Fingerprint scans to debut at Thai Immigration to catch known criminals

[lavender19]

So they are only going to fingerprint foreigners not Thai's?

Oh that's right they already know most of the crims in Thailand and have warrants for them but can not bother doing anything about it.That would mean upsetting someone and actually getting off their a-ses and doing what they are paid for.Much easier to let a machine do the work but then they have got to find someone with any sense to operate it.

Bound to turn into a shambolic mess as usual

[phuketrichard]

Given the borders of Thailand aren't walled, it should be easy enough for criminals wanting to enter/exit Thailand simply to walk in/out. How good is then the security of the neighboring countries ?

couple of times i have driven right out of cambodia an into thailand without showing my pasport or anything ( Palin Border)

had to drvie back to park, and walk back to Cambodia and get stamped out.

Of all the times i have exited from Thailand into Laos, Cambodia or Malaysia or entered into Thailand not once has my car been looked into

[DrTuner]

So they are only going to fingerprint foreigners not Thai's?

AFAIK Thais are already printed when they get their ID's. They'd be printed when exiting Thailand just the same and if in the wanted databases and a match -> .. what actually happens, airport security snatches them ?

[northengr]

Imagine Mr and Mrs average with the ankle bitters in tow ,after a twelve hour trip, standing in line to be finger printed and the signs say, Welcome To Thailand the Land of Smiles. What a introduction to Thailand . I rest my case.

12 hour? Try standing on that 2 hour line after traveling for 30 hours like most Americans do. Maybe time to sell condos?

[max72]

Passport lines going from 45-60 minutes (my last 4-5 trips) to.....2-3 hours ?

[freedom4life]

Listen to this puppet..."other countries do it" or "it will benefit the whole country" It benefits big brother and wishing to gain more control and lock-down on people as a whole...You globalist-puppet. Who is pulling your strings to do this? Scum...turning Thailand into a military-state.

[mojorison]

Listen to this puppet..."other countries do it" or "it will benefit the whole country" It benefits big brother and wishing to gain more control and lock-down on people as a whole...You globalist-puppet. Who is pulling your strings to do this? Scum...turning Thailand into a military-state.

Top notch rant. Well done to you sir.

[davidmann]

Is Thaksin Shinawatra's prints on file ...

He is selling them the machines

[John1thru10]

I personally don't have any bad feelng about being fingerprinted. I don't have a criminal record or anything, and so it wouldn't really affect me in any way I can imagine at the moment. What does bother me, is the spirit of the latest crackdown. I've never worked in Thailand, or personally make sure to never take advantage of Thailand in any way that is detrimental to Thais. i love this country. I am just dismayed that that in itself I never have a chance to explain to any official: It doesn't give one some kind of automatic right to live somewhere, but I feel in a good system should count for something, especially after being given a chance to prove that my funds do come from outside of Thailand excluseively. That is what is 'claimed' to be the issue, right? Working illegally. If one doesn't, then there should be an opportunity to speak with immigration to show that, with options perhaps opening in light of that. At this point, i feel like a person who is pressumed dishonest, because of the actions of other white people.

[Bluespunk]

I personally don't have any bad feelng about being fingerprinted. I don't have a criminal record or anything, and so it wouldn't really affect me in any way I can imagine at the moment. What does bother me, is the spirit of the latest crackdown. I've never worked in Thailand, or personally make sure to never take advantage of Thailand in any way that is detrimental to Thais. i love this country. I am just dismayed that that in itself I never have a chance to explain to any official: It doesn't give one some kind of automatic right to live somewhere, but I feel in a good system should count for something, especially after being given a chance to prove that my funds do come from outside of Thailand excluseively. That is what is 'claimed' to be the issue, right? Working illegally. If one doesn't, then there should be an opportunity to speak with immigration to show that, with options perhaps opening in light of that. At this point, i feel like a person who is pressumed dishonest, because of the actions of other white people.

What's skin colour got to do with it? Immigration officials are equal opportunities discriminators.

If you're not Thai then you don't count or have any rights.

They don't care what colour you are.

[brain150]

Quote from a very smart guy a very long time ago:

People who give up their liberties for security deserve neither !

It's amazing how brainwashed people seem to be to welcome an idea that is completely unacceptable to any sane person !

Being treated like a criminal, filed in a database [probably directly connected to the NSA] and welcoming such an idea

is out order as much as it can be.

This is simply one more stone in the puzzle of total control through surveillance and will strike back on ALL people.

