Some tourist visa holders being asked to show 20,000 baht in CASH when entering Thailand

[billd766]

12 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

What colours does he have?

 

Any colour you want but, as he is old and used to work on Model T Fords for some reason he can only supply black.

[phuketjock]

For information I have seen this notice board sign prominently displayed at all entry points

that I have ever used in Thailand stretching back at least 20 years, so no new rules and the

info has been there for a long time.

[perthperson]

10 minutes ago, phuketjock said:

Phillipines is a member of ASEAN and for them the rules are different, and no I don't know what they are.

ASEAN membership does not provide any advantage to the majority of citizens of ASEAN countries. Unlike the EU there is no freedom of movement agreement and each country retains its own visa/work permit rules. 

[1happykamper]

It's like Thailand does not want foreigners here! :D

[baboon]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

If the IO feels that there is something about you then he has the right to ask as many questions as he feels is necessary.

 

I am sorry to disappoint you but it IS perfectly legal and is practised in most countires.

 

As for your point about Nate

 

1  It is completely off the topic as you know as you have been labouring the point many times.

 

2   As Nate he admitted that he is guilty and he has no excuse and neither do you.

 

3   IMHO the government should have tossed the little prat out on his ear, but of that is my opinion. Your opinion is most probably different and so it should be, but it is still only your opinion as is mine.

 

 

There is not one of us who hasn't broken the rules / law in some way, shape or form, even unwittingly. This is why I will never join the clamour to hang and flog anyone and everyone for the smallest of infractions.

All it takes is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and any one of us could be on Thaivisa with its usual mob baying for our blood...

Edited July 20, 2017 by baboon

[phuketjock]

16 minutes ago, perthperson said:

ASEAN membership does not provide any advantage to the majority of citizens of ASEAN countries. Unlike the EU there is no freedom of movement agreement and each country retains its own visa/work permit rules. 

As I thought i understood it there was soon to be freedom of movement within ASEAN 

and eventually freedom of employment, but hey tit.

[perthperson]

Just now, phuketjock said:

As I thought i understood it there was soon to be freedom of movement within ASEAN 

and eventually freedom of employment, but hey tit.

I think they have watched the mass population movements that have occurred in the EU from poorer countries into the more wealthy and doubt they will replicate the experiment which has stripped countries like Romania for example of most of their doctors/nurses/engineers etc. 

 

 

[ben2talk]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

3   IMHO the government should have tossed the little prat out on his ear, but of that is my opinion. Your opinion is most probably different and so it should be, but it is still only your opinion as is mine.

Not only my opinion. Many Thai's agree with me also, and a good number of other people. Did you see the link on this thread about the market? This is simply xenophobia. They're scared their little Thai children will grow up with the idea of going out and having some fun. The only acceptable ways of bringing up kids here is 1. Not allow them to do anything, because everything is potentially dangerous or 2. Ignore them and let them go play in the road/railway lines.

 

6 minutes ago, 1happykamper said:

It's like Thailand does not want foreigners here! :D

Well it does seem that way. The rules have always been plentiful and oppressive - yet not too comprehensive or useful in many cases. However, they can use any rule at any time for any reason they like. The reason I mention Nate again is that it repeatedly proves the issue that it works that way. If they don't like you, they'll ask for the 20k cash.

 

If they really don't like you and the gloves come off, then they'll just not bother with the rules and say 'no, piss off'. I once saw an American some ten years ago who was refused entry. He says they removed the visa from his passport... weird stuff.

 

A friend of mine now in Moscow asked the boss of his school why the month long holiday had been cancelled (I think August they get a 3-4 week break) and teachers told to go sit in school for 'planning' which was already complete... His school boss told him 'because the Ministry'. The statement meant nothing, it didn't need to mean anything. At the end of the three weeks 'sit in' he was invited to the office and told to take a 20,000 baht severence pay as he would not be required to continue after the break.

 

It doesn't really mean they don't want you here, they just don't know how to manage people. Their only rule is 'I say, you do'.

[ben2talk]

2 hours ago, bamukloy said:

 

But what would it be they dont like?

