Suvarnabhumi Immigration arrest Russian for using stolen visa label

[Badbanker]

Most Africans can only apply for a new visa in their home country, so buying a round trip to West Africa and getting a visa is real expensive, so buying one in KL is not a bad idea.

Only problem is the KL Thai Consulate doesn't and can't issue visas to most African countries, so your visa from KL is going to be false any way you look at it.

So these brain surgeons thought is was a good option to spend 30,000 baht.

Next problem is many of them have been deported from Thailand for drugs or other crimes and are black listed! So, for some it has been a double whammy!

[Kanaloa]

I understood that Russian Nationals did not need a visa to visit Thailand? At least that is what I was told by many Russians when I was in Moscow last year. So what is this all about?

[Scott]

A post with a commercial link has been removed as well as one with a quote only.

There are a number of less than legal methods by which people obtain visas to stay in Thailand. Most of these involve a visa which is legal and is issued by an immigration officer. The method of obtain the visa is not.

I wonder if these people thought they were getting a legal visa in their passport rather than a stolen one?

[Joe Bloggs]

The theft of paper documents is a worldwide problem. In the UK the theft of blank Ministry Of Transport test certificates (the certificates that prove that a vehicle was roadworthy on the day of the test) used to be big business until electronic MOTs replaced them. Allegedly the blank certificates were worth at least £50 each so even a pad of fifty was worth a lot of money. "Bent" MOTs could be used to tax or sell an unroadworthy vehicle so something had to be done. The electronic MOT system was built by Siemens and the MOT pad thieves were put out of business.

To try to save money the government outsourced a lot of its document printing. Allegedly a lot of the printing is done in Leicester "the city of a thousand trades!" One of those trades must be stealing as a large quantity of blank vehicle log books disappeared from the printers. The result was that ALL the old log books in the country (the blue ones) have had to be replaced.with red ones!

Allegedly in Leicester it is also possible to buy fake passports and driving licences. The snag is that these fake documents have no credibility in the UK as the veracity of them can easily be checked by computer. Outside of the UK it is a different story.

A person who works in the security industry told me of an amusing story. A traveller arrived at Heathrow Airport with one of the new electronic passports. The passport was 100% genuine regarding its paper and printing but there was a snag. None of the new passports had been issued at that time!

The US now checks peoples credibility before they travel with the US Visa Waiver Program. In theory however it is still possible to create a Day Of The Jackal type false identity. Dead people are unlikely to have jobs and credit cards however so this loophole has pretty much been closed! There is still the risk of ID theft however.

[PoorSucker]

I understood that Russian Nationals did not need a visa to visit Thailand? At least that is what I was told by many Russians when I was in Moscow last year. So what is this all about?

Russian can get 30 day visa exempt stamp at arrival.

Same as most countries, only difference is that they also receive 30 days at land border.

[MegaRanter]

It's hard for nigerians to get visa around the region.

It's even harder for them to get one in Nigeria. You need two guarantors who are either senior civil servants or business executives to vouch for you in writing with pictures attached, that if you dabble in drugs in Thailand, that they would be held as accomplices.

That's why I said it would be rare to see a Nigerian in Thai prison with a visa issued in Abuja.

So not surprised, if they keep buying around illegally the easier options.

[DGIE]

How come visa stickers were lost at the Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur?

Shall they not throw their suspicion to the one in the desk where the visas were lost? She might have connection with the gang

[longtom]

A post with a commercial link has been removed as well as one with a quote only.

There are a number of less than legal methods by which people obtain visas to stay in Thailand. Most of these involve a visa which is legal and is issued by an immigration officer. The method of obtain the visa is not.

I wonder if these people thought they were getting a legal visa in their passport rather than a stolen one?

Finally somebody who knows about this. One can get 'legal' visas (issued by different (changing) Thai embassies from all over the world) in most Thai tourist places, often organised by reputable Thai travel agencies, for 20'000 to 30'000 ThB.

Only problem is the missing entry/exit stamps into the country where the visa was 'issued', or as in this rare case, when the visa numbers are getting known 'by accident'.

There must be thousands of such visas going lost in Thai embassies all over the world, every year, and I doubt this is because of lacking safes .

[londonthai]

"developing the system of electric visa in the near future."

shocking

[TackyToo]

The source also believes that some embassy officials might have a hand in the illegal trade of Thai visa stickers.

