Have you had your passport stolen in Thailand

[Tokay]

I have had my passport stolen once, my ATM skimmed twice. My passport was taken out of the SAFE of the hotel I was staying at. Of course the CCTV didn't work that day so there was no record of anyone coming into my room. 10,000 and a small camera went with it.

 

Several of my friends have also had their passports stolen over the years in various places in the country. A female I know was hit in the head from behind and her bag snatched right outside of a temple in Bangkok in the daylight and in front of everyone. Yet no one saw anything.

 

Passports are worth a lot of money here and the trade is booming, not shrinking. Your life isn't worth as much as your passport here is.

[stevenl]

Yes, stolen from my shop by somebody, I realised just too late it had happened.

 

Reported to the police and 2 days later it was reported found, ditched somewhere.

[GoonDizzy]

Not had one stolen.

 

My pp got soaked in a downpour about nine years ago in Phuket on the final day of a holiday. Water got into my pockets. Got back to the hotel and it was soggy. Tried to dry it out but it went a bit crusty. I then had to fly home to the UK. They almost refused my passport at the airport. In fact, I seem to remember the words ''Cannot use passport. No good. Go Embassy.'' I was with a few pals, they had gone through and I was looking a bit scared.

 

Next thing, after a bit of pleading, I was whisked into a room and they searched me and my bags thoroughly. I seem to remember being x-rayed. Pictures on the walls of sullen looking criminals with drugs laid out in front of them. I almost pooped. I was expecting the rubber glove at any second. All a bit frightening for a softie like me. A few mad questions like ''Why you come Thailand?'' etc. Then, a nice Imm Officer saw I was looking a bit shaken by all this and called somebody (I'm not sure who..but he was reading out my passport number). A few minutes later, a call came back. He gave me my Passport back and said ''Ok, you can use today to fly home. Never use to come Thailand. Passport damaged.''

Edited August 1, 2014 by GoonDizzy

[super22k]

As I got on a train in Prague a group of men pushed past me.As the train pulled out I discovered my passport(in a leather case) was missing.I ran along the train trying to catch up with the men but they had got off and ran away.I was as sick as a dog and went back along the corridor. It was then I noticed my passport placed neatly against the corridor wall.Why,I wondered.Yes, my passport was intact.It was then I realised they were only interested in money.When they saw the leather case only contained a passport they were not interested and placed it against the wall.Was I lucky or not? Mind you,this was eight years ago so things might be different now.

[smudgekin]

A guy grabbed my bag and shot off on his motorbike in Krabi, had my passport in the bag cos id' been to cash some travellers checks. 2002

[WhamBam]

Year before last year mine was destroyed.

Not too much hassle really. Reported it to the police station. Went to Jomtien to the consulate. In a few weeks I had a new one. Off to immigration, visa transferred to new passport.

Luckily I was not moving house / condo or going home in the near future or it could have been a hassle.

[DrTuner]

So far it's a whopping 21.35% of those who answered  Must be the title of the thread bringing them in, sounds way too high.

[elgenon]

Never in Thailand but in the old Yugoslavia. There I was in a communist country with my passport, airline ticket, TCs, and only warm jacket stolen.

[Saradoc1972]

I only lost mine once when moving house inside Germany - no sweat. It conveniently occurred the month before they introduced electronic chipping, fingerprints, and biometric photos.

 

Being abroad outside the Schengen area where you might need a visa obviously calls for some security measures such as a pouch fastened to your belt inside your trousers and you should only take it with you when absolutely necessary. It brought an original of my birth certificate and identifaction with pictures with me to Thailand just in case, but even at the German embassies around SE Asia it would take some 4 weeks minimum to have it replaced. So losing it and only getting a period of grace of 15 days from immigration would more or less spell disaster, might end up getting emergency travel documents and taking a flight home, as that is the only place you can go with those.

 

What I wonder is whether a passport is actually a target for thieves, would it be valuable to an average thief or might they just leave it if it doesn't happen to be in a container or purse with expected valuables?

[Old Man River]

My wallet was once pick-pocketed in Indonesia but my passport was in my camera bag.

Note to US citizens: An expired passport is sufficient proof of identity and US citizenship to obtain a new passport if one is lost or stolen.

Along with the passport you can also get a US passport card. You can't use it for travel purposes, but is is a US passport ID.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Enjoyurlife]

I only once had my passport damaged while in Thailand, the main page was broken off, which at that time was a "usual"  thing with Dutch passports. I had no problems though leaving Thailand with it and entering The Netherlands. This was abt 10 years ago not sure if it would still work.