I am today back from the Sa Kaeo Immigration Office to extend my stay in Thailand for 60 days. During the application procedure we have filled a form of the Notification of the Alien's Address and got a receipt of the Notification. I have been told that next time on coming to Thailand I have to arrive in person in 24 hours time since the arrival together with my wife and to make registration of my address at the Sa Kaeo Immigration Office or we are the subject to be fined. It also has to be done if any foreigner is going to visit us and stay for a while at our house. In a case of staying at any hotel, the hotel owner is responsible to report about the foreigner arrival and this can be done by any of the hotel personnel. Upon an arrival to Bangkok I have filled an arrival card and indicated my address in Thailand. Why should I report in person my address again at the local Immigration Office? BTW, a trip to the Immigration Office and back takes at shortest 5 hours from our village. If any friend of mine has to spend a day for registration of his address in Thailand instead of to have good time with us at home I should cancel any invitations. A new regulation seems to me absolutely weird and an unnecessary repetition of the procedure of passport control at the arrival to Thailand. Is there any way to avoid this and to make registration of the address at the Bangkok airport or at a point of border crossing? I have been told that notification by a registered post letter will not work either. Is there any other legal way to avoid such a headache for people who are visiting Thailand and wish to stay at a friend's house for a short while?

Since the maximum penalty is a THB2000 fine, it can safely be ignored as it is by 99% of the population. In my experience it is ignored by 100% of the people I know.

What a nightmare. Just another case of making the farangs life here as troubledome as possible.

Why don't you find a hotel to use as a base on arrival in Bangkok? Put the hotel details in full on your arrival card and then make your way up to SaKaew as you see fit. The day after you arrive, pop over to Immigration.

The law is that wherever you are staying, you must (be) register/ed within 24 hours. OK...Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok - I get it. Some guy rolling into a village where he lives and is married to a local woman. Pretty much hardcase right there.

What an ugly human being. Blah blah fine blah farang disrespect blah Thailand blah mo money mo money...These people need real jobs with real problems.

Well Dork - he is being forewarned he will get hit upnfor the fine. Imagine no reciept either and if he pushes that then his life will be made miserable for any other business he must do with those cops.

Edited May 15, 201313 yr by bangkokburning

It is not a new, but rather an old regulation. Normally it is only enforced regarding hotels and such, who must report.

But sometimes it is enforced towards persons on an extension based on marriage as well.

Since the maximum penalty is a THB2000 fine, it can safely be ignored as it is by 99% of the population. In my experience it is ignored by 100% of the people I know.

The maximum fine for the house owner is 2,000 baht. The foreigner faces a fine of up to 5,000 baht.

address is on the arrival card...

no need to report to your immigration...

or I m wrong?

Strictly speaking you still need to report. In practice, most times immigration cannot be bothered with it and requires only hotels and such to report your stay.

If anyone is upcountry, bored or just in a mischievous mood I would suggest calling in to the local police station to inform them you are there to comply with paragraph 3, section 37 of the Immigration Act.

Since the maximum penalty is a THB2000 fine, it can safely be ignored as it is by 99% of the population. In my experience it is ignored by 100% of the people I know.

2000 Thai Baht is a fine to the house owner and the foreiner pays his part too.

address is on the arrival card...

no need to report to your immigration...

or I m wrong?

I asked specially and have been told to come in person to the local Immigration Office despite the arrival card.

What a nightmare. Just another case of making the farangs life here as troubledome as possible.

Why don't you find a hotel to use as a base on arrival in Bangkok? Put the hotel details in full on your arrival card and then make your way up to SaKaew as you see fit. The day after you arrive, pop over to Immigration.

The law is that wherever you are staying, you must (be) register/ed within 24 hours. OK...Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok - I get it. Some guy rolling into a village where he lives and is married to a local woman. Pretty much hardcase right there.

What an ugly human being. Blah blah fine blah farang disrespect blah Thailand blah mo money mo money...These people need real jobs with real problems.

Well Dork - he is being forewarned he will get hit upnfor the fine. Imagine no reciept either and if he pushes that then his life will be made miserable for any other business he must do with those cops.

