Detained at immigration Don Muang

[swegolf1956]

My wife was recently detained for 4 hrs, threatened and mocked at Don Muang. She was taken aside on the grounds that this was her fourth tourist visa in one year. At 11:30 pm she was pulled into a room where the head immigration officer called her a prostitute, bar girl,mets. He threatened to make her sleep in the airport or return to HCMC for a 90 day visa. She is from an ASEAN country (Philippines) which does not require a visa. He also wrote some crap in her passport.

We are coming up on 30 days. Will this affect her extension?

He signed his name. Do we have any recourse?

[Suradit69]

He also wrote some crap in her passport.

It would probably be useful to know the specific "crap" he wrote.

[swegolf1956]

He wrote jibberish. "Recommended (she) get 90 day visa.

He was adamant that there was a maximum of three 30 day tourist visas per year.

This was her 4th.

We've checked and this is NOT a legit use of immigration rules.

Total crap as was his behaviours.

[tropo]

He wrote jibberish. "Recommended (she) get 90 day visa.

He was adamant that there was a maximum of three 30 day tourist visas per year.

This was her 4th.

We've checked and this is NOT a legit use of immigration rules.

Total crap as was his behaviours.

I sympathise with your visa dramas but the biggest problem here was her treatment at the airport. Any other person could be arrested and charged for that. I would suggest that you contact the Philippine Embassy and see if anything can be done.... Or contact an ASEAN official. Do you really want to drag her back after such an humiliation as you can't stay long unless you apply for a "retirement visa".

[swegolf1956]

I have a retirement visa.

We also have a beautiful home and a nice life here, with good friends. So I'm are not dragging her around.

I'm not sure who you are saying could be arrested? The immigration guy? That's laughable. Same with PH embassy. Useless.

ASEAN maybe.

Thailand needs to have a grievance process to keep dishonest officials from harassing young women witch legitimate passports.

Who is this flake going to harass, insult and abuse next?

[Kopitiam]

He wrote jibberish. "Recommended (she) get 90 day visa.

He was adamant that there was a maximum of three 30 day tourist visas per year.

This was her 4th.

We've checked and this is NOT a legit use of immigration rules.

Total crap as was his behaviours.

I reckon you are misusing the 30 day visa exemption process for long term stay for your wife. If you have a retirement extension, why don't you apply for your wife a "dependent" extension which is exactly what she needs.

[colinneil]

I have a retirement visa.

We also have a beautiful home and a nice life here, with good friends. So I'm are not dragging her around.

I'm not sure who you are saying could be arrested? The immigration guy? That's laughable. Same with PH embassy. Useless.

ASEAN maybe.

Thailand needs to have a grievance process to keep dishonest officials from harassing young women witch legitimate passports.

Who is this flake going to harass, insult and abuse next?

Thailand does have a grievance process call 1111.

[jspill]

There's an agent in BKK that can do the 30 day extension for you, guaranteed, I always use him instead of going to immigration myself. No risk of being hassled or asked questions.

[jspill]

I reckon you are misusing the 30 day visa exemption process for long term stay for your wife. If you have a retirement extension, why don't you apply for your wife a "dependent" extension which is exactly what she needs.

Lol 120 days is hardly long term stay or 'misuse' now is it.

[saakura]

I reckon you are misusing the 30 day visa exemption process for long term stay for your wife. If you have a retirement extension, why don't you apply for your wife a "dependent" extension which is exactly what she needs.

Lol 120 days is hardly long term stay or 'misuse' now is it.

He lives here with his wife, has a retirement visa, house, good friends etc as he puts it. Why then does his wife live here on repeated tourist visa? She is very clearly not a tourist and the immigration officer can clearly see that.

[jspill]

He lives here with his wife, has a retirement visa, house, good friends etc as he puts it. Why then does his wife live here on repeated tourist visa? She is very clearly not a tourist and the immigration officer can clearly see that.

From the information provided she's only spent 90 days in Thailand in her entire life, for all we know (now she's on day 91 as OP is making this thread). Stop making assumptions. Maybe they only just got married 91 days ago? We don't know.

