Hua Hin Immigration clarifies rules on foreigners carrying ID

[Maggusoil]

That's not stupid. I have also thought of a design like a shoulder holster (man bag). Butch enough? It takes your passport,

mobile phone, driver's licence and 

whatever else you like.

A gun. A can of mace?

 

Seriously. I am a person who has been a bit vague all of my life. Long before age became an excuse. I have travelled the world for many

years. I have never lost or had a passport stolen. They "can" be replaced!

 

Its one of those things. You take a little extra care of a document that is so vital.

[LivinLOS]

Seriously. I am a person who has been a bit vague all of my life. Long before age became an excuse. I have travelled the world for many

years. I have never lost or had a passport stolen. They "can" be replaced!

 

Its one of those things. You take a little extra care of a document that is so vital.

 

Wouldnt that 'extra care' be keeping the damn thing locked up safely ?? 

[lemonjelly]

Playing into the human traffickers  and terrorists' hands...they must think it's Christmas with all the stolen/lost passports caused by this crazy rule......... the British Embassy  emphatically advises not to carry your passport around with you when on a bar crawl.

[Maggusoil]

 

Seriously. I am a person who has been a bit vague all of my life. Long before age became an excuse. I have travelled the world for many

years. I have never lost or had a passport stolen. They "can" be replaced!

 

Its one of those things. You take a little extra care of a document that is so vital.

 

Wouldnt that 'extra care' be keeping the damn thing locked up safely ?? 

 

 

I am the safest safe I've got. 

[uwe_rayong]

 

 

 

Maybe long term visa holders could carry a certified true copy of passport along with ID card Thai Visa could ask Police Colonel, otherwise passport theft and muggings will increase if they know everyone's carrying a passport.
I wont carry passport everyday when I live in Thailand.
 
You could go to Immigration office to get a certified true copy and then you would have to carry that plus a Thai issued ID card or valid DL.

 
 
They just asked.. He said no.. 
 

 
 
 
I don't understand the whole panic. 
 
If you would ask the fine Police Colonel if prostitution is legal in Thailand he also had to answer: Prostitution is not legal in Thailand. Even Thais  can get fined or arrested for it.
 
 
Last time I drove through my local village the medical massage house with the funny lights that opens up until 03:00 looked pretty busy.
 
So unless I see some threads on thaivisa.com with the title:
 
I just paid 2000 THB fine because I had not my original passport with me
 
it makes no big difference to me. 
 
 
In the past a valid DL was always accepted, I was once ( in the last 12 years) asked for a passport at a normal traffic control, by a volunteer police...
Answered: Passport is at home, Passport number is on the DL. If you want to check the visa status call immigration , they have it on the computer.
 
Also the address report within 24h, that is ok for a Hotel, guest house or something like that but if I live 10 years at the same address, I'm not going to report if I plan to stay 2 days at the house of the in laws.
 
The freaky 90 days report is already a waste of time. What is to report if nothing has changed? Ok, I understand to report a permanent new address within 24h, accepted - but thats it.
Somebody that has a 2 years overstay does usually no 90 day report anyway.
 
If immigration want 100% control I would recommend to make it mandatory to wear a GPS ankle monitor for all foreigner.
 

Prostitution is regulated in Thailand, not "illegal" per se. And has no relevance to this thread.

Sent from my GT-S7270L using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

 

 

I know that prostitution has no direct relevance to this thread, I just used it as an example of a law that is in place but seldom enforced. It is still possible to fine a prostitute up to 1000 THB and or up to a month in prison for shameless behavior or something like that. The law is from 1996.

 

What you think would happen if the immigration decides to check just 100 Tourists on a daily basis on Patong Beach or Jomtien for passports and fine them each from 2000 THB  to 20000 THB  if they not carry the passport?

 

The Sun, Guardian and Bild would love to publish a story like that.

For me it doesn't matter, I don't have any financial interest in tourist numbers or expat numbers in Thailand, more the opposite.

To replace a lost or damaged passport cost me about 8000 THB just for the fees, not counting the time and trouble to replace it. 

So if police not start to do regular checks for passports I'll not start to carry it around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Maggusoil]

Playing into the human traffickers  and terrorists' hands...they must think it's Christmas with all the stolen/lost passports caused by this crazy rule......... the British Embassy  emphatically advises not to carry your passport around with you when on a bar crawl.

 

I am very happy that the British Embassy recognise their flock's incompetences. 

 

Bar crawls . . . how edifying 

[evadgib]

What will they think of next?

