Longtime political cartoonist 'Stephff' loses work permit & visa

[trogers]

Dont take it personally Stephff, it is not only you that is finding this problem. Farangs married to Thais now must produce their NEIGHBORS house documents to get their non O. This of course might be somewhat problematic if you don't get along with neighbors or don't have any at all. Visa denied. It's all part of the junta's xenophobia and nobody has been more critical (and hilariously so - thank you!) than yourself. Please continue to lampoon these fools from overseas, you still submit cartoons to the Nation from abroad without a thai work permit.

what are you talking about? please explain! been here over twenty years on a non "O" visa (retirement ) and have never had to get anything from a neighbor? where are you living?

Along the border?

[ozyjon]

Dont take it personally Stephff, it is not only you that is finding this problem. Farangs married to Thais now must produce their NEIGHBORS house documents to get their non O. This of course might be somewhat problematic if you don't get along with neighbors or don't have any at all. Visa denied. It's all part of the junta's xenophobia and nobody has been more critical (and hilariously so - thank you!) than yourself. Please continue to lampoon these fools from overseas, you still submit cartoons to the Nation from abroad without a thai work permit.

Is it easier or harder to live long term in Thailand

I'm sure some people are either living in a cave,

under a rock or in complete denial,

Is it easier or harder to live long term in Thailand

Read the above post, if you can read.

[asdecas]

Regardless of whether Stephff is allowed to carry on working, I ref to Eyeswideopen blog , everyone knows that Thailand has a dictatorship and no amount of posturing by the administration will convince me otherwise, and with all respect to Ret General Prayut - O who at the beginning showed great promise , then fell into the old 1,2,3 trap of army run countries, totalitarian Governments hold no place in the modern world today, Burma is a prime example.......................................

Go tell the Chinese.

[Eric Loh]

I just got a call 25 minutes ago from the Foreign Ministry . They said that the Director-General didn't realize I was working for the Nation .

This sounds like massive back pedaling and face saving from the Director General.

How could the labour department not know that he works for the Nation? The company has to submit the application on behalf of the employee, and submit a stack of paper several inches thick.

They couldn't read English nor French...

Applications are always in Thai. It is more a typical junta minister knee jerk reaction and then make adjustment or apologies later. Their leader leads by this example.

[realenglish1]

Going further down that slipper slope Get rid of the foreign press

Single Gateway

Silence the Media

Get rid of Social Media Dissent

[cumgranosalum]

Regardless of whether Stephff is allowed to carry on working, I ref to Eyeswideopen blog , everyone knows that Thailand has a dictatorship and no amount of posturing by the administration will convince me otherwise, and with all respect to Ret General Prayut - O who at the beginning showed great promise , then fell into the old 1,2,3 trap of army run countries, totalitarian Governments hold no place in the modern world today, Burma is a prime example.......................................

Go tell the Chinese.

so how, pray, does telling the Chinese justify the situation in Thailand?

BTW - in China people can vote

[yellowboat]

So the Junta is not renewing visas for foreign journalists ? That would be alarming.

[SymS]

Dont take it personally Stephff, it is not only you that is finding this problem. Farangs married to Thais now must produce their NEIGHBORS house documents to get their non O. This of course might be somewhat problematic if you don't get along with neighbors or don't have any at all. Visa denied. It's all part of the junta's xenophobia and nobody has been more critical (and hilariously so - thank you!) than yourself. Please continue to lampoon these fools from overseas, you still submit cartoons to the Nation from abroad without a thai work permit.

I never had to produce such documents to apply. The first year immigration visited us though, and asked for an oral statement that I was indeed living there from one of the neighbors together with their ID.

[asdecas]

Regardless of whether Stephff is allowed to carry on working, I ref to Eyeswideopen blog , everyone knows that Thailand has a dictatorship and no amount of posturing by the administration will convince me otherwise, and with all respect to Ret General Prayut - O who at the beginning showed great promise , then fell into the old 1,2,3 trap of army run countries, totalitarian Governments hold no place in the modern world today, Burma is a prime example.......................................

Go tell the Chinese.

so how, pray, does telling the Chinese justify the situation in Thailand?

BTW - in China people can vote

Man, you need to get out more.

[Orac]

Seems to me that the big question here is why immigration have only now, after 16 years, got round to questioning why the Kuwait Times employ a full time editorial cartoonist on their staff in Thailand.

