As I was sitting waiting to meet someone in front of central festival beach shopping centre today on second road I saw a foreigner in his 50s or 60s standing near the entrance with a Macaw on his arm. (Identical to the one in the picture below)

I thought that's nice to see how he has such a bond with the bird that they go everywhere together.

Then a foreign couple passed by and started chatting with him and after a few minutes he was enticing them to take a photo of the bird, following which to my total astonishment, he asked them for money!

They gave him 20 Baht and in full view of about seven taxi drivers who were sitting there watching him collect money and I wondered what they were thinking about what he was doing. He kept waiting for more people, but as no one else was around he decided to walk up the road.

I have seen a couple of Thai people doing the same thing in the same location with a marsupial animal but I never believed I would see a foreigner doing this because I would have thought it would be against the law?

Edited October 7, 201411 yr by Asiantravel

It is against the law for a foreigner to do that but he won't get very rich at 20 baht a time ...

It is against the law for a foreigner to do that but he won't get very rich at 20 baht a time ...

I thought that and what a nerve to do it in such an incredibly public place when he would never possibly know if an off duty immigration Department official happened to walk by to enter central department store? I mean, he was right next to the entrance.

And when you say he won't make much money that is my point really. Why would anyone in their right mind take such a risk regarding their immigration status for such pittance?

Hi, this my first post and I recently joined although I have read Thai Visa for some years and have lived in Thailand even longer.

I understand that many departments of Immigration and Police use the motorbike taxis in a "I'll scratch your back and you scratch my back" arrangement so even they could make trouble for him as well as Thai beggars who might think he is on their patch. He might not know the law but that ignorance of law does not excuse anyone in most countries.

Unlikely he is just a tourist who bought such a bird but who knows ?

Edited October 7, 201411 yr by oxforddon

I would say those observations above are very accurate ...

Who cares! Not hurting anyone!

Here's one I didn't pay for at Star#ucks yesterday as he and the bird were sheltering from the rain. He's actually giving it a shower.

He,s been doing this for 4 years at least that I know of-he usually asks for more than 20 baht though

Here's one I didn't pay for at Star#ucks yesterday as he and the bird were sheltering from the rain. He's actually giving it a shower.

IMG_0476.JPG

Ahoy matey !!!

The bird is heavy and requires a lot of food!

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

Beautiful bird. Seen him around for years. I am not bothered by thee actions of this guy. A friend taught me a lesson to be more tolerant in life and towards others, as long as they do no harm and since then I am trying, with more or less success. :-) MS>

I had the unfortunately meeting with this chap and his bird, he had a tag around his neck, as he was official.

When i said sorry no thanks I don't want a photo he became obnoxious, saying sorry sorry you will be sorry.

I had the unfortunately meeting with this chap and his bird, he had a tag around his neck, as he was official.

When i said sorry no thanks I don't want a photo he became obnoxious, saying sorry sorry you will be sorry.

Should of threatened to cut his leg off and turn him into Long John Silver.

Does he has a work permit?

he's just feathering his nest

Beautiful bird. Seen him around for years. I am not bothered by thee actions of this guy. A friend taught me a lesson to be more tolerant in life and towards others, as long as they do no harm and since then I am trying, with more or less success. :-) MS>

Like I said in an earlier post I am just curious why someone would risk jeopardising the status of their visa, particularly with a bunch of Thai taxi drivers watching it all and laughing and discussing it amongst themselves. When he does this in such public places sooner or later he will be caught out.

The bird is heavy and requires a lot of food!

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

Perhaps give the specimen to someone that can afford to pay the bills...

You're assuming he even HAS a valid visa - if some of the overstay threads in the Visa forum post crackdown are accurate, there are Farang living in Thailand with anywhere up to 10 years overstay hanging over their heads. The attitude seems to be 'as long as I can get to the airport and I have 20K baht to pay the maximum fine, I can leave anytime I want'. Not sure if you get a discount if you rock up with a McCaw though.

