Thread: Blacklist for Visa Overstays to Launch in March

This will mean more dodgy expats forced to move to Cambodia.

Originally Posted by jphripjah

This will mean more dodgy expats forced to move to Cambodia.

Yeah, because all the foreigners in Thailand with Thai wives, kids and businesses wanna move to a far more fucked up country than this one.

Just a quick question there "jphripjah" <-which BTW is a great user name (did you get that off a random key generator or what?), are you on medication for ANYTHING?
OR
Are you an idiot savant, without the savant part??

Keep up the great posts!

Originally Posted by toddaniels

Just a quick question there "jphripjah" <-which BTW is a great user name (did you get that off a random key generator or what?), are you on medication for ANYTHING? OR Are you an idiot savant, without the savant part??

Originally Posted by toddaniels

You can only live under the radar in today's day and age for so long, borders are tightening up, people talk, loose lips sink ships.. All it takes is getting one person (the wrong person) mad, they'll rat you out and the jig would be up..

Says the idiot who not only uses his real name but pisses people off while working under the radar himself and, under the very noses of the immi-fuckin-gration of all people.

Deep down, you really do want to get caught don't you, Tod? Do the right thing and turn yourself in.

^ I think I met the guy. To cut it short, 10 years ago I got into talking with a guy on a Songtaew in Pattaya. I told him I'd moved out here permanently due to early retirement through ill health. He asked me if I claimed sickness benefits. I said no as I'd reported my move to all government departments.
He told me I was a fool and I should have waited until I was on long term sick whereby you only had to report every 6 month. He then went on to brag that he did 6 months in Pattaya, flies back and signs on, then straight back out here.
Hopefully that scam has been plugged?

I don't know where you get off calling me:

the idiot who not only uses his real name but pisses people off while working under the radar himself and, under the very noses of the immi-fuckin-gration of all people.

About the only thing you got right was I use my name.

• I don't routinely piss people off, although I won't take shit off them either.
• I follow the rules and try to make the officers do it too.
• I don't "work under the radar".

The people at Thai Immigration's out at Chaengwattana have seen me hundreds of times out there. Certainly IF they thought I was working, one of them woulda called me on it by now. It's not like I'm tryin' to fly under the radar, wearing a KISS t-shirt, ball cap, Levis and walking with a big cane. Even though I have found 'hiding in plain sight' is the best place to hide..

In completely unrelated news;
I need to revise my earlier comment (from some thread about the METV)..
I did see in the thread on T/V about the METV that people are getting them in their own country.. So far no reports from any gotten in S/E Asia, but I know an American who holds P/R status in Hong Kong.. He's gonna try to get one there next week.

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

There is a geezer lives near to mein the UK ( I do not know him ) but know someone who does .

He has not worked in the UK for years and years , drawn the dole , on top of this he works 6 months a year every year in his mates bar in Pattaya , this has been going on for years .

I have no idea about how he does it or what visas etc he uses and how the fuk he explains to the UK where he is for 6 months of the year .

People like this piss me off no end and if stepping up the regime to weed idiots like him out , so much the better , because these twatts are making it bad for the genuine ones who do want to do things correct to stay

Under the current rules, somewhat tightened up now and which has seen the numbers of British untermensch stealing from the taxpayer cut down significantly, a benefit recipient who has been absent from the UK for more than four weeks and fails to qualify for continued support under certain specific conditions will lose his entitlement.

Dob him in to the DWP. Simple really.

as a taxpayer it is your civic duty nigel.

you can do it here, phone or online.


https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/benefitfraud/

Oh, that American who has P/R in Hong Kong has a job which gives him the freedom to travel and waste time in Thailand to his hearts content.. He used to be on double/triple entry tourist visas, but is gonna get the METV and try it out.

As an aside, I ran into a couple of guys who work offshore but come here regularly on 30 day visa exempt stamps. They were both grilled comin' into Suvarnabhumi about the number of visa exempt stamps they had in their passports, even though none of those stamps were back to back. It was strongly suggested to them they get a 'visa', but they were let in no problems.

