The duties of Immigration Officer in Hua Hin
Posted by admin / 2007-12-01
Tuck Dechapanya




At the moment the Hua Hin Immigration Bureau has been moved from Hua Hin police station to a housing development area on Phetchakasem Road, Soi 102 which is 4 kilometers away from Hua Hin Market.

The Head of the Immigration Bureau is Capt. Saksuthee Khamthun with a total of 9 officers in the bureau. We were told by the officers that there would be a large number of foreigners requiring information on visa renewal or work permits. In actual fact, the Hua Hin Immigration Bureau can only renew a visa for a maximum of 7 days and in the southern region, those outbound foreigners have to renew their visas at Ranong Province by taking a boat to Koh Song, but some go across the border of Laos.

Visa renewal in Hua Hin is said to be inconvenient to the foreigners who reside in Hua Hin because they have to go out of the country in order to renew. Many people have expressed the fact that actually there are ten thousand foreigners residing in Hua Hin and when they want to renew their visa they must go to a neighboring country to do so. Therefore, the government should thoroughly consider this point on how to renew a visa in the country.

Also we have received information from the immigration officers that Singkhon Pass (of Myanmar) has been closed for years even the Thai Government has been ready for a long time. When the government lettered to Myanmar, the answer is always the same “Myanmar is not ready”. Actually, Singkhon Pass is not a problem because of the discussed point because people can renew their visa in a number of places if Singkhon Pass is closed but the Government facilitates only the foreigners residing in Prachuap Khirikhan Province.

Presently, the Singkhon Pass has not been officially opened, but the people in Myanmar always bring their goods from their country to sell while the Thai merchants also bring their goods to sell on the Thai border. Along the border, there are border patrol police officers from Border Patrol Police Bureau patrolling continuously. At the pass, we can see thousands of people each week doing shopping which makes the people along the border earn their living much more easily.

If the Thais want to go across the border of Myanmar, they might pay a 30 baht entrance fee which is valid 1 day. Presently, there are a lot of people from Thailand and Myanmar going across to reach each other as seen today.

In the Hua Hin area, we have been told by the Immigration officers that there have been a lot of foreigners who are working in the area without a “work permit”; some work as language teachers, golf teachers and so on. When they are investigated by the officers, there is always a call from the “authorities” to “release” them, but the officers don’t want to reveal who the authorities are and now some foreigners who have no right to work in Thailand can conveniently continue their businesses without any problem at all.

huahintoday.net

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