Bad guys out! Japanese clamping down on Thais abusing visa privileges

[webfact]

Bad guys out! Japanese clamping down on Thais abusing visa privileges

 

Picture: Sanook

 

BANGKOK: -- Immigration authorities in Japan are giving the Thais a taste of their own "Bad guys out!" medicine.

 

Since the start of free visas for the country Thais have been abusing the privilege by going to work in the country under the guise of being tourists, reports Sanook.

 

Out of 62,000 over-stayers in the country since January almost 6,000 were Thai making them the number three on the offenders' list.

 

Now anyone arriving in the country with a new passport is being interrogated - and that may even be first time visitors.

 

The news comes after a man called Natthapong Chaiwanitphon, a well known travel writer married to a Japanese who has made frequent visits to the country, was hauled off for questioning at Tokyo's Narita airport.

 

Natthapong posted on his Facebook page that he was returning to the country, where he lives and works legally, with a new Thai passport.

 

He said that when he was taken to the interrogation room he spoke Japanese.

 

He had his old passport with him and the officer apologized to him but intimated that there was a directive out to stop Thais with new passports coming into the country and question them.

 

Natthapong warned people making first visits on new passports or those going back on new passports what to expect in future.

 

Sanook.com reported that Thais abusing the tourist visa privilege to work or live illegally in Japan were making life difficult for bona

fide tourists.

 

Sanook also said that similar things were happening in South Korea.

 

Source: Sanook

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-12-06

[digibum]

Karma.  

 

I wonder what would happen in western countries started cracking down on Thais working illegally, banned them from owning land, and said that they couldn't control more than 49% of any company.  I wonder how well that would go down with the elite, military, and police.  

 

 

[kmj]

Is that because our goverments are too weak or Thailands ( and some other Asian countries ) goverments are more strict...

[digibum]

7 minutes ago, kmj said:

Is that because our goverments are too weak or Thailands ( and some other Asian countries ) goverments are more strict...

 

A little bit of both.  I'm sure it was originally tolerated as Thailand surely thumped their chests and told other countries that Thailand had never been colonized and didn't want to slip into that trap via the backdoor of capitalism.  Fine.  

 

But, it's been a long time since then and now the only reason for keeping the restrictions is purely to tilt the playing field in favor of Thais and make sure the rich keep getting richer.  

[jerojero]

Well, well, well..... If the shoe fits, especially on the other foot!

[ezzra]

 

Let's do unto them what we hate and forbid being done unto us......

Edited December 6, 2016 by ezzra

[rkidlad]

Yeap, it's not nice being scrutinized at the airport, etc. Luckily, it's never happened to me, but I've seen it happen to others.

 

The best thing you can do is learn from yours or others' experiences in the form of empathy. Treat your foreign guests as you'd like to be treated when travelling abroad. Also, no matter how special you think or believe your home country to be - it can mean very little in other people's countries. 

Edited December 6, 2016 by rkidlad

[djayz]

1 hour ago, digibum said:

Karma.  

 

I wonder what would happen in western countries started cracking down on Thais working illegally, banned them from owning land, and said that they couldn't control more than 49% of any company.  I wonder how well that would go down with the elite, military, and police.  

 

 

That'll never happen for two reasons; 

firstly, most politicians in the West are p*ssies and secondly if the West introduced such restrictions, there'd be claims that we are racist facists imposing unfair conditions which violate their human rights.

[trogers]

1 hour ago, djayz said:

That'll never happen for two reasons; 

firstly, most politicians in the West are p*ssies and secondly if the West introduced such restrictions, there'd be claims that we are racist facists imposing unfair conditions which violate their human rights.

 

You have Trump now...

[anon4637435435]

I am literally rolling around laughing. This made my day.

[Nasrullah]

2 hours ago, djayz said:

That'll never happen for two reasons; 

firstly, most politicians in the West are p*ssies and secondly if the West introduced such restrictions, there'd be claims that we are racist facists imposing unfair conditions which violate their human rights.

Never say never!

 

have a look at all the going's on around the world(brexit/trump/renzi)The people are getting tired at such

politicians telling us how to tie our shoelaces......We the people are starting to worry about OUR human

rights...

