Be Warned! Cm Immigration Are Enforcing Old Rules Again!

[p1p]

From the authorities at Chiang Mai Immigration today.

There is an old regulation which has been in place for many years, but has seldom previously been enforced. It is the same regulation used for hotels and guest houses which at the discretion of Immigration can be applied to private households as well.

Chiang Mai Immigration has now decided to enforce this regulation for private homes also:

o The house owner, the person (or company) which has the “Registration Document”, (Tabien Bahn) is required to register a Farang living in their home or visiting, within 24 hours of arrival.

o This applies to any Farang, regardless of family, husband, children, partners or just friends. It also applies to tenants in a rental, even short stay guests MUST be registered at Immigration.

o It is only required once per person, no periodical re-registration!

o There is no fine for late registration, as long as Immigration did not find out..

o There is a fine for no registration, unless the Farang is registered before the Immigration find out.

o This is the duty of the registered house owner, not the Farang in question.

o The original passport, not a copy, of the Farang is needed, as they need to see arrival date. A photocopy of the passport will only be accepted, if all pages are included.

o There is no fee for this registration “service”

They say of course people can take their chances, but all it takes is a phone call saying that there are Farangs living at a certain address, or an accident, or a traffic check and the Farang will be checked against the registration file. If the registration is not done, the house owner will be fined.

(They are also cross checking house owners registering Farang against the 90 day registration records. They expect to use this process to find Farang who have not been registering as required every 90 days.)

The registered owner of the house needs to register the Farang in question in the building on the left hand side as you enter the Immigration compound. This is where the 90 day registration used to take place.

EDIT: Here are the forms that the landlord needs to fill in and present at immigration:

RegistrationP1.pdf

RegistrationP2.pdf

[srisatch]

From the authorities at Chiang Mai Immigration today.

There is an old regulation which has been in place for many years, but has seldom previously been enforced. It is the same regulation used for hotels and guest houses which at the discretion of Immigration can be applied to private households as well.

Chiang Mai Immigration has now decided to enforce this regulation for private homes also:

o The house owner, the person (or company) which has the “Registration Document”, (Tabien Bahn) is required to register a Farang living in their home or visiting, within 24 hours of arrival.

o This applies to any Farang, regardless of family, husband, children, partners or just friends. It also applies to tenants in a rental, even short stay guests MUST be registered at Immigration.

o It is only required once per person, no periodical re-registration!

o There is no fine for late registration, as long as Immigration did not find out..

o There is a fine for no registration, unless the Farang is registered before the Immigration find out.

o This is the duty of the registered house owner, not the Farang in question.

o The original passport, not a copy, of the Farang is needed, as they need to see arrival date. A photocopy of the passport will only be accepted, if all pages are included.

o There is no fee for this registration “service”

They say of course people can take their chances, but all it takes is a phone call saying that there are Farangs living at a certain address, or an accident, or a traffic check and the Farang will be checked against the registration file. If the registration is not done, the house owner will be fined.

(They are also cross checking house owners registering Farang against the 90 day registration records. They expect to use this process to find Farang who have not been registering as required every 90 days.)

The registered owner of the house needs to register the Farang in question in the building on the left hand side as you enter the Immigration compound. This is where the 90 day registration used to take place.

So how does the house owner/Tabian Baan holder do this? Is there a TM form? Must it in person??. I just did the 90 Day Stay...no mention of this in CNX

[gpdjohn]

Is it as in the past where the farang will have to pay the fine, not the homeowner?

[gpdjohn]

So how does the house owner/Tabian Baan holder do this? Is there a TM form? Must it in person??. I just did the 90 Day Stay...no mention of this in CNX

Form is called

" Notification from house-master owner or the possessor of the residence where alien has stayed"

I see no numbers on it. ( TM numbers )

[PeaceBlondie]

I am thankful that my landlady, being a resort owner and married to a police general, knew this law and notified immigration promptly.

[jackr]

Thanks for heads-up.

Visas, rules, regs =

[Gravelrash]

Makes sense really, with the down turn in tourism and a potentially disastrous high season approaching, they would apply more paperwork and hassles to those that actually do turn up. Well done, creates that warm Soviet Union sort of feeling.

[Steve2UK]

So, as I have already done a couple of 90-day address registrations and am due to do another in a few weeks, does this mean:

1) I should nudge the owner of the house I rent to do his registration of my presence?