[saakura]

He lives here with his wife, has a retirement visa, house, good friends etc as he puts it. Why then does his wife live here on repeated tourist visa? She is very clearly not a tourist and the immigration officer can clearly see that.

From the information provided she's only spent 90 days in Thailand in her entire life, for all we know (now she's on day 91 as OP is making this thread). Stop making assumptions. Maybe they only just got married 91 days ago? We don't know.

And how did you assume that they just got married 91 days ago and that she has never been to thailand more than 3 times in the past? In any case, even 3 back to back tourist visa to thailand for a young Philipina girl will raise immigration officers suspicion that she is not a genuine tourist.

[ubonjoe]

She was attempting to get another 30 day visa exempt entry. There is no 30 day tourist visa.

It seems she may of been attempting to do her 4th back to back visa exempt entry. If she left and immediately returned just to get another 30 day entry that will raise a red flag with immigration.

If she has gotten 30 day extensions of each entry that is total stay of 6 months.

OP if you are on a extension of stay based upon retirement I do not understand why your wife has not obtained a single entry non-o visa and obtained a extension of stay as your dependent.

[cornishcarlos]

He lives here with his wife, has a retirement visa, house, good friends etc as he puts it. Why then does his wife live here on repeated tourist visa? She is very clearly not a tourist and the immigration officer can clearly see that.

From the information provided she's only spent 90 days in Thailand in her entire life, for all we know (now she's on day 91 as OP is making this thread). Stop making assumptions. Maybe they only just got married 91 days ago? We don't know.

And how did you assume that they just got married 91 days ago and that she has never been to thailand more than 3 times in the past? In any case, even 3 back to back tourist visa to thailand for a young Philipina girl will raise immigration officers suspicion that she is not a genuine tourist.

Why did you "assume" she was young

[Eclipse]

She was attempting to get another 30 day visa exempt entry. There is no 30 day tourist visa.

It seems she may of been attempting to do her 4th back to back visa exempt entry. If she left and immediately returned just to get another 30 day entry that will raise a red flag with immigration.

If she has gotten 30 day extensions of each entry that is total stay of 6 months.

OP if you are on a extension of stay based upon retirement I do not understand why your wife has not obtained a single entry non-o visa and obtained a extension of stay as your dependent.

Yep. A 12 month extension as your dependant is what she should be getting.

It will cost 1,900 Baht.

She is not a tourist.

[shirtless]

There is no revenue in visa exempts , you my friend are pushing your luck , sort her out a proper visa.and stop crying about it.

[tropo]

I have a retirement visa.

We also have a beautiful home and a nice life here, with good friends. So I'm are not dragging her around.

I'm not sure who you are saying could be arrested? The immigration guy? That's laughable. Same with PH embassy. Useless.

ASEAN maybe.

Thailand needs to have a grievance process to keep dishonest officials from harassing young women witch legitimate passports.

Who is this flake going to harass, insult and abuse next?

There was no need to laugh at what I said... I was referring to the defamation laws in Thailand... A jailible offence. If you have a retirement visa and you're married why doesn't she have one too... Btw I'm also married to a Filipino and we both stay here on retirement extensions. We're also involved in a court action over defamation so I know a thing or two about both.

Based on the new information you offer here it seems like you are dragging her around as you are married but she is still messing around with visa runs. A quick trip to Laos to get her a non immigrant O visa.... Problem solved. If she is your wife treat her like one.

Edited June 22, 2016 by tropo

[swegolf1956]

<removed>
We were married in May.
What is a genuine tourist? Do we have to stay in a motel? Rediculous comment.
We make the visa runs until dependent status visa is approved.
Finall if Thailand doesn't want to abide by the ASEAN rules they agreed to in the treaty the other members should disqualify them, publish their disqualification on their embassy website to advise their citizens to expect foul play in Thailand so retirees can chose another country to spend their retirement $$$. Who wants this mess? Does Thailand want you to lease a house for a year then leave in 6 months? Are Asians famous for short term thinking?
There is no limit to number of touris visas in one year in ASEAN so why does a hothead at Don Muang get to change the rules! How is that legit?

