Walking Street Sweep Nets 30 Foreigners Without Proper Papers in Pattaya

[ratcatcher]

What is it about Pattaya that seems to attract such a preponderance of brain dead farangs?

"....the Police conducted the operation with the aim of detecting and disrupting transnational organized crime groups, who are thought to use Pattaya Discotheques and Bars to meet and plan their crimes."

For the same reasons as the above. When in the sewer expect to notice some bad smell.

Edited February 20, 2016 by ratcatcher

[gemguy]

I keep a copy of this on my phone

I advise many people to do what you recommend.

Meantime that photo of the money being exchanged made me think that the police officer(s) would see that and think that is correct in the sense that you should not pay another officer but pay them as they are also the collections officers for any fines to be paid...so it is OK to pay them on the spot and they will account for the money collected when they get back to the Police station.

Cheers

[Jeremy50]

Who cares? A bunch of fools in a fools paradise.

[gemguy]

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 is making any drama. The rules are clear (as mud...), passports do not have to be carried but a suitable piece of identification should (i.e. drivers license or passport to be produced within 24 hours etc.). All fine for temporary residents (as most of us are...) but I am more concerned about tourists and their reaction to these rais. And so should TAT be! Are tourists informed about the passport carrying rule? If I were a tourist in a big tourist city like Pattaya or Phuket, having a good time and suddenly, 100 cops turn up and I spend a few hours at the cop shop, just because I left my passport at the hotel, I would not be too thrilled, to put it mildly. And this particular raid did not seem to have resulted in nabbing any foreigners for any particular crimes? If Thailand is that worried about so many criminal elements living here, maybe Immigration should try to stop such 'unsavory' elements from entering the Kingdom in the first place?

True...but maybe they are thinking to let everyone in and get their money and then get some more money after they apprehend some of them for any number of reasons and then extort some money out of them....like that....lol

Cheers

[hawker9000]

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?

and whyare you so anxious to defend the glaring inconsistency of Thai rules and regulations which change like the weather ?

I don't think that it is a rule if some immigration officer say something. The law is the rule. I don't know any country where it is not mandatory that you must be able to identify yourself.

Well you do now. There is no law requiring US citizens to carry id in the US. If you're driving, you have to have your d/l, and if a cop detains you for some reason, not having any id on you will probably invite extra scrutiny, and most probably will have some kind of id on them most of the time, but a US citizen walking down the street in the US is violating no law by simply not having id on them.

[dirtycash]

yea im really gonna bring my passport along while i go get drunk on a night out at insomnia..............stupid b*********s !!

i allways carry a copy of my entry stamp and passport picture, this should be enough.

Edited February 20, 2016 by dirtycash

[mikosan]

In the UK, not only is there no requirement to carry ID outside of the home, you do not even have to carry your driving licence when driving, you are given 7 days to produce it at a Police Station of your choice. However, expect some scrutiny if you have no ID and you are driving a car! As a matter of course, the majority of people carry some form of ID, be it a bank card, work pass etc. anyway, so it's rarely an issue. But that is the UK and we have laws that the cops apply, here they have laws that are applied at the whim of whatever cop, immigration officer, army officer etc. etc. you happen to be dealing with, so good luck. That said, a smile and a friendly nature do help a great deal, a smattering of Thai is a godsend!

Edited February 20, 2016 by mikosan

[louse1953]

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

Said without their passports,not don't have.I would have been in the mix as well if i was there.You would need your head read if you took your passport for a night out in WS.

[louse1953]

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?

Not been here long then?

[louse1953]

And again this proves that Pattaya is not a part of Thailand, they have their own laws there. Just like taxi's don't have a metre which is national law.

And where i come from a driverslicense is also an ID, i can also change money in BKK and use that as ID.

Making a copy of my passport/visa is fine but i have never seen a copyshop in BKK. Why are they not on Swampy airport?

Never seen a copyshop!!!!Blind Freddy could find one in a New York minute.

[IAMHERE]

So when you get hauled down to the local hoosegow like that, do you have to pay for the bahtbus?

[PattayaAl]

So when you get hauled down to the local hoosegow like that, do you have to pay for the bahtbus?

No, free ride

[Benmart]

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)

I wasn't there and only know what the article says, which is often not the "whole story". One would have to be there to know all the facts and "who said what" and what was required to be shown.

The press is a system that is regulated and screened for content. Much as Wikipedia, it is often in error. Look beyond for truth in reporting.

[charmonman]

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.

For me, all of the above. I used to enjoy it, now I avoid it; a complete freak show, and not in a good way.

[cumgranosalum]

A few months back a high ranking police chap told us that we didn't need to carry our passports all the time - there was a lot of heated debate on Thaivisa abut it...and that the police were going to be reasonable about those who didn't have them on them.

If that chap is to be beiieved this is just a purely vindictive action aimed at foreigners......I can't see what they hope to gain apart from further damaging Thailand's reputation as the land of smiles.

Edited February 20, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[BSJ]

Big difference with the cops up country. At a road block a wave and a smile usually get a salute in return and waved on! Two different Thailand's, ay!

[bkkcanuck8]

Having a British passport and living in Chiang Mai would mean 2 trips to Bangkok to replace it if my passport got lost, damaged or stolen.