I have a Thai wife and we stay at our own house. The house is registered to my wife's name. Why should we stay in a hotel? And there is no hotel at our village! I see at our village many foreigners are coming to visit families of their girlfriends. They are probably not aware about the regulation and the fee to pay if failed to come in person to the Immigration Office in 24 hours term .

so each time u go home... you need to go to your local immigration...?

i stayed with my girlfriend 4 years... Never reported anything.

address was on my arrival card.

TIT:D

Strictly speaking you still need to report. In practice, most times immigration cannot be bothered with it and requires only hotels and such to report your stay.

It seems to me that the Immigration Office enforced the regulation recently. While we were waiting in a queue to apply our papers a woman from a local hotel came to report about ONE foreign guest. It seems to be a headache for the hotels too as they have to send somebody to report about the foreign guest and to get a notification of the registration. It takes time and money. We were lucky to have not a long queue today. What about hours to wait? And foreigners are supposed now to pay more for a room as the cost of registration is included. What would happen if they will spend awhile in their friend's house without registration and be caught red-handed to live not registered? How to avoid troubles?

so each time u go home... you need to go to your local immigration...?

i stayed with my girlfriend 4 years... Never reported anything.

address was on my arrival card.

TIT:D

So did I. We were coming in time to extend my stay for 60 days if necessary and the address was in the application for extension. Now it is a special form to be signed by the house owner in person and before the eyes of the officers. And we have been told to come next time in 24-hours after my arrival to Thailand. I tried to speak what a mess and why my arrival card cannot work and was ignored. Seems to me they are getting fun from humiliating of foreigners while themselves hardly able to speak any English. My wife was talking as they ignored me. I expect they would charge me next time if I will come for the extension. How to avoid the trouble? It is for anyone, not for me personally. Anyone married a Thai woman will suffer.

As said, for hotels and such it is enforced and indeed increasingly so. But they can apply at immigration for a password and file everything online instead of having to go in person to the police office or immigration.

What a nightmare. Just another case of making the farangs life here as troubledome as possible.

Why don't you find a hotel to use as a base on arrival in Bangkok? Put the hotel details in full on your arrival card and then make your way up to SaKaew as you see fit. The day after you arrive, pop over to Immigration.

The law is that wherever you are staying, you must (be) register/ed within 24 hours. OK...Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok - I get it. Some guy rolling into a village where he lives and is married to a local woman. Pretty much hardcase right there.

What an ugly human being. Blah blah fine blah farang disrespect blah Thailand blah mo money mo money...These people need real jobs with real problems.

Well Dork - he is being forewarned he will get hit upnfor the fine. Imagine no reciept either and if he pushes that then his life will be made miserable for any other business he must do with those cops.

BTW, we got a receipt of the registration as an enclosure to my passport. I guess I have to present it at the passport control on leaving the country or to be fined. For foreigners who travel around the country - should they now collect all the receipts from hotels without any gap in registrations or charged at the airport by 5000 Thai Baht? My wife has been told - this regulation is to stop BAD farangs from coming to Thailand. Bad farangs, bad! Pay mo money, respect our rules or go to our jail, bad farand. Amusing Thailand. I cry on my investments to this country. It is far beyond 7 digits sums. We were planning to relocate to Thailand in time. A next surprise should be about mandatory insurance for all farangs. It is coming, be aware.

What a nightmare. Just another case of making the farangs life here as troubledome as possible.

Why don't you find a hotel to use as a base on arrival in Bangkok? Put the hotel details in full on your arrival card and then make your way up to SaKaew as you see fit. The day after you arrive, pop over to Immigration.

The law is that wherever you are staying, you must (be) register/ed within 24 hours. OK...Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok - I get it. Some guy rolling into a village where he lives and is married to a local woman. Pretty much hardcase right there.

What an ugly human being. Blah blah fine blah farang disrespect blah Thailand blah mo money mo money...These people need real jobs with real problems.

Well Dork - he is being forewarned he will get hit upnfor the fine. Imagine no reciept either and if he pushes that then his life will be made miserable for any other business he must do with those cops.

I have a Thai wife and we stay at our own house. The house is registered to my wife's name. Why should we stay in a hotel? And there is no hotel at our village! I see at our village many foreigners are coming to visit families of their girlfriends. They are probably not aware about the regulation and the fee to pay if failed to come in person to the Immigration Office in 24 hours term .