Na the source is wrong, they have already completed a thorough investigation and publically announced that "NO" thais are involved is this racket.

And the outcome is what? 5 years for the guys who used the visa, 5 month on probation (after paying bail) for “mama” and 5 weeks inactive post for the guy who left the labels on his desk?

[balo]

The police should visit the Visa office operating opposite Tukcom Pattaya . They are selling non immigrant visas for 40000 baht .

[ericthai]

how did she find 300 people to buy visas for 30,000 baht??

are there that many that cant enter by legal means?

ie just walk across and get 15 days

Wonder how many are false/stolen passports

This just does not ring well;

Meanwhile, a source said a Thai woman referred to as "Mama" was allegedly behind this case.

"She's active in Bangkok's Pattanakarn area. She's still in Thailand," the source said.

Ongoing investigation suggests that the foreign nationals handed over their passport, a photograph and Bt10,000 to "Mama" to apply for the visa, and a few days later, they were required to pay another Bt20,000 to retrieve their passport with the relevant visa.

Crossing the boarder and getting back in on a visa exempt is only for countries that are eligible for the visa exempt. If you look at the countries of these people they do not qualify ie. India, Pakistan, Cameroon etc. Therefore the must have a visa to enter Thailand.

[aguy30]

A post with a commercial link has been removed as well as one with a quote only.

There are a number of less than legal methods by which people obtain visas to stay in Thailand. Most of these involve a visa which is legal and is issued by an immigration officer. The method of obtain the visa is not.

I wonder if these people thought they were getting a legal visa in their passport rather than a stolen one?

It is my guess that none of the buyers knew the visas were stolen.

The buyers probably thought they were getting expedited service and they were short cutting the normal time, inconvience or scrutiny that an embassy would exercise. Maybe this is how many private visas agencies and providers have been obtaining the visas for years.

[sirchai]

Mr. Alexander confessed that he had bought the label from a shopping mall in the Malaysian capital before he used it to try entering Thailand.

The immigration office announced that other 11 people arrested are from Cameroon, Guinea, Pakistan, Iran and India.

Thought they'd only import pigs from Guinea? Glad that nobody knows of my sticker...-

Edited August 25, 2013 by sirchai

[sting123]

The theft of paper documents is a worldwide problem. In the UK the theft of blank Ministry Of Transport test certificates (the certificates that prove that a vehicle was roadworthy on the day of the test) used to be big business until electronic MOTs replaced them. Allegedly the blank certificates were worth at least £50 each so even a pad of fifty was worth a lot of money. "Bent" MOTs could be used to tax or sell an unroadworthy vehicle so something had to be done. The electronic MOT system was built by Siemens and the MOT pad thieves were put out of business.

To try to save money the government outsourced a lot of its document printing. Allegedly a lot of the printing is done in Leicester "the city of a thousand trades!" One of those trades must be stealing as a large quantity of blank vehicle log books disappeared from the printers. The result was that ALL the old log books in the country (the blue ones) have had to be replaced.with red ones!

Allegedly in Leicester it is also possible to buy fake passports and driving licences. The snag is that these fake documents have no credibility in the UK as the veracity of them can easily be checked by computer. Outside of the UK it is a different story.

A person who works in the security industry told me of an amusing story. A traveller arrived at Heathrow Airport with one of the new electronic passports. The passport was 100% genuine regarding its paper and printing but there was a snag. None of the new passports had been issued at that time!

The US now checks peoples credibility before they travel with the US Visa Waiver Program. In theory however it is still possible to create a Day Of The Jackal type false identity. Dead people are unlikely to have jobs and credit cards however so this loophole has pretty much been closed! There is still the risk of ID theft however.

Depending of the location where the forged documents will be used, and/or whatfaor they will be used; there is still loopholes within both the way they are issued and the way to they will be used. The good oldway to proceed created in the early 70' is still possible, hassles are bigger, mostly on how to cover your traces. But assuming the need for such forged documents is not immediates (and it shall never be), then it is still possible to get a fake US ID and get real, official and valid docuemntations related to that ID.

As you claim to know people in the security industry, I will not develop more (in fact I will not because there is no need to provide info to wannabee terrorists). There is no shileds that will block every swords, there is no sword that can break every shields ...

