Thai customs given 3 months to clean up...

[Marshalsea]

Let's put this in perspective....  

The Minister in charge of customs recently confronted officers with video evidence of an agent receiving a bribe.  Customs has been given a warning that it has 3 months to clean up its house.

Recently, dark forces in Thailand were given warning to clean up or they would be dealt with according to the law.

More recently Non-Thais who have used visa services that have been advertised in newspapers for decades have begun to be charged with criminal proceedings in a sting operation that seems designed to exact the most pain and suffering it can on foreigners.

With the crackdown in immigration against the agents who are providing visas, but inside and outside the agency, it seems that immigration cronies have lost a formerly lucrative revenue stream.  Unfortunately, the new immigration policy of arresting foreigners with the dodgy stamps they once provided appears to have the potential for even larger revenue streams for the same immigration cronies.  

Now that a few people have been scapegoated, and the fear of arrest and incarcerations been instilled in the expat community, you can be sure that well laid plans to capitalize on the pain of foreigners are already in place.  Visa fees have been raised in advance of this plan, but that is just the tip of the iceburg for many - someone is about to make a lot more money....  

Get your wallets ready.

Marshalsea

[Khun ?]

Visa fees have not been changed in 20 years.The new fees was to take place 3 years ago. Problem is that

many live in Thailand on tourist visas. Nothing more or nothing less. Like weeding the garden, anyone with very lttle money or almost none can stay for hardly nothing. I have seen alot of foreigners that make their living on the take with a few Farangs mixed in with them. Soi 3 Sukumvit is becoming very crowded.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I told them all of this Khun ?, but alas, they wanted to shoot the messenger. That there was no increase for so long was inappropriate because of the large jumps in costs, but to conclude that it was a;; part of a grand conspiracy against foreigners is laughable.

The appropriate course of action is for pressure to be put on Embassies to take up the plight of the foreigner's caught out on a diplomatic basus. The inappropriate course is to bombard the Thai Prime Minister with disingenuous e-mails.

[qwe]

Marshalsea,

it's good to see you livening the ajarn board and now this one up a bit ::