Is There A Law Requring Foreigners To Carry Passport?

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

In 8 years in Thailand, the only people that ever wanted to see my passport were immigration officials during visa runs and the officials at the transportation department when i got my driving licenses and again when i registered my motorbikes in my name.

Cops? Never asked for it, neither when they fined me for non-offenses or after two crashes with the car and another two with the bike.

Still i have a photocopy (in colour!) of the PP photo page, visa page and last entry stamp (this one i "update" every time i get a new stamp, obviously) in my wallet at all times, and i have just checked - both my 5-year driving licenses not only have my passport number but also it's issue- and expiry dates on them, so this IS a valid ID "document". Supposedly immigration police should be able to punch my PP number (from the DL) into a computer and it will show my visa type and validity as well as last entry date.

My passport is in my bag which i bring to the office every day, however when i go out shopping or clubbing or whatever i carry no passport - the dam_n thing is too large to go into my front pocket and having it in my back pocket, sitting on a motorbike or in the car, doesn't exactly make it better (and it's uncomfortable, too!) plus there is a high risk of losing it under such circumstances (or get it stolen).

However i, too, know of people who got fined respectively hauled to the immigration bureau (to get fined there, or rather bribing someone there!) for not having their passport with them, specially Filipinos. They, however, didn't have DL's either, so i guess that was because had no ID whatsoever. Maybe Asians fall into this trap easier - as they are being mistaken for illegal Burmese or something.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[PeaceBlondie]

Any official document in Thai, identifying its holder as a teacher, is probably sufficient. Status, you know. My driving licenses both have my photo and my US passport number. I know a foreigner who just flashes his status as a teacher at a high ranking Thai uni.

That is extreemly funny PB! Did you mean "Status" OR lack there of?

I wouldn't thing about a kid like that. Are you new in Thailand?

[Maestro]

Thanks Maestro and unknown member in the background. Good and helpful information. But it raises the question which foreigners are considered registered…

I was wondering about that, too. In my opinion it is everybody who has notified his address to the competent official or authority, for example by submitting the arrival carkd to an officer at the immigration checkpoint.

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Maestro

[Maestro]

From following it seems you can be looked up if you don't have your passport. It's not specified that you need to have it with you at all times but can be interpreted as they can arrest you on the spot if you don't have it.

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/do...gration_Act.pdf

Section 58 : Any alien who has no lawful document for entering the Kingdom under Section 12 (1); or

has no Residence Certificate under this Act; and also has no identification in accordance with the Law on

Alien registration, is considered to have entered into the Kingdom in violation to this Act.

Section 59 :The Director General, or the competent official deputized by Director General, shall have the

authority to arrest and suppress any person violating this Act. They shall also have the authority to issue

a subpoena, warrant of arrest or search, make arrest , search , or detain. They shall also have the

authority to conduct inquiry into the offense against the provisions of this Act in the same manner as the

inquiry official under the Criminal Procedure Code

....

I was reminded of this post by ZZZ when I read the following post the other day in this other topic:

Interesting quote from the article referenced earlier...

But there were be no let up on the requirement for all foreigners to carry their passport with them all times, he (Bureau commissioner Wuthi Liptapallop) said. "This is for identification purposes. It is a law. Every Thai national must carry their ID card with them at all times, so why should foreigners be exempt? To carry a copy is not acceptable because it is impossible to see whether it is counterfeit or altered. Carrying a passport is not something we thought up in Thailand, but a normal regulation in many countries. I have been to many countries and carried my passport with me all the time."

...

I am quite sure that Wuthi Liptapallop, the Commisioner of the Immigration Bureau, said that with reference to Section 58 of the Immigration Act. Like ZZZ said, this is not a requirement to carry the passport at all times. It surprises me that Pol Lt Gen Wuthi should have said that. I am used to politicians not knowing what they are talking about, but not high-ranking police officers.

And I am surprised that the freelance writer, Maxmilian Wechsler, who made that interview with Pol Lt Gen Wuthi, did not ask him for the name and the relevant section of the law.

Wuthi linked the need for foreigners to carry the passport at all times to the alleged legal requirement for Thai nationals to have their ID card with them at all times. I say "alleged" requirement because he again did not name the relevant law or other official requirement. Certainly, his simply saying so does not make it law. Then he seems to say that carrying the passport in Thailand is a requirement because this is a normal regulation in many countries, as if a law or regulation of another country were applicable in Thailand. Now, all this is assuming that the writer who interviewed Wuthi quoted him correctly.

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Maestro

[Maestro]

While the Immigration Act neither requires foreigners to carry the passport at all times nor gives the police the right to give a foreigner a fine if he cannot show his passport on the spot when asked to do so we should not close our eyes to the fact that a policeman can do much worse under the law. He can detain the foreigner on suspicion of having entered into the Kingdom in violation of the Immigration Act. Detention could mean being locked in a cell at the police station until the foreigner proves that he entered the country legally and if he fails to so within a certain period he would have to brought before a judge, who would then decide whether to issue an arrest warrant.

