Where can i write a formal complaint about immigration officer?

[harrry]

Of course after this registration your Immigration Office is now Bangkok and you have to go there for all business.

You should within 24 hours of returning to HuaHin ensure that the address you are staying at is registered there by the house owner if you intend staying there.

[NoshowJones]

However hard you think it is, consider this... its much easier for you coming to Thailand than it is for a Thai going to your country!

That would depend on the reasons we want to go to each others country, for holidays, or to work, legally of course, or to retire.

It is much easier for a Thai to get Permanent Residence in Britain, than a British person to get Permanent Residence in Thailand.

That is one of the very few things I hold against Thailand, why can't a Westerner after he has proved over a period of time that he is a good citizen and

is making a good contribution to the Thai economy, get permanent residency? I know it can be done, but how hard is it compared to the UK?

[Kannikapor88]

Didnt realise it would be such a touchy subject for everyone. I can see everyones point of view. I accept full responsibility for not being correctly informed about the procedure. I incorrectly assumed visiting bangkok immigration would be easier than visiting my local hua hin branch because i was already here for a shopping trip.

And then i incorrectly assumed the foreigner registration procedure wasnt an issue due to the fact i was only going to be here for 2-3 days while my van was being repaired in hua hin.

And after hearing everyones opinions and getting more information .. yes i was lucky to be granted extension, yes i was lucky they didnt fine my friends for me staying there.

What irritated me was not the actions of the IO, but her attitude. She offered no help or explanations and that is what left me so angry, and at the end of it all she didnt want to give out her officer ID, if she had a clear conscience and believed she had done nothing wrong i dont see why she would refuse to provide the officer ID. Thanks for the advice guys it helped cool me down.

Maybe she was just having a bad day.

We all have bad days =/ grab a beer and relax i guess.

I can imagine what happend with this Immigration officer ... Some of them are very nice (like my 90 day report last time) but ... some are as you put it "a pain in the arse" ...

Guess can meet officials like that all over the World but fact is that Immigration have to follow the law of Immigration which dosent mean that they should not be helpful to people and thats were it gets pear shaped cause Immigration are part of RTP and when have RTP ever been helpful to anyone ... Never ...

I dont mind going to Immigration and spend most of the day doing nothing but my TW hate the Immigration and their hi-so arrogance and lazyness (her Words) ...

Oh well, at least the officer didnt try to extort you for some tea-money like a certain officer opposite Promenada, CM, does ...

[Si Thea01]

Ever thought that she may have considered you to be a pain in the arse and gave you the right royal treatment for being so. Just reading your initial post it showed an attitude that I hope wasn't displayed at the time of your dealings with her. if it was then you were certainly lucky to have been given the extension. You might think you were polite at the time but just look back and put yourself in her position having to deal with some one who had no idea of the rules and obviously objected to following them when told. Hope you have learnt a lesson from all this. And now go and enjoy the rest of your stay and remember, high blood pressure kills.

[IMA_FARANG]

It has been the law for many years, at least since the 1990 time frame,

that a foreigner that temporarily stays with Thai in a Thai household as a guest must have his or her presence reported to the police by the house

owner 0r owners in the first 24 hours of their stay .

In Bangkok this law is routinely ignored by the police, but it is still

the law and still in effect.

That is why your Thai friends had to fill out a form registering you as

their guest.

It wasn't harassment, she probably had to have that form filled out to

change you residence address.

That's probably when it all started to go downhill.

That law, by the way, is also why if you get a hotel room in Bangkok they

will copy your passport photo page on check-in.

[Thunderbirds20]

you might as well write it on the next piece of toilet paper you are going to use. Nothing will come of such a complaint! This is Thailand. Any confrontation betwee a Thai and a Farang will always come ut on the Thai side, especially at the Immigration Offices! So, forget about it

[hawker9000]

@OP

If I were you, I'd learn whatever lessons you can from the experience, but forget about trying to put the IO on report. There's just no percentage in it, and there's at least a chance it'll come back to haunt you. TIT. Don't mess with a local's rice bowl, esp. one who happens to work in Immigration.