[crabis]

5 hours ago, digibum said:

Karma.  

 

I wonder what would happen in western countries started cracking down on Thais working illegally, banned them from owning land, and said that they couldn't control more than 49% of any company.  I wonder how well that would go down with the elite, military, and police.  

 

 

 

what country are you from ??? 

 

in denmark we do... Thai tourist are not allowed to work in denmark ... and if they are caught doing so  ... they will be hold in prisoned  until send out of the country ... and be banned from returning for years.... you can't buy a summer house in denmark if you aren't a danish citizen ... 

 

on this point Thailand isn't that different from most other countries ....

Edited December 6, 2016 by crabis

[hansnl]

4 hours ago, digibum said:

 

A little bit of both.  I'm sure it was originally tolerated as Thailand surely thumped their chests and told other countries that Thailand had never been colonized and didn't want to slip into that trap via the backdoor of capitalism.  Fine.  

 

But, it's been a long time since then and now the only reason for keeping the restrictions is purely to tilt the playing field in favor of Thais and make sure the rich keep getting richer.  

The Thais?

[digibum]

5 minutes ago, crabis said:

 

what country are you from ??? 

 

in denmark we do... Thai tourist are not allowed to work in denmark ... and if they are caught doing so  ... they will be hold in prisoned  until send out of the country ... and be banned from returning for years.... you can't buy a summer house in denmark if you aren't a danish citizen ... 

 

on this point Thailand isn't that different from most other countries ....

 

Actually, Scandinavians are the exception to the rule.  You guys have a lot of protectionist laws that are not common elsewhere.  Same on immigration in general.  

 

I live in the US.  And Thais, and in fact more foreigners, are allowed to buy land, own businesses, etc in the US.  

 

There was a big thing about Brexit possibly impacting Florida real estate prices because so many Brits buy vacation properties in Florida.  Chinese cash is snapping up tons of real estate, $2 billion for the Waldorf Astoria in NYC, another $2 billion being sunk into Los Angeles.  The Japanese love Hawaii and have been helping drive up property values there since the 1980's.  

 

My Thai wife who is permanent residency is currently looking to purchase some investment properties here in the US.  Not only is she allowed to own them, but because she is a permanent resident, she will have no problem getting them financed with a bank.  

 

Likewise, I can buy property in most of the EU.  So, outside a few states that specifically prohibit non-residents from owning land, there's nothing prohibiting me from buying property.  I lived in Europe for a total of about 6 or 7 years and I could own property in any of the countries I've lived in.  

 

I did say "cracking down on Thais working illegally" so, no, Thais in the US on tourist visas are not allowed to work.  Not sure why you are trying to suggest that I was saying otherwise.  

[digibum]

3 minutes ago, hansnl said:

The Thais?

 

I know.  Hard to believe :-)

[rijb]

If that doesn't work, Japan will implement dual pricing.

[Moonmoon]

LMAO. ok jokes aside, i cannot fault the Thai immigration for wanting to do their jobs right. 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2016 by Moonmoon

[crabis]

34 minutes ago, digibum said:

 

Actually, Scandinavians are the exception to the rule.  You guys have a lot of protectionist laws that are not common elsewhere.  Same on immigration in general.  

 

I live in the US.  And Thais, and in fact more foreigners, are allowed to buy land, own businesses, etc in the US.  

 

There was a big thing about Brexit possibly impacting Florida real estate prices because so many Brits buy vacation properties in Florida.  Chinese cash is snapping up tons of real estate, $2 billion for the Waldorf Astoria in NYC, another $2 billion being sunk into Los Angeles.  The Japanese love Hawaii and have been helping drive up property values there since the 1980's.  

 

My Thai wife who is permanent residency is currently looking to purchase some investment properties here in the US.  Not only is she allowed to own them, but because she is a permanent resident, she will have no problem getting them financed with a bank.  

 

Likewise, I can buy property in most of the EU.  So, outside a few states that specifically prohibit non-residents from owning land, there's nothing prohibiting me from buying property.  I lived in Europe for a total of about 6 or 7 years and I could own property in any of the countries I've lived in.  