[SABloke]

Dont take it personally Stephff, it is not only you that is finding this problem. Farangs married to Thais now must produce their NEIGHBORS house documents to get their non O. This of course might be somewhat problematic if you don't get along with neighbors or don't have any at all. Visa denied. It's all part of the junta's xenophobia and nobody has been more critical (and hilariously so - thank you!) than yourself. Please continue to lampoon these fools from overseas, you still submit cartoons to the Nation from abroad without a thai work permit.

I never heard about these neighbours documents we have to provide for extension visa (thai spouse) too ?

Maybe his neighbours own ''his'' house and he is not aware/wife didn't tell him the whole story

[Suradit69]

...wrote exasperated messages on social media Tuesday afternoon questioning the reason for the decision.

So just your average TV poster.

[TheCruncher]

News flash. I follow Stephff and love his cartoons. He just got a call from

the Foreign Ministry trying to straighten this out. Apparently the Director

General thought he was a foreign journalist and did not realize he does

work for the Nation. So hopefully this will be resolved, but it certainly does

send a chilling message to other foreign journalists....

His update from his Facebook page. I certainly hope this gets

straightened out....

"new update on my work permit renewal refusal : I just got a call 25 minutes ago from the Foreign Ministry . They said that the Director-General didn't realize I was working for the Nation . So what they ask me to do is to provide a letter of support from The Nation instead of being a cartoonist for a foreign newspaper ( I work full time for the Kuwait Times as a cartoonist since 1999 ) . So apparently it's not poltically motivated - just new regulation from the Foreign ministry to make life harder on freelance journalists... So will see if they grant me renewal with letter of sponsor from The Nation . I apologize that the story is not as exciting as it may have seemed . But this confirm what the FCCT knows already : that there is a trend of getting rid of non-important journalists - small freelancers - you know those who can't make big noises ..."

Apparently the Director General THOUGHT he was a foreign journalist and did not realize he doeswork for the Nation.

Great, another example of the incompetence of this government, acting on personal thought instead of facts and research

[Suradit69]

It can (allegedly) happen even in the so-called (alleged) bastions of free-speech.

http://www.lbc.co.uk/the-journalist-kicked-out-of-uk-for-investigating-ted-heath-113992

Monday 3rd August 2015

McGrath Goodman is a respected senior writer with Newsweek and says she was expelled from Britain because of her investigation into allegations of abuse surrounding former Prime Minister Ted Heath.

[Ianatlarge]

Damm good idea. Too many journalists (so called) don't appreciate the fine work that the current government is doing in the Kingdom. Why, I just read that corruption is at its lowest ever level. Keep up the good work.

[LannaGuy]

Damm good idea. Too many journalists (so called) don't appreciate the fine work that the current government is doing in the Kingdom. Why, I just read that corruption is at its lowest ever level. Keep up the good work.

we will assume you are being sarcastic

[waighty]

Stephff who??????

[dru2]

So the Junta is not renewing visas for foreign journalists ? That would be alarming.

No problem last November - 23 years without problems.

[Tchooptip]

I guess some members do not know him...here are a few examples of his work

[cumgranosalum]

It can (allegedly) happen even in the so-called (alleged) bastions of free-speech.

http://www.lbc.co.uk/the-journalist-kicked-out-of-uk-for-investigating-ted-heath-113992

Monday 3rd August 2015

McGrath Goodman is a respected senior writer with Newsweek and says she was expelled from Britain because of her investigation into allegations of abuse surrounding former Prime Minister Ted Heath.

The fact it happened in another country in no way mitigates the actions of the Thai authorities.

furthermore in places like the UK if you really start to kick up a fuss people can sit up and take notice - in Thailand you could be arrested under the various LM and Libel laws. no explanation required....

[spermwhale]

Dont take it personally Stephff, it is not only you that is finding this problem. Farangs married to Thais now must produce their NEIGHBORS house documents to get their non O. This of course might be somewhat problematic if you don't get along with neighbors or don't have any at all. Visa denied. It's all part of the junta's xenophobia and nobody has been more critical (and hilariously so - thank you!) than yourself. Please continue to lampoon these fools from overseas, you still submit cartoons to the Nation from abroad without a thai work permit.

Really? i just did mine last month and there was no request for a neighbor's house document.s

Are you sure?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Seems to me that the big question here is why immigration have only now, after 16 years, got round to questioning why the Kuwait Times employ a full time editorial cartoonist on their staff in Thailand.

The current government is certainly no supporter of free speech or a free press.

However, before anyone keeps laying into them here on the Stephff issue, you do need to ask why that auspicious beacon on responsible journalism -- The Nation -- has been employing an editorial cartoonist, apparently on a freelance basis, for 16 years while that person has been working on a visa based on a newspaper in Kuwait. (And the Kuwait newspaper presumably wasn't publishing his Thailand cartoons).

