Re-entry Permit SCAM - don't fall for it

[c0der]

There is now a special desk at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the same large room as the immigration counters. This desk is in a corner before the queues. In addition to the expected re-entry permit fee, they demand an extra 200 THB for their "service".

If you can complete the application form yourself and already have a passport photo, you do not need the extra service. Do not pay the fee that is demanded, stating that you did not request nor had planned to use their service in the first place, and had expected only to pay the base fee for the permit.

Upon closer inspection, you would find that the two people behind the desk are not actually government officers, despite their "official"-looking uniforms. The desk and signage have also been designed to match the plain design of the official surroundings. The truth is that the desk is not government-operated, but is just a business providing a fee-based service.

The scam is in the deception. Someone looking for the re-entry permit office will only see this desk, and no other alternative is apparent, as there is no other desk or office in sight, effectively forcing him or her to go through this desk. What actually happens is that the person behind the desk, after she has done the simple tasks for your application, walks off to hand the completed form and passport to the government officer who is employed to do the real work in processing the application and issuing the permit. This government officer hides behind a wall that you are not allowed to access, as there is a "no entry" gate!

So this scam appears to be officially sanctioned, possibly bringing in great earnings for senior government officer(s). 200 permits issued per day (a realistic rate of around 8 permits per hour, as it operates 24h per day) would bring in 40k THB of gross revenue per day, or around 1.2M THB per month, and most of that would be profit as operating expenses would be low (e.g. a pretend-government-officer who can speak and write just enough English shouldn't cost more than 30k THB per month).

Should such a scam that is based on deceiving foreigners be stopped?

Edited April 10, 2017 by c0der

[lemonjelly]

Thanx for the heads-up, people need to be made aware of these tiresome scams that are constantly being aimed at innocent people.

[Bundaberg Baxter]

I would never trust them to be open anyway, the risk is too great so get one before. This should be reported of course., but filming it and putting on fb always seems to work better!

Edited April 10, 2017 by Bundaberg Baxter

[Sunak]

Another terrible scam. I am shocked.

 

One of the most paranoid scam stories in a while.

Oh no. 

 

Employes without a rank at the desk. Scandalous.

And I thought the copy machine operators (young ladies) at Khon Kaen immigration were at least Sergeant Major ranks 

5 Baht per copy BTW.

A 500% to 1000% overprice compared to copy shops in town.

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by Sunak

[NanLaew]

Oh dear, a newbie 'discovers' the re-entry desk at Suvarnabhumi and is appalled at the 200 baht levied for their service.

 

It has ALWAYS been there and has ALWAYS charged extra for the service because the service is ostensibly to serve passengers traveling urgently, in an emergency or otherwise at short notice and thus unable to avail themselves of the formal re-entry procedure at their local immigration office. In my case, my father died while I was offshore Vietnam and by the time I had made my domestic Thai shuffle to change from work gear to something more suitable, it was the weekend. Two hundred baht versus waiting 3 days to catch the local Immigration office was not up for debate.

 

Non-scam of the year story.

[elviajero]

55 minutes ago, c0der said:

Should such a scam that is based on deceiving foreigners be stopped?

No. It's not a scam. It's an optional service and worth 200 Baht!

[Bundaberg Baxter]

200 baht for filling out a form that asks for your name, address, passport and entry history etc, that's worth about 30 baht, 200 baht is half a days work, not four minutes. You only need the 'service' if you can't write.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Bundaberg Baxter

[NanLaew]

3 minutes ago, Bundaberg Baxter said:

200 baht for filling out a form that asks for your name, address, passport and entry history etc, that's worth about 30 baht, 200 baht is half a days work, not four minutes.

What part of a nominal charge for emergency service to enable urgent travel is going over your pretty little head?

 

Typically, the desk isn't busy during the week since regular travelers have taken the time to get their re-entry permit at their local immigration office but it does tend to see more customers at weekends.

Edited April 10, 2017 by NanLaew

[steve187]

would you get a receipt

[Moonmoon]

prepare early, if u need to get re entry permit, try to go to chaeng wattana or your province immigration office ahead of the day you would be travelling to avoid "the desk scams". 

 

obviously the officials know what is going on and allowed it to pocket extra money too. Don't let them. So the best is prepared everything in advance if you can, unless u have no choice for urgent businesses.

[Bundaberg Baxter]

if it was 'urgent' you have not left enough time to get to the gate, if that was the case how can they fill a form out with all you details faster than you can? it's a service you certainly can do without and getting them to fill out a form is likely to slow things down, a lot of people would have downloaded it and filled it in before they get there, if they have 10 minutes to spare

Edited April 10, 2017 by Bundaberg Baxter

[c0der]

50 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Oh dear, a newbie 'discovers' the re-entry desk at Suvarnabhumi and is appalled at the 200 baht levied for their service.

