Pre-Screening To Be Launched This Year: Thai Immigration Bureau

[lensta]

Personally I prefer they only speak Thai

I cannot speak one word of Thai

It means they ask no questions

They take passport, stamp it and I am off

Can only imagine the delays of they try to

ask questions in a foreign language

"pardon, what, pardon, again please ... slowly"

No thanks

You cannot speak "one word of Thai" WOW, hope you are only a short stay visitor. Ever heard of RESPECT ?

What has speaking Thai got to do with respect. By the way, respect is earned, not given.

[KRS1]

Facebook account to provide clues and tip offs is not a good idea, some people enjoy destroying others for personal enjoyment.

[Baerboxer]

Is this somehow not the problem in Thailand? That many people think respect must be 'earned'? Respect should be given automatically and then given some more if it is reciprocated. If it is not reciprocated, it is no longer necessary to be respectful. Believing respect need be earned is the root of the problem... just ask many teachers about students' attitudes regarding respect. Hint: they are very much in-line with your way of thinking (the bolded part at least).

I prefer just to remain respectful anyway as that is the way to live life in a peaceful and joyful manner. It doesn't matter how others treat me, that is their path. The way I treat them, that is my path.

I came in through Thai Immigration at the airport last week, and the way this one Immigration officer was talking to people was downright rude. He wanted to close his booth and escorted half a dozen tourists through to close his lane. He was barking at them like they were animals. I expect this from Thai immigration officers but I wonder how first timers would feel.

He gets no respect from me. I think he was one of the more senior officers by the way he was talking to some others.

This is a very good post, I always said respect has to be earned, but I know now that this is not the case. If the respect you give is not returned,then you do not give the respect back.

The rudest immigration officer I ever saw was at Heathrow. Embarassingly he was a Scot and they had him in the business class visa lane. He was shouting rudely at an African man, even suggesting he should not be in "the business class lane" and demanding to see his boarding pass before he would look at the passport. My young British daughter commented that this was the rudest person she'd ever heard. It's difficult not to judge all the apples in the barrel by one bad one.

[NoshowJones]

Is this somehow not the problem in Thailand? That many people think respect must be 'earned'? Respect should be given automatically and then given some more if it is reciprocated. If it is not reciprocated, it is no longer necessary to be respectful. Believing respect need be earned is the root of the problem... just ask many teachers about students' attitudes regarding respect. Hint: they are very much in-line with your way of thinking (the bolded part at least).

I prefer just to remain respectful anyway as that is the way to live life in a peaceful and joyful manner. It doesn't matter how others treat me, that is their path. The way I treat them, that is my path.

I came in through Thai Immigration at the airport last week, and the way this one Immigration officer was talking to people was downright rude. He wanted to close his booth and escorted half a dozen tourists through to close his lane. He was barking at them like they were animals. I expect this from Thai immigration officers but I wonder how first timers would feel.

He gets no respect from me. I think he was one of the more senior officers by the way he was talking to some others.

This is a very good post, I always said respect has to be earned, but I know now that this is not the case. If the respect you give is not returned,then you do not give the respect back.

The rudest immigration officer I ever saw was at Heathrow. Embarassingly he was a Scot and they had him in the business class visa lane. He was shouting rudely at an African man, even suggesting he should not be in "the business class lane" and demanding to see his boarding pass before he would look at the passport. My young British daughter commented that this was the rudest person she'd ever heard. It's difficult not to judge all the apples in the barrel by one bad one.

That's very true Baerboxer, I'm a Scot and if I was in the Africans place, I would have reported him, I wonder who the flight company was, probably BA, as the ignoramus was Scottish.

[sonnyamo]

Thais get it from Myanmar!. Pre-arrange Visa on Arrivla in Myanmar is so successful they now receive about 100,000 more visitors compared to last year.

