Hua Hin Immigration clarifies rules on foreigners carrying ID

[tingtongfarang]

I reckon a Thai DL will be ok

 

I reckon this issue warrants a travel warning on the websites of all countries
 

[JonathanBP]

I just do not understand the complaints re carry ur passport.

I carried my original passport from USA to and around in Nepal, five times.

to Tibet twice, once overland.

to Bhutan three times.

to India six times with one one-month continuous stay.

to VN, Lao, Cambodia, Singapore, Manila, Japan, parts of EU including the Cannes Film Festival three times.

 

My travel included air, bus, long distant taxi (in India! + elsewhere), taxi, tuk tuk, yak, and horse ... all alone.

There are other activities where my belongings were able to be stolen including swimming and beach trips.

 

I have never lost my passport.   All that travel alone over a 20 yr period and still have them, past and current.

 

Why?  How can that be ?

 

I don't get drunk, do not do dope, and watch the company I keep.  I carry passport in a neck pouch or that in a sealed plastic bag.  I could lose it tomorrow, especially after I have written this, but that is a pretty good record.

 

What is your problem?

 

I have no objection to carrying my passport, and almost 100% of the time do, EXCEPT to the beach, that's insane....and that is what I objected....I lived in South Africa for 6 years, Argentina 1, China 1, Mexico 1 year, all needed ID, except China allowed a photocopy of a passport.

 

Who would take their passport to a beach anyway? If I go alone, I don't take my wallet either!
 

[charliebru]

This is getting beyond annoying. I have been carrying a copy of my passport front page and visa stamp. I want my passport locked up in a safe or being held for bike rental. It is also annoying that each immigration office is making their own rules; these should come only from the head Immigration official.  I'm formulating my plan "B"; this doesn't go on in other countries.

[max72]

Well it may be the law but sometimes the law is an ass.

Having just been to hell and back renewing my UK passport, including a cancelled trip to the Philippines at the cost of non-refundable flights and hotel bookings, there is no way I'm going to risk losing my new passport by carrying it around every day.

Even in Amazing Thailand, the total lack of thinking things through and the possible consequences just beggars belief.

It's all been said above but I'm thinking that the 'powers that be' just don't want farang here any more - they try to make life more and more difficult for the "98%" who do nothing wrong, bring in foreign currency and spend it here, support families and generally integrate into everyday Thai life.

No wonder so many seem to be looking elsewhere now - I would too but being settled with wife and young son it's a hell of a thought to relocate at my age.

I carry a Thai driving licence and have a photocopy of my passport, visa, 90 days etc in my car but original passport is safely locked away at home.

I guess it's too naive to even suggest that common sense should prevail!

 

Just look to the posts of citizens suggestions to the junta.

Some posts were just inflamed posts full of hatre against foreigners asking the junta to take out all westerners from Thailand who are causing a price rising in the property market (bull....t ! perhaps only in few beaches).

It is clear now: they want all genuine toutists out and never come back to Thailand again. You can't spent a holiday under a reing of constant terror and threats of being stopped , fined, jailed and stolen. You can't even move a finger without being at danger. Next holiday season will see lots of desperate Thais as well, the ones who rely on tourism for living

Edited July 30, 2014 by max72

[thairastawoman]

Never anybody wlll be able to explain something clearly in this country. What a shame.

[jaapfries]

It just isn't realistic or practical for many of us.  I've been working here for 21 years and if I had been keeping it with me all this time it would bound to have either been lost, stolen or damaged at some point.  Plus stress of that happening or forgetting it. 

 

I thought there was a policy of presenting it when asked in a reasonable amount of time such as 24 hours.  Guess not.

 

I have also lived/worked here for a long time (22+ years) and in ALL that time, I have never ever been asked to produce any kind of ID or Passport. The only exception is on the highways & by-ways of this Kingdom, where a Thai D/L was always asked for and produced.

[khunpa]

 

I just do not understand the complaints re carry ur passport.

I carried my original passport from USA to and around in Nepal, five times.

to Tibet twice, once overland.

to Bhutan three times.

to India six times with one one-month continuous stay.

to VN, Lao, Cambodia, Singapore, Manila, Japan, parts of EU including the Cannes Film Festival three times.

 

My travel included air, bus, long distant taxi (in India! + elsewhere), taxi, tuk tuk, yak, and horse ... all alone.

There are other activities where my belongings were able to be stolen including swimming and beach trips.

 

I have never lost my passport.   All that travel alone over a 20 yr period and still have them, past and current.

 

Why?  How can that be ?

 

I don't get drunk, do not do dope, and watch the company I keep.  I carry passport in a neck pouch or that in a sealed plastic bag.  I could lose it tomorrow, especially after I have written this, but that is a pretty good record.

 

What is your problem?