Beautiful bird. Seen him around for years. I am not bothered by thee actions of this guy. A friend taught me a lesson to be more tolerant in life and towards others, as long as they do no harm and since then I am trying, with more or less success. :-) MS>

Like I said in an earlier post I am just curious why someone would risk jeopardising the status of their visa, particularly with a bunch of Thai taxi drivers watching it all and laughing and discussing it amongst themselves. When he does this in such public places sooner or later he will be caught out.

Why does it matter what a bunch of thai taxi drivers think? Who cares what they think, they don't matter.

Beautiful bird. Seen him around for years. I am not bothered by thee actions of this guy. A friend taught me a lesson to be more tolerant in life and towards others, as long as they do no harm and since then I am trying, with more or less success. :-) MS>

Like I said in an earlier post I am just curious why someone would risk jeopardising the status of their visa, particularly with a bunch of Thai taxi drivers watching it all and laughing and discussing it amongst themselves. When he does this in such public places sooner or later he will be caught out.

"Like I said in an earlier post I am just curious why someone would risk jeopardising the status of their visa, particularly with a bunch of Thai taxi drivers watching it all ..."

Taxi drivers don't issue extensions of stay or work permits (I doubt this guy is here on a visa for all these years) and, unless he does something to p_ss them off, I doubt they'd rush off to Immigrations to report him ... or that they'd realize that exposing your bird in public was a violation of the law for a farang.

Who's a naughty boy then?

It is against the law for a foreigner to do that but he won't get very rich at 20 baht a time ...

I thought that and what a nerve to do it in such an incredibly public place when he would never possibly know if an off duty immigration Department official happened to walk by to enter central department store? I mean, he was right next to the entrance.

And when you say he won't make much money that is my point really. Why would anyone in their right mind take such a risk regarding their immigration status for such pittance?

You have made a good point.

'Why would anyone in their right mind" Enough said.

Well if it isn't against the law it should be but for the reason of taking such a beautiful animal from it's natural habitat to be paraded around Beach Road, bars and the like. Disgraceful. I am sickened by the the people that do this with snakes, cuddly marsupials and the like. Where's PETA when you need them? As one poster remarked, Who's he hurting? Well, he's hurting the wonderful bird that's who.

That's my rant. Good-day!

For 100฿ the parrot can say "Does he have a work permit"

I heard he learned it from reading thaivisa

Well if it isn't against the law it should be but for the reason of taking such a beautiful animal from it's natural habitat to be paraded around Beach Road, bars and the like. Disgraceful. I am sickened by the the people that do this with snakes, cuddly marsupials and the like. Where's PETA when you need them? As one poster remarked, Who's he hurting? Well, he's hurting the wonderful bird that's who.

That's my rant. Good-day!

" taking such a beautiful animal from it's natural habitat to be paraded around Beach Road, bars and the like."

yes that part does bother me as well

It is against the law for a foreigner to do that but he won't get very rich at 20 baht a time ...

It is against the law for the Thais too as they are often utilizing animals that are very young or endangered.

That's the STUTTERING PARROT!!!!!!! We nailed him now!!!! Yeah!!!

The point someone made earlier about overstayers (if that is what the man is) getting to the airport for a maximum fine of 20k needs an addendum to point out that at any time prior to getting to the airport that one is stopped for any reason where passport needs to be shown, the penalties for overstay are far more severe and can - and often do - include jail time and/or much more severe monetary consideration. Add to that the penalty for "working" illegally and this man is indeed taking a risk.

Nothing wrong with that..

I saw centurions do the same thing at the Colosseum in Rome. Except that they ask 5 Euros for a photo.

I had the unfortunately meeting with this chap and his bird, he had a tag around his neck, as he was official.

When i said sorry no thanks I don't want a photo he became obnoxious, saying sorry sorry you will be sorry.

Smart bird.