That said, the way many use (with the tacite approval from Embassy staffs) is shaddy : we go morning to the Embassy but we do nto even enter, instead we provide our passport (document that does NOT belongst to indivdual, but to the State) to some monkey that is sitting outside , picking his nose, said monkey doing the work in our place. So the 'Mama' story is only a development of an existing (and disgusting in my opinion, but both Embassy staff, and wannabe sexpat), nothing more. The very fact the person applying for a visa must present itself in personn exist for every country is based on the very fact : Innocent have nothing to hide, not even themself.

End of my rent, just wanted to remenber many of us who stay here (but not all) are here for 'weird' reasons. and use shaddy methods to extend their stay (tourism is not staying 365 days per year in the same location ... at least on the dictionary).

Wish you all a good day.

[monkeycountry]

"providing each embassy a security safe"...

Where do they keep our passport when they keep them overnight?

It doesn't really matter.

At my local immigration office, the processed passports are kept in a small basket for people to pick up. There is probably 50-100 passports at any given time, and foreigners just go and look through them all until they find their own, take it and leave. There is no supervision, noone you have to tell or show that you just took your own passport, nothing to sign, and no camera, so one could easily take someone elses passport or take a whole bunch of passports. I do not think anyone does, as I have never heard of there being any trouble, I am just saying that one easily could, so no need to break in in the middle of the night if you want to steal passports.

[ableguy]

This whole case sucks of corruption at the highest levei, but what the hell so what is new ??????? for a budhist country and his teachings this place is a failed stste,

[ableguy]

The theft of paper documents is a worldwide problem. In the UK the theft of blank Ministry Of Transport test certificates (the certificates that prove that a vehicle was roadworthy on the day of the test) used to be big business until electronic MOTs replaced them. Allegedly the blank certificates were worth at least £50 each so even a pad of fifty was worth a lot of money. "Bent" MOTs could be used to tax or sell an unroadworthy vehicle so something had to be done. The electronic MOT system was built by Siemens and the MOT pad thieves were put out of business.

To try to save money the government outsourced a lot of its document printing. Allegedly a lot of the printing is done in Leicester "the city of a thousand trades!" One of those trades must be stealing as a large quantity of blank vehicle log books disappeared from the printers. The result was that ALL the old log books in the country (the blue ones) have had to be replaced.with red ones!

Allegedly in Leicester it is also possible to buy fake passports and driving licences. The snag is that these fake documents have no credibility in the UK as the veracity of them can easily be checked by computer. Outside of the UK it is a different story.

A person who works in the security industry told me of an amusing story. A traveller arrived at Heathrow Airport with one of the new electronic passports. The passport was 100% genuine regarding its paper and printing but there was a snag. None of the new passports had been issued at that time!

The US now checks peoples credibility before they travel with the US Visa Waiver Program. In theory however it is still possible to create a Day Of The Jackal type false identity. Dead people are unlikely to have jobs and credit cards however so this loophole has pretty much been closed! There is still the risk of ID theft however.

Depending of the location where the forged documents will be used, and/or whatfaor they will be used; there is still loopholes within both the way they are issued and the way to they will be used. The good oldway to proceed created in the early 70' is still possible, hassles are bigger, mostly on how to cover your traces. But assuming the need for such forged documents is not immediates (and it shall never be), then it is still possible to get a fake US ID and get real, official and valid docuemntations related to that ID.

As you claim to know people in the security industry, I will not develop more (in fact I will not because there is no need to provide info to wannabee terrorists). There is no shileds that will block every swords, there is no sword that can break every shields ...

That said, the way many use (with the tacite approval from Embassy staffs) is shaddy : we go morning to the Embassy but we do nto even enter, instead we provide our passport (document that does NOT belongst to indivdual, but to the State) to some monkey that is sitting outside , picking his nose, said monkey doing the work in our place. So the 'Mama' story is only a development of an existing (and disgusting in my opinion, but both Embassy staff, and wannabe sexpat), nothing more. The very fact the person applying for a visa must present itself in personn exist for every country is based on the very fact : Innocent have nothing to hide, not even themself.

End of my rent, just wanted to remenber many of us who stay here (but not all) are here for 'weird' reasons. and use shaddy methods to extend their stay (tourism is not staying 365 days per year in the same location ... at least on the dictionary).

Wish you all a good day.

Sounds like a drug rant to me