Thread: Thai Authorities Looking for 100,000 Foreigners Who Overstayed Visas

The Thai government vowed to locate and deport as many as 100,000 foreigners who overstayed their visas, a deputy prime minister said Monday, indicating that Islamic State (IS) militants and criminals from other countries could be among them.


Thai authorities are cracking down on all foreigners who have not left the country at the proper time because police officers and other security personnel are having difficulty identifying those who may be linked to IS or its ideology, Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters.


“We fear that there are IS infiltrators among them, so we started arresting those who overstay,” said Prawit, who also serves as defense minister. “We arrested 100 of them in the South. We did arrest them where we found pockets of those who overstayed.”


Thai police said officers have arrested criminals from across the globe, including a Nigerian with a forged visa and other documents, a Taiwanese gang that set up an illegal call center to solicit money from overseas and prostitutes from African and Arab nations.


Immigration police in Phuket reported rounding up 95 foreigners staying illegally in the province over three days last week, including 62 Indians, 11 Pakistanis and six Egyptians, according to the Bangkok Post. Of those, 70 had overstayed their visas and the others were determined to be illegal immigrants.


Prawit’s announcement came less than a week after the Brussels-based International Crisis Group published a study saying there was no evidence of any ties between IS militants and insurgents in Thailand’s Deep South, which encompasses three provinces and four districts of an adjacent province near the Malaysian border.


Leaders in the country’s predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region overwhelmingly rejected the ideology espoused by IS, according to the report, “Jihadism in Southern Thailand: A Phantom Menace.”
100,000 overstayed


About 100,000 foreigners who have overstayed their visas are in Thailand at the moment, Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantrawanich said over the weekend.


Thai authorities had stepped up measures to identify illegal foreigners by checking finger prints against police records to determine if they had committed crimes while in Thailand, he said.


“At this point, we don’t know if they committed crimes or not. We charged them only with illegal entry or overstaying their visas, but if they were found leaving latent finger prints at crime scenes, we will prosecute them before sending them back,” he said.


“In the South, we don’t have a face-detection device. But the commanders realize its importance and we will have such a project in place because face detection is almost 100 percent reliable,” Kongcheep said.


In addition, a more stringent visa screening process to counter crimes will be imposed, an immigrant police officer said.


“We can deal with consular offices overseas, giving them to information on most crime-sensitive regions. There could be 50 to 60 out of 100 applicants receiving visas” who have criminal issues, police Maj. Gen. Itthipol Itthisarnronachai told BenarNews.


Thailand expects more than 32 million tourist arrivals at the end of 2018.


Popular destinations including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket and Samui are affected by criminal activities ranging from drugs, arms trades, prostitution, human trafficking to economic crimes, officials said.

Thai Authorities Looking for 100,000 Foreigners Who Overstayed Visas

They need to forget the 90 day over no sanction, ban them all for a year at least even if one day over.

...I wonder why every black on the streets isn't rounded up as a member of the notorious Usual Suspects gang...

Well we have a African two doors down, seen him twice in 3 years. Stays in 24/7 with the curtains drawn all day, food delivered by Tesco and pizza hut. Got a Thai mrs and 2 kids, seen them once. Wonder what his game is?

Originally Posted by misskit

Thai authorities are cracking down on all foreigners

We had this nearly 2 years ago when immigration did a home visit to every foreigner living in the area that were on their books. Unfortunately its not the legit, on the books, foreigners who they should be checking on. We also get checked by the police once a year but not for visa irregularities. They just keep a check on all foreigners within their area. Now if the police and immigration were to link up there may be a chance they'll catch some of these illegals instead of harassing us legits? Twats, couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.

*Edit*

Damn Foreigners....

Originally Posted by Thai3

Well we have a African two doors down, seen him twice in 3 years. Stays in 24/7 with the curtains drawn all day, food delivered by Tesco and pizza hut. Got a Thai mrs and 2 kids, seen them once. Wonder what his game is?

Hide and Seek ?

Originally Posted by Thai3

Well we have a African two doors down, seen him twice in 3 years. Stays in 24/7 with the curtains drawn all day, food delivered by Tesco and pizza hut. Got a Thai mrs and 2 kids, seen them once. Wonder what his game is?

We got an Afghan hound and an Irish Setter living near us.

Originally Posted by Thai3

Well we have a African two doors down, seen him twice in 3 years. Stays in 24/7 with the curtains drawn all day, food delivered by Tesco and pizza hut. Got a Thai mrs and 2 kids, seen them once. Wonder what his game is?