Because you and or houseowner are required to report you on arrival. By staying at a hotel, you have met that requirement. In fact, the hotel is obligated to report and you are not required to do anything.

After that, you are a free man. So you rock up to your place the next day, have a nice sleep and go see tje Immigration flunkie the next day at your leisure.

You don't stay at a hotel in the village Einstein, in Bangkok! Besides, why would you want to drive all the way to Sakaew after a long trip anyway?

The guy has pegged you as a mark. Pay up or get smart. Hes coming for you (r money).

As said, for hotels and such it is enforced and indeed increasingly so. But they can apply at immigration for a password and file everything online instead of having to go in person to the police office or immigration.

Thanks. However, today at the Sa Kaeo IO the registration from a hotel was in papers. Can any private house owner get a password and make the registration online? Where is the web site for registration? We asked the officials what can WE do. Come in person was the reply. OK, I have a friend from Switzerland who is getting many friends coming to his private house to stay for a while. He probably knows how to manage with the regulations. It can be a solution for us. Thanks again.

Judging by your responses and I mean this in a non agro way - you sound like you need some serious clue-ing in on how the game works here. You labor under misimpressions and it seems like the cops see you as any easy mark.

Also, stop asking your wife to sort things out for you. Smile, play stupid, see how it all develops and abdorb and learn from the experience

No idea what this registration thing is. Maybe related to you homestay but Id be shocked if the flunkie stamping your pp outbound cares at all about it.

Don't know what sort of situation your wife was in for her (you) to get some bs lecture about "bad farang" but I would not have been at all pleased. Corrupt cop lecturing me about random criminals that he has admitted to his country. Not my problem.

Be careful that you are being shaken down by the cops - but if I may be so bold, your wife. My wife is not one to be argumentitive or get in a cops face but our conversation would have been done with the "bad farang" lecture. Your wife needs to step up snd providea buffer to that nonsense. She will need to be your guide dealing with this lot...what is typical nonsense all Thais suffer snd ehat part is simply a bridge too far.

Good luck with Thailand. Its ok to push the envelope.

What a nightmare. Just another case of making the farangs life here as troubledome as possible.

Why don't you find a hotel to use as a base on arrival in Bangkok? Put the hotel details in full on your arrival card and then make your way up to SaKaew as you see fit. The day after you arrive, pop over to Immigration.

The law is that wherever you are staying, you must (be) register/ed within 24 hours. OK...Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok - I get it. Some guy rolling into a village where he lives and is married to a local woman. Pretty much hardcase right there.

What an ugly human being. Blah blah fine blah farang disrespect blah Thailand blah mo money mo money...These people need real jobs with real problems.

Well Dork - he is being forewarned he will get hit upnfor the fine. Imagine no reciept either and if he pushes that then his life will be made miserable for any other business he must do with those cops.

I have a Thai wife and we stay at our own house. The house is registered to my wife's name. Why should we stay in a hotel? And there is no hotel at our village! I see at our village many foreigners are coming to visit families of their girlfriends. They are probably not aware about the regulation and the fee to pay if failed to come in person to the Immigration Office in 24 hours term .

Because you and or houseowner are required to report you on arrival. By staying at a hotel, you have met that requirement. In fact, the hotel is obligated to report and you are not required to do anything.

After that, you are a free man. So you rock up to your place the next day, have a nice sleep and go see tje Immigration flunkie the next day at your leisure.

You don't stay at a hotel in the village Einstein, in Bangkok! Besides, why would you want to drive all the way to Sakaew after a long trip anyway?

The guy has pegged you as a mark. Pay up or get smart. Hes coming for you (r money).

Thanks. A good idea. Certainly the officials were already coming to us as previously they were asking for all original documents to be shown. It is probably time to get an O-visa or to relocate to a better place after selling Thai assets. Normally I do not need any visa as I am frequently flying here and back. So, I use extensions instead of the visa, if necessary. As for registration in Bangkok while residing in the Sa Kaeo province. I will tell you something. I am of Russian citizenship despite of last time been in Russia 12 years ago. However I am aware of Russian news. Recently Russian authorities made a law that anyone local or foreigner who is registered at one address and reside at another is a criminal and a subject for punishment up to 3 years in jail or huge fines both for house owner and the falsely registered person. You may say, crazy Russians. Right. And now it is coming to you as well if you are spending time in a country of the third world. Or you think Thailand is a civilized country? LOL.

