Bomber blame game sees Thailand immigration abruptly change visa rules

[webfact]

Bomber Blame Game Sees Thailand Immigration Abruptly Change Visa Rules
By Editors @ AEC News Today

BANGKOK: -- Foreign workers and tourists who use the country’s visa exempt entry provisions are the unwitting victims in a high-stakes blame game being played out in the wake of the Erawan shrine bombing on August 17.

On Saturday morning Thailand border crossings along the Cambodia border, along with the Phu Nam Ron/ Htee Khee border crossing at Kanchanaburi crossing into Myanmar abruptly stopped allowing people to enter Thailand using the visa exempt entry method with some reportedly also not allowing people to depart and return (out-in border hop) to activate second- or multiple-entry visas of any class.

Thailand has six land crossing with Cambodia – Ban Pakard/ Phsa Prum, Ban Laem/ Daun Lem, Chong Sa Ngam/ Anlong Veng, Chong Jom/ O Smach, Hat Lek/ Ko Kong and Aranyaprathet/ Poipet – and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not.

The instructions are said to have been issued from “someone high up in the immigration department” according to one visa service company operator who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the need to work with Thailand immigration officials on a daily basis.

According to the visa service operator the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon.

Full story: http://aecnewstoday.com/2015/bomber-blame-game-sees-thailand-immigration-abruptly-change-visa-rules/

-- AEC NEWS TODAY 2015-09-14

RELATED: Thai-Cambo border check points closed to visa runners with immediate effect

[JeremyBowskill]

Nice work. Shutting the barn door after the horse has already bolted again, I wonder what TV series immigration can watch to help them do a better job......... I'm guessing Faulty towers is how they originally studied for the job.

[canuckamuck]

Tourists must be searching for new reasons to be here at all.

[Laughing Gravy]

What upsets me is that the Thai current government are making the country look farcical. They are implementing knee jerk reactions without thinking things through. The ill thought move will only have a negative impact on the country when right now it needs a massive boost. I do wonder if they will ever learn.

[bruceybonus]

How about getting to the root of the problem - corruption. Those officers who facilitated the bombers' entry should be in the monkey house.

[Seastallion]

" the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon."

"and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not."

Ever heard of email? It makes for clear and explicit instructions.

[Tatsujin]

Nice work. Shutting the barn door after the horse has already bolted again, I wonder what TV series immigration can watch to help them do a better job......... I'm guessing Faulty towers is how they originally studied for the job.

Basil was far more organized, calm and considered than anyone in the Police, Military, Government or Immigration.

[amerasianex]

Lke I've said for many years now. Thais are their own worst enemy always blaming the foreigner for their inability to perform government functions at any level. How does closing the border in this manner help? Ir only plays into the hands of the terrorists who want to inflict economic damadge

[zakk9]

" the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon."

"and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not."

Ever heard of email? It makes for clear and explicit instructions.

To read and understand an email requires the recipient to:

1. Have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet

2. Be able to switch on that computer

3. Know which software can receive emails and be able to start that software

4. Have reading abilities advanced enough to understand the contents of the email

I wouldn't be to sure that any of these requirements are present with the staff of all the border crossings.

[jalansanitwong]

10 years ago there used to be 5 or 6 visa run bus companies most operating 2 services daily to Aran/poipet.

The last time i looked at the BKK Post there was only one left and only doing a daily service .

This latest knee jerk -blame someone else - puts tourists in an impossible situation. You may or may not be able to enter the country by land.

What do they do?

As ive said before, Thailand doesnt want us here. There is a big sign in English as a backdrop on one of the Thai TV stations news rooms.

OUR COUNTRY .... go home foreigner ! lol

Dont invest big money here.

[Chang_paarp]

" the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon."

"and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not."

Ever heard of email? It makes for clear and explicit instructions.

To read and understand an email requires the recipient to:

1. Have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet

2. Be able to switch on that computer

3. Know which software can receive emails and be able to start that software

4. Have reading abilities advanced enough to understand the contents of the email

I wouldn't be to sure that any of these requirements are present with the staff of all the border crossings.

You forgot that the sender needs to have access to the same technology and abilities. If you send an email from Yahoo with too many recipients, you get flagged as a spammer. This must frustrate so many people in the Thai bureaucracy as none seem to have official email addresses. Must be part of that elusive Thainess we keep being told about.

[WhizBang]

" the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon."

"and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not."

Ever heard of email? It makes for clear and explicit instructions.

To read and understand an email requires the recipient to:

1. Have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet

2. Be able to switch on that computer

3. Know which software can receive emails and be able to start that software

4. Have reading abilities advanced enough to understand the contents of the email

I wouldn't be to sure that any of these requirements are present with the staff of all the border crossings.

On the other hand, any 2 year old (even Thai) can use Line.

[ChrisY1]

What upsets me is that the Thai current government are making the country look farcical. They are implementing knee jerk reactions without thinking things through. The ill thought move will only have a negative impact on the country when right now it needs a massive boost. I do wonder if they will ever learn.

When many people here, and more so the authorities, lack the basic skills of constructive thinking, these are the results.

[h90]

yes sure Sexpat Hans from Germany is the next bomber, so we need him to stop going out at the Cambodian border

[jaywalker]

" the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon."

"and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not."

Ever heard of email? It makes for clear and explicit instructions.

To read and understand an email requires the recipient to:

1. Have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet

2. Be able to switch on that computer

3. Know which software can receive emails and be able to start that software

4. Have reading abilities advanced enough to understand the contents of the email

I wouldn't be to sure that any of these requirements are present with the staff of all the border crossings.

