24hrs Reporting After Entering Thailand?

[jumnien]

Immigration Offices unlike local police stations are closed at the weekend, are they not?

So you must not arrive back in Thailand on a Friday evening or Saturday (if you get your extension at Hua Hin immigration).

Actually, immigration in Hua Hin will accept fines 7 days a week.

[astral]

Hua Hin immigration would seem to have decided to push themselves in the roll of immigration POLICE

That is exactly what they are -- Immigration Police.

In Sri Racha it is not unusual to see groups of labourers sitting outside the Immigration Office,

handcuffed as they have been arrested!!

[Maestro]

Yes, it is also my understanding that the immigration checkpoints at the border and the immigrations offices in towns – where extensions, etc. are issued – are part of the immigration police.

I don’t think the immigration police has mobile officers. In the famous case where overstayers on a visa run bus were arrested by police, taken to court and deported the arresting officers were from the regular police, as far as I was able to gather from posts in that thread.

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Maestro

[rodcourt49]

hi, i just arrived in Thailand a few days back and not quite familiar wtih Thai laws .is there anything like reporting or registering with the police with 24hours after entering Thailand. the reason why i'm asking this is that some other countries do. pls let me know your thoughts.

As per usual the other members have jumped the gun and run off at the mouth without giving it much thought..

YES you are obligated to report your arrival in Thailand before 24 hours is up...

(1) should you stay at a hotel or guesthouse the company or owners will report this for you..this is why you fill in a check-in slip whnen you register.

(2) if you stay in a private dwelling then the property owner must report your presence by attending the Tha Immigration Office or local Police Station in a district that does not have an Immigration Office.

(3) if you are married to a Thai you do not need to report.

(4) if you have your own property book (yellow tut bien ban) you do not need to notify them.

I hope this information is of assistance.

[Maestro]

...YES you are obligated to report your arrival in Thailand before 24 hours is up...

For a better understanding of rodcourt49’s post let it be clear that he refers to the report according to Section 38 of the Immigration Act:

Sec 38 The house–master , the owner or the possessor of the residence , or the hotel manager

where the alien , receiving permission to stay temporary in the Kingdom has stayed , must notify the

competent official of the Immigration Office located in the same area with that house , dwelling place or

hotel, within 24 hours from the time of arrival of the alien concerned.

...

(3) if you are married to a Thai you do not need to report...

I remember seeing a post by at least one member who said that his wife, in whose place he stayed, was fined for not reporting his arrival.

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Maestro

[Mobi]

The situation at Pattaya immigration only adds to the confusion.

I never report, when I arrive back in the country, and only do so when I have been here for 90 days. Then when I go there to report, I have never been fined, admonished or in any way informed that I should have reported within 24 hours of my arrival. I have been in Pattaya for 3 years now.

Yet many people have posted on the Pattaya forum that they do report as soon as they arrive, and are told to do so by Pattaya immigration officers.

All very strange

[photojourn]

Indonesia and Viet Nam both have requirements almost identical to this. Nothing unusual or special. happens in lots of other countries as well.

As some people have pointed out that is the reason why accommodation houses take passport details.

I owned a property in Indonesia that had guest rooms and we were required to fill a form on every guest - Indonesian or foreign - who stayed in the premises and once every month the local police would get on a boat and head out to the island and collect the papers (along with a little tea money and a free soft drink) and stamp the book.

rodcourt49 sums it up nicely:

>> As per usual the other members have jumped the gun and run off at the mouth without giving it much thought.<<

[Maestro]

With one or two exceptions, all reports I have seen about fines regarding failure to report by the house owner have been about the Hua Hin immigration office, where they fine the foreigner, not the house owner.

--

Maestro

[12DrinkMore]

As per usual the other members have jumped the gun and run off at the mouth without giving it much thought..

YES you are obligated to report your arrival in Thailand before 24 hours is up...

(1) should you stay at a hotel or guesthouse the company or owners will report this for you..this is why you fill in a check-in slip whnen you register.

(2) if you stay in a private dwelling then the property owner must report your presence by attending the Tha Immigration Office or local Police Station in a district that does not have an Immigration Office.

(3) if you are married to a Thai you do not need to report.