2) There is some comeback on me if he doesn't?

[gpdjohn]

So, as I have already done a couple of 90-day address registrations and am due to do another in a few weeks, does this mean:

1) I should nudge the owner of the house I rent to do his registration of my presence?

2) There is some comeback on me if he doesn't?

Come back on you?

Used to be that the fine would be on the farang, not the home-master ( just like saying that ) with the logic that you're rich, not the home-master.( cool, got it in twice..) It was 1,000bt then.

If the fine would be on the owner/master ( three times ..hehe) it wouldn't have even been brought up by immigration...

Just my thought.

As Gravelrash stated....

" That warm Soviet Union sort of feeling.."

[Steve2UK]

So, as I have already done a couple of 90-day address registrations and am due to do another in a few weeks, does this mean:

1) I should nudge the owner of the house I rent to do his registration of my presence?

2) There is some comeback on me if he doesn't?

Come back on you?

Used to be that the fine would be on the farang, not the home-master ( just like saying that ) with the logic that you're rich, not the home-master.( cool, got it in twice..) It was 1,000bt then.

If the fine would be on the owner/master ( three times ..hehe) it wouldn't have even been brought up by immigration...

Just my thought.

As Gravelrash stated....

" That warm Soviet Union sort of feeling.."

So did you go for your beers, gpdjohn? Difficult to tell.........

Anyhow, I just finished cutting&pasting p1p's post into an e-mail and sent it to my landlord. Sorted - and over to him.

Soviet Union? Methinks moving from the UK to LOS and staying here is a total walk-in-the-park compared to doing the reverse - never mind getting into the USofA and staying there..........

[T_Dog]

P1P, could you provide some more background please? Did this really happen to a land owner and what are the specifics.... or, is this just general information? At the most recent immigration talk in Chiang Mai there was no mention of this, and I would have thought they would have taken the opportunity then to pass along this requirement.

[gpdjohn]

So, as I have already done a couple of 90-day address registrations and am due to do another in a few weeks, does this mean:

1) I should nudge the owner of the house I rent to do his registration of my presence?

2) There is some comeback on me if he doesn't?

Come back on you?

Used to be that the fine would be on the farang, not the home-master ( just like saying that ) with the logic that you're rich, not the home-master.( cool, got it in twice..) It was 1,000bt then.

If the fine would be on the owner/master ( three times ..hehe) it wouldn't have even been brought up by immigration...

Just my thought.

As Gravelrash stated....

" That warm Soviet Union sort of feeling.."

So did you go for your beers, gpdjohn? Difficult to tell.........

Anyhow, I just finished cutting&pasting p1p's post into an e-mail and sent it to my landlord. Sorted - and over to him.

Soviet Union? Methinks moving from the UK to LOS and staying here is a total walk-in-the-park compared to doing the reverse - never mind getting into the USofA and staying there..........

Hey Steve,

No on the adventure...tomorrow. Ending up doing housework for the house-master( 4 ) this afternoon.

Anyway...

My master (5 ) lives in Belgium and the flunky that takes care of it I'm sure didn't take care of it, so adventure tomorrow, buggin the flunky on Wednesday, and I'm sure I will have to pay because the flunky will blow it off..why should he care.

Still...

It's the little things that mean allot...

and allot better than back in the world. UK and or the US and of A.

[hill16]

Interesting post by p1p. Thanks. It was only a matter of time before this happened as it is a legal requirement.

My question is this: can we as the farangs in question go to Immigration and register ourselves if we have a copy of the landlord's Tabien Bahn and ID card?

Some landlords out there will be less than keen on doing this for us as it is a nuisance for them and mainly because it opens up the door to the taxman who isn't aware that they are renting property and therefore there is probably a tax liability of some sort.

I don't fancy being held responsible for a fine (or worse should they really crack down on this) because my landlord is either too lazy or just doesn't want to pay tax.

Kind regards,

Hill16

[p1p]

P1P, could you provide some more background please? Did this really happen to a land owner and what are the specifics.... or, is this just general information? At the most recent immigration talk in Chiang Mai there was no mention of this, and I would have thought they would have taken the opportunity then to pass along this requirement.

This came to my attention because I have three Thai friends with Farang spouses who have recently been fined for non compliance with this law.