You forgot that the sender needs to have access to the same technology and abilities. If you send an email from Yahoo with too many recipients, you get flagged as a spammer. This must frustrate so many people in the Thai bureaucracy as none seem to have official email addresses. Must be part of that elusive Thainess we keep being told about.

They never heard of Wordpress either I guess. A 9 year old can use it to create & edit a website with about 90 minutes' worth of training.

[JAG]

" the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon."

"and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not."

Ever heard of email? It makes for clear and explicit instructions.

To read and understand an email requires the recipient to:

1. Have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet

2. Be able to switch on that computer

3. Know which software can receive emails and be able to start that software

4. Have reading abilities advanced enough to understand the contents of the email

I wouldn't be to sure that any of these requirements are present with the staff of all the border crossings.

You forgot that the sender needs to have access to the same technology and abilities. If you send an email from Yahoo with too many recipients, you get flagged as a spammer. This must frustrate so many people in the Thai bureaucracy as none seem to have official email addresses. Must be part of that elusive Thainess we keep being told about.

As you cannot send cash by email, government functionaries will have absolutely no interest in it.

[Kerryd]

" the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon."

"and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not."

Ever heard of email? It makes for clear and explicit instructions.

To read and understand an email requires the recipient to:

1. Have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet

2. Be able to switch on that computer

3. Know which software can receive emails and be able to start that software

4. Have reading abilities advanced enough to understand the contents of the email

I wouldn't be to sure that any of these requirements are present with the staff of all the border crossings.

5. Have the ability to delete those emails that are inconvenient, require extra work or potentially could limit income opportunities.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Sigh...

There is someone out there who has the power to make a phone call and close Thailands land borders.

Why didn't he make that call 30 minutes after the bomb exploded?

[Fat Haggis]

Sigh...

There is someone out there who has the power to make a phone call and close Thailands land borders.

Why didn't he make that call 30 minutes after the bomb exploded?

Too busy downplaying the act of terrorism to the Nation and encouraging tourists that all is well!!

[craigt3365]

This paragraph says it all, from the above article:

“The immigration police are annoyed that they are being publicly humiliated and made to look like the bad guys in all of this. The head of police accuses them of being corrupt, but makes no mention of the corruption inside the police. The easiest way for the immigration police to proceed is to not process the documents in the areas where they have been accused of being corrupt”, he said.

In the end, normal people are paying the price.

[Briggsy]

Fear not, it will all go back to normal in a few weeks. TIT

[Bakseeda]

It has not been possible for some time now to obtain a visa exemption at border crossings... seems you had to turn up at the crossing with a visa already stamped in your passport and activated by those border immigration police. I think this is the same as many countries, including The United Kingdom. Only at airports can you get the 30 day visa exemption which you can extend for another 30 days at a local immigration office. And of course NO visa on arrival for farangs.... Its really no problem if you follow the rules....

[chainarong]

The more I look at the immigration department I give faulty a miss and think of Colonel Klink , consistency is the key word here , there isn't any, , immigration needs a complete overhaul so that everyone , including the departments staff and Visa recipients , are all on the same page , tightening boarder check points and security measures are all very fine but rafferty rules are not good enough from a tourists point of view and If they wish to attract tourists and less complaints , their needs to be more cohesion within this department.

[useronthenet]

*Of course they need to clean up immigration, especially in Phuket where corruption seems to be at it's most.

[tonbridgebrit]

Fear not, it will all go back to normal in a few weeks. TIT

I hope you're right. I hope they don't start targeting Thailand's other land borders, and do the same thing.

[Pattaya46]

Ever heard of email? It makes for clear and explicit instructions.

Emails have huge defaults... like the ability to be forwarded to someone else and/or to be printed. They also show who sent it. No such problems with a phone call

[smedly]

so effectively the border immigration are on strike and taking it out on legit people passing through the borders to highlight their disatisfaction, they are also blaming other poeple for not doing their jobs correctly which is vastly different from taking bribes that allow people to break the law

It would appear that erradicating corruption in Thailand would be an absolutly monumental impossible task, a very sad state of affairs

[baboon]

It has not been possible for some time now to obtain a visa exemption at border crossings... seems you had to turn up at the crossing with a visa already stamped in your passport and activated by those border immigration police. I think this is the same as many countries, including The United Kingdom. Only at airports can you get the 30 day visa exemption which you can extend for another 30 days at a local immigration office. And of course NO visa on arrival for farangs.... Its really no problem if you follow the rules....

Until it is you who is affected. Then of course it is all different.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

FWIW, I don't recall any mention of the various bomb suspects allegedly having entered Thailand on visa-exempt entries, which is what Immigration -- if these reports are correct -- is now withholding at the land border crossings. So how does throwing a fit over visa exempt entries do anything in relation to the bombing investigation?

Of course, this may not be about trying to close loopholes that were highlighted by the actions of the bombing suspects. And instead, it may be an official temper tantrum over officers getting their jobs transferred and publicly accused of corruption by the national police chief.

Either way, it's SO typical of the officialdom here to pull these kinds of sudden changes in policy implementation and/or enforcement with no advance notice, no warning, and not even any announcement at all. If the reports are true, it's a pretty sorry state of affairs.

[Hawk]

What upsets me is that the Thai current government are making the country look farcical. They are implementing knee jerk reactions without thinking things through. The ill thought move will only have a negative impact on the country when right now it needs a massive boost. I do wonder if they will ever learn.

The latest coup was ill thought out to start with.