 

[hawker9000]

 

Playing into the human traffickers  and terrorists' hands...they must think it's Christmas with all the stolen/lost passports caused by this crazy rule......... the British Embassy  emphatically advises not to carry your passport around with you when on a bar crawl.

 

I am very happy that the British Embassy recognise their flock's incompetences. 

 

Bar crawls . . . how edifying 

 

 

In your face sanctimony - how inspiring.

[Jasun]

Passports and tropical weather don't get on very well.

[Maggusoil]

 

 

Playing into the human traffickers  and terrorists' hands...they must think it's Christmas with all the stolen/lost passports caused by this crazy rule......... the British Embassy  emphatically advises not to carry your passport around with you when on a bar crawl.

 

I am very happy that the British Embassy recognise their flock's incompetences. 

 

Bar crawls . . . how edifying 

 

 

In your face sanctimony - how inspiring.

 

 

Always glad to assist those in need to get through their day 

[IAMSOBAD]

Blood tests and DNA swabs are next. Total un-human rights.

[chiang mai]

Blood tests and DNA swabs are next. Total un-human rights.

 

You want good weather, cheap cost of living, unlimited women and human rights, jeeze, you don't want much!

[Expattaff1308]

Error

[moe666]

I have already had my bag stolen twice in the time I have been here, I for one will not carry my passport and will protest my case if caught and fined.

I would recommend you start taking care of your bag

[moe666]

Thai Immigration is just meeting the demands of TV posters who need something to complain about.

[hawker9000]

 

I have already had my bag stolen twice in the time I have been here, I for one will not carry my passport and will protest my case if caught and fined.

I would recommend you start taking care of your bag

 

 

Brilliant.  Very helpful.  Yes.  You're a crime victim, so obviously stupid, incompetent, and totally deserving of whatever inconvenience and extra expense you experienced as a result.  Really.  You should learn to take care of your things!   Careful people NEVER have their pockets picked or their stuff stolen.

 

Sheesh...

[maccastime]

So how about a copy that shows the ID page and the visa/extension stamp?

 

No one (in their right mind) takes their passport out with them every day.

Yes this is what i have,passport copy,i/d page,Visa page,last entry back here,all copies.Plus my d/lic original and copy,all this i have in my car,then still in the same boat if some low life steals my car.But i will not carry original passport...i wonder what other countries enforce this??

[Expattaff1308]

On another forum a member posted that he had contacted the British Embassy outlining concerns about this current rule. They told him that they were unaware of it but any Brit that has a concern to email them...so there you go get emailing!!

 

Actually they stated they knew about the new announcement regarding over-stayers and the back to back visas etc, but they had nothing from the Immigration Dept regarding the carrying of Passports and they said it should be kept in a safe place. Which I presume is not on ones person. 

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

Personally I think this thread should be closed, as the "clarification" from Hua Hin has now been further clarified (thankfully) and a more up to date, accurate thread started.

[empireboy]

If I have TWO passports due to dual citizenship and don't carry the one with the VIsa stamp in it, will I still get a 2000bt fine...? Just messing with ya... but honestly, if they say "It's the Law and they just want to enforce the law.." Then I can comply but they are still none the wiser as to my status, just my identity... this needs some more sensible work.

 

Carrying a "Certified" copy of a passport and visa stamp page ought to suffice!

 

Let's use some good sense here... PLEASE!

[hawker9000]

 

So how about a copy that shows the ID page and the visa/extension stamp?

 

No one (in their right mind) takes their passport out with them every day.

Yes this is what i have,passport copy,i/d page,Visa page,last entry back here,all copies.Plus my d/lic original and copy,all this i have in my car,then still in the same boat if some low life steals my car.But i will not carry original passport...i wonder what other countries enforce this??

 

 

Yet this is exactly what the Hua Hin coverage is saying.  Copies NOT accepted!  There's been debate about this for years here on TV among the members in a number of different threads, but this is the first time I've actually seen a government official actually spell it out like this.  If you're not convinced, I guess we'll know more if & when actual reports of foreigners being arrested and/or fined for this start to filter in, particularly if they report they had a copy and tried unsuccessfully to present it.  And even then, you never know what other "unreported details" may have been driving the officer...

 

 

[Tomtomtom69]

This from the Canadian government site and I'm sure other governments have similar language.

Lost, stolen, damaged or found passports
A Canadian passport is a valuable document that should be kept in a safe place at all times. Once a passport has been reported lost or stolen, it is no longer valid and cannot be used for travel. This is to ensure that it is not used for fraudulent purposes. The Government of Canada cannot be held responsible for any difficulties you may encounter at border crossings if you attempt to use a passport that has been reported lost or stolen.