Edited October 30, 2012 by sonnyamo

[BlueSkyCowboy]

I would think English would always be a priority. Just about every nation (apart from Thailand), irrespective of mother tongue, speaks English. China is fast learning English as well. Teaching anyone Laos or Cambodian? How many 'visitors' do we get from there? Mandarin and English I think would be a good start with emphasis on English. Japanese is way down the list at 3rd place as being essential.

Laos haha in Issan they all speak Laos. Should not be difficult to find some Issan girls who work in Pattaya and also speak some english, same same LOL

[Tatsujin]

Is this somehow not the problem in Thailand? That many people think respect must be 'earned'? Respect should be given automatically and then given some more if it is reciprocated. If it is not reciprocated, it is no longer necessary to be respectful. Believing respect need be earned is the root of the problem... just ask many teachers about students' attitudes regarding respect. Hint: they are very much in-line with your way of thinking (the bolded part at least).

I prefer just to remain respectful anyway as that is the way to live life in a peaceful and joyful manner. It doesn't matter how others treat me, that is their path. The way I treat them, that is my path.

I came in through Thai Immigration at the airport last week, and the way this one Immigration officer was talking to people was downright rude. He wanted to close his booth and escorted half a dozen tourists through to close his lane. He was barking at them like they were animals. I expect this from Thai immigration officers but I wonder how first timers would feel.

He gets no respect from me. I think he was one of the more senior officers by the way he was talking to some others.

This is a very good post, I always said respect has to be earned, but I know now that this is not the case. If the respect you give is not returned,then you do not give the respect back.

The rudest immigration officer I ever saw was at Heathrow. Embarassingly he was a Scot and they had him in the business class visa lane. He was shouting rudely at an African man, even suggesting he should not be in "the business class lane" and demanding to see his boarding pass before he would look at the passport. My young British daughter commented that this was the rudest person she'd ever heard. It's difficult not to judge all the apples in the barrel by one bad one.

I had exactly the same thing at Heathrow some years ago. Some b!tch immigration officer was shouting at a woman (Japanese) and the lady hadn't got a clue what the woman was getting so agitated about. The officer just kept getting redder and redder, shouting louder and louder, then got on the "if you can't speak English, you shouldn't be here" thing. I walked over and interjected and helped the woman understand what as going on. I then went to the senior immigration officer and reported the woman for verbal abuse. She got sacked on the spot when they reviewed the video. If someone had spoken to me in that way, they would have been flat on the floor.

[Cuchulainn]

....fluency in English.........

Not just a high standard or a decent grasp or competent in English, but actual fluency?! Who writes the script for these people?

[Thai at Heart]

Does this mean the end of the TM cards, and the time it takes Somchai Immigration behind the desk to type it in?

Why does the rest of the world manage to have passport readers which will fill in 99% of the info, and who cares which hotel you tell them you are going to stay in anyway?

[tropo]

The rudest immigration officer I ever saw was at Heathrow. Embarassingly he was a Scot and they had him in the business class visa lane. He was shouting rudely at an African man, even suggesting he should not be in "the business class lane" and demanding to see his boarding pass before he would look at the passport. My young British daughter commented that this was the rudest person she'd ever heard. It's difficult not to judge all the apples in the barrel by one bad one.

OK, so you saw a very rude immigration officer at Heathrow. Yes, you get them everywhere, but I see them just about every time I leave or arrive at Suvarnabhumi, and a fair number down at the local immigration office too.

I'm mentioning this because they seem to be making a push here to up their game. Basic politeness would go a long way.

[bigbamboo]

Just wondered...... Thais speaking English, was there some sort of gap/problem 30 - 40 years ago ?

Been here 9 years, always appears to be the same, many older Thais speak good English, and most young ones, just appears that far fewer Thais between 35 - 50 can speak or understand any English.. I do not mean Professionals I am talking about the every day Village Thais..

Always amazed me going to the different Village markets over the years the amount of older market traders that speak to me in English, even when I try to practice a bit of Thai, they will reply in English

I've noticed much the same thing. And when you ask them where they learned it they will often reply by studying themselves from books when they were younger.

