Long Arm Of The Law, Thai Immigration Police

[PeaceBlondie]

There we were, blissfully unaware of any problems in the world, swimming in the salt water, whiling the hours away in the ocean, when a distinguished looking man in a black uniform appears on the shore. Yes, there he was, the Thai Immigration Police, tracking down the farang who didn't obey a request to come down to the office, and he might have stood at the shore until after sunset, until the farang finally came out of the water, wringing wet.

Do not assume the police don't know who you are, and where you are. Don't be surprised if they get you out of bed or out of the water. Assume nothing. Don't just assume you know the law better than they know it. After all, they ARE the law.

[Phil Conners]

Huh!?!

[PeaceBlondie]

This really happened, this week, in Thailand. I wasn't the farang; I was just swimming with the farang when the officer appeared on the shore.

10,000 baht. That would have bought a lot of other things.

[Phil Conners]

Yeah I know 10k is apparently the going buy-out rate if you get caught overstaying. But there surely was a story to this, immigration officials don't just turn up on beaches to catch overstayers.

[gretyl]

Yeah I know 10k is apparently the going buy-out rate if you get caught overstaying. But there surely was a story to this, immigration officials don't just turn up on beaches to catch overstayers.

The amount of the fine .. 18,600 Baht. There's always a story. Some stories are a bit more of a story than one might like.

[gretyl]

Umm, hello there, PeaceBlondie.

[PeaceBlondie]

I'm not PeaceBlondie; I'm Hansel and you're Gretel, and the gingerbread man is going to.....oh, now I'm so confused.

200 baht per day times 93 days, paid before March 16, works out to 18,600. After March 15, the daily fine goes to 500 baht per day. What I didn't get an answer to, previously unless I missed it, is whether some officer will go back to square one and charge 500 baht for each day prior to March 16. But in any event, the statutory limit still seems to be 20,000. So, by March 19th or so, the limit would be 20K baht.

Ouch.

[gretyl]

argh .. 500 Baht retroactive? They'd better be prepared for some degree of outrage for taking a kid into custody for the sins of the parent. 94 days x 500 Baht? I'll be on the streets begging coins if it came to that. 47,000 Baht. (I just paid approx. 155,000 Baht for my other son's university tuition, so I'm not really all that flush)

Nope. It was made quite clear that if I don't pay for my sins tomorrow morning - before noon, that is - well then, then the kid (MY kid) gets taken into custody. I am serious. Really, really serious.i

I have visions of Bangkok Hilton being host to my teenage son. Not serious.

I wonder why the Immigration foursome didn't offer their splendid accommodations to me instead of a kid who clearly wasn't in control of the unfortunate outcome, resulting from my inescusable, unintentional, irresponsibility dealing with procedural "law" pertaining to his student visa. Misinformation. Misunderstanding. I know the bottom line: suck it up and quit whining.

Okay, yeah. I carry the blame, but Immigration (HH) could have been a helluva lot nicer. No. They were about as unkind, uncaring, cold, etc. that I've encountered in so very long a time, that I can't recollect when an incident, similar in nature, cut quite so deeply as this has. The humanity thing, you know? They do not/did not give a flying raccoon's ass.

I'm not a good drinker or I'd be half soaked, but I have a little of another something to ease me into sleep - prescription, of course, and I'm glad to have it tonight. I need a good sleep to be cheery for the Big Boys tomorrow. Best I be there with my son in tow before noon or I don't know what.

Enough. Of course there's more to the story. But I know tomorrow afternoon I'll seek solace in the lovely sea in the remarkable LOS.

One more thing. My Thai friend who is perfectly fluent in English was with me every step of the way. This day there were no misunderstandings; nor was any anger shown in any way towards the Thai officials.

Gretyl, aka CleverGretyl, which I'm not living up to.

argh .. 500 Baht retroactive? They'd better be prepared for some degree of outrage for taking a kid into custody for the sins of the parent. 94 days x 500 Baht? I'll be on the streets begging coins if it came to that. 47,000 Baht. (I just paid approx. 155,000 Baht for my other son's university tuition, so I'm not really all that flush)

Nope. It was made quite clear that if I don't pay for my sins tomorrow morning - before noon, that is - well then, then the kid (MY kid) gets taken into custody. I am serious. Really, really serious.i

I have visions of Bangkok Hilton being host to my teenage son. Not serious.

I wonder why the Immigration foursome didn't offer their splendid accommodations to me instead of a kid who clearly wasn't in control of the unfortunate outcome, resulting from my inescusable, unintentional, irresponsibility dealing with procedural "law" pertaining to his student visa. Misinformation. Misunderstanding. I know the bottom line: suck it up and quit whining.

Okay, yeah. I carry the blame, but Immigration (HH) could have been a helluva lot nicer. No. They were about as unkind, uncaring, cold, etc. that I've encountered in so very long a time, that I can't recollect when an incident, similar in nature, cut quite so deeply as this has. The humanity thing, you know? They do not/did not give a flying raccoon's ass.