Maintaining the reputation of the Canadian passport requires constant vigilance. As a passport holder you must play your part by taking care of this important travel document.

If you are forced to carry your passport at all times, in all circumstances you will clearly be unable to follow this directive. So which government directive should you obey, your native country's or Thailand which permanently considers you transient as they refuse to give you any degree of permanence such as an ID card might provide.
But this seems to be part of the general trend of "unwelcoming" westerners. The Thai health insurance that is now only being offered to countries that provide cheap labour (and China for some reason) is another example.

 

Psychic, while I agree that this trend is being made towards "unwelcoming" foreigners, I disagree that it is aimed only at westerners but all foreigners. Also, where did you come up with the absurd notion that a potential 1.3 billion Chinese can get access to the 30 Baht health care scheme? I have never heard such crap - please provide me with a link that that Chinese are getting access to Thai public health care for 30 Baht. Because I am almost certain such agreements are borne out of reciprocity and I can almost guarantee you that no Thai can get free health care in China in fact no Chinese can get free health care in China, so why would Thailand roll out the red carpet for them and not anyone else (except migrant laborers)? Sounds like a pretty racist and absurd conspiracy theory to me.

 

The 30 Baht health care scheme is only offered at public hospitals (which are mostly pretty crap anyway), only to Thais and registered Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian laborers and I believe it covers only the doctor's consulation ONLY. Medicine, tests etc. are all extra. I think it's a bit absurd to think that the 30 Baht health care scheme really goes very far because it doesn't - the Thai health care system is largely user pays despite what you might have heard. While I would never step inside a Thai public hospital again (besides, since I get all my medical bills covered at any hospital in the world, 100% of the bills are paid and I can choose my hospital hence I go private due to my excellent insurance). For private hospitals, most Thais like expats pay themselves unless they have some kind of private or expat insurance. It seems even most rich Thais don't. I have a good Thai friend, now she is definitely of the upper class, very rich family. She's about to have a baby, which she plans to have at some private hospital here in Bangkok. Will it be free? Most certainly not! She'll have to pay something like 60000-70000 Baht, which we lucky Europeans or Australians can get covered for free by our health care systems. And of course for every consultation with the doctor so far, she's paid a good few Baht.

[Tomtomtom69]

If I have TWO passports due to dual citizenship and don't carry the one with the VIsa stamp in it, will I still get a 2000bt fine...? Just messing with ya... but honestly, if they say "It's the Law and they just want to enforce the law.." Then I can comply but they are still none the wiser as to my status, just my identity... this needs some more sensible work.

 

Carrying a "Certified" copy of a passport and visa stamp page ought to suffice!

 

Let's use some good sense here... PLEASE!

 

I have 3 passports but I think the only one that matters is the one with the CURRENT Thai visa and entry stamp or entry stamp only in case of no visa. Should you exit Thailand and re-enter with another passport, then that passport becomes the one to use. Very simple indeed.

 

Having said that I also do NOT make a habit of carrying my passport because I think it's absurd - besides the risk of it getting lost or stolen is too great. Besides, where I live there are very few foreigners anyway and from what I have heard only places like Lower Suk, perhaps Hua Hin and other foreigner "hot spots" are likely to have spot checks anyway, as has been the case for a long time now. For example, in Lower Suk many Middle Eastern and African men have had their passports examined on a regular basis for a long time now, but westerners and other Asian foreigners were generally exempt. Of course from time to time, all foreigners may be targeted in that area, but from what I've heard and read GENERALLY speaking, certain nationalities/ethnic groups are targeted more than others.
 

[chiang mai]

One point that's being missed is that the typical Thai policeman wouldn't know one passport stamp from another and at best is only going to be able to confirm that the picture in the passport matches that of the passport holder, my guess is that any old expired passport is likely to work in most cases.

[lee b]

It states in my Passport that it must be kept in a safe place at all times. Carrying it around the streets here is not safe. Do they realize the amount of pick pockets there are roaming about?? They must all be licking there lips now !

[SiggiCM]

 

And a Thai ( darker colored human being ) don't need to carry an Id ?  not logical....

 

Thais must always carry their ID.  Foreigners are being treated the same.

 

 

it is not the same to carry a ID plastic card or a 6 times bigger paper book, for this you even dont need to have a university degree! 

a Thai driver license is a valid ID in thailand, you can travel, check in in hotels, fly aso, 

even Immigration give you the passport back after 24 hours when you apply for extension in some places, so this would make them breaking the law. you could apply for any Visa in any Embassy anymore, you even couldn´t apply by post for residence certifficate in embassy, 

I dont think in Thai law is written that a person has to carry a passport, I guess there is written every person has to have a valied ID and a thai driver license is a valid ID, with adress, passportnumber, name, date of birth, place of birth. 