I know.... books!

I guess they didn't have all the other distractions younger Thais have today.

[TechnikaIII]

I like the part where it says 'look smart', because this is all thats going to happen.

Get yourself on the blacklist, and hopefully something more will happen.

[marstons]

they may have 30-300 "skilled" people, if only 5 are actually working that day (sitting in a counter in stead of taking a break when a plane full of tourists arrive), pretty much useless

Plane full of tourists lands about every minute,

[tropo]

A casual observer can see the effect on the Thai Gene pool... 40 years ago, a 'white skinned' Thai was a rarity - even on TV or in movies...

The "white" skin is from Chinese influence on the gene pool, not Caucasian. Fewer people farming - more white skin. There's a lot more indoor employment these days. Habits and fashion have changed, not the gene pool.

Edited October 30, 2012 by tropo

[Gimbo]

Cambodian: automatically yes, just have one staff from the border region

Lao: no problem....the languages are so similar that they can understand....

Just hire someone from Buriram or Surin. They will speak both Lao, khmer and Thai. And if they hire a former bar girl, she will speak English as well...

[RogueLeader]

Having an immigration officer who doesnt understand visas, permissions to stay and re entry permits..

Yeah, that's definitely more important than speaking English.

[transam]

Personally I prefer they only speak Thai

I cannot speak one word of Thai

It means they ask no questions

They take passport, stamp it and I am off

Can only imagine the delays of they try to

ask questions in a foreign language

"pardon, what, pardon, again please ... slowly"

No thanks

You cannot speak "one word of Thai" WOW, hope you are only a short stay visitor. Ever heard of RESPECT ?

What a stupid comment.

Where are you from. ?

[davejones]

From 2015 onward Thailand will become the leper colony of S.E. Asia - everyone will bypass the country and visit the others. This country is heading one way only and that is further down. The English language is not going to curb the arrogance, it's just going to make it worse. Respect is a two way street and something to be earned not demanded.

You are very deluded if you think that. All the tourists I know who came to Thailand love it here and want to come back. All those that have been to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, etc don't have any desire to go back at all. Tourists love Thailand. And they keep coming back.

[davejones]

What are they planning on pre-screening for? What have they been doing up until now, not check anything?

They have been checking on arrival rather than pre-screening. So the answer is yes, they have been checking. Perhaps you don't understand what pre-screening is. Try Googling it.

[davejones]

Does this mean the end of the TM cards, and the time it takes Somchai Immigration behind the desk to type it in?

Why does the rest of the world manage to have passport readers which will fill in 99% of the info, and who cares which hotel you tell them you are going to stay in anyway?

Knowing where you are staying is useful in an emergency. Imagine something happened to your family back home and they couldn't get in touch with you. An immigration check would show where you're staying.

[CqK]

Just wondered...... Thais speaking English, was there some sort of gap/problem 30 - 40 years ago ?

Been here 9 years, always appears to be the same, many older Thais speak good English, and most young ones, just appears that far fewer Thais between 35 - 50 can speak or understand any English.. I do not mean Professionals I am talking about the every day Village Thais..

Always amazed me going to the different Village markets over the years the amount of older market traders that speak to me in English, even when I try to practice a bit of Thai, they will reply in English

Those Thais I know of the older group, which is also the group I fall into, learned during the Vietnam War.

[Thai at Heart]

Does this mean the end of the TM cards, and the time it takes Somchai Immigration behind the desk to type it in?

Why does the rest of the world manage to have passport readers which will fill in 99% of the info, and who cares which hotel you tell them you are going to stay in anyway?

Knowing where you are staying is useful in an emergency. Imagine something happened to your family back home and they couldn't get in touch with you. An immigration check would show where you're staying.