 

It has ALWAYS been there and has ALWAYS charged extra for the service because the service is ostensibly to serve passengers traveling urgently, in an emergency or otherwise at short notice and thus unable to avail themselves of the formal re-entry procedure at their local immigration office. In my case, my father died while I was offshore Vietnam and by the time I had made my domestic Thai shuffle to change from work gear to something more suitable, it was the weekend. Two hundred baht versus waiting 3 days to catch the local Immigration office was not up for debate.

 

Nowhere is it stated that the government's Re-entry Permit service at the airport is to cater for emergencies.

 

Based on your thinking, shouldn't it be  written everywhere that there is an additional fee if applying for a re-entry permit at the airport? The AOT Re-Entry Visa web page only states the official 1k and 3.8k THB fees for the permits. This implies that the extra 200 THB is unofficial. Note though that the office location next to the Customs Inspection office as shown on that page has been closed (for renovation?). Was the additional 200 THB fee charged there?

 

 

50 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Two hundred baht versus waiting 3 days to catch the local Immigration office was not up for debate.

They are not the only 2 options. You can get the Re-entry Permit at the airport without needing to pay the 200 THB fee.

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by c0der

[Bundaberg Baxter]

Anyone got a photo of the desk?, I never noticed it before

Edited April 10, 2017 by Bundaberg Baxter

[NanLaew]

8 minutes ago, c0der said:

... They are not the only 2 options. You can get the Re-entry Permit at the airport without needing to pay the 200 THB fee.

 

So, did you manage to talk them out of charging you 200 baht or is this all hypothetical sh!te?

 

4 minutes ago, Bundaberg Baxter said:

Anyone got a photo of the desk, I never noticed it beofre

You mean you are calling scam on something you obviously didn't know existed let alone used?

[edwardandtubs]

12 minutes ago, c0der said:

 

 

They are not the only 2 options. You can get the Re-entry Permit at the airport without needing to pay the 200 THB fee.

 

How? As you've already stated, the government official is behind a wall and there's no access to him/her. I applied for a re-entry permit at the airport and there appeared to be no other option but to pay the fee.

[BruceMangosteen]

Everyone I know buys at the least a single Re-Entry Permit at the same time they get a new VISA or an extension of one. Most get a multiple Re-Entry Permit. FYI the "Residence Certificate" also has a local fee attached to what is in fact a free service. This is the third world folks. Get your Health Insurance and then get back to us with this 200 Baht complaint stuff. God Bless You.

[NanLaew]

21 minutes ago, c0der said:

Based on your thinking, shouldn't it be  written everywhere that there is an additional fee if applying for a re-entry permit at the airport? The AOT Re-Entry Visa web page only states the official 1k and 3.8k THB fees for the permits. This implies that the extra 200 THB is unofficial. Note though that the office location next to the Customs Inspection office as shown on that page has been closed (for renovation?). Was the additional 200 THB fee charged there?

It has bugger all to do with my thinking; the 200 baht surcharge has been there since time immemorial.

 

Well done for pulling a scam out of your ar5e but I only give you 3 out of 10 for value. You really must try harder.

Edited April 10, 2017 by NanLaew

[IMA_FARANG]

If you have a retirement visa/extension you can get a re-entry permit for the 1 K baht for a single entry or 3800 baht for a multi entry permit when you do your yearly  annual retirement visa and they are good for the one year period of your retirement visa.

Then if you have to leave in an emergency situation there is no need to get a re-entry permit at the airport as you already have a valid one in your passport ready for use..

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by IMA_FARANG
Added a coment

[ChakaKhan]

3 hours ago, Bundaberg Baxter said:

I would never trust them to be open anyway, the risk is too great so get one before. This should be reported of course., but filming it and putting on fb always seems to work better!

agreed  name and shame seem to be the only thing that works on thais--do it

[ChakaKhan]

was at CM immigration today--ONE damn girl checking everyones

paperwork....really..on a monday???

 

the kid next to me had too small a pic--they denied him--he had to

pay 200 baht for new one...i had it done at the local shop--12 pics for 7 baht!

 

Needless to say that photo guy is making a killing--welcome to thailand!

[c0der]

 

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

It has bugger all to do with my thinking; the 200 baht surcharge has been there since time immemorial.

 

Well done for pulling a scam out of your ar5e but I only give you 3 out of 10 for value. You really must try harder.

It would be more beneficial to everyone, including yourself, to focus your time, effort, and intelligence in discussing how to avoid the fee and, in general, try to halt such deceptive and corrupt practices, instead of attempting to discredit me.

 

It appears that this scam is working well for the operators, as we have you and others who either have been falling for it every time or know that it's a scam but are willing to pay the small bribe/fee.

 

200 THB may not be much, but it can buy a nice meal, and most people would rather not have to make a payment when they don't actually need to. But if you wish to continue to do so then I'm not stopping you.

[c0der]

2 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

How? As you've already stated, the government official is behind a wall and there's no access to him/her. I applied for a re-entry permit at the airport and there appeared to be no other option but to pay the fee.

