not talk about the massive underlying problems in the country - economy, debt, monk disgraces, drugs (yaba)...

On 5/13/2026 at 12:17 PM, digger70 said:

I wonder of they will look into the Extensions from people who are using agents without having the funds , this is a big Grey area .

The rub there is that, under the Anti-Corruption regs, the NACC primarily relies on someone who is an injured party filing a complaint. So -- very much as a for instance -- it would take a situation whereby someone has all the necessary documents and conditions met for an extension but the IMM officer refuses without a backhander.

Even though on a different AN forum it has been stated that any IMM officer has the right to ask for a backhander to fudge the published regulations

1 hour ago, UbonEagle said:

Happy to see Russian and Chinese Mafia scum rounded up and deported,

You should surely be happy about ANY scum getting rounded up and deported!

Why pick on just those two groupds?

22 hours ago, JerryM said:

The rub there is that, under the Anti-Corruption regs, the NACC primarily relies on someone who is an injured party filing a complaint. So -- very much as a for instance -- it would take a situation whereby someone has all the necessary documents and conditions met for an extension but the IMM officer refuses without a backhander.

Even though on a different AN forum it has been stated that any IMM officer has the right to ask for a backhander to fudge the published regulations

I was talking about the use of agents without the funds that one needs for an extension, Not the backhander to an Imm officer, but yea ok .

Good, but start with the Chinese mafia and the Nigeria mafia clans all over Thailand. But with all the corruption at top levels in Thailand, a few brown enveloppes and case closed.

Those boys in brown will be on O/T money to be made bonuses to be pocketed

3 hours ago, digger70 said:

I was talking about the use of agents without the funds that one needs for an extension, Not the backhander to an Imm officer, but yea ok .

Same thing. I used the backhander example as someone who would likely have a legitimate reason to file a complaint.

That's the rub. There is now nothing done and there will likely be nothing done about the agent / plausible deniability with the IMM officer set up until someone is in a position to lodge a complaint.

From an Immigration-go-th document:

“Bribe” means property or other benefits given to a person in order for that person to act or refrain from taking any action in the position whether it is legitimate or unlawful, as desired by the payer of bribes.

And there is almost daily information on a different forum on this same website as to exactly how much that extension bribe will cost you starting with a "reputable agent".

Edited May 15May 15 by JerryM

Section 143. Accepting Benefit by Member of Government

Whoever, demanding, accepting or agreeing to accept a property or any other benefit for himself or the other person as a return for inducting or having induced, by dishonest or unlawful means, or by using his influence, any official, member of the State Legislative Assembly, member of the Changwat Assembly or member of the Municipal Assembly to exercise or not to exercise any of his functions, which is advantageous or disadvantageous to any person, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding five years or fine not exceeding ten thousand Baht, or both.

There are notices today on this website how much it will cost to have an official waive the Police Order published requirements for an extension of stay or for which Immigration has implemented regulations against and as to what constitutes bribery

BUT

The Thai regulations are set up such that only the injured party has a right to file a complaint under the penal code or the or the anti Corruption Act -- f

It is not the usual answer that the status quo is because there is too much money involved

Edited May 17May 17 by JerryM

On 5/17/2026 at 8:35 AM, JerryM said:

Section 143. Accepting Benefit by Member of Government

Whoever, demanding, accepting or agreeing to accept a property or any other benefit for himself or the other person as a return for inducting or having induced, by dishonest or unlawful means, or by using his influence, any official, member of the State Legislative Assembly, member of the Changwat Assembly or member of the Municipal Assembly to exercise or not to exercise any of his functions, which is advantageous or disadvantageous to any person, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding five years or fine not exceeding ten thousand Baht, or both.

There are notices today on this website how much it will cost to have an official waive the Police Order published requirements for an extension of stay

And there is almost daily information on a different forum on this same website as to exactly how much that extension bribe will cost you starting with a "reputable agent".

Even if the immigration officer has the right (however dubious) to waive any and all requirements, the Immigration Act (1999) Section 35 stipulates the maximum fee for Section 35 extension whether 90 days or one year is 2000 baht.

Per the screen shots as above the arrangement is with the agent who says to a prospective client:

-- Immigration officer has the right to waive the 800k bank deposit for your retirement extension but will do so only if you pay here in this agent office 15k-25k.

