Walking Street Sweep Nets 30 Foreigners Without Proper Papers in Pattaya

[Bluespunk]

but when Deputy Commander Voravat said expats living here a Thai driving licensecan be used as identification or ( i.e not AND ) photocopy of your passport he knew that didn't he?so why say it?

Why do you make a drama from carrying a copy of your passport? Is it so difficult?

Nobody's making a drama of it, but if you carry a copy of your passport, they may say you need to have the original one on you.

We all know that ALL law enforcers in Thailand make up their own new laws as they go

If they have a reason they will demand to see the original passport. But don't worry, they will follow you to your home.

The BIB following me home would worry the hell out of me.

[clockman]

Walking street, No prostitution in Thailand.

[craigt3365]

Someone with a Thai drivers license CAN identify himself, even more than someone showing a passport, because the driver license show more identity details than the passport. e.g.: His address in Thailand.

Your drivers license doesn't have your visa stamp. Which shows if you are here legally or not. That's what they are looking for.

[Langsuan Man]

Probably initiated by another District official , who like the anti Bridge playing guy, doesn't understand that possession of a passport is not a law , reasonable access to the passport is the law

[Tolley]

The problem of the ID is not really the issue here.

The issue here is the unfriendly , harassing, general attitude of the Thais towards foreign tourists these days.

Whether it be the rip offs, the violence or now the harassment of tourists it is just something you are not looking for when you take a holiday.

[Tonto21]

I never carry my UK passport / Visa . . . I only carry my Thai driving license on which my ID number is also my UK passport number. To carry your passport at a place like Walking Street in Pattaya is just asking for problems !

Agree....I do the same.... But in Thailand logic is not used....

[onemorechang]

Such a friendly place to spend your hard earned money

on holiday in Thailand

Go else where with your cash, they don't deserve it.

Papers , Papers, Show papers now., Ring a bell from the past

[TheCruncher]

Someone with a Thai drivers license CAN identify himself, even more than someone showing a passport, because the driver license show more identity details than the passport. e.g.: His address in Thailand.

Your drivers license doesn't have your visa stamp. Which shows if you are here legally or not. That's what they are looking for.

But a visa stamp has nothing to do with identifying oneself.

A visa stamp is about legitimating, 2 different things.

[alfalfa19]

Good! If they don't have a passport you got to wonder why!

Your comment is asinine and ridiculous. With all the pickpockets running amok in Pattaya, you really think foreigners should carry their passport with them while out on the town in Pattaya? This was nothing but a money grab. "crackdown on transnational crime", myanus.

[bridge2bridge]

Good! If they don't have a passport you got to wonder why!

DO YOU carry your Passport with you EVERY TIME you go out.

I DON"T, but i do carry a copy.

If you lose it then you have BIG problems.

[jacko45k]

Good! If they don't have a passport you got to wonder why!

Perhaps because they didn't want to risk it being lost or stolen.

Perhaps because they were from countries where it is not necessary to be in permanent possession of ID and they aren't aware of the rules here.

Your implication that they were all up to no good is frankly, ridiculous.

Actually since they were all released after documents were produced dispels it too!

And the nets came up empty!

When police pay more attention to pickpockets perhaps it will be safe to carry your passport!

[tinat]

so when was this assurance revoked?

" Deputy Commander Voravat confirmed that foreign tourists and expats do not need to carry their passports with them at all times."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/747736-no-need-to-worry-says-bangkok-immigration-commander/

"Deputy Commander Voravat also said that for expats living here, a Thai driving license or photocopy of your passport can be used as a form of identification."

I think that everybody must be able to proof his identity in some kind. I have a copy of my passport and visa all the time. Just a photo on my smartphone.

yes I also carry my Thai drivers license at all times.

But in the Pattaya section someone has started a thread today saying the " road was blocked and are checking all drivers paperwork. Also asking farangs for passports. ".

when a police officer stops a motorist the first thing they usually ask for is a drivers license which shows the passport number. I would also reckon that 90% of farangs in Thailand driving a car would have a Thai drivers license. So why were they also asking for passports?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/896379-bib-clampdown-cars-pattaya/

So why were they also asking for passports?

Maybe because the driver license don't have any information about your right to stay in the kingdom. (Visa)

A visa is not your "right to stay in the Kingdom", it merely allows you to enter the country. Your permission to stay stamp is what allows you to stay legally in the country.