Judging by your responses and I mean this in a non agro way - you sound like you need some serious clue-ing in on how the game works here. You labor under misimpressions and it seems like the cops see you as any easy mark.

Also, stop asking your wife to sort things out for you. Smile, play stupid, see how it all develops and abdorb and learn from the experience

No idea what this registration thing is. Maybe related to you homestay but Id be shocked if the flunkie stamping your pp outbound cares at all about it.

Don't know what sort of situation your wife was in for her (you) to get some bs lecture about "bad farang" but I would not have been at all pleased. Corrupt cop lecturing me about random criminals that he has admitted to his country. Not my problem.

Be careful that you are being shaken down by the cops - but if I may be so bold, your wife. My wife is not one to be argumentitive or get in a cops face but our conversation would have been done with the "bad farang" lecture. Your wife needs to step up snd providea buffer to that nonsense. She will need to be your guide dealing with this lot...what is typical nonsense all Thais suffer snd ehat part is simply a bridge too far.

Good luck with Thailand. Its ok to push the envelope.

Thanks. My wife indeed tried to smooth my question. I just asked why registration at the airport cannot work and insisting on an answer. However, I better would take the warning seriously and change my stile to stay in Thailand on passport stamps and extensions. Instead, I should do any type of long-term visas. I have no criminal records. My problems seems to be my Russian citizenship. Despite I am 12 years out of Russia, I keep the citizenship yet. From frequent crack-downs specifically on Russians in Thailand I guess the officials targeting me as well.

As said, for hotels and such it is enforced and indeed increasingly so. But they can apply at immigration for a password and file everything online instead of having to go in person to the police office or immigration.

Thanks. However, today at the Sa Kaeo IO the registration from a hotel was in papers. Can any private house owner get a password and make the registration online? Where is the web site for registration? We asked the officials what can WE do. Come in person was the reply. OK, I have a friend from Switzerland who is getting many friends coming to his private house to stay for a while. He probably knows how to manage with the regulations. It can be a solution for us. Thanks again.

Only hotels and such can register online. But house owners have the option of registering at the local police station, the guests themselves must report to immigration.

Form for house owner: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/tm30.doc

Form for foreigner: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/tm28.doc

But do it only if immigration tells you to do it. In most areas immigration is not interested in it.

If you use extensions or even a multi o, you will.have to have some sort of residence. So if you do leave Sakaew, you will need to have some base to put on the visa application. You could do single o visa in Vientiane and list a hitel I suppose.

There is a recent thread about Pattaya. Appears Immigration there is requiring a lease on top of everytjing for extensions.

You have to decide what works for you and your wife.

From my perspective, easiest option for most is living in Bangkok, Pattaya and CM in that order. Seems like the more provincial the office, the more hassles, money grubbing, lack of knowledge about the rule of law or the willingness to operate within the limits of it.

Issan seems like such a headache with Immigration I don't know why any foreigner would settle down there. Horrorvstories ate posted daily.

Good luck

This has been hashed around before but here goes again. I will pass on my experience from the Nong Khai immigration in regards to the Receipt of Notification. This is to be completed by the house owner whenever an alien resides at such address for More than 24 hours. So if you are married and living with your wife and she (or family) are the owners (tambien bahn) they are required to have you registered as you living at that address. Same as a Hotel or Guest House would do. Many hotels and guest houses are registered with immigration to complete this process on line (for Thai citizens as well not just foreigners). However to the best of my knowledge this system is not set up for private home owners.

Now I asked them if I travel a lot how often should I have my wife register? We go away for the weekend and come back after two days does she need to re-register the alien? Answer, NO. However if you leave the country or are gone for more than about 30 days (extended vacation but do not leave Thailand) I was told no problem, no need to re-register.

So if you fly into the country and stay one night in Bangkok and then proceed home the Hotel has registered you into the system and by law your wife (or home owner) should complete the Notification application at the nearest Immigration office as soon as possible or risk being fined.

As said, for hotels and such it is enforced and indeed increasingly so. But they can apply at immigration for a password and file everything online instead of having to go in person to the police office or immigration.

