Almost first Australian kicked out of Thailand on Ed Visa

[LindsayBKK]

Arriving back to Bangkok from a short trip to Japan with boyfriend 10pm 2 nights ago we head to Immigration. Partner went through Thai side first & went to collect bags. I get to Immigration line & first get asked where is my visa, so I show him visa Penang, 90day stamps & Re-entry permit, he says "student No" you working go with him. Another guy takes me to a seat where they leave me for 45min until 1 head officer (male) askes why do I go to school I'm over 40. I said I don't speak 100% Thai, then he askes what school I go, I told him but he said no school that name, without checking anything. Now I knew I had to get boyfriend back to assist so put my sim into phone & with 3% charge able to let him know where I was. Left to sit another 40min or so, then a fat officer comes to me and says "come this way". Now I know where I am going if I agree to go but I said "mai pai" over & over. My partner who was only 30-40 feet away at gate was shouting "don't go" & I was telling him back , I wasn't going anywhere. Now a few more officers came out of there little immigration cave , you know the place they eat & chat & pretend to be busy, then suddenly my boyfriend jumps the gate running forward & slightly pushing a female officer (finding out later she was head officer that night) and officers come from all directions. Boyfriend first reached office then sat next to me, police were called and a long discussion between bf & officers went for 30min or more reminding immigration officers I had not done anything & my passport was in order. Police who said to bf there was nothing they could do as we had not broken any laws, the head officer old lady said she was pushed back. bf wai to her feet in an attempt to give her some satisfaction that she had won. Discussion between Police & Immigration went on & Police left. Now they ask me to go to their office to show on computer Thai Language School website and I tell them names of Teachers & Staff etc. then we see my face on the webpage and all was clear. Now a younger officer askes me who does my visas, I said I do. So I have to explain to him proceedure for

going to soon rajagarn Chang Wattana copies of documents etc. Then he says ok I'm in the clear but bf in big trouble. He went on to say my school has 2 companies

(me finding out later all Thai Schools have 2 company names) bf knew already and told officers that night (well 1am) but they didn't seem to know nor care. Now bf's turn to office where he tells the female boss she is very good at her job, if she is strict then can stop alot of criminals from getting into Thailand. She smiled. Finished, got my passport stamped by her at the gate and I was nice enough to wai her and she returned with a wai. Now the thing that helped our case my bf's occupation plus I left alot of details off for privacy issues. Now just to conclude I was asked for a student card but my school doesn't give. I told my school what happened but I didn't get response I expected, Thais just like defending themselves but giving solutions to problems is not something they are good at. Next time we travel boyfriend will be behind me @ immigration til I go through, then he will go Thai side. And I will be seeking student card before travel next time.

[GrantSmith]

Too be fair... You technically hadn't cleared Immigration, so you weren't legally in Thailand, so legally you would have been denied entry...

Now had you cleared Immigration (stamp in the passport etc) and then had been picked up by Immigration and "booted" then, perhaps you could lay claim to the implications made in the thread title. But, then again, there's probably a good chance that one of our countrymen/women have beaten you to the - dubious - title.

In the end a cool story... Though the reader is left wondering what lessons are to be garnered from this harrowing tale of epic proportions?

Seems there's a few pieces missing from the chessboard, which, perhaps could be potentially addressed in the sequel?

[Tywais]

Post and reply commenting on a member's grammar removed.

[LindsayBKK]

Lessons :
get student ID card from your school
know your stamps visa, 90day, re-entry & dates
know the 2 company names of Thai school you attend
(all Thai Language Schools have 2 names)
know Teachers names, staff etc. I did, well nicknames.
know your schools website, (I will be making T-shirts & wear when I return)
If you have Thai partner get them to wait until you are through immigration before
going out Thai side. (If my partner did not jump the gate I was gone) Also I would have done the same for him. Stand your ground when you know you are right & have done nothing wrong.
Thai Immigration do not know the term "Innocent until proven guilty"
I was "Guilty until I proved to them I was innocent"
Finally the old immigration officer (I suspect is gay) who gave nothing but doubt
did not check the internet for school until police arrived, plus he also said to my
partner that he was going to kick out all ed visa farang who crossed his path. This guy should not be working @Suvarnabhumi Airport.

[angiud]

Two posts deleted. Be more polite and write if you have something to say :-)

[Sheryl]

I think it is fairly clear that the OP means he should not be working there because he has stated a blanket intention to not to allow in farangs on ED visas.

However I would agree that OP's post would have done better not to mention the presumed sexual orientation of the immigration officer; I don't see the relevance of it.

Some posts have been edited for civility and some have been removed. Please refrain from name calling of any sort, Keep it civil or don't post.

[Tomtomtom69]

Lessons :

get student ID card from your school

know your stamps visa, 90day, re-entry & dates

know the 2 company names of Thai school you attend

(all Thai Language Schools have 2 names)

know Teachers names, staff etc. I did, well nicknames.

know your schools website, (I will be making T-shirts & wear when I return)

If you have Thai partner get them to wait until you are through immigration before

going out Thai side. (If my partner did not jump the gate I was gone) Also I would have done the same for him. Stand your ground when you know you are right & have done nothing wrong.

Thai Immigration do not know the term "Innocent until proven guilty"

I was "Guilty until I proved to them I was innocent"

Finally the old immigration officer (I suspect is gay) who gave nothing but doubt

did not check the internet for school until police arrived, plus he also said to my

partner that he was going to kick out all ed visa farang who crossed his path. This guy should not be working @Suvarnabhumi Airport.