I think with this job they can sniff an English teacher 100 yards away and if no work permit..then..

 

Anyway that isnt even consistent.

 

you cannot tell me that they do not know these Phillipino teachers doing a run every 30 days are working illegally?

Right - and their response is to check that they have 20,000 cash?

After this week do you think that any Filipino teachers doing a visa run will fail to take 20,000 cash?

 

The guilty ones will go prepared for such tactics. It's been up a couple of times this month already... they'll have to find a new tactic.

Edited July 20, 2017 by ben2talk

[phuketjock]

50 minutes ago, 1happykamper said:

It's like Thailand does not want foreigners here! :D

99.9% of tourist and long stay people have no trouble whatsoever with Thailand it is 

the correct visa dodgers long stayers on tourist or exempt entries that cause the

problems for themselves and consequently entice IO's to look closer than normal at

genuine tourists/visitors. 

If you avail yourself of the correct visa/extension/exemption for your purpose of stay

you will have nothing to worry about.

[dcnx]

On 7/17/2017 at 1:29 PM, darksidedog said:

Asking tourists to show they have the means to support themselves is fair enough. I have read of reports though when a person without the cash has been refused the opportunity to go to the ATM to withdraw the required monies. That is utterly wrong.

It's wrong to demand visitors carry cash. 

 

They can't even keep their taxi drivers in check and demand tourists to carry 20k baht cash. And people wonder why so many people get robbed leaving the airport. Then you have to keep it somewhere once you get to your hotel, and many have their safes robbed, so that's a s**t show too. It's all just absurd.

 

Prove your funds when you apply for a visa or bring a bank statement. At the very least hire a few Somchais to follow you to the ATM to prove it. Then again, they may rob you, and you also run the risk of the ATMs being offline.

 

A total s**t show.

[elgenon]

14 hours ago, action said:

Not at all what I'm suggesting.  It was sarcasm not a suggestion.

So was mine. : )

[daphnia88]

15 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

I have a friend who sells tinfoil hats if you need one.

 

Do you personally know of something like this happening to anyone you know?

 

 

Yes. He lost his wallet and his phone.

[brewsterbudgen]

As I thought i understood it there was soon to be freedom of movement within ASEAN 
and eventually freedom of employment, but hey tit.

It would be nice but freedom of movement within ASEAN has never been likely.

[billd766]

38 minutes ago, daphnia88 said:

Yes. He lost his wallet and his phone.

 

Did he lose his wallet and phone or was it stolen?

 

I have lost my wallet a couple of times but never my phone, nor in the 23 years that I have been working in, holidaying and living in Thailand have I ever been robbed. Every time I lost it I reported it to the police, paid my 20 baht to get a copy of the report and went on my way. I don't feel threatened by the police either.

 

I feel far safer in Thailand than I did the last time I was in the UK many years ago.

 

Perhaps it is my attitude or where I live or something else, I have no idea but I have no problems here.

[nemrut]

This is what happens when an overwhelmingly large contingent of western 'expats' go on public forums and bash the Thai people, culture, and country.

 

Such disrespectful behavior manifests itself in daily life, often involving low-life farang walking around shirtless or in skimpy outfits, creating unnecessary drama and getting hysterical, or simply treating Thais as beneath them which often results in beat downs.

 

Did you think such behavior would go unnoticed and ignored?   

 

...you reap what you sow

[brewsterbudgen]

This is what happens when an overwhelmingly large contingent of western 'expats' go on public forums and bash the Thai people, culture, and country.
 
Such disrespectful behavior manifests itself in daily life, often involving low-life farang walking around shirtless or in skimpy outfits, creating unnecessary drama and getting hysterical, or simply treating Thais as beneath them which often results in beat downs.
 
Did you think such behavior would go unnoticed and ignored?   
 
...you reap what you sow

Not sure I understand. What happens??

[bberrythailand]

So how many people have been denied entry ?

 

And how long can we stay at the area before immigration ?

 

 

 

[phuketjock]

2 minutes ago, bberrythailand said:

So how many people have been denied entry ?

 

And how long can we stay at the area before immigration ?