 

I have no objection to carrying my passport, and almost 100% of the time do, EXCEPT to the beach, that's insane....and that is what I objected....I lived in South Africa for 6 years, Argentina 1, China 1, Mexico 1 year, all needed ID, except China allowed a photocopy of a passport.

 

Who would take their passport to a beach anyway? If I go alone, I don't take my wallet either!
 

 

 

Just roll it up, put it in a plastic bag, stuff it up your axx....... and go for a swim. Problem solved! :-) Remember you have to obey THE LAW!!! ;-)

[Boatfreak]

I need to get an Indian visa thier site mentions following: Processing Time    

• For Non-Thai nationals visa is issued on the 6th working day.

#Some individual cases may require around 6-8 weeks time for processing.

 

During that period they will keep my passport.

 

Should I sleep  at the embassy? If so will the embassy send the proper documents to the immigration for hosting a guest?  :-)

[max72]

 

It just isn't realistic or practical for many of us.  I've been working here for 21 years and if I had been keeping it with me all this time it would bound to have either been lost, stolen or damaged at some point.  Plus stress of that happening or forgetting it. 

 

I thought there was a policy of presenting it when asked in a reasonable amount of time such as 24 hours.  Guess not.

 

I have also lived/worked here for a long time (22+ years) and in ALL that time, I have never ever been asked to produce any kind of ID or Passport. The only exception is on the highways & by-ways of this Kingdom, where a Thai D/L was always asked for and produced.

 

 

I have been asked dozens times but always in tourist areas. Few times i have been threated and extorted , it happens all the times near Khaosand Road even in daytime.

Sometimes the corrupt cops pretend that your visa is "false" and you have to pay a fine to them , or any other excuse.

Once i was said shopping is forbidden (i had few tshirts bought in Khaosand) and I had to pay a fine to them....

It's almost impossible to be a tourist in Thailand and never be stopped by corrupt cops who extort money allover.

Edited July 30, 2014 by max72

[thairastawoman]

Clarifies what ? 

 

This is totally different with what has been said yesterday.

 

I wonder who actually is not the brightest individual, the one who explains or the ones who reports...

 

In one word, you all are 100% ridiculous, hope it is clear now !

[mongoose11]

All those dudes selling coke on sukumvit gona be carrying their passport? lol

[AlanAunuum]

What planet does this immigration guy live on, Pol.Col. Thanasak Vongluekiat, Superintendent of Prachuap Khirikhan and Phetchaburi Immigration.I have a Work permit with all my details on it (which is a current legal Thai document) but apparently not good enough now for I.D. purposes and have to by Thai Law have it with my passport at my work place at all times,so now when i decide to get pissed and then pick up a bargirl from Nana plaza I take my passport with me Yeh no chance This is probably the most sought after document in Thailand for crooks and thieves to get their hands on. And why just farangs what about the Japs and the Nips and bloody Indians Oh sorry they are not called farangs here just us White people.This is discrimination at its best and the sooner we all f**k off th Malaysia or a country where we are welcome and leave this country to go tits up the better. I have only lived here for 9 years but the Thai attitude towards us farangs has changed,Lets face it,they don't like us,they don't want us here. This Police Colonel is a total Barclays and i for one will not be carrying it with me at all times.and that included when i go for a dump.   Thailand  Going down faster than a Nana Plaza hooker

[starkey_rich]

Too many tea money opportunities being closed down at the moment so Eh presto lets just lets make some new ones.

[brewsterbudgen]

I just do not understand the complaints re carry ur passport.

I carried my original passport from USA to and around in Nepal, five times.

to Tibet twice, once overland.

to Bhutan three times.

to India six times with one one-month continuous stay.

to VN, Lao, Cambodia, Singapore, Manila, Japan, parts of EU including the Cannes Film Festival three times.

 

My travel included air, bus, long distant taxi (in India! + elsewhere), taxi, tuk tuk, yak, and horse ... all alone.

There are other activities where my belongings were able to be stolen including swimming and beach trips.

 

I have never lost my passport.   All that travel alone over a 20 yr period and still have them, past and current.

 

Why?  How can that be ?

 

I don't get drunk, do not do dope, and watch the company I keep.  I carry passport in a neck pouch or that in a sealed plastic bag.  I could lose it tomorrow, especially after I have written this, but that is a pretty good record.

 

What is your problem?

 

My problem is I get drunk quite often and spend time with 'company' in bars in Bangkok and Pattaya (I don't dope though).   My passport will be staying at home.
 

[ukrules]

I need to get an Indian visa thier site mentions following: Processing Time    

• For Non-Thai nationals visa is issued on the 6th working day.

#Some individual cases may require around 6-8 weeks time for processing.

 

During that period they will keep my passport.

 

Should I sleep  at the embassy? If so will the embassy send the proper documents to the immigration for hosting a guest?  :-)

 

I have a solution to your problem : don't go to India

 

It works for me.
 