Thanks. However, today at the Sa Kaeo IO the registration from a hotel was in papers. Can any private house owner get a password and make the registration online? Where is the web site for registration? We asked the officials what can WE do. Come in person was the reply. OK, I have a friend from Switzerland who is getting many friends coming to his private house to stay for a while. He probably knows how to manage with the regulations. It can be a solution for us. Thanks again.

Only hotels and such can register online. But house owners have the option of registering at the local police station, the guests themselves must report to immigration.

Form for house owner: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/tm30.doc

Form for foreigner: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/tm28.doc

But do it only if immigration tells you to do it. In most areas immigration is not interested in it.

Thanks indeed, great help and a base to chill out and to think on a solution of the trouble. The Sa Kaeo Immigration Office is in Aranyaprathet. It is too far from our village. I will ask my friend in a nearby town who is getting many visitors to his home - how is he managing with the registrations? He is 15 years in Thailand and in a good contact with locals. Sure, he is not taking his visitors to Aranyaprathet. As for the Sa Kaeo Immigration Office, may be an O-visa for a year would give me a break in visits to them. I would be obliged to leave the country every 3 months and the demand is easy to follow in my current situation with frequent trips in Thailand and out.

This has been hashed around before but here goes again. I will pass on my experience from the Nong Khai immigration in regards to the Receipt of Notification. This is to be completed by the house owner whenever an alien resides at such address for More than 24 hours. So if you are married and living with your wife and she (or family) are the owners (tambien bahn) they are required to have you registered as you living at that address. Same as a Hotel or Guest House would do. Many hotels and guest houses are registered with immigration to complete this process on line (for Thai citizens as well not just foreigners). However to the best of my knowledge this system is not set up for private home owners.

Now I asked them if I travel a lot how often should I have my wife register? We go away for the weekend and come back after two days does she need to re-register the alien? Answer, NO. However if you leave the country or are gone for more than about 30 days (extended vacation but do not leave Thailand) I was told no problem, no need to re-register.

So if you fly into the country and stay one night in Bangkok and then proceed home the Hotel has registered you into the system and by law your wife (or home owner) should complete the Notification application at the nearest Immigration office as soon as possible or risk being fined.

Thanks. It may be a great idea to stay overnight at a hotel after crossing a border. Because of the time shift I am dizzy and not able to sleep at night for about 2 days. Any travel and getting again through formalities is a burden to me for the while. A night or two at a good hotel can give a healthy break before getting to the Immigration Office for registration. Also, a valuable information that there is no need to collect registrations receipts during time in Thailand. BTW, should foreigners register their address after every visa run?

If you use extensions or even a multi o, you will.have to have some sort of residence. So if you do leave Sakaew, you will need to have some base to put on the visa application. You could do single o visa in Vientiane and list a hitel I suppose.

There is a recent thread about Pattaya. Appears Immigration there is requiring a lease on top of everytjing for extensions.

You have to decide what works for you and your wife.

From my perspective, easiest option for most is living in Bangkok, Pattaya and CM in that order. Seems like the more provincial the office, the more hassles, money grubbing, lack of knowledge about the rule of law or the willingness to operate within the limits of it.

Issan seems like such a headache with Immigration I don't know why any foreigner would settle down there. Horrorvstories ate posted daily.

Good luck

My wife wants to stay with her relatives and to care of her kin. Our mother in law is living with us and taking care about the house and a garden if we are out for long awhile. Locals at our village are very friendly people and with a good Internet connection I miss a company of my friends overseas not much. However I agree that to stay in a community of foreigners somewhere in CM is much nicer. An advantage to stay in a middle of nowhere is cheaper life cost if it may matter. I see in time that more and more Western people are relocating to our area. May be these are not from a rich strata.

ah u are Russian... that s the problem dude!

nothing against Russians . they are weird , they don't speak English at all. , but here i know immigration are more strict with you. Russian guys must provide hotel address from their start to the end of their journey in Thailand...

can you get another citizenship? USA or Europe?