[darrendsd]

Good! If they don't have a passport you got to wonder why!

Probably like most sensible people they don't take it out when they are likely to be getting drunk

[maccastime]

Can

[dru2]

PATTAYA —- More than 100 officers raided nightclubs along Pattaya’s famed Walking Street...

In fact infamous.

[maoro2013]

So what did the police net?? Nothing I reckon.

[jacko45k]

Good! If they don't have a passport you got to wonder why!

Probably like most sensible people they don't take it out when they are likely to be getting drunk

Actually I do not take anything out but cash and my phone.

Driving licence and 'cards' too left at home.

Worse comes to worst she will have to bring passport out to soi 9. But I believe checking late night revellers for passports is a silly thing to waste police time on.

Edited February 20, 2016 by jacko45k

[ratcatcher]

yes I also carry my Thai drivers license at all times.

But in the Pattaya section someone has started a thread today saying the " road was blocked and are checking all drivers paperwork. Also asking farangs for passports. ".

when a police officer stops a motorist the first thing they usually ask for is a drivers license which shows the passport number. I would also reckon that 90% of farangs in Thailand driving a car would have a Thai drivers license. So why were they also asking for passports?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/896379-bib-clampdown-cars-pattaya/

So why were they also asking for passports?

Maybe because the driver license don't have any information about your right to stay in the kingdom. (Visa)

A visa is not your "right to stay in the Kingdom", it merely allows you to enter the country. Your permission to stay stamp is what allows you to stay legally in the country.

I think most of the people involved in this police check were probably tourists and indeed their visa stamps would be what the police were checking.

A permission to stay stamp, granted after the visa has expired, is not usually seen in a tourist's passport, so he's partly correct inasmuch as the visa allows them to be here (on vacation presumably).

[Saan]

A similar sweep was proposed in Australia recently, a first, but the protest by Australian citizens was so vociferous that the immigration people abandoned the idea.

[bkkcanuck8]

but when Deputy Commander Voravat said expats living here a Thai driving licensecan be used as identification or ( i.e not AND ) photocopy of your passport he knew that didn't he?so why say it?

Why do you make a drama from carrying a copy of your passport? Is it so difficult?

Because some people actually care about rights and freedoms -- and the assumption that any individual (whether they "look Thai" or not) should be considered innocent unless given cause to think otherwise. Stopping someone walking down the street or in any public area and asking for ID is too close to a police state, where you always have to prove that you are innocent and not the other way around.

A stolen passport can be worth $1,000s of dollars on the black market, and as a general rule I don't walk around with anything more than a hundred dollars (unless I am task driven and buying something in cash that day). I would not walk around every day with several grand in my pocket -- it is just foolish. The vast majority of tourists are going to arrive, stick their passport in the safe. The fact that you detain an individual for hours on end just because they were assumed guilty on sight, and now they have to prove they are innocent - is not really treating anyone with respect.

If you want to control illegal activities - then actually focus you attentions on that area put feet on the ground policing areas were it goes on - looking for actual criminal activity and not just rounding up a bunch of tourists to catch a few fish. If you want to stop illegal working, then punish people hiring illegals for work with sever fines and prison.... take away the demand and the supply disappears.

[Familyaffairs]

Good! If they don't have a passport you got to wonder why!

They didn't say they were here illegally, just that thy didn't have passports (on them) i never carry mine around, do you ?

[silent]

Good! If they don't have a passport you got to wonder why!.

read what my avatar says and wonder why

[LukKrueng]

Perhaps their passport was safe at home, where every good passport should be.

And before any one goes there, there is no law that says passports must be carried on the person at all times, they must instead be easily accessible within reasonable timescales, aka, in a hotel safe within 24 hours etc.

That is your interpretation of the law. Actually every individual must have a proper ID - Thai or foreigners alike. The ID should be able to identify the holder and show his/her legitimacy of staying where he/she is. With Thais holding a national ID card all is good. In their case, a driver license should suffice as the ID number shows in there as well as a Thai name in most cases, so no doubt they are allowed to be in Thailand. in foreigners cases, a DL or copy of passport might be good enough as a form of identification, yet they still have to prove they hold a valid permit of stay in Thailand.

