Thai immigration chief warned he might face the chop

[Jon Wetherall]

It all starts at the TOP, read that as you wish.

It certainly does and always has done.

[speedtripler]

You ask WHY?? Because they are ALL CORRUPT and they sure wouldn't want someone to be hard with them!!!!!

No, no and no. I have to comment here. A lot of them may very well be corrupt, but I will never believe that ALL of them are. There are still good people out there, and there are a lot more good than bad.

I do believe it's impossible to get police promotions without buying your way up, and if it costs half a million or whatever... They're going to have to be involved in the skimming to make back that 500k because saving your wages just wont cut it

Yes, I've heard that too and it may be true, if it is it's very sad as it will prevent a lot of entry level people with integrity gaining rank, but not all of the foot soldiers go for promotion, so at the very least not all of the foot soldiers are corrupt. The higher up the chain you go, it is quite within sensible reasoning that there will be a higher percentage, but the ones we deal with on a day to day basis, certainly not.

Its pretty rare I get one who won't take a bribe, if it's a driving offence I have met a few who refused money in the hand and insisted To write out an official ticket to be paid at the station later but I think they have a quota off legit tickets to write out each month so it's impossible to put the money in the pocket every time....

[Soutpeel]

You ask WHY?? Because they are ALL CORRUPT and they sure wouldn't want someone to be hard with them!!!!!

No, no and no. I have to comment here. A lot of them may very well be corrupt, but I will never believe that ALL of them are. There are still good people out there, and there are a lot more good than bad.

I do believe it's impossible to get police promotions without buying your way up, and if it costs half a million or whatever... They're going to have to be involved in the skimming to make back that 500k because saving your wages just wont cut it

Yes, I've heard that too and it may be true, if it is it's very sad as it will prevent a lot of entry level people with integrity gaining rank, but not all of the foot soldiers go for promotion, so at the very least not all of the foot soldiers are corrupt. The higher up the chain you go, it is quite within sensible reasoning that there will be a higher percentage, but the ones we deal with on a day to day basis, certainly not.

Its pretty rare I get one who won't take a bribe, if it's a driving offence I have met a few who refused money in the hand and insisted To write out an official ticket to be paid at the station later but I think they have a quota off legit tickets to write out each month so it's impossible to put the money in the pocket every time....

15 years driving and have only ever had one legit ticket i had to pay and thats not because i am an angel on the road so read into that as you will

[Jon Wetherall]

<snip>

15 years driving and have only ever had one legit ticket i had to pay and thats not because i am an angel on the road so read into that as you will

Matches my experience as well, though in my case it's only 11 years and 2 tickets - 1 issued by a clever camera.

[speedtripler]

You ask WHY?? Because they are ALL CORRUPT and they sure wouldn't want someone to be hard with them!!!!!

No, no and no. I have to comment here. A lot of them may very well be corrupt, but I will never believe that ALL of them are. There are still good people out there, and there are a lot more good than bad.

I do believe it's impossible to get police promotions without buying your way up, and if it costs half a million or whatever... They're going to have to be involved in the skimming to make back that 500k because saving your wages just wont cut it

Yes, I've heard that too and it may be true, if it is it's very sad as it will prevent a lot of entry level people with integrity gaining rank, but not all of the foot soldiers go for promotion, so at the very least not all of the foot soldiers are corrupt. The higher up the chain you go, it is quite within sensible reasoning that there will be a higher percentage, but the ones we deal with on a day to day basis, certainly not.

Its pretty rare I get one who won't take a bribe, if it's a driving offence I have met a few who refused money in the hand and insisted To write out an official ticket to be paid at the station later but I think they have a quota off legit tickets to write out each month so it's impossible to put the money in the pocket every time....

15 years driving and have only ever had one legit ticket i had to pay and thats not because i am an angel on the road so read into that as you will

I get one or two per month but I save time taking the shortcuts under traffic lights and over bridges that are not permitted for motorcycles so I'm happy to pay for the saved time

I do this around 6-12 times per day so the odd ticket doesn't bother me

If they were serious about enforcement, penalty points and licence suspension for 3 years would make people think twice....

Or maybe confiscation of vehicle would work too for repeat offenders, but the police don't want to stop this for good - they only enforce the that law about 2 days a month so people know the other 28 days are hassle free...

They have easily enough police to staff it 30 days a month but obviously then the money would stop and nobody wants that...

[lostoday]

1,8 million baht a day or about 700 million baht a year and they don't know who got the money?

[Time Traveller]

I said elsewhere that immigration in Thailand is utterly bent for a fee.

This might be the start of reforming it, and who knows, it might improve the situation.

Could be a lot of hot air too, just threatening them maybe wanting a higher cut.

When bombers have bribed their way in, it's a pretty serious issue I reckon.

Probably what triggered off the outburst. But he must have known about most of these abuses for a long time. It is a pretty long list.