Please note the edit to my initial post. I have put up the forms the house holder needs to fill in for immigration.

[K2K]

Followed up on your advice p1p - (I needed a Re-Entry Permit anyway).

Whole process took less than 5 mins - friendly immigration officer and wish they could make the 90 day notification a once only affair - or upon every arrival into Thailand ... there must be a way for immigration exit computers to link to notify an 'alien' has departed the Kingdom.

Anyway - coppies needed (1)

House owners Ta bien baan.

'Alien's' passport photo page and visa page.

Fill in form and thats it! Easy!! FREE!!

Thanks for posting p1P.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Does anyone else find this slightly degrading.. I mean, people who are married, who pay a good part of the mortgage on the house.. ..

What the fuc_k are they afraid of?

Anyway I knew there was some benefit to not ever filling in my actual address on any form that asked for it.

[K2K]

Not sure why I cant edit my post above ... just wanted to add... immigration officer said to keep the Receipt of Notification he gave me.

Dont find this degrading - one off reporting is fair enough and makes sense.

[Pushit]

From the authorities at Chiang Mai Immigration today.

There is an old regulation which has been in place for many years, but has seldom previously been enforced. It is the same regulation used for hotels and guest houses which at the discretion of Immigration can be applied to private households as well.

Chiang Mai Immigration has now decided to enforce this regulation for private homes also:

o The house owner, the person (or company) which has the “Registration Document”, (Tabien Bahn) is required to register a Farang living in their home or visiting, within 24 hours of arrival.

o This applies to any Farang, regardless of family, husband, children, partners or just friends. It also applies to tenants in a rental, even short stay guests MUST be registered at Immigration.

o It is only required once per person, no periodical re-registration!

o There is no fine for late registration, as long as Immigration did not find out..

o There is a fine for no registration, unless the Farang is registered before the Immigration find out.

o This is the duty of the registered house owner, not the Farang in question.

o The original passport, not a copy, of the Farang is needed, as they need to see arrival date. A photocopy of the passport will only be accepted, if all pages are included.

o There is no fee for this registration “service”

They say of course people can take their chances, but all it takes is a phone call saying that there are Farangs living at a certain address, or an accident, or a traffic check and the Farang will be checked against the registration file. If the registration is not done, the house owner will be fined.

(They are also cross checking house owners registering Farang against the 90 day registration records. They expect to use this process to find Farang who have not been registering as required every 90 days.)

The registered owner of the house needs to register the Farang in question in the building on the left hand side as you enter the Immigration compound. This is where the 90 day registration used to take place.

EDIT: Here are the forms that the landlord needs to fill in and present at immigration:

RegistrationP1.pdf

RegistrationP2.pdf

Only CM? what about other cities?

[Tywais]

I see no numbers on it. ( TM numbers )

In the upper right hand corner it shows TM 30.

This could be a problem for me and I have to report this week. I've been renting a house for 11 years now and have not been able to contact the owner for months now. Last my wife knew is the owner no longer works where she was, phone number doesn't work and no responses to e-mail I've been sending. I still make the monthly rental payments by Internet banking.

[catmac]

Thanks , p1p, for keeping us informed on this. I shall be off to Immigration asap with all the paperwork downloaded and filled in, dragging my House-master (what wonderful terminology!) with me!

On a similar note, I remember reading somewhere on TV that Immigration (and I don't think it was specific to CM) had dredged up the old requirement for a map showing your residence when clocking in for your 90 days check. Anybody know anything about that?

[T_Dog]

P1P, could you provide some more background please? Did this really happen to a land owner and what are the specifics.... or, is this just general information? At the most recent immigration talk in Chiang Mai there was no mention of this, and I would have thought they would have taken the opportunity then to pass along this requirement.

This came to my attention because I have three Thai friends with Farang spouses who have recently been fined for non compliance with this law.

Please note the edit to my initial post. I have put up the forms the house holder needs to fill in for immigration.

p1p, Thanks for that. I am pretty sure my land lord has complied, but going to double-check.

[Steve2UK]

Thanks to p1p for adding the pdf's of the form (usual thing - must be printed on both sides of one sheet) and to Tywais for spotting the TM30 number. You can download a clean Word document version (in the same way as forms for address reporting etc) here:

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/ba...p?page=download

Edited October 7, 2008 by Steve2UK

[Steve2UK]

A rider/possible correction to what I just said......... having just printed out the download.