Edited June 22, 2016 by ubonjoe
removed a inflammatory comment

[Orac]

He lives here with his wife, has a retirement visa, house, good friends etc as he puts it. Why then does his wife live here on repeated tourist visa? She is very clearly not a tourist and the immigration officer can clearly see that.

From the information provided she's only spent 90 days in Thailand in her entire life, for all we know (now she's on day 91 as OP is making this thread). Stop making assumptions. Maybe they only just got married 91 days ago? We don't know.

And how did you assume that they just got married 91 days ago and that she has never been to thailand more than 3 times in the past? In any case, even 3 back to back tourist visa to thailand for a young Philipina girl will raise immigration officers suspicion that she is not a genuine tourist.

Why did you "assume" she was young

The OP has accused immigration of harrassing young women so it would be a fair assumption.

[ubonjoe]

<removed>

We were married in May.

What is a genuine tourist? Do we have to stay in a motel? Rediculous comment.

We make the visa runs until dependent status visa is approved.

Finall if Thailand doesn't want to abide by the ASEAN rules they agreed to in the treaty the other members should disqualify them, publish their disqualification on their embassy website to advise their citizens to expect foul play in Thailand so retirees can chose another country to spend their retirement $$$. Who wants this mess? Does Thailand want you to lease a house for a year then leave in 6 months? Are Asians famous for short term thinking?

There is no limit to number of touris visas in one year in ASEAN so why does a hothead at Don Muang get to change the rules! How is that legit?

It takes about a day to get a dependent extension after going to a embassy or consulate to get single entry non-o visa for her. She could of gotten the non-o visa the day after you got married if your marriage certificate is in Thai or English.

There is no agreement within ASEAN for visas or visa exempt entries. Each country sets their own rules or they do a bilateral agreement with another country for visa exempt entries. Thailand and the Philippines have a agreement that allows for free tourist visas at embassies and consulates.

Your wife was not the first person to be treated rudely at immigration on arrival. Plenty of reports of people be grilled on entry about what they are doing here.

[JackThompson]

The root of the problem is no stated set of consistent rules for Visa Exempt Entries, ASEAN or otherwise. Most of us on this forum know the score, but this is obviously not clear to everyone.

The lack of professionalism is due, in large part, to the lack of a consistent set of rules. The IO gets repremanded if he lets too many in, or the 'wrong one' in, or doesn't let someone in who, in retrospect, was not a problem. An IO cannot be expected to be a detective, psychologist, etc - but they are - its a no-win situation for them, so this behavior is to be expected.

Imagine how much better an IOs job would be, if they could input a few variables, and have a clear and consistent course of action to take which would 100% cover their backside. No need to guess what someone 'might be doing here' - as has been reported with others 'sent home' from Thai airports - even those not in the country for months, prior.

In this case, issue a verbal and written warning (a pamplet with exact rules would come in handy, here). No questioning or detention is needed, absent a national-security red-flag. Those who ignore the warning get turned-around, and no one who has not been warned does.

[Estrada]

I had the same problem as I was using 30 day tourist exempt entries whilst I was working in Libya on 10/3week rotation due to problems extending 12 month permission to stays whilst not in Thailand. Thai immigration told me that as I was married I am not a genuine tourist so they wanted to send me back, fortunately I showed them that my friend was the previous Head of Immigration and they let me into the country. I have since retired so no problem now.

On the subject of harassment of women being detained at immigration on the basis of potentially being a prostitute or the subject of human trafficking. You cannot just blame Thai Immigration as they are being advised by EU, American, Australian and other foreign experts in order to stamp out prostitution and human trafficking. My wife and myself have been detained twice by UK immigration at Heathrow by rude immigration officers and grilled, even on the second occasion when we took our 3 children also to the UK.