[max72]

 

 

I just do not understand the complaints re carry ur passport.

I carried my original passport from USA to and around in Nepal, five times.

to Tibet twice, once overland.

to Bhutan three times.

to India six times with one one-month continuous stay.

to VN, Lao, Cambodia, Singapore, Manila, Japan, parts of EU including the Cannes Film Festival three times.

 

My travel included air, bus, long distant taxi (in India! + elsewhere), taxi, tuk tuk, yak, and horse ... all alone.

There are other activities where my belongings were able to be stolen including swimming and beach trips.

 

I have never lost my passport.   All that travel alone over a 20 yr period and still have them, past and current.

 

Why?  How can that be ?

 

I don't get drunk, do not do dope, and watch the company I keep.  I carry passport in a neck pouch or that in a sealed plastic bag.  I could lose it tomorrow, especially after I have written this, but that is a pretty good record.

 

What is your problem?

 

I have no objection to carrying my passport, and almost 100% of the time do, EXCEPT to the beach, that's insane....and that is what I objected....I lived in South Africa for 6 years, Argentina 1, China 1, Mexico 1 year, all needed ID, except China allowed a photocopy of a passport.

 

Who would take their passport to a beach anyway? If I go alone, I don't take my wallet either!
 

 

 

Just roll it up, put it in a plastic bag, stuff it up your axx....... and go for a swim. Problem solved! :-) Remember you have to obey THE LAW!!! ;-)

 

 

Than when your passport will be wet, you will be harassed and threatened because the passport is in bad conditions.

It happened to me twice in Thailand and it was a terrible experience. Half a hour of threats and insults, threated like the worst criminal on earth and constant threats to be put in jail,because they said my passport was false (because it didn t look in good conditions=. There is no way for a genuine tourist to have a normal holiday in Thailand. You are always under a climate of fear and terror. 

Edited July 30, 2014 by max72

[tingtongfarang]

 

 

 

 I reckon I'm going to breach this rule then and pay up the 2k when caught. Replacing the passport with all it's stamps if it's stolen is a far larger risk.

Agree 100%, will do the same, but I take comfort from the text "may result in 2000 thb fine", so I think there will be some leniency as in (maybe) showing your passport in a reasonable time frame.

 

 

Yeah I am sure you have had a lot of dealings with Lower Sukhimvit cops with that thinking.. 

 

 

Nope.
 

 

Do you mean the same cops who kidnap tourists and bang them up in a pokey hotel room and demand a ransom ?

[sandy31]

I have an old passport that has not expired, but the pages are full, so I had to get a new one.  So my plan is to carry that as photo ID, and a copy of my current visa and current entry stamp...Surely that will be legal......?!!

[Acharn]

It is only the Passport that tells anybody if you are legally in the country, no other ID card tells whether you have a Visa or have done you 90 day reporting

 
No, the only way to see if you are here legally is to check your name/passport number against the immigration database and see if the person on the photo from the database is actually you.
 
Even the original passport by itself doesn't prove anything because stamps/visas can be easily faked, passport can be stolen and picture replaced etc.
 
Thus, this entire regulation is meaningless in the 21st century. Either the cops have online access to the immigration database (and then simply knowing your passport number is sufficient) or not (in which case criminals will happily continue using fake passports and the only people who will suffer are genuine tourists)

I agree with you that the original passport is not needed to determine if the person is in the country illegally, but altering most passports is not a trivial exercise. My American passport doesn't have my photo in it -- the photo was scanned and then printed onto the inside of the front cover, and is sealed with a rather complicated plastic. Immigration officers are supposed to be given training on how to recognize legitimate passports, just as bank tellers are supposed to be trained in how to recognize legitimate bank notes. Yes, altering passports used to be a thriving business. That's why most governments started making passports that are very hard to alter. Does Immigration really have a database?

[khunpa]

 

I just do not understand the complaints re carry ur passport.

I carried my original passport from USA to and around in Nepal, five times.

to Tibet twice, once overland.

to Bhutan three times.

to India six times with one one-month continuous stay.

to VN, Lao, Cambodia, Singapore, Manila, Japan, parts of EU including the Cannes Film Festival three times.

 

My travel included air, bus, long distant taxi (in India! + elsewhere), taxi, tuk tuk, yak, and horse ... all alone.

There are other activities where my belongings were able to be stolen including swimming and beach trips.

 

I have never lost my passport.   All that travel alone over a 20 yr period and still have them, past and current.

 

Why?  How can that be ?

 

I don't get drunk, do not do dope, and watch the company I keep.  I carry passport in a neck pouch or that in a sealed plastic bag.  I could lose it tomorrow, especially after I have written this, but that is a pretty good record.

 

What is your problem?