This is good information - but I'm surprised this has happened to you. I have never known immigration officers, particularly at Suvarnabhumi Airport questioning the passport or visa of a traveler from a western country. They normally don't even speak to you...this is really a first and I must say I am still mystified as to why you were even questioned in the first place if all your documents were in order. Also, the comment that you are over 40 and "still studying" I find to be quite offensive. Haven't those idiots who questioned you heard of "life long learning"? Obviously not, it seems...there is nothing that states that you can't be a language student or a university student at any particular age...indeed, when I was studying for my Bachelor's Degree there were plenty of 30s, 40s and 50s year old's doing the same thing alongside me. Ditto when I studied Chinese in China at a university - many students from Korea and Japan were in their 40s and 50s, while westerners and SE Asian students were more likely to be in their 20s or occasionally early to mid 30s.

[rijb]

Where was the 'fat officer' trying to take you?

Edited July 18, 2013 by rijb

[snake24]

No offense to you Lindsay but you mentioned you are from Australia and around 40 studying thai in a language school and I would assume your bf would be a thai national if he can have a long conversation with the officers.

[snake24]

Why didn't u want to go with the fat officer and why did the bf tell u not to go

[Mario2008]

1 post containing unsuppote claim of seeking for bribe removed.

[LindsayBKK]

Dear

snake24 My partner jumped back over from outside, he already had gone to collect bags. I will speak slowly for you. He jumped over knowing & me included where I was going if I had gone with fat officer. Yes when the police arrived we were sitting talking to police & immigration. Police said to my bf that they could do nothing as no law(to them) had been broken. But female officer complained she was pushed by my bf. Immigration only looked at internet after police arrived. Before bf jumped fence I was explaining to immigration officer my school address, teachers, how long I had been going to that school but he wanted me to prove it with Student Card or School Business Card which I did not have. They had no interest or intent to believe anything I was saying, their minds were made up already. The fat officer was going to take me away to get locked up and sent back to Australia because that is what the female officer said to my bf. She was asking him why he was so willing to defend me from leaving, to which he replied because we had been together for more than 10 years.

Only after police left I was asked to show evidence (once again guilty until I prove I'm innocent) of school website, names of teachers, & seeing my photo on internet did they finally say 'ok' can see you are real student. I was then escorted to immigration counter to get passport stamped (she put wrong arrival date stamp on passport by the way) and we left. The End.

[skippybangkok]

What an attitude. I have always been cordially treated at immigration, worst maybe a slightly grumpy officer

You must be pretty borderline to attract so much attention, let alone a BF acting like a kid

[LindsayBKK]

It had nothing to do with attitude or borderline, if you had read what I said it was my age for being a student that they did not believe. I answered their questions in a polite Thai tone, I spoke Thai mostly. Yes your right maybe my bf should have just let them send me away.

[LindsayBKK]

Please explain what you would have done.

And please tell me what you have done if the fat officer asked you to go with him.

My bf was very thorough in explaining my situation to all police & immigration officers so don't know how you get the conclusion of bf acting like a kid, I don't think you know how the Thais in high rank converse but my bf is actually higher rank but didn't want to use it. When they searched his name on the internet they went quiet & let us leave.

[jombom]

Tip to OP. If traveling with a Thai national you can use the Thai passport gate. You are less likely to be queried.

[hansje1980]

How can u say u stand ground when you both start to wai? U didnt do anything

[snake24]

Dear

snake24 My partner jumped back over from outside, he already had gone to collect bags. I will speak slowly for you. He jumped over knowing & me included where I was going if I had gone with fat officer. Yes when the police arrived we were sitting talking to police & immigration. Police said to my bf that they could do nothing as no law(to them) had been broken. But female officer complained she was pushed by my bf. Immigration only looked at internet after police arrived. Before bf jumped fence I was explaining to immigration officer my school address, teachers, how long I had been going to that school but he wanted me to prove it with Student Card or School Business Card which I did not have. They had no interest or intent to believe anything I was saying, their minds were made up already. The fat officer was going to take me away to get locked up and sent back to Australia because that is what the female officer said to my bf. She was asking him why he was so willing to defend me from leaving, to which he replied because we had been together for more than 10 years.

Only after police left I was asked to show evidence (once again guilty until I prove I'm innocent) of school website, names of teachers, & seeing my photo on internet did they finally say 'ok' can see you are real student. I was then escorted to immigration counter to get passport stamped (she put wrong arrival date stamp on passport by the way) and we left. The End.

I was actually surprised well cos you must be caucasian wanting to learn thai and your bf must be a thai national. I suppose the immigration officers couldn't see such a pairing cos i suppose that isn't common that was why i stated no offense in the 1st post.

[skippybangkok]

...my bf is actually higher rank but didn't want to use it. When they searched his name on the internet they went quiet & let us leave.

Well doodle pop I say

[LindsayBKK]

Thanks for that going out Thai side tip, will in future.

Edited August 26, 2013 by LindsayBKK

[ilocos]

This is very common. Not everyone posts on Thai Visa their problems with ED VISAS. You are one of thousands. My colleague had to pay 20,000 to escape IDC. So many doubting Thomases I suspect sitting comfortably on their retirement visas. I do not doubt your story and understand you did nothing to cause problem.

[saakura]

You say you have been with your thai bf for over 10yrs. Have you been on ED visas all these years? And why keep repeating 'fat' immigration officer? His size has nothing to do with his attitude.

[Bernard Flint]

10 years with your higher rank thai bf,and you go down the ed route?????. I do understand that a 40 yo hasnt got many options but if you are living in Thailand,and studying thai language,then surely your relationship is strong so why not get married