Doesnt your budget stretch to living in a neighbourhood where ya dont have to think about what the darkies doing with his curtains drawn, while yours are constantly twitching ? Maybe he really likes pizza hut and the convenience of tesco lotut delivery? Ever think of that?

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Damn Foreigners....

Who may or may not have a work permit. Like you - as a foreigner - were trying to get.
Along with a kitchen job

Originally Posted by Headworx

Who may or may not have a work permit. Like you - as a foreigner - were trying to get.
Along with a kitchen job

This ain't about working illegally, it's about over staying your visa. If you're heading into the tourist areas of Thailand it's advisable to carry your passport with you. If you're going for a night on the beer then take a photocopy of your passport instead. If you have overstayed your visa for longer than 90 days and get banned from Thailand for a year then the only option I could think of would be to pay 20,000 baht. Fly home. Change you name. Apply for a new passport. Fly back to Thailand. Of course this will take some time to do. It's legal though.

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

This ain't about working illegally, it's about over staying your visa.

Funny how you reared on that one...strike a nerve?

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

If you're heading into the tourist areas of Thailand it's advisable to carry your passport with you. If you're going for a night on the beer then take a photocopy of your passport instead.

Ok, wise one...what if I'm planning to start my morning in a mostly Thai district, swing by Chinatown for lunch, go to Muang Thong for a massage, Koreatown for dinner, drinks out Lat Prao way (where ya' fish for your own dinner) and then wrap it up at Nanner plaza? What should I carry then?

Originally Posted by Thai3

Well we have a African two doors down, seen him twice in 3 years. Stays in 24/7 with the curtains drawn all day, food delivered by Tesco and pizza hut. Got a Thai mrs and 2 kids, seen them once. Wonder what his game is?

Why not ask to borrow a cup of milk?

Originally Posted by hick

What should I carry then?

a) a heavy camera around your neck...
b) a fanny pack...
c) spare pair of socks to go with your sandals...
d) cargo pants...
e) dread weaves (blond, if available)...
f) ...note: avoid deodorant...

Originally Posted by tomcat

a) a heavy camera around your neck...
b) a fanny pack...
c) spare pair of socks to go with your sandals...
d) cargo pants...
e) dread weaves (blond, if available)...
f) ...note: avoid deodorant...

Ha, ha, ha

The police from Lumpini used to have regular sweeps of upper Sukhumvit, stopping all Arabs and Africans and going into the restaurants around Soi 3. They would cart off all those who did not have ID on them to the station and then deport them with help from Immigration.

This would often follow complaints from Thais of scams by black people, such as the copying of US bank notes with special ink not working, card games that never worked in their favor etc.

So the BIB would round them all up.

As Asia si still infested with scammers from Nigeria and Arabia you can see similair prejudice and sweeps in Malaysia from time to time.

Oh if it was just the black and brown scammers. I wonder what the % of overstays are white christians.

Originally Posted by Wilsonandson

If you have overstayed your visa for longer than 90 days and get banned from Thailand for a year then the only option I could think of would be to pay 20,000 baht. Fly home. Change you name. Apply for a new passport. Fly back to Thailand. Of course this will take some time to do. It's legal though.

Dont think that is legal , you will still be banned from entering Thailand , whether you have a new passport or not .

Originally Posted by Fluke

Dont think that is legal , you will still be banned from entering Thailand , whether you have a new passport or not .

I know of one guy who did just that so he could continue scamming the ignorant here....

Originally Posted by CSFFan

I know of one guy who did just that so he could continue scamming the ignorant here....

I too know of one guy who was kicked out. Can't be sure as to why but he just went back to the UK and claimed he'd lost his passport and obtained a new one. He then returned, no problem. But that was before chips were put in passports, so would he'd get away with it these days?

Originally Posted by CSFFan

I know of one guy who did just that so he could continue scamming the ignorant here....

It may be possible to do it,but that doesnt make it legal .
Was that recently ? because the Thai authorities have clamped down on that recently .
They can now and do check names, dates of birth , finger prints and photo recognition .
It probably can be done , but, if you get caught , you would face serious charges , like entering the Country illegally

Originally Posted by Fluke

It probably can be done , but, if you get caught , you would face serious charges , like entering the Country illegally

You'll then get deported and round and around we go. Happens in the UK all the time with illegal immigrants.

Originally Posted by Fluke

It probably can be done , but, if you get caught , you would face serious charges , like entering the Country illegally

shoot all illegal immigrants on sight and leave their bodies in place for a day or so...pour encourager les autres...