Based on the reporting/news posted above, it would appear the guy has been working all these years for The Nation without that newspaper ever doing anything to apply for or support a work visa/media credential on his behalf. That situation, as described, does indeed seem to be more than a bit dodgy.

If The Nation wants to employ this guy as their editorial cartoonist, they're perfectly capable of doing so, and sponsoring him for a visa and work permit as would be done for any other foreign journalists in their employ. But for whatever reason, that doesn't appear to be what they've been doing all these years.

Edited February 3, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[iforget]

There is no personal agenda in this. Same thing happened to me in Aug when I applied for renewal. Two days before my media visa expired I was told I would not get another one.

The staffer at the MOFA explained the rules had been tightened to allow only full-time employees of bonafide foreign news organisations, and not freelancers.

Staffer told me that he and his (more junior) colleagues argued that we should get renewals for one year so that we try to make other arrangements.

But a committee of the military and various ministries said no.

It's not a problem for me. I was ready to retire anyway and so I dashed down to Penang and got a geezer visa and am now smelling the roses.

But I feel sorry for Steff and others like the 30-something photographer I met who is supporting a wife and 2 kids. At least he can get a spouse visa and maybe find work.

But I don't believe Steff was specifically targeted. He's one of maybe hundreds who will be hit or already have been.

Under the new rules I doubt whether the Nation connection will do him much good. But good luck to him.

[jsgatse]

From my (now) full-time cut and paste (since it seems to be needed daily):

Shame on Thailand! Karma's gonna eventually get you (let's hope!) one way or the other!

[billd766]

Sooooo... I wonder how it would be if "some future government" required "a certain leader" to pay for the aircraft carrier scheme the way Yingluck is being pursued for the rice scheme.

The guy did have a point, doncha nooo.

I guess that all of those (lately disappeared) junta cheerleaders really didn't want freedom of the press after all.

Reconciliation can get dicey, sometimes.

That would be interesting going that far to 1992 when the aircraft carrier was ordered.

The PM's during 1992 were Anand Panyarachun until April 1992.

Meechai Ruchuphan until 06 May 1992

Anand Panyarachun until 22 June 1992

Chuan Leekpai from September 1992 until July 1995

I am sorry that I don't know who was running the military during and up to 1992 but I am sure if you did some research you could find out.

So how far back are you willing to go?

[webfact]

Foreign Affairs Says Cartoonist 'Stephff' Failed to Follow Regs
By Teeranai Charuvastra
Staff Reporter

BANGKOK — A longtime political cartoonist known as “Stephff” did not have his visa extended in Thailand because he failed to follow regulations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

News that Stephane "Stephff" Peray, a cartoonist for several media agencies including The Nation, was denied a renewal of his press visa and work permit prompted speculation the military government was punishing Peray for his scathing cartoons, but a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a bureaucratic call.

According to spokesman Sek Wannamethee, the cartoonist cited his workplace as The Kuwait Times and submitted only work samples from foreign media agencies in his application, whereas the ministry’s regulations require they include samples from domestic news agencies.

“He only submitted a letter of certification from the Kuwait Times, without any work that was published in Thailand,” Sek said Tuesday evening.

However it’s not clear how foreign journalists would be expected to supply work from domestic media. According to instructions available in English on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website, foreign journalists wishing to work in Thailand need only supply three pieces of work from the past year.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1454474948


-- Khaosod English 2016-02-03

[mikiea]

he who ordered this was acting like a child......huh .... the phrase " fraidy " cat's comes to mind.............

[SOTIRIOS]

....sorry...but......more and more .....lately........foreigners are...... 'illegal by default'......

...not really a nice way to treat people ...any people......

[dru2]

'According to spokesman Sek Wannamethee, the cartoonist cited his workplace as The Kuwait Times and submitted only work samples from foreign media agencies in his application, whereas the ministry’s regulations require they include samples from domestic news agencies'.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs make a distinction between journalists (nak khao) who are domestically based and foreign correspondents (phu seu khao), with different requirements for each category. 'Full-time employees of bonafide foreign news organisations' fall under the latter category, but still have to submit annual examples of their work and it's certainly sensible to include some work that is Thai-related.

[tbthailand]

Now, back to Paris and draw about the siege of Europe. It is a much bigger issue than this backwaters of 60+ million people.

siege of Europe, ...

do tell....

oooooh, I'm so excited to hear about this one. Do you think they'll make a movie??