Arkady, weren't you one of the posters that always said how honest immigration was and how they never accepted bribe money?

[Time Traveller]

Some people have come here because corruption worked for them. Front of line, bribing police for infractions instead of court, bypassing red tape, overstaying, having others deliver your passport for stamping at the border....all done before with a shirk and a grin.

Getting tough on these guys....now. Wonder how many will stay without the perks.

When the first public official actually gets sent to prison, then I'll think about believing they are clamping down. Until then it's business as usual for every corrupt public servant under this government. In fact, it might even more worse corruption than it was before.

Take as much as you can as fast as you can now because it might not last.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Time Traveller

[Wilsonandson]

How many times has someone said to you whilst inquiring about visas in Thailand the following. " We have contacts inside immigration, no problem, you pay, you get visa, o.k? ". Nuff said.

[tukkytuktuk]

A lot of money to be made selling visas to desperate foreigners.

[Kannikapor88]

You ask WHY?? Because they are ALL CORRUPT and they sure wouldn't want someone to be hard with them!!!!!

No, no and no. I have to comment here. A lot of them may very well be corrupt, but I will never believe that ALL of them are. There are still good people out there, and there are a lot more good than bad.

Guess we have just been unlucky with the crap here in CM then ....

[MobileContent]

"The under-the-table fees amount to 1.8 million baht a day and it is not known who have pocketed them."

6000 x 300 Baht is 1.8 million Baht

I wonder how many Thai's are paying daily 300 Baht for some kind of driving offense and without a ticket.

Lets talk about 20,000 Thai's x 300 Baht and we have 6 Million Baht that is unaccounted for x 365 days is a lot of cash and this doesn't even include

The Immigration Department is under the Royal Thai Police and I prefer to deal with immigration in Thailand as compared to the police.

[MobileContent]

Anyone still want to beleive the thai immigration officers are squeeky clean and never accept bribes??

There have been a few of us saying that they are on the take for years on this forum only to be strangely refuted by the farangs who think they are more-thai-than-thai accusing us of lying ....Even the PM can see the corruption in the immigration department.

Of course their is corruption at the Immigration Department.

Almost every police department I would say has corruption in Thailand but as for me I have never ever have paid money to immigration in Thailand during my almost 28 years stay in Thailand. Their are thousands of farangs that bribe themself in Pattaya to get an extension of stay, they have no 800k in the bank account and they pay between 20-30,000 Baht for the EoS. The biggest visa mills in Pattaya is run by the police and the money is shared with the immigration. The farang pays his fees and leaves his passport at the visa mill and two days later he got another extension.

You see hundreds of those cheap charlies on Pattaya and Jomtien beach every night and those guys couldn't even afford a decent glass of beer at a 4 or 5 star hotel and they need 7/11 to get their cheap booz.

Then their are the edu visas mills in Pattaya which also are closely linked to the Thai police that make use of their department which are the immigration.

In our area in Sakon Nakhon we have around 15 farangs that are registered in Pattaya for the extension of stay because they would not qualify in Isaan to put the money in the account and of course every three months they travel to Pattaya for the 90 days reporting.

As for my uncle in law that runs once of the biggest visa mill scams in Pattaya he has a house for 20 million Baht, a Benz and a couple of SUV's and he is employed by the police and not immigration and his wife runs the business. They keep telling me for the past 5 years to come down to Pattaya and they want to give me the visa for free but I ignore those offers.

[MobileContent]

15,000 baht tea money for work permit if you have all documents. incomplete documents much more money.

I had 12 work permits in the past 28 years and we never ever paid a single cent more as the official fee.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

In our area in Sakon Nakhon we have around 15 farangs that are registered in Pattaya for the extension of stay because they would not qualify in Isaan to put the money in the account and of course every three months they travel to Pattaya for the 90 days reporting.

How do they manage that. I thought you had to file for your extensions where you're actually living, and the address Immigration has on record for you???

[lostoday]

In our area in Sakon Nakhon we have around 15 farangs that are registered in Pattaya for the extension of stay because they would not qualify in Isaan to put the money in the account and of course every three months they travel to Pattaya for the 90 days reporting.

How do they manage that. I thought you had to file for your extensions where you're actually living, and the address Immigration has on record for you???

How would immigration have a record of where you live except what you write on the forms?

[Time Traveller]

Anyone still want to beleive the thai immigration officers are squeeky clean and never accept bribes??

There have been a few of us saying that they are on the take for years on this forum only to be strangely refuted by the farangs who think they are more-thai-than-thai accusing us of lying ....Even the PM can see the corruption in the immigration department.

Of course their is corruption at the Immigration Department.

