Tracking foreigners with special SIM cards

[DeeMak9]

I'm sure most of you read the news about this idea to have foreigners, including ex-pats, hold special SIM cards which allows the government to track you.

 

I have been in this country for 7 years and I fully understand I will always be a guest here, even though I have a house, bring money in every month, have Thai wife and a Thai daughter here.

I accept the fact that I have to report myself every 90 days. I accept that there are things like the forms where your very personal details and social media details are being asked. I accept the fact the most immigration officers are unfriendly to me. I accept that there a great percentage of Thais see me as an money maker rather than a person, I accept there is double pricing even when you hold a work permit or drivers license, I accept I can never hold land or fully own a SME and I accept the fact that I will never be a Thai citizen.

 

However, holding a special SIM card to able to track me, because I'm a foreigner, is a step too far for me. Especially because the only reason is the fact that I am a foreigner. As you and me both know, this is absolutely NOT helping improving national security. It only increases the already growing xenophobia.

 

This time, after all these years, I wonder if there isn't something we can do about this, in my eyes, bullying against foreigners. We must have some kind of voice seeing the amount of members here on Thaivisa.

 

Am I overreacting or do people share my feelings too?

 

Please leave your "if you don't like it, get out" comments for yourself. As I said, and like many other foreigners here, I have a Thai family, property and a happy life in Thailand. I love it here and I don't want to leave.

Edited August 10, 2016 by DeeMak9

[Caps]

I agree, I have been with my partner nearly 2 years and am/was thinking about building a house, yes I share your feeling.

If Thai's were treated like this in Western Countries then I could understand it, but I doubt very much they are.

 

[dbrenn]

The regime in Thailand is ultra right wing, and they simply don't like foreigners much - as tyrants, they hate criticism and the western world frowns upon the repressive system that has taken over here.

 

First there were visa crackdowns, then there was this form asking about social media presence, now they are talking about monitoring location - electronic tagging by another name. Next they might restricting movement, perhaps? How much more repressive it will get is anyone's guess.

 

Nearly all of the deluded people on this forum who supported the Junta seem to have realised their mistake, and most have disappeared. Like lemmings, or capos, they were.

[thai3]

We are aliens, we have no more rights than a two week backpacker, and they can do what they like to us I'll be leaving next year after 10 years, it just gets worse.

[huahinjoe]

Although its not formalized yet, but just the idea itself raising more questions then answers as well as the eyebrows towards this extremely unwelcoming perspective in the past few years built up towards longterm expats in Thailand. 

 

I personally feel exactly the same in a certain level with a similar background: 11years here, married, 2 kids, owning condo, contribute to economy probably more then the average population, etc. and it feels like they not just don't care their own population but absolutely nobody else. In other countries the norm is if you stay for a few years or having a child with a native you will get a little chance to be resident but here we still stuck with crazy visa rules and random daily problems.

 

The country is totally unpredictable but that brings the adventure into it, however after many years sometimes i feel i'm getting tired of these dramatic events and the sole purpose of living in a buddhist and tropical country which a bit unattached from the West is getting just worse day by day loosing the essence and joy of living here.

 

Never thought one day specially after having a family will have to think about other places and I still think nowhere really better when you comes to the art of balancing out the positives and negatives about Thailand or where to live but this idea was definitely a spark in my mind, what the hell i'm doing here.

I just thinking if they can't even make 1 thing properly here, there is a huge chance this will never ever work out and there will be million workaround as well as involving the under table money in the beautifully built-up platform of ripoffs in their bureaucracy.

[Crossy]

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