Looking at the form(s), it looks like it might have to be two sheets after all - how else could the bottom of the first one (page) be torn off to be handed back as a receipt of notification without removing part of the second (landscape) one ?

[JimsKnight]

From the authorities at Chiang Mai Immigration today.

There is an old regulation which has been in place for many years, but has seldom previously been enforced. It is the same regulation used for hotels and guest houses which at the discretion of Immigration can be applied to private households as well.

Chiang Mai Immigration has now decided to enforce this regulation for private homes also:

o The house owner, the person (or company) which has the “Registration Document”, (Tabien Bahn) is required to register a Farang living in their home or visiting, within 24 hours of arrival.

o This applies to any Farang, regardless of family, husband, children, partners or just friends. It also applies to tenants in a rental, even short stay guests MUST be registered at Immigration.

o It is only required once per person, no periodical re-registration!

o There is no fine for late registration, as long as Immigration did not find out..

o There is a fine for no registration, unless Farang is registered before the Immigration find out.

o This is the duty of the registered house owner, not the Farang in question.

o The original passport, not a copy, of the Farang is needed, as they need to see arrival date. A photocopy of the passport will only be accepted, if all pages are included.

o There is no fee for this registration “service”

They say of course people can take their chances, but all it takes is a phone call saying that there are Farangs living at a certain address, or an accident, or a traffic check and the Farang will be checked against the registration file. If the registration is not done, the house owner will be fined.

(They are also cross checking house owners registering Farang against the 90 day registration records. They expect to use this process to find Farang who have not been registering as required every 90 days.)

The registered owner of the house needs to register the Farang in question in the building on the left hand side as you enter the Immigration compound. This is where the 90 day registration used to take place.

EDIT: Here are the forms that the landlord needs to fill in and present at immigration:

RegistrationP1.pdf

RegistrationP2.pdf

What a fruitcake rule!

Are they expecting us to be plotting a farang rebellion and conspiring against the Thais or something.

Unless it makes headlines I wouldn't worry.

Most ordinary Thais probably don't even know such a xenophobic rule even exists hopefully

Edited October 7, 2008 by JimsKnight

[Bill97]

A rider/possible correction to what I just said......... having just printed out the download.

Looking at the form(s), it looks like it might have to be two sheets after all - how else could the bottom of the first one (page) be torn off to be handed back as a receipt of notification without removing part of the second (landscape) one ?

2 sheets are required

[gobs]

I did my 90 days report one week ago and nothing about this from the officers...

And nothing about a map of your resedency area, Catmac.

But yes, copiy of passeport!

Cheers

[Tagaa]

About the map...I renewed my O-A visa in Mukdahan & had to provide a map to the house. From what I experience & hear from other farangs in the area, Muk has the biggest pain in the a_s staff in all of LOS. Just did my first 90 day checkin after renewing my visa & they wanted copies of my passport ID page, departure card & current visa page. Copy copy copy....a broken record.

Every farang in Muk is certain the copy shop right next door, how convenient, is owned by the brother or some other relative of the head official.

No mention yet of having to complete yet another form.

[richard10365]

So the owner, a Thai person, gets fined and not the farang. I'm really not sure why everyone is so excited over this. It's their responsibility, so let them worry about it. haha....unless the owner of the house the farang is staying in is the farang's wife. Hmmmm.....maybe I should not talk. The next rule they decide to enforce could be one that somehow affects me!

[cloudhopper]

I did my 90 days report one week ago and nothing about this from the officers...

And nothing about a map of your resedency area, Catmac.

But yes, copiy of passeport!

Cheers

I did my 90 day report on the 3rd at CM (although I reside in MHS) along with transferring my visas etc. to a new passport. No mention of this new/old rule either. Probably will ask them about/do it when I do the annual retirement extension in Dec though - my enthusiasm for abiding by the law can only impress them...

How much of a fine is the mia luang looking at if she's caught harboring an unreported farang anyway?

[PeaceBlondie]

Not to be bragging, but if you are worried about such things, you might ask your next, prospective landlady if she owns a resort, her husband is a police general, her grandfather was the governor of a province, she has been renting to farang for decades, and she is on the board of Longstay Management Company. But mai bpen rai and som naa naa, it is not our problem. Unless you are married to a Thai....