Therefore, all things considered, it appears advisable and useful to carry one’s passport at all times. A policeman can, if he wishes, decline to accept any document other than your passport, the original, as proof that you entered Thailand legally and he can, if he wishes, detain you and lock you up until you provide such proof.

When a policeman gives you a “fine” it is not a real fine, based on a law. He gives you the opportunity to dispel his suspicion about your being illegally in Thailand by offering something else, a few banknotes, as proof in lieu of your passport. There have been reports by members that many policcemen accepted also other papers such as a work permit, Thai driving license, copy of passport, etc, as proof but this is of course at at the officer’s discretion. He would have the legal right to play out the worst-case scenario if he wanted to, ie bring you the police station and lock you up until you show your passport.

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Maestro

[britmaveric]

^no statue that specifically specifies a passport I am afraid. You must show state issued form of identification. Never been stopped in the last 10yrs and asked for a passport. I've always shown my driver's permit.

Anyways regardless not going to see ever carry a passport on me unless I am traveling someplace... too easy to lose, and course humid conditions wreck havoc on it.

Scanned my passport and emailed it to myself. If BIB is ever that interested - go look on the computer.

[Spoonman]

have ASSUMED there is such a law (or other requirement)

Yeah I assumed there is such a law after I was detained at the police station (Soi 9 Pattaya) until I could show my Passport, My Thai drivers licence was not considered ID even though it has my passport number on it, luckily the drawer at home were I keep my passport was not locked and my missus was able to go home and get it for me.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Spoonman

[mahjongguy]

Yeah I assumed there is such a law after I was detained at the police station (Soi 9 Pattaya) until I could show my Passport, My Thai drivers licence was not considered ID even though it has my passport number on it, luckily the drawer at home were I keep my passport was not locked and my missus was able to go home and get it for me.

If possible, I think there would be a lot of interest in hearing about the situation which led to your detention. A raid? A fight? Any officials present other than ordinary police? Etc.

[Mario2008]

^no statue that specifically specifies a passport I am afraid. You must show state issued form of identification. Never been stopped in the last 10yrs and asked for a passport. I've always shown my driver's permit.

Anyways regardless not going to see ever carry a passport on me unless I am traveling someplace... too easy to lose, and course humid conditions wreck havoc on it.

Scanned my passport and emailed it to myself. If BIB is ever that interested - go look on the computer.

Only your passport will show that you entered Thailand legally and are allowed to stay here. That is why they can insist on a passport.

[samran]

Thai ID card law here fellas'

Those with more time on your hands that I do, knock yourselves out. Quick scan doesnt mentin foreigners

http://web.krisdika.go.th/data/law/law2/%b...9999-update.pdf

Not sure if this link works, but ID law is all there:

http://www.krisdika.go.th/wps/portal/gener...BQNg!!/

[mahtin]

When a policeman gives you a "fine" it is not a real fine, based on a law. He gives you the opportunity to dispel his suspicion about your being illegally in Thailand by offering something else, a few banknotes, as proof in lieu of your passport.--

Maestro

Exquisite

[manarak]

I feel the two words "certified copy" are the solution to this thread.

Get copy of your name page, visa page, stamp page and on each a stamp from the police station, along with an officer's name and phone number.

Problem solved, I think.

[mahjongguy]

I feel the two words "certified copy" are the solution to this thread.

Get copy of your name page, visa page, stamp page and on each a stamp from the police station, along with an officer's name and phone number.

Problem solved, I think.

Have you or anyone else here attempted this?

[Maestro]

I would like to restrict this topic to the question whether there is a legal requirement in Thailand for a foreigner to carry his passport at all times, and perhaps allow at most to the collateral question whether an analogous requirement exists for a Thai national to have his Thai ID card with him all the time. For this reason I have deleted some posts which, although interesting, were off topic, eg about the question whether a foreigner's passport number is on his Thai driving licence.

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Maestro

[Maestro]

I feel the two words "certified copy" are the solution to this thread.

Get copy of your name page, visa page, stamp page and on each a stamp from the police station, along with an officer's name and phone number.

Problem solved, I think.

The question to which an answer is being sought in this topic is not really what is or might be acceptable to a policeman, but what the text in the legal requirement, if there is any, says.

Of equal interest would be a scanned copy of a policeman's receipt for a fine that says that the fine was for the failure to show the passport immediately on request. I believe such fine receipt would have to indicate the relevant section of the law that was allegedly contravened.

You see, so far the closest thing we have found is section 58 of the Immigration Act, which does not require me to carry my passport at all times but which suggests to me that it is advisable to so. The failure to be able to produce the passport under this section cannot lead to a fine issued by a policeman, but to arrest, a court case and a court decision. At least this is how I read it.

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Maestro