Weeding out the undesirables and dodgy expats - sure.

There's an amazing amount of idiotic comments here...

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

There will always be those trying to cheat the system, but maybe just in smaller numbers.

Of course, specially when real options are severely limited.

I don't believe "real options are severely limited", I believe instead thailand is tryin' to stop foreigners from living here on back-2-back tourist visas and/or visa exempt stamps.

From reading the forums it'd seem that most "under 50", "not married to a thai", "not raising kids" and "not working" here foreigners don't seem to be in the cash-poor, unwashed masses living in a hostel on KhaoSan road. In fact, if the inter-web is to be believed, they all say, they've got plenty of money to live here.

Yet, it would appear that none of them seem to be ponying up the 500K baht for the entry level 5 year Thai Elite Visa. Doin' the math it works out to about 275baht ($7.60US) a day over the 5 years for the 500K baht ($13,888US) program.

Governments have came and gone yet the Thai Elite Visa program is still here. Until the 'powers-that-be' come up with an alternate visa program which addresses the 'digital nomad' demographic, it is clearly the easiest, fastest, most reliable and trouble free way to stay long term, IF you can't get visas or extensions by any other means.

I think it comes down to how much do you really wanna live here?

Todd, I think most people that are still working do not want to commit to a 5 year 'Elite' visa. You would lose flexibility of staying in other countries during down time. It would make sense if Thailand is the only country they want to chill in, but I don't really think that is the case.

When will the government realize that by making things difficult for visitors to spend more than 3 or 6 months here, it only hurts their delicate economy? By giving off shore workers a hard time coming in, it may just make them think about spending their cash somewhere else. Why not make it easier and more inviting like the TV commercials?

Also, when will the government learn that all their statistics about how much foreign money is actually spent in Thailand is pure BS. In my case alone, millions of baht have passed from my hands to my wife's. On the books, it appears she is supporting the economy while, in fact, I am. There are thousands, maybe millions, like me that give cash to a Thai national for land, vehicles or other big ticket items and it always appears they are making the purchase. This cash cow has now been damaged by tightening visa requirements or giving visitors a hard time at the border. Does that really help or hinder the Thai economy?

Thailand should be seriously thinking about making visitation or long stays easier, not more difficult through increased requirements or harassment.

even if i was a filthy rich I would never waste 500,000 baht for a visa for thailand.
fuck u could set up a legit corporation, pay tax's and get a non B visa for less

limiting those wishing to stay more than 6 months does fuck all ,as there so very very few compared to the 26 million " real " tourists.

I agree with what you're saying rick, but I think you totally over-estimate the contributions you and other foreigners with thai significant others and families here make in the grand scheme of things "according to the thais" <- the operative phrase in that sentence.

As they see it tourism is the grease for the thai economic wheel. Tourists by their very definition, come here, "tour" (aka; spend money) and then leave.. It is not foreigners married to thais funneling money thru the accounts of their thai in-laws and out-laws (no matter how significant those contributions are). It's also not people living here by bouncing to Vientiane/Savannakhet for tourist visas or back-2-back visa exempt stamps.

Year long extensions of stay for foreigners over 50, married to a thai, raising kids, or legally working here aren't fraught with peril or all that hard to pull off (although the hoops Phuketrichard's significant other had to jump thru to garner her Non-B visa was a total crock 'o shit).

I do believe the powers-that-be need to come up with a way for people who currently 'fall thru the cracks' to stay here IF they have the financial means to do so.

Now whether that's by this new METV (which more and more reports are sayin' ain't all that hard to secure despite the scary requirements in the application), or maybe by making a special class of visa extension where the financials are much higher or some other permutation, I dunno.

It is also NOT that hard for the average foreigner to waltz into any one of the big business/visa/law companies here and secure paperwork whereby that company sponsors said foreigner for a year long multi-entry Non-Immigrant Type-B visa. Although in the same breath, those visas can't be had at any Thai Embassy I know of in S/E Asia, but they can be had in the EU, Oz, or the US pretty easily.