I'm not a good drinker or I'd be half soaked, but I have a little of another something to ease me into sleep - prescription, of course, and I'm glad to have it tonight. I need a good sleep to be cheery for the Big Boys tomorrow. Best I be there with my son in tow before noon or I don't know what.

Enough. Of course there's more to the story. But I know tomorrow afternoon I'll seek solace in the lovely sea in the remarkable LOS.

One more thing. My Thai friend who is perfectly fluent in English was with me every step of the way. This day there were no misunderstandings; nor was any anger shown in any way towards the Thai officials.

Gretyl, aka CleverGretyl, which I'm not living up to.

[britmaveric]

Anyone else confused?

[gretyl]

Server went down, duplicate post within the post. Sorry. Gretyl

What's to be confused? Student visa got screwed up. Officials are laying it out how much I am to pay.

[astral]

There we were, blissfully unaware of any problems in the world, swimming in the salt water, whiling the hours away in the ocean, when a distinguished looking man in a black uniform appears on the shore. Yes, there he was, the Thai Immigration Police, tracking down the farang who didn't obey a request to come down to the office, and he might have stood at the shore until after sunset, until the farang finally came out of the water, wringing wet.

Do not assume the police don't know who you are, and where you are. Don't be surprised if they get you out of bed or out of the water. Assume nothing. Don't just assume you know the law better than they know it. After all, they ARE the law.

I find this very hard to believe.

All for an overstaying Farang??

There must be more to it.

[gretyl]

I just wrote for an hour or more, hit "reply" and lost everything due to a very low signal.

Later.

Another lesson, though. Save first. I knew that.

Unhappy Gretyl.

[Noel]

Anyone else confused?

Yes!

Has the original start to this thread disappeared?

[PeaceBlondie]

Sorry for the confusion. Gretyl and I are neighbors. We were swimming, just yesterday around 5 p.m., when the gentleman appeared on the shore in full uniform. I wasn't going to mention her name, gender, family status, exact date it happened, etc; I just thought it was strange for the guy to chase her down all the way to the shore. But it was really a short ride from his office and a short walk to the beach.

Gretyl is probably recovering from today's bout at Immigration; I'll go see.

Now, before you holier-than-thou experienced-expert types start ripping into the fine lady for her mistakes, you'll see she's already admitted that it's her fault and by now, she's probably paid the fine. Even when she reads the Thai Visa forum, she finds that the immigration rules are a constant maze of information, often conflicting, literally foreign, not uniformly enforced, etc. She's learning fast, the hard way.

[Noel]

Perhaps it would help if someone could give the background to this thread, or was it supposed to be a Private Message exchange that somehow went wrong?

[Maestro]

Perhaps it would help if someone could give the background to this thread, ...

I, for one, would be interested to hear it, too.

...the Thai Immigration Police, tracking down the farang who didn't obey a request to come down to the office...

For a start, I am curious to know for what reason the farang (now revealed to be Gretyl and currently recovering from the shock) had been requested to report to the immigration office on a particular date.

--------------

Maestro

[PeaceBlondie]

Because her kid was a student, but was 93 days overstayed as a 'tourist' but they had been unable or unwilling to give the kid a student visa. And when they asked her to come to the office, she thought she didn't need to.

I apologize for starting a thread without telling 2,000 words of background. As already explained, my OP was mainly about the guy bothering to come all the way to the shore to get somebody who thought they didn't need to come to the office. I didn't even know Gretyl would respond online.

Noel, that little exchange between me and Gretyl was public dialogue and irony. We do it a lot here, as I'm dialoguing with the whole world of ThaiVisa. Howdy, y'all! Have you eaten your irony pills today?

[rishi]

This student - swimming and having a good time in the sunset of Pattaya - was he studying at a properly registered educational institution?

[Noel]

Noel, that little exchange between me and Gretyl was public dialogue and irony. We do it a lot here, as I'm dialoguing with the whole world of ThaiVisa. Howdy, y'all! Have you eaten your irony pills today?

Sorry, I must be a bit slow on the uptake; I am also relatively new here.

Must dash, I want to catch the hardware store before they close and also get some E's (esoteric tabs) from one of the local street pharmacists that clutter the sois here, or so I am told.

I might go down the Crystal Ball shop later too...

[PeaceBlondie]

This student - swimming and having a good time in the sunset of Pattaya - was he studying at a properly registered educational institution?

Thanks, rishi, for showing how I should have started off with a 2,984 word original post. I never said Pattaya, it was an hour and a half before sunset, I wasn't swimming with that student (though if it counts, I was swimming with my boyfriend, the student's brother who is also a student, and two ladies) and yes, both students are properly registered, but the monkeys aren't registered, but the Immigration officer doesn't consider them aliens, only simians....am I missing anything? Oh, and you'll note that I never mentioned the two nationalities of the parties so far mentioned (including ling), although it's likely the Immigration officer isn't half as Swedish as my neighbors....does that help?