 

 

 

2 or 3 out of several hundred thousand.

 

As long as you like if you can dodge the Immigration spotters.

[jspill]

13 hours ago, phuketjock said:

2 or 3 out of several hundred thousand.

 

As long as you like if you can dodge the Immigration spotters.

You know it's more like 10 - 15, you're all over these threads. Anyway reports =/ number denied. For every report on Thaivisa or Facebook groups, there will be many more unreported cases. It may be over 100 people.

 

We can't really compare that to the total sample size of people entering the country either, most come once or less per year and stay on average 10 days, they aren't going to denied obviously.

 

If we only consider under 50s with a couple SETVs in their passport, maybe an METV or Ed visa here and there, then denials start to become more statistically significant. It's not something to trivialize especially when some of those denied had 20k+ in cash on their person.

Edited July 24, 2017 by jspill

[jspill]

Another guy today, had the 20k, had been outside Thailand for 2 months, lifetime only spent 9 months in Thailand, the length of one METV

 

 

[phuketjock]

9 hours ago, jspill said:

You know it's more like 10 - 15, you're all over these threads. Anyway reports =/ number denied. For every report on Thaivisa or Facebook groups, there will be many more unreported cases. It may be over 100 people.

 

We can't really compare that to the total sample size of people entering the country either, most come once or less per year and stay on average 10 days, they aren't going to denied obviously.

 

If we only consider under 50s with a couple SETVs in their passport, maybe an METV or Ed visa here and there, then denials start to become more statistically significant. It's not something to trivialize especially when some of those denied had 20k+ in cash on their person.

jspill  I would be delighted to see your up front info on these 10-15 people denied? I would be even more delighted if you could

tell us who the over 100 are?

I fail to see what " you're all over these threads " has to do with anything, many people are reading and commenting on " these threads ".

Even if your figure of 100 were anywhere near factual out of more than 20 million people visiting Thailand every year it would be

insignificant in the extreme.

The people that have so far come to light on TV have had multiple visas/exempt entries in a short time and one did not meet the

money requirements, and two have admitted that they had an overstay against them. And that is only what they have admitted to

in their OPs, I would think there is probably more that they are not telling us?

If anyone is trying to sneak into the country under the radar like I, and seemingly the IO, suspect they were, they need to adjust their

technique massively.

Try getting the appropriate visa/extension/exempt for the purpose of your visit and i am quite sure, like the millions of tourists that

visit Thailand every year without any problems whatsoever, these people can do the same. 

Not withstanding the hundreds of thousands of people on legal extensions and proper Ed visas and legal working extensions.

As much as the " under 50s " feel that the rules are stacked against them they are the rules and Thailand is no different from any

other country, you either obey the rules or fall foul of them or stay away, not great choices but that's how it is like it or lump it.

It is not Thailands fault that many of the under 50s cannot meet the requirements to obtain a legal visa and if anyone tries to 

circumvent the rules they do so at their peril.

Edited July 25, 2017 by phuketjock
addition

[jspill]

I don't know what was unclear about my post, I said there may well be ~100 because for everyone that bothers to report it on TVF or FB groups, of which there are now over 15, there may be 5 or 6 others who didn't tell anyone. It's statistics. 

 

Anyone can search 'denied entry site:thaivisa.com' in Google and find the threads, then in the threads there's usually someone else who says yeah it happened to me too. About 15-20 in the last few months but I'm not diligently counting. So if there are 5 or 6 others per report that's about 100.

 

There are several reports of people having the 20k in funds and still being denied so you're being deliberately disingenuous there.

 

They're also not circumventing any rules whatsoever by, for example, staying 9 months on one METV, then flying out for 2 months, and returning. Or having three SETVs, then switching to an Ed visa to study Thai. Those two examples weren't doing anything untoward, and both had over 20k baht on their person. One of them I know personally.

[phuketjock]

4 minutes ago, jspill said:

I don't know what was unclear about my post, I said there may well be ~100 because for everyone that bothers to report it on TVF or FB groups, of which there are now over 15, there may be 5 or 6 others who didn't tell anyone. It's statistics. 