As soon as all this is implemented there will be nothing left in terms of privacy [if anybody can even remember what this term actually means !!!]

This has happened many times in the past and the result was always the same ... total tyranny of the regime, who ever it was.

Anybody who welcomes this idea should take some history lessons to find out why these things are happening and what the

historic results have been. It is now possible to penetrate privacy deeper and deeper and if people don't realize this then the

total loss of any kind of privacy will be the final result ... and the majority here seem to think it would be a good thing.

... this is insane !!!

[alocacoc]

brain150, it's all about the "i have nothing to hide mentality". This is a result of a very successful brainwashing machinery. Even it is not necessary to study the history, it should be enough to follow current development around the globe.

http://www.wired.com/2013/06/why-i-have-nothing-to-hide-is-the-wrong-way-to-think-about-surveillance/

[weegee]

Total waste of money and nothing more than an empire building attempt to get the money in the first place. Spruik up the problem first, plus pressure from OS, then grab that cash. Thai ID cards have biometric data. Fingerprint scans are taken when the Thai passport application is made, whether this is a check or is stored on a chip in the passport I'm not sure. Thailand should be applying pressure on the other countries to stop their criminals from leaving home. Home countries should apply the same passport standards that Thailand does, scan those that are leaving not those entering.

If home countries DID apply the same standards as Thailand....NO Thai would live in my country with less than a 90 day report to immigration...and would not be collecting financial assistance from said country, to send home.

Can just see it now.....Hub of "The finger print scam"

[Bpuumike]

God knows what the real tourism figures will be after they finish their crackdown. Every single tourist?

Damn that will take a while to process. Standing behind a queue of Chinese arrivals is going to be even more joyous.

It literally takes a couple of seconds.

[a99az]

Is Thaksin Shinawatra's prints on file ...

Are!

[Bpuumike]

Imagine Mr and Mrs average with the ankle bitters in tow ,after a twelve hour trip, standing in line to be finger printed and the signs say, Welcome To Thailand the Land of Smiles. What a introduction to Thailand . I rest my case.

12 hour? Try standing on that 2 hour line after traveling for 30 hours like most Americans do. Maybe time to sell condos?

You don't get your case till after Immigration.

Some other countries already have this fingerprint procedure.

[bigbamboo]

You can just imagine the Thai fingerprint database. A room the size of a Thai rice warehouse with million upon millions of smudged fingerprints all signed dated and waiting to be stamped by endless Immigration police captains and lieutenants specially promoted for the job.

[a99az]

Interesting! I wonder how many known criminals and terrorists have there finger prints on file?

[attrayant]

The sale of fine course sandpaper will increase. Fine course sandpaper is used to sand off your finger prints. It take a long time and can be very painful.

It doesn't sand them off so much as it causes calluses to develop, obscuring the prints. Don't ask me how I know.

[Krataiboy]

Now let's see if I have got this right. So you poll up at the Immigration desk, hand in your passport and have your fingerprints taken. This presumably only takes a minute or two. But if the only way to check whether you are a wanted criminal is to check your prints against those of known crooks from all over the world, how long must this take?

Although everyone's fingerprints are unique, the differences can be infinitesimal and only an expert can be sure of a match - usually as a result of painstaking analysis.

Or will they be using some sort of smart software that only takes a second or two to scan millions of fingerprints, without ever making an error? This is hard to imagine, knowing Thailand. And supposing the red light flashes, telling the immigration officer that you are on Interpol's "wanted" list? What's the procedure from then on?

I'm just trying to imagine the scene if a perfectly law-abiding traveler is hauled out of the queue at Bangkok airport and wrongly identified of being a fugitive simply on the grounds of a close fingerprint match. Sure, you can protest your innocence, but are you going to be allowed to contact a lawyer or consulate? Or is it fast track to one of the infamous remand centres for interrogation and an endless wait for the chance to answer unknown charges?

This really sounds pretty scary. A long wait in an airport queue is a small inconvenience compared with being banged up in the Bangkok Hilton with nobody to turn to for help.

[wotaplonker]

is it me or is Thailand gradually turning into the old East Germany?

[Bpuumike]

They already have fingerprint scanners in the Amphur offices. They are checked against the ID cards. When my wife got a new ID card, her fingerprints were taken and when she had finished, they were double checked on the scanners at the desks.