I would never pay any fine when i have my Thai driver license with me, what they want to do? worse thing is come with you to the place where your passport is stored. Arrest you? if you didn´t break any law, no arrest warrant, nothing to solve, to keep somebody in policestation, there must be a good reason, and if you provide a thai driver license they have enough possibilitys to check you.

[hawker9000]

From now on when going out (except when room-cleaning is expected), I guess I'll have my passport NOT in the safe with other valuables, but instead in some other hiding place where hotel staff can get to it on my instructions should I be detained and NOT allowed to go fetch it myself.  But I'm just not going to risk carrying it around with me routinely - in pickpocket-infested Thailand that's just crazy.

 

Let them throw a few people in jail just for that - and watch how fast the warnings go up on embassy websites!

 

 

[chiang mai]

 

 

And a Thai ( darker colored human being ) don't need to carry an Id ?  not logical....

 

Thais must always carry their ID.  Foreigners are being treated the same.

 

 

it is not the same to carry a ID plastic card or a 6 times bigger paper book, for this you even dont need to have a university degree! 

a Thai driver license is a valid ID in thailand, you can travel, check in in hotels, fly aso, 

even Immigration give you the passport back after 24 hours when you apply for extension in some places, so this would make them breaking the law. you could apply for any Visa in any Embassy anymore, you even couldn´t apply by post for residence certifficate in embassy, 

I dont think in Thai law is written that a person has to carry a passport, I guess there is written every person has to have a valied ID and a thai driver license is a valid ID, with adress, passportnumber, name, date of birth, place of birth. 

I would never pay any fine when i have my Thai driver license with me, what they want to do? worse thing is come with you to the place where your passport is stored. Arrest you? if you didn´t break any law, no arrest warrant, nothing to solve, to keep somebody in policestation, there must be a good reason, and if you provide a thai driver license they have enough possibilitys to check you.

 

 

[Tomtomtom69]

One point that's being missed is that the typical Thai policeman wouldn't know one passport stamp from another and at best is only going to be able to confirm that the picture in the passport matches that of the passport holder, my guess is that any old expired passport is likely to work in most cases.

 

That is correct and has been my experience too. While I have never personally been asked for my passport, travellers with me, for example a Vietnamese friend and a Sri Lankan friend were asked for their passports. And this is going back some time all the way back to early 2005 - my Vietnamese friend was asked for his passport by an officer who asked me to tell him. The officer then looked at his photo page and that was it I think. Since he couldn't read Vietnamese (obviously) nor English very well he had to ask me what it said (I speak Thai BTW though back then my Thai wasn't that great).

 

Last year near Mae Sot, we were on our way into Myanmar via Mae Sot heading to Yangon via Hpa-an. An army officer wanted to confirm that my Sri Lankan friend is not Indo-Burmese (well he does look similar!) so his passport was asked for but only the front page examined. This was going towards the border. On the way back about 6 days later nobody stopped us.
 

[Thai at Heart]

The level of belligerence, bitching and moaning by TVs army of arm-chair experts is as amusing as it is pathetic. Thailand is not the only country in the world that requires citizens to carry their identity card at all times and for non-citizens to carry their passport at all times. Bitch and squeal all you like, but the OP is very clear.
 
I've carried my work permit and passport with me every day since arriving in Thailand nine years ago. I carry my passport wherever I go in other countries in the region where the LAW is the same.
 
As much as I have no interest in reading posts by people bitching and moaning about how unfair the enforcement of visa overstay laws and now black banning regulations are I have no interest in reading future posts about people being fined for not carrying their passports. What don't you understand: It's the law. If you can't go to 7/11 or Tesco without losing your passport perhaps you shouldn't leave your nursing home.
 
A drivers licence or photocopy of a passport proves nothing. Anyone reasonably competent with Photoshop can adjust arrival stamps for a copy in a few minutes.
 
It's obvious that Thailand is moving into line with other countries in the region in trying to clear the undesirables out. It also possibly has something to do with the two false passports that originated in Thailand and were used to board MH370.
 
Conform or SILENTLY pay the fine. But please don't start bitching and moaning and starting new forum threads when you get detained and have to wait at a police station until someone brings you your original passport and then you have to cough up a payment for the privilege of keeping the cops company.
 

Your work permit is supposed to stay in your place of work.

Sorry to inform you that you have been inadvertantly breaking the law all these years.