Thai Alien Id Card.

[PatLogan]

He must have been very unlucky as in 30 years of traveling Bangkok I have never been asked for ID (although taxi drivers have been stopped and tickets issued about 10 times).

I have never heard of a taxi being arrested but suspect that is a language issue. Although if a serious incident it might be the reason for the check.

Well it has never happened to me over 10 years of extensive travel to BKK before settling down... He speaks reasonable English (though he is Chinese). I will try to get more details from him.

[lopburi3]

He speaks reasonable English (though he is Chinese).

That might help explain it as they may have suspected him of being Thai without an ID card trying to pass himself off as a foreigner. Or being overstay.

[PatLogan]

He speaks reasonable English (though he is Chinese).

That might help explain it as they may have suspected him of being Thai without an ID card trying to pass himself off as a foreigner. Or being overstay.

Indeed. As a matter of fact I was at my Embassy this morning and asked about carrying or not my passport. Their advice was to have the Consular card, and copies of passport and visa, but not to carry our passports with us (even if we had a Thai driving license). Seems French passports are a valuable commodity...

As she said, "better spend a few hours in a police station rather than losing your passport", and it seems getting "detained" for a while when you can't prove you are legally in Thailand is quite common as they had quite a lot of direct testimonies.

[Somrak]

Thai officials and even foreign goverments can miss the point.

That subject has been discussed some time ago and the conclusion then was that there is indeed no such requirement to carry it with you, but yu must be able to produce it within a reasonable time.

Now, of course immirgation can detain you till they can establish who you are and if you are staying legally in Thailand.

So they can detain you till you show your passport and if that takes too long they can also fine you.

Normaly it will be like this .. but this has not only to do 'with have your passport with you'. They can detain you with passport too!

[lopburi3]

They can detain you with passport too!

It would not be for failure to have passport.

[tombkk]

They can detain you with passport too!

It would not be for failure to have passport.

I read this somewhere else:

QUOTE

There are actually two particular areas of law which apply , which is seldom realised and why some "knowledgeable" expats continue to make a big issue of it when they take similar measures for granted in their own contries. Double standards work both ways.

Thai Civil law requires everybody in Thailand to carry a valid Government approved means of identity (Thais under 15 are currently excused from this, but they must be able to provide a means of identity within a reasonable time). For Thais this usually means an ID card. For Non-Thais this usually means a passport, a national identity card, or a Thai driving licence.

Thai Immigration Law requires all foreigners to be able to produce a valid passport to the police within a reasonable amount of time, and they can be held at the police station or by immigration police until this is done (there are some exceptions, such as foreign workers from some countries who can have different documentation, but that probably does not apply to anyone here). If foreigners are carrying a valid means of identity (as above) they are normally released, either with no further action or to report with their passport within 48 hours. Photocopies are not valid here any more than they would be in any Western country.

UNQUOTE

[dwanjar1]

Has Mr."millionar" not necessary to join HIS discussion and give some useful explanations?

Read post number 10.

You know what. I went to some park.. I told them I am working here... and shown my driving L, they said OK to mw but not for my kids and wife because I had no proff that they are my family..... I cannot get DL for kids... now my wife is applying for DL but.. cannot carry passport when visit BKK from Pattaya.. and when check in hotel they ask for passport.... again, I do not carry passort when I travel domestic. I shown then DL but they wanted passport for whole members (family) staying with me...