Until such a time that the country starts getting "hurt financially" by their erratic visa process, I doubt they'll do any thing to change it.

Originally Posted by toddaniels

...

Yet, it would appear that none of them seem to be ponying up the 500K baht for the entry level 5 year Thai Elite Visa. Doin' the math it works out to about 275baht ($7.60US) a day over the 5 years for the 500K baht ($13,888US) program.

Governments have came and gone yet the Thai Elite Visa program is still here. Until the 'powers-that-be' come up with an alternate visa program which addresses the 'digital nomad' demographic, it is clearly the easiest, fastest, most reliable and trouble free way to stay long term, IF you can't get visas or extensions by any other means.

I think it comes down to how much do you really wanna live here?

Or how willing one is to waste 500k to support some odd scheme.
I'd guess folks rather do visaruns combined with a bit of exploring while it's still possible.

Also, I didn't know the much ridiculed Elite card is still available. Sent an inquiry a few years ago and never received an answer... didn't appear like a sound company.

Originally Posted by stroller

Also, I didn't know the much ridiculed Elite card is still available. Sent an inquiry a few years ago and never received an answer... didn't appear like a sound company.

Still going, get FB ads for it, except for a few perks, limo service etc, doesn't really offer much.

The Immigration Bureau shows about 100 foreigners rounded up for overstaying visas in a news conference in Bangkok on Monday. (Photo by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)

Immigration police rounded up more then 100 foreigners who overstayed their visas, including an American Muay Thai fighter who once went toe-to-toe with Thai boxing legend Buakaw Banchamek.

Immigration police commander Nathathorn Prausoontorn told a news conference on Monday that the Immigration Bureau recently arrested 50 Pakistanis, 15 Indians, eight Somalis, three each from Guinea, Nigeria and Vietnam; two each from Mali and Liberia, one from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and 22 from other countries.

The American captured was apprehended by immigration police in Chon Buri province: Malik Naeem Watson-Smith, 23, who once was an opponent of Buakaw's in well-promoted Muay Thai bouts.

The boxer, also known as Malik "Perfect Boy" Watson, was charged with overstaying his visa for 691 days.

He previously was charged with assault and, on May 19, 2010, the Bangkok South Municipal Court released him temporarily, but prevented him from leaving the country.

He did not attend Monday's news conference.

Another notable arrest was that of 37-year-old Russian fugitive Evgeniy Gubarev. He is wanted by Russian police and Interpol for a large-scale fraud and money laundering and had overstayed his visa while hiding out in Thailand.

Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn said immigration police intended to round up more than 20% of foreigners who overstayed their visas in Thailand.

Next March the government will impose new immigration regulations that impose lengthy entry bans on overstaying foreigners. Immigration police said Monday that most of those who exceed their legal time in the kingdom are running from legal problems at home.

US boxer among about 100 foreigners nabbed for visa overstay | Bangkok Post: news

"Serve with Standard, Safeguard with Integrity" <-words to live by..

Arrested 100 out of how many in Thailand? The American probably thought when he was told to not leave the country, that meant forever.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Arrested 100 out of how many in Thailand? The American probably thought when he was told to not leave the country, that meant forever.

In the UK they say there is about 1 million, which works out at about 1 in 63 shouldn't be there !!!......Beat that Thailand

This article suggests 2 million illegal immigrants in Thailand, but I bet it is more than that.

A deadly cocktail | The Economist

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

This article suggests 2 million illegal immigrants in Thailand, but I bet it is more than that.

A deadly cocktail | The Economist

as I have said before on this thread

I would say that 95% of foreign nationals that overstay or that are illegals in Thailand are either Cambodians,Laos or Burmese ...I would have thought the number of western over-stayers was quiet small in comparison !

your link seems to prove this

Foreigners targeted as police raid Pattaya nightclubs...

Foreigners targeted as police raid Pattaya nightclubs | Bangkok Post: news