 

I did say "cracking down on Thais working illegally" so, no, Thais in the US on tourist visas are not allowed to work.  Not sure why you are trying to suggest that I was saying otherwise.  

 

im not suggesting you said anything else but what what you said !

and im pretty sure  "the elite, military, and police" in thailand wouldn't really care about, if a few Thais where cracked down on for working in North america.... cos they will never be a part of that problem anyway...!

but now you got a new president elect... lets see how that will pan out for the Mexicans and other foreigners working and living in the land of the free.

 

well... there is No EU country,  where you are allowed to work without a work permit ... from certain countries the citizens will easier get a work permit ... but you got to have work visa all over EU.

and for buying property ... usually you need a permanent residency and an approval from the country to buy land as a non EU citizen and even as a EU citizen too. 

and overstaying on a visa .. will get you into trouble, same as in thailand.

 

 

my point is only, on this point ... Thailand is not any different from most other countries !

 

 

ps.

and as a foreigner visiting NYC its like going to a police state ... i visited Beijing last year and it was much more smooth that going to the USA. 

[captnhoy]

15 minutes ago, crabis said:

(snip)

 

 

ps.

and as a foreigner visiting NYC its like going to a police state ... i visited Beijing last year and it was much more smooth that going to the USA. 

It IS  a police state. My Thai wife has a 10 year tourist visa. This year we used it for the 4th consecutive year. Entering the country the agent gave us a hard time for having it, using it and suggested that we needed a green card ASSUMING that we actually wanted to be there full time. She does not - 6 months a year is enough. 

Edited December 6, 2016 by captnhoy

[Mickmouse1]

6 hours ago, digibum said:

Karma.  

 

I wonder what would happen in western countries started cracking down on Thais working illegally, banned them from owning land, and said that they couldn't control more than 49% of any company.  I wonder how well that would go down with the elite, military, and police.  

 

 

Imagine, being told they are no longer allowed to keep their properties in the UK and they will have to sell or forfeit it not only that but they.must prove where their millions in the UK bank accounts come from??

[hdkane]

3 hours ago, trogers said:

 

You have Trump now...

People assign vast powers to Trump...any policies he offers will face tremendous opposition from conservative and liberals alike...Trump's real power is his ability to troll individuals and possibly countries...that is his real danger as well...citizens will need to adjust and deal with the consequences of Trump's erratic statements...for example, his comments to build a wall have resulted in an influx of over 1 million illegal immigrants since he entered politics...stupid people who wanted to get to the usa before the wall is built...of course, congress will never allow a true wall to be constructed.

[fruitman]

6 hours ago, kmj said:

Is that because our goverments are too weak or Thailands ( and some other Asian countries ) goverments are more strict...

 

It's because our jails are too expensive to lock them all up. Our jails cost the taxpayers more than 100 euro a day = 4000 baht.

 

They like to work in illegal "thai massage" parlours where they do totally different massages...which is illegal and they also don't pay tax.

[bkkcanuck8]

1 hour ago, Dustdevil said:

This is why the U.S. still requires visitor visas of Thai nationals, and it's not that easy. (And yet some people expect the U.S. to accept 100,000 unvetted "Syrian" refugees like Canada is doing.)

Thais still requires visas for Thai nationals because the countries citizens are over the allowed threshold of visa violations..... most western countries will only allow a country to move to visa waiver if the abuse (working illegally, applying for refugee status) is under a certain threshold.  The US also imposes stronger visa requirements on countries that are "security threat" potential -- or perceived to be so because of a muslim population.  Canada use to allow Malaysia visa-free access because they were below a certain threshold, and not a problem generally speaking.... as well as a commonwealth country.... but they lost that status because of pressure from the US.  

 

You can argue whether it is acceptable risk to accept any Syrian refugees, but it does not mean there is no vetting process.... the vetting process was the reason why the promises early on of how many would be accepted did not come close to the actual number (at least in Canada) since there is a vetting process for refugees (at least those that have not landed, landed ones are a nightmare to "process out").   The process starts with the UNHCR and then names, fingerprints and biographical information is run through terrorism and criminal databases then they have to be interviewed by immigration .... then once the refugees are accepted they have to undergo medical  review and matched with sponsor agencies and given a basic orientation (cultural).  All during this process the security screening is continuing.