I carry my Thai driving license and a copy of my passport. I prefer to take my chances that this will suffice because the consequences of anything happening to my original passport are too high. It`s not rocket science to understand that most foreigners are afraid to carry their passports for the same reasons, but on the other hand most tourists will not hold Thai driving licenses and the police are within their rights to demand a show of passports.

You cannot get a replacement from the British Consulate in Chiang Mai ?

A lost or stolen passport is 1 black mark on your record. If you get too many marks the government will have to do a thorough investigation into you and they may restrict you to 1 year passports of you lose or have too many stolen since the it raises a flag into whether you have sold your passport on the black market (or to a black market broker). If it is like the Canadian Embassy getting a new passport is not easy - first thing they ask you for is your birth certificate or citizenship documentation (if you are like many, they would be back in your home country if you are lucky). It then takes at least 3 weeks of processing at least to get a new one. While ETD documents can help in the short term - many places may not accept them except for through transit to your home country. It might through a little kink into someones travel plans in the mean time.

[chiang mai]

There is no British Consulate in Chiang Mai.

[allanos]

The irony in all of this is that the persons caught up in the Immigration Police

dragnet have all been the subject of, essentially, racial profiling!

I do, however, think that the concept of racial profiling would be lost on the

Thai authorities.

[carter1882]

Learn to speak Thai. Making a joke about enjoying fermented fish in your som tam is always accepted in lieu of identification.

[cumgranosalum]

Learn to speak Thai. Making a joke about enjoying fermented fish in your som tam is always accepted in lieu of identification.

whereas this would work on a one off check, I don'tthink it would cut any ice with the police on this occasion as they appeared to be on a specific mission.

[cumgranosalum]

I think people need to bear in mind that sometime in the not so distant future Thailand is likely to have a massive authoritarian clampdown and an almost total suspension of tourism...the authorities know this and it looks s if they re getting prepared to clam-down on ALL threats to stability whether internal or external. We are going to see a progressive clampdown aimed at the media and all foreigners.

Edited February 20, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[Rayk]

Now isn't that a great way to promote tourism.

Friends come here for a one week holiday to Pattaya. Out having some fun in a nightclub when 100 police officers decide to take you and your friends to the station because you are not carrying your most important possession in the city of crime all the while not having even broken a single law.

The police here are an utter disgrace.

[Don Mega]

I think people need to bear in mind that sometime in the not so distant future Thailand is likely to have a massive authoritarian clampdown and an almost total suspension of tourism.

That would be awesome. no rude russians, no smelly brits, no BKK Thais and no skint chinese.

Pattaya would be bliss.

Alas it wont be happening anytime soon.

[cumgranosalum]

I think people need to bear in mind that sometime in the not so distant future Thailand is likely to have a massive authoritarian clampdown and an almost total suspension of tourism.

That would be awesome. no rude russians, no smelly brits, no BKK Thais and no skint chinese.

Pattaya would be bliss.

Alas it wont be happening anytime soon.

...and what makes you think you'd be immune?

[lkv]

...and what makes you think you'd be immune?

He's either Thai or lived too long in Thailand that his thinking changed.

Edited February 20, 2016 by lkv

[bazza40]

This story is a beatup. 30 foreigners without their passports on Walking Street, Pattaya? What percentage of the falangs there would that be? The place would have to be dead as a dodo if it was 80-90%.

Only a complete idiot would carry their passport around with them. Lose it or have it stolen, which is all too possible in an environment such as Walking Street, and you face weeks of paperwork with your own embassy/consulate AND the Thai immigration in re-establishing your identity and obtaining visa stamps all over again.

I carry my Thai driving licence and photocopies of my passport and current visa/permission to stay. In 7 years here, I've been asked for my driving licence about 3 times. I've never been asked to produce my passport in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai.

I agree it's a strange use of police resources; however, it's Thailand and their choice as to how the constabulary are used.

If the headline had said the foreigners did not have passports at all, that would have been newsworthy.

[Don Mega]

I think people need to bear in mind that sometime in the not so distant future Thailand is likely to have a massive authoritarian clampdown and an almost total suspension of tourism.

That would be awesome. no rude russians, no smelly brits, no BKK Thais and no skint chinese.

Pattaya would be bliss.

Alas it wont be happening anytime soon.

...and what makes you think you'd be immune?

Iam not a tourist...... or are you now moving the goal posts to now include all foreigners ?

[tomross46]

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/

I have a Permanent Drivers Licence, and have had it almost 20 years. It was my Thai ID number, which was assigned by the government. I also have copies of My police registration book, the house registration and my permanent resident id book, and I have been questioned by young police, because they did not think a farang could get a PR. I ask for the Police Col. and he straightened it out.

[bazza40]

Having a British passport and living in Chiang Mai would mean 2 trips to Bangkok to replace it if my passport got lost, damaged or stolen.

I carry my Thai driving license and a copy of my passport. I prefer to take my chances that this will suffice because the consequences of anything happening to my original passport are too high. It`s not rocket science to understand that most foreigners are afraid to carry their passports for the same reasons, but on the other hand most tourists will not hold Thai driving licenses and the police are within their rights to demand a show of passports.

You would have enjoyed 4 overnight bus rides then. You need your passport to get on a plane here. Thais need their national ID card.