 

My problem is I get drunk quite often and spend time with 'company' in bars in Bangkok and Pattaya (I don't dope though).   My passport will be staying at home.
 

 

 

I am thinking about what the bargirls will say, when they see us all naked with our passport in a plastic bag strapped around our neck. Really sexy :)

[paddyjenkins]

For all Brits, when applying for a new passport the only way is by post and you need to send the original. 



Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

 
You do not need to send the original, they make an exception for Thailand. The stipulation on having your passport with you at all times is not a new thing, it just seems that they are now choosing to enforce it. 

That's news to me...and you seem to be right


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[kriswillems]

Thailand is already on his way to become the hub of stolen passports after the MH370 flight with two Iranians with stolen passports on there.

 

I guess the col. just wants to make sure it will not loose this reputation by letting all foreigners always carry their passport around.

 

Edited July 30, 2014 by kriswillems

[MJCM]

Agree 100%, will do the same, but I take comfort from the text "may result in 2000 thb fine", so I think there will be some leniency as in (maybe) showing your passport in a reasonable time frame.

 
Yeah I am sure you have had a lot of dealings with Lower Sukhimvit cops with that thinking..

 
Nope.

Do you mean the same cops who kidnap tourists and bang them up in a pokey hotel room and demand a ransom ?

I have no idea what are you talking about, the only time I am in BKK is for getting a new passport or getting a Schengen visa for the wife, and on both occassions we are never longer then a couple of hours in BKK and so don't have any dealings with Police on lower sukhumvit as we don't go (or need to go) there.

[tingtongfarang]

 

 

In every country the rule is the same but who is really going to the beach with his passport and which country is really enforcing this to a fine? How much worth a stolen passport for criminals and have you an idea of the hassles in case a tourist loses his passport? Which tourist really want to lose his passport in Thailand? I hope the police force will be flexible with this rule (as all countries are) especially regarding the fine or is this measure to extort the tourists money ? By the way is extortion not criminal offence? You, who make the rules should put yourself at the position of legit tourists and not treat them as criminals at first... We see that Big Generals are in power... What s the next measure?

 

"in every country the rule is the same"? Utter nonsense. I assume you are Thai or you would know better.

 

 

I am not Thai but can you point me a country where you can theorically circulate without a valid ID ?

 

UK i believe

[paddyjenkins]

 

I just do not understand the complaints re carry ur passport.
I carried my original passport from USA to and around in Nepal, five times.
to Tibet twice, once overland.
to Bhutan three times.
to India six times with one one-month continuous stay.
to VN, Lao, Cambodia, Singapore, Manila, Japan, parts of EU including the Cannes Film Festival three times.
 
My travel included air, bus, long distant taxi (in India! + elsewhere), taxi, tuk tuk, yak, and horse ... all alone.
There are other activities where my belongings were able to be stolen including swimming and beach trips.
 
I have never lost my passport.   All that travel alone over a 20 yr period and still have them, past and current.
 
Why?  How can that be ?
 
I don't get drunk, do not do dope, and watch the company I keep.  I carry passport in a neck pouch or that in a sealed plastic bag.  I could lose it tomorrow, especially after I have written this, but that is a pretty good record.
 
What is your problem?

 
My problem is I get drunk quite often and spend time with 'company' in bars in Bangkok and Pattaya (I don't dope though).   My passport will be staying at home.
 
 

 
I am thinking about what the bargirls will say, when they see us all naked with our passport in a plastic bag strapped around our neck. Really sexy :)

Strapped around your neck, why? I have thought of a far, far safer place...still involves a plastic bag though...probably double bagged actually....


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[no deal]

we have to follow the law this is not are country,i will get my passport on my for now and no big deal!

[DrTuner]

I am thinking about what the bargirls will say, when they see us all naked with our passport in a plastic bag strapped around our neck. Really sexy

Practical too, as you can see who the best catches are by checking the nationality from the cover.

[wernerkl]

Did the good Colonel actually quote the law that requires this?

 

It's been a burning question here for years.

 

How could he quote the law when he doesn´t know the law?

[AlanAunuum]

just an update on any farangs who are thinking of using their old passport instead of their new one, Once the good old HMPO decide to send your new one back to you and in my case its been 9 weeks now and not a sniff off my new one,the old one becomes invalid and you can be in big trouble for showing the police a cancelled passport even if it has many years to run,Mine is valid till November 2020  but once i get my new passport back i will be showing them my old one. its safer and not as expensive if you happen to lose it ( i use that term loosely)  This police colonel is an absolute Barcleys and is talking out of his rear appendage 

[DrTuner]

Does Immigration really have a database?

They have something. Last time I did the marriage extension I tried to peek what the officer was doing with the computer, but didn't get a good enough look. Some sort of program was running, which I suppose connects .. somewhere.