Almost every police department I would say has corruption in Thailand but as for me I have never ever have paid money to immigration in Thailand during my almost 28 years stay in Thailand. Their are thousands of farangs that bribe themself in Pattaya to get an extension of stay, they have no 800k in the bank account and they pay between 20-30,000 Baht for the EoS. The biggest visa mills in Pattaya is run by the police and the money is shared with the immigration. The farang pays his fees and leaves his passport at the visa mill and two days later he got another extension.

Without disrepecting you MobileContent, but you're living in a clueless bubble. I have never had to pay any bribes to thai immigration either. But my previous three employers have. And you'd be surprised because one of them is a well known international law firm.

Many times I hear expats defending Thai Immigration whenever others (such as myself) call out the Immigration dept as dishonest and corrupt. These expats haven't a clue, as many companies arranging permission to stay for their foreign staff regularly do make ex-gratia payments. And I'm not talking about small companies either.

And that's why I have a problem with these expats who spit out those stupidly anal comments like...."well if you don't like it here, then leave". Actually we do like it here. It's just the submissive expats with their Master-Servant relationship with the thai authorities that I find disturbing

Edited September 11, 2015 by Time Traveller

[Konini]

You ask WHY?? Because they are ALL CORRUPT and they sure wouldn't want someone to be hard with them!!!!!

No, no and no. I have to comment here. A lot of them may very well be corrupt, but I will never believe that ALL of them are. There are still good people out there, and there are a lot more good than bad.

Guess we have just been unlucky with the crap here in CM then ....

I didn't say no corruption, it would appear quite obvious that there is some level of corruption in most aspects of life here. What I said is that there are a lot more good than bad, and I will stand to that until I die (even if I get murdered by some evil mark). If the higher-up's in any given office in any country where such things run rampant, those lower down the food chain aren't directly involved. Complicit, yes because they don't report to superiors or blow the whistle on what they know or strongly suspect to be happening, but not involved themselves. This then opens the discussion of what level of complicity should be achieved to be said to be in on the corruption, as well as a whole separate discussion on the moral, social and other implications of their choice to remain quiet. Those at the bottom of the pecking order receive no benefit from the corruption, perhaps a nice staff outing once a year or something similar in return for maintaining the status quo and on the flip side have us and possibly their fellow Thai's viewing them with an air of suspicion; obviously corrupt. I have no way of knowing if Thai's would view them suspiciously or even if they would care that said person is in all likelihood making money from nefarious means.

The fact remains though. There are a few very bad people. There are a lot of bad people. The overwhelming majority of people are, on the whole, good. This applies to all people in all walks of life in all countries. There is another thread running at the moment reminding people of that. It's true.

(My glass has always (and will always) be half full, and I believe I live a far healthier and happier life because of it.)

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

In our area in Sakon Nakhon we have around 15 farangs that are registered in Pattaya for the extension of stay because they would not qualify in Isaan to put the money in the account and of course every three months they travel to Pattaya for the 90 days reporting.

How do they manage that. I thought you had to file for your extensions where you're actually living, and the address Immigration has on record for you???

How would immigration have a record of where you live except what you write on the forms?

That's a good, valid point. In my case, I had a long history of doing mailed in 90 day reports. So of course, Immigration was going to return mail my reporting receipt back to my listed address, which I would need to live at or have some access to, in order to receive the document I'd need from them.

But if someone was doing in person reporting, I guess it only would typically have the potential to crop up in the annual extension process, such as if the officer wanted to see a lease, rental contract, utility bill, etc etc. That sometimes happens, but I gather it's certainly not routine.

What would your "Pattaya" friends do if they were asked to produce some kind of Pattaya-based documentation like that as part of their extension renewals?

[lostoday]

In our area in Sakon Nakhon we have around 15 farangs that are registered in Pattaya for the extension of stay because they would not qualify in Isaan to put the money in the account and of course every three months they travel to Pattaya for the 90 days reporting.

How do they manage that. I thought you had to file for your extensions where you're actually living, and the address Immigration has on record for you???

How would immigration have a record of where you live except what you write on the forms?

That's a good, valid point. In my case, I had a long history of doing mailed in 90 day reports. So of course, Immigration was going to return mail my reporting receipt back to my listed address, which I would need to live at or have some access to, in order to receive the document I'd need from them.

But if someone was doing in person reporting, I guess it only would typically have the potential to crop up in the annual extension process, such as if the officer wanted to see a lease, rental contract, utility bill, etc etc. That sometimes happens, but I gather it's certainly not routine.

What would your "Pattaya" friends do if they were asked to produce some kind of Pattaya-based documentation like that as part of their extension renewals?

Get a lease or receipt from the hotel. With 30 million tourists coming to Thailand this year and almost none of them writing English or Thai I imagine the hotel paperwork will be in great shape.

[tajtom]

Chop the police chief first

Better results there LOL

[ldiablo]

Somyot needs to be careful about the skeletons in his own closet while warning people. for whose performance he is ultimately responsible, that they must do better.

And he has a goodly number of skeletons does Somyot.

How do you know?

Law of averages.