[rishi]

Odd behaviours of immigration officers are one of the major concerns of a lot of people on this board. It shouldn't come as a surprice that many members would inquire in order to understand the background when confronted with a somewhat unusual approach. The wish of clarification of something obscure concerning immigration matters ought be respected rather than ironitized (sorry, if that isn't the correct English word)

[PeaceBlondie]

Well, it's now the clear light of day, and I apologize to rishi and others for not even having the information that some wanted to have. I'll let Gretyl tell her own story (if she wants to, later).

Thanks, rishi, for getting us back to the original post, which was not meant to be about the details of Gretyl's specific problem. I was trying to point out, in a humorous way (I apologize to those who don't realize how humorous I can be), that when a farang in Thailand chooses to ignore a request by the officers to come down to their office, that's not the end of it. I thought our readers might, indeed, have some great stories.

You want Immigration officer stories? I was riding a first class bus through the conflict zone of Chiapas, Mexico, one dark and dreary night in 2000. I get escorted off the bus by one of those immigration officers, basically in the jungle. He thinks my passport photo has been jiggered or substituted. Luckily, I could say (as they carted off an illegal Guatemalan and repatriated her), "Oh, your boss's boss, the deputy commissioner for the southern states, Sr. Rene Pulido, looked at this passport ten hours ago, and gave me this one year visa. Is that good enough for you, señor?" Sometimes it helps to already have approval from the boss's boss.

I've already told the story of the semi-helpful senior immigration officer in Chiang Mai, when twenty people were looking on, who wanted to see my motorcycle accident injuries. I took off my shirt and almost dropped my trousers. She was impressed, even though I kept my trousers up and shut.

Anybody else got some good stories about the long arm of the Immigration Officer?

[jumbo]

So if I am getting this correct

You were swimming across the mexican border when a swedish monkey in a brown suit asked your boyfriends brother who is also the son of the women you were swimming with about their Thai Visa?

Well you have come to the right place.......we all do not have visa's for mexico, where we never overstay or do a visa run for that matter....

I think the law is quit clear.....do not overSTAY if so PAY, which part of that did you not understand and if you boyfiends brothers mother knew this why is the law so confusing?

I was checked in Austria once, does that count??

[PeaceBlondie]

You've got it, jumbo! Actually, I've swum across the borders of Canada-USA, and USA-Mexico, and many times Mexico-Guatemala, without a passport (would have gotten wet anyway), and returned, with no immigration officer in sight!

The fun was when my two tourist guides from Mexico walked me over to Guatemala (later, I swam it). We hopped back and forth across the unguarded border line, playing the game in Spanish, "Okay, now I'm the foreigner; now you-all are the foreigners; now we're all foreigners..." However, your average border guard person is not in the mood for jokes. Coming into Texas from Mexico, the signs even warn you against joking around. Mai sanuk.

I got to Brownsville, Texas, once without proper photo ID (Americans don't need passports to travel around Mexico). The border guard, actually a Customs officer, wasn't going to let me in until I told a good story. We were members of the same labor union (NTEU), and I had to promise not to audit his personal income tax return. But we looked like twin brothers, white and blond.

[The Dude]

Sorry for the confusion. Gretyl and I are neighbors. We were swimming, just yesterday around 5 p.m., when the gentleman appeared on the shore in full uniform. I wasn't going to mention her name, gender, family status, exact date it happened, etc; I just thought it was strange for the guy to chase her down all the way to the shore. But it was really a short ride from his office and a short walk to the beach.

Gretyl is probably recovering from today's bout at Immigration; I'll go see.

Now, before you holier-than-thou experienced-expert types start ripping into the fine lady for her mistakes, you'll see she's already admitted that it's her fault and by now, she's probably paid the fine. Even when she reads the Thai Visa forum, she finds that the immigration rules are a constant maze of information, often conflicting, literally foreign, not uniformly enforced, etc. She's learning fast, the hard way.

There's no conflicting information regarding overstaying. It is illegal to do that or you pay the soon to be 500 baht/day and/or go to immi jail, a not so diggable place to hang. Hope everyone can dig that

[Ijustwannateach]

Actually, I think I understood most of the story on the first half a page, myself!

Entertaining to read PB's explanations, though!

Good luck, Gretyl- remember, it may be pointless, but it sure is petty.

"Steven"

[Maestro]

...when a farang in Thailand chooses to ignore a request by the officers to come down to their office, that's not the end of it...

I am beginning to wonder: perhaps the immigration officer was trying to be helpful (has perhaps a crush on Gretyl?) and went to look for her on the beach in order to save her son from possible complications (arrest by the regular police and deportation).

--------------

Maestro

[PeaceBlondie]

Yes, the gentleman was doing his duty by coming down there and speaking to Gretyl. Along the way, she'd gotten identified as a non-complier with the law, and they look askance at that sort of thing. As an ex-IRS auditor, I think I understand that. The folks down there have been nice to me, because I haven't given them cause to categorize me negatively.

Funny thing, during that swim just before the officer showed up, I told Gretyl, "they are the law; we've got to be their slaves." You can argue with my choice of words, but I basically meant that you smile at Thai officers and say nice things, and try to obey their orders.