I tell you, I will never invest anything in Thailand. we are not welcome and law can change anytime...

just a trip outside of Thailand every 3 months is fun too. since we have air asia it s cheap and fast... i go see friends in same time near lao or relatives in europe. i did this for 5 years never been in trouble.

in Thailand keep low profile...

ah u are Russian... that s the problem dude!

nothing against Russians . they are weird , they don't speak English at all. , but here i know immigration are more strict with you. Russian guys must provide hotel address from their start to the end of their journey in Thailand...

can you get another citizenship? USA or Europe?

I tell you, I will never invest anything in Thailand. we are not welcome and law can change anytime...

just a trip outside of Thailand every 3 months is fun too. since we have air asia it s cheap and fast... i go see friends in same time near lao or relatives in europe. i did this for 5 years never been in trouble.

in Thailand keep low profile...

I worked in Germany since 1999. Somehow I am not happy with development of things in Europe and was not eager to stay for too long in Europe and was looking for an asylum to live in a place with not so many imposed regulations and with increasing tax and living cost like Western countries and not in a hell like Russia. Some of my Russian friends in Germany are in hurry to change citizenship to German and do it in about 2 years after arrival. The German citizenship is a good base to get social benefits and live on them. Others like myself who has some better job and never unemployed do not change identity to Germans. Probably, it is from a desire to show that we are not for social benefits in Germany and a pride never to be unemployed.

You are right about Russians. I am also not happy with the current development of situation in Russia. The authorities are giving a Russian passport to any migrant from Tajikistan. No knowledge of Russian language, no official job in Russia is required for it. It is enough to have kids and to stay 2 years in Russia. No wonder that Russia is getting a hub of drug dealing. Meanwhile they are kicking out people of Slavic origin who after the collapse of the Soviet Union got citizenship of any of its republics apart of Russia. A number of migrants in Russia is far above 15 millions of people. This is an nonofficial evaluation. There are migrants from Egypt, Arab countries, Tajikistan, other Muslim countries, you name it. A plan to invite to Russia 50 million of new migrants is adopted. Russia is going to be a Muslim country with nuclear weapons. Also, Russia is one of the most corrupted countries in the world and you see in Thailand certainly not the best of the Russian society. Many of people with money in Russia are criminals. Therefore I fully understand a concern on Thai government about Russians.

OK. There are such regulations that can be imposed on any selected group of foreigners in Thailand. However, it is only a question of time when the same regulations will be on the rest of the farang community in Thailand. You just wait. Of course, it is not good for Thailand itself as western people would invest less money to Thai economy.

If you use extensions or even a multi o, you will.have to have some sort of residence. So if you do leave Sakaew, you will need to have some base to put on the visa application. You could do single o visa in Vientiane and list a hitel I suppose.

There is a recent thread about Pattaya. Appears Immigration there is requiring a lease on top of everytjing for extensions.

You have to decide what works for you and your wife.

From my perspective, easiest option for most is living in Bangkok, Pattaya and CM in that order. Seems like the more provincial the office, the more hassles, money grubbing, lack of knowledge about the rule of law or the willingness to operate within the limits of it.

Issan seems like such a headache with Immigration I don't know why any foreigner would settle down there. Horrorvstories ate posted daily.

Good luck

My wife wants to stay with her relatives and to care of her kin. Our mother in law is living with us and taking care about the house and a garden if we are out for long awhile. Locals at our village are very friendly people and with a good Internet connection I miss a company of my friends overseas not much. However I agree that to stay in a community of foreigners somewhere in CM is much nicer. An advantage to stay in a middle of nowhere is cheaper life cost if it may matter. I see in time that more and more Western people are relocating to our area. May be these are not from a rich strata.

My point was not living around foreigners, but rather in a metro atea where Immigration officers ate relatively honest and have a reasonable grasp of their duties.

The reason I bring up location is that you will be required to use that "outpost" for extensions and reporting...You already were clued in on the hassles and problems. You might have a lifetime of hassles or at least until that officer that gave you grief is relocated.

I'm sure being Russian doesn't help, not sure if it hurts. Lots of farang get these hassles.

I rather like Russians myself, I studied Russian language a bit in uni as well as History and Literature. I visited the Soviet Union in 83. Applaud you taking an Asian wife, very unRussian of you ☺ I wanted to be a diplomat. My interests returned to East Asia with the fall in 91. I should have stuck with it, I tbink Russia is a very interesting place now.