Thread: Phuket Overstayers Pay Cops 100M Per Month

Phuket visa overstayers pay B100m a month in bribes.

Police are tracking down 142 foreigners said to be paying up to 100 million baht a month in bribes to local police for overstaying their visas in Phuket.
A deputy police commander and a deputy superintendent in Phuket have been transferred to Surat Thani to pave the way for the investigation, Royal Thai Police spokesman Veerachai Songmetta said on Friday.
Deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul ordered the hunt, saying the foreigners had been arrested for overstaying but their cases had not been forwarded to immigration police for expulsion.
He said the 15 Phuket police officers involved in the arrests were already being investigated for not reporting the arrests to immigration police for follow-up.
The 142 foreigners, he added, were not blacklisted but police were checking to see if any of them posed security threats. Police want to know who and where they are and if any have left the country, he said.
Pol Gen Srivara said he had been made aware of complaints earlier that as much as 100 million baht changed hands each month on the tourist island in return for leniency on visa overstaying.
Some local officers had been dismissed in connection with the allegations, he said, adding that he was not aware of similar problems in Chon Buri and Chiang Mai, two other provinces with a lot of foreign tourists.
"I believe that many parties are involved, including the private sector. After the investigation was launched, messages were forwarded through the Line chat application to warn visa-overstaying foreigners to hide as police were about to round them up," Pol Gen Srivara said.
Investigators so far had not found that any police officer had accommodated such foreigners, he said.
Immigration police in Phuket reported that from Tuesday to Thursday they rounded up 95 foreigners staying illegally in the province. They included 62 Indians, 11 Pakistanis and six Egyptians. Seventy had overstayed their visas and the others were illegal immigrants.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gen...bribery-racket


From June 28 2017:


Phuket has been chosen as the model province which is free of corruption of all forms.
A memorandum of understanding was signed on Tuesday by the Government Sector’s Anti-Corruption Commission and Phuket provincial administration to designate Phuket as the role model for a corruption-free province.

Phuket picked as role model of corruption free province - Thai PBS English News/

Originally Posted by cyrille

A deputy police commander and a deputy superintendent in Phuket have been transferred to Surat Thani to pave the way for the investigation

Nothing like being told in advance.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Phuket has been chosen as the model province which is free of corruption of all forms.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Nothing like being told in advance.

Good job there aren't many long-term tourist overstayers where they've been transferred to...Surat Thani, location of Samui and Pangan.

Anyone can 'choose' a corruption-free region for cosmetic/political purposes. I would be less unimpressed if they explained which criteria were used in making this atrocious decision.

Originally Posted by cyrille

A deputy police commander

Originally Posted by cyrille

a deputy superintendent

Always the deputies, never the boss.

Need to take a line from Bob Marley; I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Phuket has been chosen as the model province which is free of corruption of all forms.

Indeed.

100 million?

Wonder what business these people are in to be paying so much money per month to overstay.

^Phuket taxi drivers

Originally Posted by Klondyke

100 million?

Agreed, ludicrous. Even if they were paying 10,000 baht a month each, that would mean there were 10,000 overstayers.

Do you really think 10,000 a month would be anywhere near the top amount?

It's a very popular place for 'visitors' from the Arabian gulf, for example.

There's some serious money and some seriously shady foreigners around in Phuket.

Some probably spend 10,000 a month on pies.

It would seem odd to be paying the alleged 100m a month when they could buy an elite card/visa thing for less.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Do you really think 10,000 a month would be anywhere near the top amount?

It's a very popular place for 'visitors' from the Arabian gulf, for example.

There's some serious money and some seriously shady foreigners around in Phuket.

Some probably spend 10,000 a month on pies.

The overwhelming majority of 'overstayers' are those who can't afford a legitimate visa and/or the required visa runs. The 100 million/month being spoken about is a ridiculous amount for purely overstayers. Now, if that amount was the total graft being elicited by the Police and others with the power to demand brown envelopes in Phuket, I would believe it.

Yes, agreed many will be low-end, admittedly.

Still, there will be some high rollers too...not the ones that will be picked up, of course.

Originally Posted by cyrille

not the ones that will be picked up

the low hanging fruits.

Assuming LOS cannot control the ethics of the foreigners who arrive the only sure fire is to "cleanse" their staff and discourage locals from loving momey above duty or karma

Must be counterintuitive to harrass/arrest/remove your client base?

Originally Posted by crackerjack101

It would seem odd to be paying the alleged 100m a month when they could buy an elite card/visa thing for less.

Could probably buy a few top immigration officials for less, problem solved.

Standard media exaggeration.

I'd imagine most people are paying no more than 4 or 5 grand a month.

Is the 100 million per person, or a total for all overstays? The way I read it, it is the latter.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Is the 100 million per person, or a total for all overstays? The way I read it, it is the latter.

That's the way I interpreted it. They're probably making a few million baht a month, but nothing like 100m.

This is Thai journalism in English, remember.

It's possible that the term 'overstay' as used in the article includes not having a passport and generally being 'invisible' to the cops.

Something an 'Elite' card cannot do, and a far cry from the poor saps they've picked up mentioned at the end of the story.

The rozzers just want more Thais to apply for the police, so they can collect more money with their applications, so they put this story out there.


Was it 100 wannabe coppers caught paying 8 years of a copper's salary to cheat on the police entrance exam one year.

In just one province.

Corruption Inquiry Launched in Phuket Over Illegal Immigrant Scandal

PHUKET – Police on the resort island of Phuket are under fire after arresting 2,415 illegal immigrants during a one-year period, but failed to hand over the majority of them to immigration police for deportation.


The finding has led to deputy national police commissioner Pol General Srivara Rangsibharamanakul issuing an urgent order for police to apprehend illegal immigrants who are still at large.


Gen.Srivara also ordered police to update him every week over the issue and outstanding arrests.


He said he had learned about alleged corruption by Phuket police during a meeting with Pol Maj-General Nuntadej Yoinuan, a deputy provincial commissioner, who reported that 2,415 illegal immigrants had been arrested in raids from October last year to last month.


However, only 685 of these had been handed over to immigration for deportation.


MORE Corruption Inquiry Launched in Phuket Over Illegal Immigrant Scandal | Chiang Rai Times English Language Newspaper