I emphasize your use of the word "appeared ". The lack of option is just an illusion that has been cleverly fabricated. But now that you are armed with specific information that I have outlined, you can work around it.

 

In particular, the desk is not the official re-entry permit desk, and the attendants are not government officers. It is a private business that provides a service for a fee. You have a right not to use the service. Government officers have no right to force you to use the services of a private business before doing something for you, just as they cannot demand that you buy something at a shop before allowing you through immigration.

 

So only speak with real government officers. There would be some hanging around keeping watch of the queues. Get their attention by calling them. Ask for a form if you hadn't filled one beforehand. There is a desk where you can sit and write outside the "no entry" gate. The gate is not locked, so you can open it and hand the form to the officer behind the wall for processing.

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by c0der

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, c0der said:

The lack of option is just an illusion that has been cleverly fabricated.

And your lack of a straight answer as to whether or not you have successfully circumvented yet another heinous farang rip-off is not so cleverly being avoided.

[Bundaberg Baxter]

7 hours ago, BruceMangosteen said:

Everyone I know buys at the least a single Re-Entry Permit at the same time they get a new VISA or an extension of one. Most get a multiple Re-Entry Permit. FYI the "Residence Certificate" also has a local fee attached to what is in fact a free service. This is the third world folks. Get your Health Insurance and then get back to us with this 200 Baht complaint stuff. God Bless You.

The residency cert is free, I did not pay for mine, some mugs do though and that is just another little brick in the corruption wall. Why pay for something you do not need to? 

[simoh1490]

5 hours ago, c0der said:

 

It would be more beneficial to everyone, including yourself, to focus your time, effort, and intelligence in discussing how to avoid the fee and, in general, try to halt such deceptive and corrupt practices, instead of attempting to discredit me.

 

It appears that this scam is working well for the operators, as we have you and others who either have been falling for it every time or know that it's a scam but are willing to pay the small bribe/fee.

 

200 THB may not be much, but it can buy a nice meal, and most people would rather not have to make a payment when they don't actually need to. But if you wish to continue to do so then I'm not stopping you.

For goodness sake how old are you, the way to avoid paying the extra 200 baht is to organise your affairs in advance and obtain a re-entry permit beforehand from in town Immigration offices, you're making a mountain out of flat land - that particular service is useful to many people who had to travel at short notice and those who forgot to get a re-entry permit beforehand, an additional 200 baht is a small price to pay for being disorganised or forgetful! LOS, newbie farang imagining scams around every corner.

[dbrenn]

9 hours ago, elviajero said:

No. It's not a scam. It's an optional service and worth 200 Baht!

Not sure that it's worth 200 baht to fill in a couple of forms, in a country where the daily wage is only 300 baht. The land transport department charged me only 10 Baht for a similar service. 

 

Airports have a captive audience, so profiteer on pretty much everything they sell.

Edited April 10, 2017 by dbrenn

[simoh1490]

Just now, dbrenn said:

Not sure that it's worth 200 baht to fill in a couple of forms, in a country where the daily wage is only 300 baht. The land transport only charged me 10 Baht for a similar service. 

 

Airports have a captive audience, so profiteer on pretty much everything they sell.

You always have the choice not to buy the service there.

[crazygreg44]

myself, I am going to do a  3-week trip to visit my girlfriend by June this year. Then by October, I will again enter Thailand for a four month stay.

 

I am on a One-Year permit of stay on retirement purposes.  During my last extension in January, I wanted to save money and left the extension procedure with an only single re-entry permit.  So if I want to keep my extension live, i will have to buy another re-entry permit before I leave Thailand in June.

 

I got two choices:  Buy the re-rentry permit at the airport and pay 2100 THB, or do a 140 Kilometer trip by my own car to visit Sisaket Immigration, for a re-entry permit stamp at 1900 THB.

 

I guess you don't ask me why & which option I will choose to be the better one

Edited April 10, 2017 by crazygreg44

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, crazygreg44 said:

myself, I am going to do a  3-week trip to visit my girlfriend by June this year. Then by October, I will again enter Thailand for a four month stay.

 

I am on a One-Year permit of stay on retirement purposes.  During my last extension in January, I wanted to save money and left the extension procedure with an only single re-entry permit.  So if I want to keep my extension live, i will have to buy another re-entry permit before I leave Thailand in June.

 

I got two choices:  Buy the re-rentry permit at the airport and pay 2100 THB, or do a 140 Kilometer trip by my own car to visit Sisaket Immigration, for a re-entry permit stamp at 1900 THB.

 

I guess you don't ask me why & which option I will choose to be the better one

You confusing the extension fee of 1900 baht with the fee for a single re-entry permit is only 1000 baht.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Bundaberg Baxter said:

The residency cert is free, I did not pay for mine, some mugs do though and that is just another little brick in the corruption wall. Why pay for something you do not need to? 

But you aren't exactly 'fighting corruption' are you? You are simply benefiting from a domicile that happens to be in an Immigration jurisdiction that chooses to issue them at no charge.