[ratcatcher]

Good! If they don't have a passport you got to wonder why!

They didn't say they were here illegally, just that thy didn't have passports (on them) i never carry mine around, do you ?

A wise decision, but to be even wiser, carrying a reduced size laminated copy will save you any real hassle. It's all to do with attitude when asked.

[prakhonchai nick]

"All of them were taken in for criminal record checks and were reportedly released after they were able to show their passports to police."

Take your passport with you on a night out on walking street?

I wouldn't.

They did not have their passports with them , but were released after being able to show their passports to the police. Were they accompanied by a Police Officer when returning to their hotel to retrieve their passports? If so what a waste of manpower. Who paid the baht bus fare?

[Barnet]

I always carry one of those 7-11 stamp books with me JUST in case I'm officially and legally questioned by one of the kingdom's fine, upstanding polcemen. If you have nothing to hide you won't mind them checking your stamp book.

The streets are safer knowing 50% of the local police force were attending such horrendous crime. I feel threatened and often terrified at the thought of a farang without a passport on him. I was having a haircut a few weeks back and this old guy walked in without his. I left with a full nostril of hair left to trim.

Yes, I'm just glad I live in a country where, as polls tell us, corruption is on the way out at last.

There is always the possibility that after meeting with the real politicians recently our dear leader decided to send a few attachments via Line to Obama showing him how serious he is about stopping terrorism. "Anything brown-skinned or smoking a sweet smelling device - arrest and grab a selfie with."

What a bunch of @#$%s

[AdamRich]

What a crock.

Welcome to Thailand. Please all tourists, come to our overpriced strip of bars and then get pulled down the police station on some pathetic archaic law which even the cops can't agree on.

Remind me why I haven't bothered with Walking Street for the last ten years. Is it the overpricing, the violence, the overcrowding, the lack of fire exits, the stiletto-wielding transvestites or the ridiculous hassle from the police. I can't decide which it is.

Usually I am the one condemming a back home comparison. But you think Walking Street is overpriced? A drink is 200 mf baht. You didn't have to pay to get in the place. You do not have to pay the girls to dance. You can pay 200 baht and oogle all you want. Back home they will want (in US$ of course) 357 baht for you to park your car. That is right. Even if you don't walk inside you have to come pay 357 baht just to sit in the lot and look at the outside of the building. Then 714 baht to get in the door. You can then safely assume that a drink will cost you at least 357. So you have spent 1428 baht and have yet to even see sight of a girl. I can even go into certain discos on Walking street and get 3 bottles of premium liquor for 3000 baht. I don't even go to gogo bars, but to say that Walking Street is overpriced is ridiculous. There are costs associated with paying staff, rent, and running AC at these bars. They are not just open for the goodwill of the tourists. Of course you can go to 711 and by a beer and drink it alone in your room or on the sidewalk on Beach Road for much cheaper.

[wombat]

the overpricing, the violence, the overcrowding, the lack of fire exits, the stiletto-wielding transvestites or the ridiculous hassle from the police.

you say that like its a bad thing?

[bark]

so when was this assurance revoked?

" Deputy Commander Voravat confirmed that foreign tourists and expats do not need to carry their passports with them at all times."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/747736-no-need-to-worry-says-bangkok-immigration-commander/

"Deputy Commander Voravat also said that for expats living here, a Thai driving license or photocopy of your passport can be used as a form of identification."

I think that everybody must be able to proof his identity in some kind. I have a copy of my passport and visa all the time. Just a photo on my smartphone.

yes I also carry my Thai drivers license at all times.

But in the Pattaya section someone has started a thread today saying the " road was blocked and are checking all drivers paperwork. Also asking farangs for passports. ".

when a police officer stops a motorist the first thing they usually ask for is a drivers license which shows the passport number. I would also reckon that 90% of farangs in Thailand driving a car would have a Thai drivers license. So why were they also asking for passports?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/896379-bib-clampdown-cars-pattaya/

What happens if you have a five year Thai Drivers Lic. and you renew your passport. Which happened to me. New passport doesn't match anymore. Also your can have a Thai Drivers Lic. but still be on overstay, on your passport.

[AdamRich]

The next operation should be going to round up everyone out of the water on Pattaya Beach to see how many are not in possession of a passport.

Edited February 20, 2016 by AdamRich