[frimu]

These ladies in charge of the 30 day visa exempt and tourist visa extensions at Bangkok are a pain in the ass.

They have to check almost no documents as this is the easiest extension imagineable and still manage to let you wait a bit more than two hours, when the ticket said, that eight people are before you in the queue.

[Emster23]

This whole address thing for a tourist visa is absurd. I think the word "tourist" comes from"tour", right? definition: "1. a traveling around from place to place. 2. a long journey including the visiting of a number of places in sequence," They expect you to just plant yourself somewhere and work illegally? Best place to complain is here, and will get more consideration but equal effectiveness (zero) in correcting that behavior. Meanwhile TAT is trying to encourage tourists to stay longer. Go figure. Welcome to Thailand once more.

[h90]

What do you want to complain about. You were in the wrong.

No she was wrong, she shouldn't have given him the extension at all.

[hawker9000]

These ladies in charge of the 30 day visa exempt and tourist visa extensions at Bangkok are a pain in the ass.

They have to check almost no documents as this is the easiest extension imagineable and still manage to let you wait a bit more than two hours, when the ticket said, that eight people are before you in the queue.

This whole address thing for a tourist visa is absurd. I think the word "tourist" comes from"tour", right? definition: "1. a traveling around from place to place. 2. a long journey including the visiting of a number of places in sequence," They expect you to just plant yourself somewhere and work illegally? Best place to complain is here, and will get more consideration but equal effectiveness (zero) in correcting that behavior. Meanwhile TAT is trying to encourage tourists to stay longer. Go figure. Welcome to Thailand once more.

Based on my own experience recently (and I confess, that's just my experience), this is getting blown out of proportion. The application asks for an address; I simply put down the address of the hotel where I was staying at the time, and the IO did not question it. In fact, she asked for no documentation of the address, nor airline tix, nor anything else save the things officially listed as reqts for the extension. She didn't ask for anything extra, I didn't volunteer anything extra, and that was that. There was a good crowd in there, but I was in & out in less than an hour. Lots of others in the hall, and it all looked pretty businesslike, process-driven, and orderly to me.

Bureaucracies just don't handle "exceptions" well, and conformity is the name of the game. 'Just the way it is. Your applying for the extension in one place, while listing another place as your current "residence", apparently tripped a trigger. It probably shouldn't have I concede, but it did. But don't try to "get into it" with a bureaucracy, esp. as a foreigner. The risk/reward ratio is not worth it. You still have to pass out through immigration, I'm guessing with a flight to catch, one day soon ...

[Liquorice]

@SpoonZie,

It isn't the officers responsibility to take you through the Immigration procedures.

As the foreigner, it's your responsibility to find out the rules of visiting any foreign Country.

Thailand tracks the movements and locations of foreign visitors, same as China and there is a procedure in place to do this.

To avoid further upsets or disappointments with Immigration, I suggest you read section 37 & 38 of the Immigration Act.

Forms can be downloaded from here: http://immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=download

TM28 to notify change of address by the foreigner.

TM30 to notify of an alien taking up residence at an address.

Hotels, guesthouses will report your presence automatically, but if you stay in private accommodation you need to follow the above guidance.

Thai Immigration_Act_EN.pdf

[fang37]

YOU have a RIGHT to COMPLAIN!

Then book a ticket out of LOS. No value to you by complaining?

[steven100]

I guess if I was an immigration officer and did nothing but mix with farangs all day I'd be pretty pissed too ....

[fred Kubasa]

Write the nastiest %#$&^%*( ing letter you can compose, then you can send it direct, saving a stamp, by throwing it in the waste basket

which they would have done , without opening, upon receipt !

[mango66]

Maybe ur not a tourist ?

correct !

He himself say he live in Thailand for 7 years,

he have experiance everywhere in Thai ,

so he staying 7 years with tourist visas and boarder hops

instead to take a correct Visa !