Section 143 Thai Penal code "other person" infraction. And note the preferred word on this website for agent function is "facilitate" while the word used in the above Penal code is "induce".

______________________________________________

COMPUTER-RELATED CRIME ACT

B.E. 2550 (2007) Rev. 2017 (unofficial translation)

.

TEXT Section 14(2) Entering false computer data into a computer system in a manner which is likely to cause damage to the protection of national security, public safety, economic safety of the Kingdom of Thailand, infrastructures which are for public benefit; or to cause panic to the general public;

Section 14(2) – Data Threatening National Security or Public Safety (Comment)

Immigration enforcement in Thailand is legally classified under public safety and national security. Websites actively advising the public on how to undermine state border control or systematic immigration regulations can be pursued under this clause.

If a website provides information or instructions on how to circumvent, evade, or illegally bypass Thai immigration laws it primarily triggers Section 14(2) of the Thai Computer Crimes Act (CCA)

Edited June 2Jun 2 by JerryM

On 5/13/2026 at 3:37 AM, Georgealbert said:

The medium-term phase, expected to last six to nine months, will see the Immigration Bureau lead investigations into visa extensions, foreign business activities and supporting documentation. Authorities said foreigners found violating laws could face revocation of permission to remain in Thailand.

So I guess that means there are bad-guy fraudulent extensions and good-guy fraudulent extensions.

What does it mean when one says: The Agent will cover the financial requirements:

1. It means the agent will make an 800k baht deposit using the agent's own funds in your bank account for the 5 minutes to allow the bank to issue a letter that 800K at that moment was in your account although it says nothing that the deposit will be in the account 5 minutes later and/or

2. It means agent will 'induce' an IMM official to waive the 800K requirement using his/her discretion under ORDER OF THE IMMIGRATION BUREAU No. 327/2557 Clause 5. "legitimate reason" but the 15-25k baht fee you gave to the agent has nothing to do with it.

4 hours ago, JerryM said:

2. It means agent will 'induce' an IMM official to waive the 800K requirement using his/her discretion under ORDER OF THE IMMIGRATION BUREAU No. 327/2557 Clause 5. "legitimate reason" but the 15-25k baht fee you gave to the agent has nothing to do with it

The 15-25k baht fee is the retribution for the agent to find and provide convincing arguments to the IMM official proving there's a legitimate reason to waive the 800k requirement.

Interestingly enough, eloquent agents are 100% persuasive.

17 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

The 15-25k baht fee is the retribution for the agent to find and provide convincing arguments to the IMM official proving there's a legitimate reason to waive the 800k requirement.

And what you call "provide a convincing argument" the Thai Penal Code at 143 refers to

... using his influence (with) any official, ... to exercise or not to exercise any of his functions, which is advantageous or disadvantageous to any person.

Or as often referred to on here, exercise his/her discretion.

On 5/13/2026 at 3:37 AM, Georgealbert said:

The medium-term phase, expected to last six to nine months, will see the Immigration Bureau lead investigations into visa extensions, foreign business activities and supporting documentation. Authorities said foreigners found violating laws could face revocation of permission to remain in Thailand.

As is often noted on the Visa forum, agent assisted extensions of stay are often or usually sent upcountry from the more populated expat locations. This with the assistance of Gemini as to the 'investigation' in the OP:

When an immigration office in a smaller Thai province starts processing an unusually high number of extensions using Clause 5 of Royal Thai Police Order No. 327/2557, it inevitably triggers a cascade of institutional red flags.

To understand why, you have to look at what Clause 5 actually is: it is the discretionary fallback clause. It allows a senior officer (inspector grade or higher) to recommend an extension of stay for a foreigner who fails to meet standard criteria (e.g., retirement, marriage, or standard employment) if they believe a "legitimate reason" exists.

When a small province experiences a spike in these specific waivers, the consequences generally unfold in (three) distinct phases:

Central Bureau Audits & Red Flags

Small provincial immigration offices are expected to handle predictable, low-volume workloads. When data tracking at the central Immigration Bureau in Bangkok shows a statistical anomaly—like a sudden surge in non-standard discretionary approvals from a quiet province—it signals a high probability of "visa farming" or local administrative non-compliance.