An Interesting Visit From Immigration

[fnprop]

Had an interesting visit from an immigration inspector this afternoon. He was taking names, passport numbers, addresses, and photos of farang holding passport in front of house numbers.

Claimed they were doing this as part of a security program because we reside near the palace (about 1/2 km.) Mentioned that I would have thought they would be more worried about sua daeng than the farangs. Oops! No sense of humor.

Glad to comply , but I've never heard of anything like this before.

Anyone have any news, rumors, idle speculation on what's going on?

[nakachalet]

the exercise is a direct order to tighten up security....

no such incident as happened around the pm residence, would ever ever be tolerated around your area....

it is better for all concerned, don't you agree?

on the other hand, did you recently show up in some places where you are not supposed to or frequented places that are considered as questionable, lately....? and how about those close to you? just a thought.... k?

they did not ask to fingers print, did they?

[fnprop]

the exercise is a direct order to tighten up security....

no such incident as happened around the pm residence, would ever ever be tolerated around your area....

it is better for all concerned, don't you agree?

on the other hand, did you recently show up in some places where you are not supposed to or frequented places that are considered as questionable, lately....? and how about those close to you? just a thought.... k?

they did not ask to fingers print, did they?

Nope, no fingerprints. I don't believe anyone (without a suicide wish), Thai or farang, would consider doing anything like what happened to Abhisit here.

Your other questions are a bit frightening. Just what places is one not supposed to show up in? Using the ATM at Golden Place and picking up bread at the baguette are about as close as I get to stopping anywhere near the palace. And what are the "questionable" places? Bitabong? 7-11? Market Village? The dalat? Mugata? Hi 4? Kho Takiab? Very confusing. Perhaps you could post a list of suspected hotbeds of seditious activity in Hua Hin so I can avoid them.

Let's see, I live alone, but have friends in Isaan. I own two red shirts (a button-down oxford cloth that's actually striped, and a Cincinnati Reds tshirt). Of course! That must be it!

[bapak]

the exercise is a direct order to tighten up security....

no such incident as happened around the pm residence, would ever ever be tolerated around your area....

it is better for all concerned, don't you agree?

on the other hand, did you recently show up in some places where you are not supposed to or frequented places that are considered as questionable, lately....? and how about those close to you? just a thought.... k?

they did not ask to fingers print, did they?

Nope, no fingerprints. I don't believe anyone (without a suicide wish), Thai or farang, would consider doing anything like what happened to Abhisit here.

Your other questions are a bit frightening. Just what places is one not supposed to show up in? Using the ATM at Golden Place and picking up bread at the baguette are about as close as I get to stopping anywhere near the palace. And what are the "questionable" places? Bitabong? 7-11? Market Village? The dalat? Mugata? Hi 4? Kho Takiab? Very confusing. Perhaps you could post a list of suspected hotbeds of seditious activity in Hua Hin so I can avoid them.

Let's see, I live alone, but have friends in Isaan. I own two red shirts (a button-down oxford cloth that's actually striped, and a Cincinnati Reds tshirt). Of course! That must be it!

I have lived for some time within a block of the palace, same side, and never had a visit from any officials.

[Deke]

It's called paranoia.

They've been learning from their Burmese neighbors.

[londonthai]

"Had an interesting visit from an immigration inspector this afternoon. He was taking names, passport numbers, addresses, and photos of farang holding passport in front of house numbers."

emmigration don't go from house to house taking peoples names, passports, pictures - the guy claiming to be an emmigration officer was an imposter or acting on some scam. Don't be surpriced, if something bad happens out of it - burglary etc.

if anybody should do this job it would be police, security or army, and not a single inspector but a group of them.

[boriga]

"Had an interesting visit from an immigration inspector this afternoon. He was taking names, passport numbers, addresses, and photos of farang holding passport in front of house numbers."

emmigration don't go from house to house taking peoples names, passports, pictures - the guy claiming to be an emmigration officer was an imposter or acting on some scam. Don't be surpriced, if something bad happens out of it - burglary etc.

if anybody should do this job it would be police, security or army, and not a single inspector but a group of them.

[/quote

I had the exact same visit and assumed it could be a scam so asked a friend in a hotel who deals with the Immigration department to call and check this was not a scam. She confirmed that it was all ok and that for 'security' reasons they were taking a census of all foreigners living near the palace.

The immigration guy also said every time I come to Hua Hin I should register with the immigration department. News to me? Interesting, the chap did not even look at one visa or entry stamp, just wanted names and numbers for his note book and to take photos of the ID pages.

[khundon]

We lived in a beach house near the Issara restaurant and the Police used to visit every 6 months.

They were always very polite and never asked for Id or passports. They just asked if everything was OK, told us to report any problems to police station and then left.

They also patrolled the beach and again were very polite, unless you got too close to beach barrier near Palace, then they would stop you and question you if they did not know you.