In such case, this elements , which just make bad names on us foreigners which

do always the correct Visas , make all foreigners bad;

Send such people back from where they are would be the correct " EXTENSION "

temp adress till flight should be the DImmi detention center !!

[mango66]

@SpoonZie,

It isn't the officers responsibility to take you through the Immigration procedures.

As the foreigner, it's your responsibility to find out the rules of visiting any foreign Country.

Thailand tracks the movements and locations of foreign visitors, same as China and there is a procedure in place to do this.

To avoid further upsets or disappointments with Immigration, I suggest you read section 37 & 38 of the Immigration Act.

Forms can be downloaded from here: http://immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=download

TM28 to notify change of address by the foreigner.

TM30 to notify of an alien taking up residence at an address.

Hotels, guesthouses will report your presence automatically, but if you stay in private accommodation you need to follow the above guidance.

he would like to complain that He did not follow the immigration rules and want go bach home with winning;

Not to mention that he propably live 7 years in Thai without correct visa !!

[mango66]

These ladies in charge of the 30 day visa exempt and tourist visa extensions at Bangkok are a pain in the ass.

They have to check almost no documents as this is the easiest extension imagineable and still manage to let you wait a bit more than two hours, when the ticket said, that eight people are before you in the queue.

they are eligable to check, if you are registered on this adress you put in !!

Hopefully to stop crooks on violating visa rules,

all adress registration shoud be available on their computer system,

hopefull and finally it will come;

He say he lives in Phuket - with which Visa ?

But he says he stay in Hua Hin for some days ,

but he go for extension in bangkok ?

something smelly ????

He sure didn't register a adress in Hua Hun,

therefore he should be panished for Imiggration law violations !!

I wait usual 2 hrs in BKK, as there are many tourists there just for the extension !!

But no problem with officers,

I have also a correct behavier and correct dressing !!

[PeCeDe]

Fair enough then i guess. Just got too used to freedom of travel =/ i can understand why a system like that would be in place to track illegals.

My only real complaint left is she wouldnt tell us her officer number and was being rude. But not the end of the world.

You come across as being one of those, "Thailand owes me" types, I'm not surprised she was snarky. If after 7 years you haven't learned how to get an extension, I learned in two months here's a number for you 12345...Complain away ...

Thankfully I wasn't the next guy to see that IO... also thankfully, I live in an area of Bangkok with few westerners. God you make me ashamed!

[farangmick]

You can write the complaint anywhere you want. I would write it whilst sat on the toilet, then flush it down the pan for all the good it would do, saving 3 baht on a stamp, (but a lot of trouble unblocking the toilet).

[1FinickyOne]

If i were the officer, I would surely feel that you were jerking me around - first you live in HH - then you live in Bkk -

It is not their job to correct your incorrect assumptions…

Sure, then you cop an attitude and want their names and badge numbers - why? So you can send them gifts on holidays? And now you accuse her of coping an attitude…

My personal experience with immigration is that they have been incredibly helpful. Always polite.

And for those of you who feel that we as foreigners are forced to jump through hoops, imagine being a Thai trying to get even a tourist visa to visit your home country -

[elviajero]

What do you want to complain about. You were in the wrong.

No she was wrong, she shouldn't have given him the extension at all.

Her being wrong doesn't make him right!

She did her job. She refused the first application as the address was out of area. She then accepted the second application because it was backed up with confirmation of his Bangkok address from the address owner.

[Oceanbat]

100% sure if they are applying for a work visa sponsored by a company as I am here it is considerably easier.

OB

[MobileContent]

Just to clarify .. i wasnt being a pain in their ass .. they say jump, my response is how high ... wasnt aware of the notifying requirements at the time as i have always stayed in hotels or rented a house. I did not argue with the officer. I was quiet and polite and tried to give her an easy day. But every time i did what she asked for she was trying to cause more problems. First visit she said i needed an additional photocopy and bangkok address. Fair enough. I left quietly to go get those. 1 hour later i was up again and had everything she asked for. Then she tried to cause problems with the address and in the end i called my thai friend in to help. After confirming address that still wasnt good enough for the officer, and she wanted us to fill out registration forms, all these postponements .. started at 1pm after their lunch, was done about 20 minites before they close.

or rented a house

If you rent a house the landlord must register you too to the Immigration and you should be aware of it as he will report your passport number.