 

Anyone can search 'denied entry site:thaivisa.com' in Google and find the threads, then in the threads there's usually someone else who says yeah it happened to me too. About 15-20 in the last few months but I'm not diligently counting. So if there are 5 or 6 others per report that's about 100.

 

There are several reports of people having the 20k in funds and still being denied so you're being deliberately disingenuous there.

 

They're also not circumventing any rules whatsoever by, for example, staying 9 months on one METV, then flying out for 2 months, and returning. Or having three SETVs, then switching to an Ed visa to study Thai. Those two examples weren't doing anything untoward, and both had over 20k baht on their person. One of them I know personally.

Firstly I made no mention that i thought your post was unclear.

I merely asked you to verify your random numbers which quite clearly you cannot.

It would appear your maths is not all it could be either 

"About 15-20 in the last few months but I'm not diligently counting. So if there are 5 or 6 others per report that's about 100."  ???

What report?

I am certainly not being disingenuous at all you seem to be pulling figures out of you head. Where are these

"several reports of people having the 20k"??

We could go back and forth all day but the bottom line is, if the IO has any suspicions and the person does not come up with answers 

to dissuade those suspicions, he will probably not be allowed to gain entry end of.

Just because someone is/was a personal friend/acquaintance does not mean he/she is above the laws of Thailand.

[jspill]

The German guy that got denied and flew to Laos that had 25k, and the US / Afghani that had over 20k and was flown to Manila. There are others who replied to threads but didn't start them. If you really insist I will go back and dig up all the threads and replies to them and yes my numbers are correct. Then the ~100 math is a projection, based on common sense that most people won't bother to write about their awful experience on TVF / FB. 

Edited July 25, 2017 by jspill

[phuketjock]

11 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Ah the old bitters still banging on.

 

Cannot wait until they are on the receiving end of selective Thai enforcement or tightening regulations themselves.

If you, as you claim, have been here for over 30 years it is likely that you are no youngster no?

[phuketjock]

12 minutes ago, jspill said:

The German guy that got denied and flew to Laos that had 25k, and the US / Afghani that had over 20k. There are others who replied to threads but didn't start them. If you really insist I will go back and dig up all the threads and replies to them and yes my numbers are correct. Then the ~100 math is a projection, based on common sense that most people won't bother to write about their awful experience on TVF / FB.

I think you are well aware that the funds are not the overriding criteria on whether someone is 

allowed in or not. I think you are also well aware that all these posts on TV and, if any, on other

social media sites are completely one sided and are probably/possibly very unlikely to bear any

resemblance to what actually occurred or was said by both parties and without the view from both

sides it is not possible for you or me or indeed anyone to come to any viable conclusion. 

BTW 2 doesn't amount to several, that would be 3 or more.

Edited July 25, 2017 by phuketjock

[bberrythailand]

1 hour ago, phuketjock said:

I think you are well aware that the funds are not the overriding criteria on whether someone is 

allowed in or not. I think you are also well aware that all these posts on TV and, if any, on other

social media sites are completely one sided and are probably/possibly very unlikely to bear any

resemblance to what actually occurred or was said by both parties and without the view from both

sides it is not possible for you or me or indeed anyone to come to any viable conclusion. 

BTW 2 doesn't amount to several, that would be 3 or more.

 

You seem such an expert, we are lucky to have you here !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:-)

[the guest]

Tourist visa is for tourism, and no other. The Thai authorities have a right to determine if the foreigner wants to visit Thailand as a tourist or not. They should ask questions as to which hotel have they booked, what activities they intend to do whilst in Thailand, to prove that they are indeed a tourist. If you can't, of course they can deny you entry.

 

Try doing the same when entering Australia. If your not a tourist, and you do not have proof, they automatically invalidate the visa, and ban you from entering the country. So why should Thailand be any different?

Edited July 25, 2017 by the guest

[phuketjock]

15 minutes ago, bberrythailand said:

 

You seem such an expert, we are lucky to have you here !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:-)

You don't need to be an expert to apply common sense, an attribute sadly lacking 

in too many, but not all, younger people today.