The reason is that there are quite a lot of women who, although married to foreigners or locals, both here and in the UK, EU or the USA are actually working as prostitutes although most husbands are not aware of their wives activities. This is the reason that Immigration officers sound the alarm and "interrogate" suspicious people arriving many times on tourist visas or visa free entries. I had a Thai Supermarket in London for two years and was amazed at how many were on the game without their husband's knowledge.

So what you must do is get your wife a 12month permission to stay on the basis of dependency due to marriage.

[Docno]

Your wife's treatment at Don Muang is pretty well standard for Thais, Filipinas, and Viets going to Singapore. Vietnam recently wrote a letter of protest to the government of Singapore about this, and it seems to have been completely ignored. Nothing's changed. So don't expect any special for ASEAN countries or support from your wife's embassy... very little can be done so long as the immigration officers were acting within the (local) law. This is not the EU...

[sanukjim]

There's an agent in BKK that can do the 30 day extension for you, guaranteed, I always use him instead of going to immigration myself. No risk of being hassled or asked questions.

No risk ? HA

[jspill]

There's an agent in BKK that can do the 30 day extension for you, guaranteed, I always use him instead of going to immigration myself. No risk of being hassled or asked questions.

No risk ? HA

You don't go to immigration, so yes, there's no risk of being hassled if you're not physically there.

[ttkeric]

I do sympathize with the OP on this. Horrible experience for his dear wife.

My wife and I, we're both citizens of "ASEAN".

The thing is, unlike the EU, ASEAN is a lot of talk and hardly much substance. Freedom of movement, economy, innovation, etc.... All are basically a pipe dream at the moment. All that document signing, hand shaking ceremonies really masks all the underlying tension around this region.

Country A thinks lowly of country B, who would do so to C who may think that lowly of A and B. And so on, and on.....

Yours is a prime example. Filipino lady, entering and exiting regularly.... To this officer she must obviously be a "professional". In my case, my wife got detained at the Malaysian airport because (guess what) a Thai lady, entering and exiting regularly on a Visa exempt, she has to be a "professional". Marriage is not considered.

All in all, as friendlier members here have advised: If she's ever back in the Philippines, get the 90 day "Non-O" visa first (should be free because "ASEAN") then once she's here, apply for the extension by marriage / dependency.

[overherebc]

There's an agent in BKK that can do the 30 day extension for you, guaranteed, I always use him instead of going to immigration myself. No risk of being hassled or asked questions.

No risk ? HA

You don't go to immigration, so yes, there's no risk of being hassled if you're not physically there.

If your 'agent' falls off his motorcycle taxi on the way to get your extension, probably others as well, I can see a few passports going missing etc etc.

Then you will see hassle.

[MissAndry]

We also have a beautiful home and a nice life here, with good friends.

So not a genuine tourist, although I'm no great expert.

By the way, I went for a non-o VISA at Suvannakhet in Laos last week.

The vast majority of foreigners getting VISAs at the Thai consulate appeared (surprisingly) to be Filipino ladies.

They didn't seem to have any problems getting their VISAs, why not give it a go?

Edited June 22, 2016 by MissAndry

[jspill]

You don't go to immigration, so yes, there's no risk of being hassled if you're not physically there.

If your 'agent' falls off his motorcycle taxi on the way to get your extension, probably others as well, I can see a few passports going missing etc etc.

Then you will see hassle.

He drives a car.

Nothing illegal or untoward about using agents to get a 30 day extension, it's a legit company that's been written about on thaivisa before, so no need for the 'quotes'.

[OJAS]

There's an agent in BKK that can do the 30 day extension for you, guaranteed, I always use him instead of going to immigration myself. No risk of being hassled or asked questions.

No risk ? HA

You don't go to immigration, so yes, there's no risk of being hassled if you're not physically there.

If your 'agent' falls off his motorcycle taxi on the way to get your extension, probably others as well, I can see a few passports going missing etc etc.

Then you will see hassle.

And how can you be absolutely sure that he was actually en route to the local immigration office to get your passport stamped with the extension, as distinct from a mate of his who is an expert in forgery?