To be honest, 7 years tourist visa with a yearly stay of up to 6 months gives some how a red flag to the IO. If you keep visiting your dad on a yearly basis she should have told you about the laws of Thailand. If you are registered in Hua Hin you must extend in Hua Hin. If you show up in Bangkok you must provide an address in Bangkok. The IO did everything right and I don't know what complain you want to file.

Grow up is the only thing I can think about.

[kriswillems]

Your friends are lucky they didn't get fined for not registering you.
My wife got fined 800 Baht, because she didn't register within 24 hours after my arrival in Thailand (after going abroad for 2 weeks) that I was living in our house.

[FritsSikkink]

an other ,.....who makes mistake after mistake and wants to make a complaint. writing the wrong adress on an official paper is an offense, better keep your mouth shut

[willyumiii]

Fair enough then i guess. Just got too used to freedom of travel =/ i can understand why a system like that would be in place to track illegals.

My only real complaint left is she wouldnt tell us her officer number and was being rude. But not the end of the world.

I am sure she thought you were very rude as well...and a pain in her kone..

Choose your our battles well...some you can never win.

And you always catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar.

[elviajero]

Just to clarify .. i wasnt being a pain in their ass .. they say jump, my response is how high ... wasnt aware of the notifying requirements at the time as i have always stayed in hotels or rented a house. I did not argue with the officer. I was quiet and polite and tried to give her an easy day. But every time i did what she asked for she was trying to cause more problems. First visit she said i needed an additional photocopy and bangkok address. Fair enough. I left quietly to go get those. 1 hour later i was up again and had everything she asked for. Then she tried to cause problems with the address and in the end i called my thai friend in to help. After confirming address that still wasnt good enough for the officer, and she wanted us to fill out registration forms, all these postponements .. started at 1pm after their lunch, was done about 20 minites before they close.

or rented a house

If you rent a house the landlord must register you too to the Immigration and you should be aware of it as he will report your passport number.

Actually if you rent a house you are equally responsible to submit the TM30 report. It can be done by either owner or tenant. Either owner or tenant could be fined 2k for failing to report.

[puukao]

LOL

I would just get the Elite card......they will be nice to the rich!!!!

yes, maybe this is a sign.....it will only get harder and harder....

continue to speak fluent thai as you flash millions of baht...

[hawker9000]

Let me rephrase... my dad has a thai wife and i have been visiting normally 3-6 months every year for 7 years.

As for the address. I normally stay in hua hin. After leaving and completing a new form with the address i was living at in bkk she still wanted to be a pain in the ass.

What i couldnt undersrand was making me register my friends and say i was living there ..

Its just impractical. Do they legitimately expect us to fill iut this paperwork for a 2-3 night stay at a friends house ?

Under this system would backpackers be expected to go to police staton every day to inform them about change of address.

At the end of the day i agree with current posts ... yes i shouldnt of written hua hin address.. but i didnt have an issue with that in phuket.

Yes .. not much i can do about it. Im a foreigner, its their country. So yoy shut up and take it.

But my 3 thai friends were there and she was being a pain in the ass to them as well.

"Do they legitimately expect us to fill iut this paperwork for a 2-3 night stay at a friends house ?"

- Yeap

"would backpackers be expected to go to police staton every day to inform them about change of address"

- Yeap (if they're not staying in hostels whose management should probably be doing the reporting, and are really staying somewhere different everyday)

You know the old saying about ignorance of the law...

Chalk this up to experience, learn from it, and move on. It actually ended better for you than it could have (notice I didn't say should have - not intending to get all up in that). Trying to get even with the IO is a bad idea.