(4) if you have your own property book (yellow tut bien ban) you do not need to notify them.

I hope this information is of assistance.

On the contrary, NO you are not obliged to report your presence. The onus is entirely on the property owner/manager of the place you are staying.

[maprao]

I wonder where I stand? I have a multiple entry Non Immigrant O visa. My stays never exceed 90 days so need to report on that count.

I also have my own yellow book Tabien Bahn with my name on it (As first entry) I.e. head of household. My wife’s blue one used to have her father in that place. This can be used a spoof of address for many purposes.

Will make inquiries on my next visit as to whether I have to report in the given time limits.

[Sturbuc]

hi, i just arrived in Thailand a few days back and not quite familiar wtih Thai laws .is there anything like reporting or registering with the police with 24hours after entering Thailand. the reason why i'm asking this is that some other countries do. pls let me know your thoughts.

What police state has such laws? Certainly not Thailand. The police stations would be a little crowded if all of Thailand's millions of tourists had to register at a police station, don't you think?

Maybe something like this is very common in many countries or done by the hotel without your knowledge or for which purposes do you think you've to fill out the registration form???

Edited May 18, 2008 by Sturbuc

[Marvo]

On the contrary, NO you are not obliged to report your presence. The onus is entirely on the property owner/manager of the place you are staying.

Just to get the thread straight again...

Immigration act, Section 37:3 states

"The alien shall notify the police official of the local police station where such alien resides, within twenty–four hours from the time of arrival."

It would appear though that some/many immigration offices do not, or selectively, enforce this rule. "Residents" in Hua Hin appear to be at the greatest risk of being on the receiving end of enforcement.

[Maestro]

Marvo, it would be for the local police stations, not the immigration offices, to enforce. However, we have not so far seen the “regulations prescribed by the Director General” for reporting under Section 37(3). For all we know, such regulations were never issued and thus this particular reporting requirement never implemented, as it would have been a duplication of little or no value.

Hua Hin immigration, I believe, collects fines for violation of Section 38 but collects from the arriving foreigner instead of the house owner.

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Maestro

[Maestro]

It would be nice if somebody who got fined by Hua Hin immigration for not reporting his address within 24 hours after arrival would post a copy of the receipt for the fine. Perhaps it states the section of the Immigration Act for which the fine was given.

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Maestro

[taxexile]

i know somebody who was asked to pay the fine at hua hin immigration , but he refused in no uncertain terms and was given a form and told to take it to the police. it was an address report form.

when he took the form to the main police station , they said they had never seen one before and didnt know what to do with it , and that he should go back to immigration as it was an immigration matter.

needless to say he didnt return to immigration and that was the end of it.

i have done 90 day reports and retirement renewals at hua hin and have never encountered this problem , those who go to get address confirmation letters and visa extensions are the ones who seem to get asked to pay these silly fines.

[lopburi3]

There was a rash of such reports a few months ago but none recently that I recall - I suspect notice was taken at a higher level. It was/is another Pandora's box, like the current 90 day report, that most feel should remain unenforced. By law every time you visit the in laws upcountry for a weekend you have to present yourself at the local police station and file such a form (which they really don't want any part of). Probably the less said the better.

[No1Britguy]

hi, i just arrived in Thailand a few days back and not quite familiar wtih Thai laws .is there anything like reporting or registering with the police with 24hours after entering Thailand. the reason why i'm asking this is that some other countries do. pls let me know your thoughts.

What police state has such laws? Certainly not Thailand. The police stations would be a little crowded if all of Thailand's millions of tourists had to register at a police station, don't you think?

what the guy asked what quiet a legitimate question, there was no need to answer him the way you did, and for your info there are many countries that have this law to register at police stations, but hotels do this as a matter of course, countries include, China, Russia,Belerus,Ukraine to name but a few.

[astral]

(3) if you are married to a Thai you do not need to report.

(4) if you have your own property book (yellow tut bien ban) you do not need to notify them.

I hope this information is of assistance.

No 3 is definitely wrong. See my earlier post.

I am dubious about No 4 as well.

The yellow Tabien Bahn may show your registered address, but does not absolve you

of the requirement to report when staying at another address.