Very few people answer it honestly, the vast majority just put in anything, and go and find a hotel. The hotel has to prepare a register of their foreign guests every day, and in the age of mobiles, getting hold of someone by phone is hardly impossible. You reckon a Chinese tour group can remember the name of the hotel where they are going to stay? I just write, "my house".

[crazydrummerpauly]

Haha - hilarious. 'Look smart' - Thais are all vain already - BiB no exception, so the only way to make them smarter would be to somehow remove all those beer-guts squeezed into CHIPs-style uniforms. As for the confidential reporting of crims via social media - they can start with all grassing up each other !

[FarangTalk]

You are very deluded if you think that. All the tourists I know who came to Thailand love it here and want to come back. All those that have been to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, etc don't have any desire to go back at all. Tourists love Thailand. And they keep coming back.

Yet tourism is growing faster in Vietnam and Cambodia than Thailand. And all the people that I know that have discovered Cambodia now spend more time there than in Thailand.

Different demographic though, the package tourists are descending on Thailand, and the adventure seekers and backpackers are moving away.

[Foggy Bottom]

best way to screen for terrorists: ask them to name as many types of vest as they can think of. if they only answer suicide and bullet proof, they're probably a terrorist

There's a problem with such a suggestion - the difference between American and English. In particular, that outer garment which in English is a waistcoat, but in the colonial common tongue is incorrectly referred to by the name of a next-to-skin item of men's underwear - a vest.

[smedly]

facebook is the wrong medium for communication feedback or tip-offs, it's too public and not everyone likes to even use it due to privacy issues, if people knew what facebook is watching about you and your internet activities through tracking cookies etc you wouldn't go near it, google's not much better, do a search on facebook and privacy - all will be revealed

[moskito]

I only which we had the same VISA Regulations in Germany or Europe...

regarding to the language skills....not ALL german immigration officers are fluent in English I guess...

[hellodolly]

Is this somehow not the problem in Thailand? That many people think respect must be 'earned'? Respect should be given automatically and then given some more if it is reciprocated. If it is not reciprocated, it is no longer necessary to be respectful. Believing respect need be earned is the root of the problem... just ask many teachers about students' attitudes regarding respect. Hint: they are very much in-line with your way of thinking (the bolded part at least).

I prefer just to remain respectful anyway as that is the way to live life in a peaceful and joyful manner. It doesn't matter how others treat me, that is their path. The way I treat them, that is my path.

I came in through Thai Immigration at the airport last week, and the way this one Immigration officer was talking to people was downright rude. He wanted to close his booth and escorted half a dozen tourists through to close his lane. He was barking at them like they were animals. I expect this from Thai immigration officers but I wonder how first timers would feel.

He gets no respect from me. I think he was one of the more senior officers by the way he was talking to some others.

This is a very good post, I always said respect has to be earned, but I know now that this is not the case. If the respect you give is not returned,then you do not give the respect back.

Easy to say just try treating him the same way and he will show you a whole new low for respect.

Make sure you know some one in power and you have a lot of money.

Try asking your self is this worth it? No matter how disrespectful they are.

[hellodolly]

Does this mean the end of the TM cards, and the time it takes Somchai Immigration behind the desk to type it in?

Why does the rest of the world manage to have passport readers which will fill in 99% of the info, and who cares which hotel you tell them you are going to stay in anyway?

Knowing where you are staying is useful in an emergency. Imagine something happened to your family back home and they couldn't get in touch with you. An immigration check would show where you're staying.

Well it would if they had a way of filing them. For the most part they get thrown in a drawer with theothers that come in at that time. Could be 10 different flights.

[HOOD Robin]

I would think English would always be a priority. Just about every nation (apart from Thailand), irrespective of mother tongue, speaks English. China is fast learning English as well. Teaching anyone Laos or Cambodian? How many 'visitors' do we get from there? Mandarin and English I think would be a good start with emphasis on English. Japanese is way down the list at 3rd place as being essential.

TH is not a nation......