[ujayujay]

7 hours ago, digibum said:

 

A little bit of both.  I'm sure it was originally tolerated as Thailand surely thumped their chests and told other countries that Thailand had never been colonized and didn't want to slip into that trap via the backdoor of capitalism.  Fine.  

 

But, it's been a long time since then and now the only reason for keeping the restrictions is purely to tilt the playing field in favor of Thais and make sure the rich keep getting richer.  

..really...........

[connda]

Omg!  How xenophobic!! 

 

Now where'd I put my coffee? 

[performance]

9 hours ago, digibum said:

Karma.  

 

I wonder what would happen in western countries started cracking down on Thais working illegally, banned them from owning land, and said that they couldn't control more than 49% of any company.  I wonder how well that would go down with the elite, military, and police.  

 

 

The so called elite are already known in western countries and probably put on the watch list lol.

[Phuketboy]

When I commented on another post regarding the Thai Celebrity that was refused a visa in the US, and I said I had no sympathy and that every country should do to Thai's as the Thai immigration do to us, SaintLouisBlues couldn't quite understand/misinterpreted what I was stating.  Well, finally another country is doing to Thai's as Thai Immigration do to us.  This is what is mean't by a taste of their own medicine.  Hope he understands now. 

[madusa]

On 06/12/2016 at 1:30 AM, Mickmouse1 said:

Imagine, being told they are no longer allowed to keep their properties in the UK and they will have to sell or forfeit it not only that but they.must prove where their millions in the UK bank accounts come from??

That is what UK should do. I do what you do be the guide line. Well, too much talk on human rights and racism. They are making a fool out of you British coming to Thailand and not allow to buy lands or own houses.

[digibum]

13 hours ago, crabis said:

 

im not suggesting you said anything else but what what you said !

and im pretty sure  "the elite, military, and police" in thailand wouldn't really care about, if a few Thais where cracked down on for working in North america.... cos they will never be a part of that problem anyway...!

but now you got a new president elect... lets see how that will pan out for the Mexicans and other foreigners working and living in the land of the free.

 

well... there is No EU country,  where you are allowed to work without a work permit ... from certain countries the citizens will easier get a work permit ... but you got to have work visa all over EU.

and for buying property ... usually you need a permanent residency and an approval from the country to buy land as a non EU citizen and even as a EU citizen too. 

and overstaying on a visa .. will get you into trouble, same as in thailand.

 

 

my point is only, on this point ... Thailand is not any different from most other countries !

 

 

ps.

and as a foreigner visiting NYC its like going to a police state ... i visited Beijing last year and it was much more smooth that going to the USA. 

 

 

No, seriously, you are suggesting a lot of things I didn't say.  I don't know if it's a language thing but there's some serious miscommunication going on.  

 

Let me make this a bit more clear.  The Thai elite, military, and police have been socking away money in the US and other countries for a long time.  That is why they would care.  I'm sure you might remember a certain Mr. Thaksin who owned the Man City football team in England, no?  Or perhaps all of that property in Dubai is buying itself?  

 

Yes, I did have work permits to work in the EU, thank you.  And no, I did not need permanent residency to buy property in many of the the countries in the EU.  I know Americans who do not have permanent residency in any EU country that own homes there.  If you wish to live in the home you have to obtain residency but you don't have to be a resident to buy the property.  

 

So Thailand IS DIFFERENT.  

 

You seem to be conflating a bunch of different issues.  

 

1.  Thais can and do purchase property in many western countries without being permanent residents.  

 

2.  That reverse is not true.  Westerners cannot go to Thailand and buy property, permanent resident or not.  

 

Last point, I don't care what you think about NYC.  I guess 12 million people live there, and it has the one of the highest property values in the world because people just can't get themselves enough of those police states.   

 

 

[dbrenn]

Then Thais wonder why they need visas to go anywhere.