Also, she was required to give her fingerprints for her UK visas. There are scanners at Heathrow, presumably to check her identity, but when we travelled through together, the IO was asking her quite a few questions that appeared to be ID related (what's your name, where were you born, what's your DOB etc.etc.) at no point was she asked to have her fingerprints scanned. I did ask, if you want to check she's the same person who applied for the visa, why don't you scan her fingerprints? After all, she did have to queue up for two and a half hours at the VFS visa centre to have them recorded.

Blank stare from the IO. Long queues got longer as the technology they insist on having wasn't used.

So far, a total of three entries to the UK and she has yet to be asked for a fingerprint check.

Off topic, but iris scanning seemed to die a quiet death in the UK.

The equipment rarely worked.

[rebelplatoon]

For REAL CRIMINALS changing fingerprints is no biggie either. I know brick layers who don t have matching prints due to their jobs. If they would go the way of changing i.d. and looks changing fingerprints is not that hard. Ah well. Wonder who s SUPPLYING the equipment?

[Soutpeel]

Keep in mind that you need to have a file on record with Interpol (which most criminals do not) or in Thailand. This presumably includes being fingerprinted and charged with DUI. I know a few people that have been caught in the DUI net before and I wonder if they too will find themselves in trouble at Immigration due to this charge being on local record.

Not being an expert on the Interpol Database, I would venture to guess that DUI and other minor offenses would not be included. Interpol, after visiting their website, seems to be interested in people who have commited much more serious offenses, such as homicide, kidnapping, drug trafficking, etc.

I once had my car stolen in Denmark while I was living in Germany. Interpol took it in as a case and they called me when they found the car. It's not only serious offences.

I think it was on discovery or the History channel, but remember seeing something on Interpol, and think they said they would take any case if the crime was extraditable and obviously the local plods ask them to get involved and I think an offense is only extraditable if it has a jail sentence which has a jail sentence of 1 year or more, believe this is an international agreement, therefore something like a simple DUI is classed as a misdemeanor in places and doesn't attract a jail sentence of equal to or more than 12 months.

[Bpuumike]

Biometric passports have already fingerprints

Not UK biometric passports.

Unless you're including the thousands on the covers and pages from being handled.

[Bpuumike]

is it me or is Thailand gradually turning into the old East Germany?

Just you I'm afraid.

[Thai at Heart]

"The budget has yet to be approved, but we hope to introduce fingerprint-scanning machines by the end of 2014, Immigration Commissioner Pharnu Kerdlarpphon confirmed to the Phuket Gazette yesterday."

This sentence alone probably means it won't happen, but if it does, are they scanning Thais as well?

If not, why not? Most of the criminal element in Thailand are Thai and more likely to have their prints in a national data base.

Do they have any idea how many truly dodgy people they would catch?

Thousands. The westerners alone would be in the multiple thousands and the Thais? Lol.

They'd need to expand the prisons.

Are they gojng to ask long stayers to register their prints? If not, why not?

[Soutpeel]

Biometric passports have already fingerprints

Not UK biometric passports.

Unless you're including the thousands on the covers and pages from being handled.

Where they not talking about putting the fingerprints on the PP chip and there was an uproar in the UK over invasion of privacy/data theft about the same time the BBC had a report about how easy it was for someone to get the data off the chip and clone stuff and it died a quiet death ?

Might have been around the same time they were trying to make all UK citizens get ID cards and the uproar that caused ?....I remember it well, as I picked my new PP at the BE and the guy behind the counter said the next you come you will have to get an ID card and said to him, don't want one, he said well you will not get a new PP...l

[attrayant]

342 million baht? for the whole of Thailand? this seems very cheap.

That's about $11 million. They might be able to do it if it's just at the border, not at every single immigration office. I'm not clear on the scale of the project, but I suspect the total cost of ownership has been glossed-over. Here's what they should be budgeting for:

Hardware procurement

Vendor support contract

Installation

Network & data transport service fee

Configuration

Testing

Deployment

Training

Production

Management

Maintenance

[Soutpeel]

342 million baht? for the whole of Thailand? this seems very cheap.

That's about $11 million. They might be able to do it if it's just at the border, not at every single immigration office. I'm not clear on the scale of the project, but I suspect the total cost of ownership has been glossed-over. Here's what they should be budgeting for:

Hardware procurement

Vendor support contract

Installation

Network & data transport service fee

Configuration

Testing

Deployment

Training

Production

Management

Maintenance

Like the Dummy CCTV camera's....USD 11 million will buy a lot of dummy finger print scanners and still leave the 30% for the little brown envelopes to be handed out...