Immigration

  • Visa Information

    Update on rumoured extension of Thailand’s visa amnesty

    UPDATE: There has been no confirmation of the rumour that was circulating earlier today. Some publications even said it was a “done thin” but that is not true. The latest developments… Speaking to khaosodenglish.com, Col. Phakkhaphong Saiubon told them that an extension should be officially announced this week and that “those who failed to renew their stay after the September…

  • Visa Information

    Some immigration offices set to open on Saturday, September 26, as visa amnesty looms

    With September 26 just a day away, Thailand’s Immigration offices have never been busier. Many expats and visitors, who have been either stranded in Thailand, or decided to wait out Thailand’s outbreak of Covid-19, need to get their visas sorted out, officially, by September 26. Whilst many foreigners have left things to the last minute, here’s the latest in the…

  • Politics News

    Deputy PM says “Big Joke” transfer not necessarily unlawful

    Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam says former immigration chief, Surachate Hakparn, shouldn’t assume his transfer to an inactive post in the PM’s Office was unlawful. Surachate, known by the nickname “Big Joke” (given to him by Thai media) headed up Thailand’s Immigration Bureau until he was unceremoniously side-lined by the PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha last year. It’s understood he is now planning…

  • Thailand video news

    Thailand News Today | Surachet sues, The Nude Panda | September 23

    Daily TV News from The Thaiger Former immigration chief, “Big Joke” suing Thai PM over transfer The former head of Thai Immigration, and poster boy for Thai officialdom, Surachet Hakparn, is taking legal action against Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, after the PM had him unceremoniously transferred to an inactive post last year. Surachet, commonly known by the nickname “Big Joke”,…

  • Visa Information

    Phuket Immigration handing out ‘conditional’ 14 day visas, pending investigations

    Confusion reigns. It was predictable and many people, despite months of warnings, have left their visa extensions to the last minute. Meanwhile Thai immigration don’t appear to be making the process easy as The Thaiger has received multiple comments from foreigners visiting the various immigration offices around the country and encountering ‘local’ applications of the published guidelines and, in some…

  • Thailand video news

    Thailand News Today | Amnesty finishes, protest round-up | September 21, 2020

    Daily video news about Thailand with Tim Newton Get a visa or go to jail. Thai Immigration Tourists, and anyone else with a lapsed visa, ha ve only 5 days to renew their visa or they could get arrested. The current visa amnesty ends on September 26 and there isn’t going to be another sudden announcement for another grace period,…

  • Visa Information

    Getting a visa before September 26 – VIDEO

    Wanting to stay in Thailand and don’t have a visa yet? You need to act quickly or risk being arrested and even blacklisted. Watch this… Tourists have 5 days to renew their visa or they could get arrested. The current visa amnesty ends on September 26 and there isn’t going to be another sudden announcement for another grace period, according…

  • Visa Information

    This is how to apply to extend your visa in Bangkok

    If your visa lapsed since March this year, and you are currently under the amnesty grace period that expires on September 26 (this Saturday), you will need to schedule an appointment online with the Immigration Division 1 at Mueang Thong Thani in Bangkok (a temporary immigration office near Don Mueang Airport) . Other regional areas will likely require you to…

  • World News

    Border patrol volunteers catch 2 Chinese men who allegedly sneaked across the border

    Tak Immigration police arrested 2 Chinese men who allegedly crossed the Thai-Myanmar border illegally. Border police tightened patrols after Myanmar reported a spike in Covid-19 cases in the past month, and even more so recently when a young Burmese child tested positive for the virus after arriving back to his home country from Tak’s Mae Sot district (in Northern Thailand).…

  • Visa Information

    Tourists on the new Special Tourist Visa will have to arrive on charter flights

    After months of pondering when some tourists might actually come back through the turnstiles, the Thai Immigration Bureau says they’re dusting off the finger-print ID and cameras at arrival booths in Bangkok in preparation for the first wave of ‘general’ tourism back to Thailand. But the projected flow of around 1,200 incoming passengers under the new Special Tourist Visa will…

  • Crime News

    Twitter user faces charges from immigration police for false post

    Make sure what you post on social media is true. Charges could be pressed for false information. A Twitter user is being sued by Immigration Police for a post allegedly claiming some foreigners could enter the country without a 14 day quarantine. The Twitter user made a post saying he was recently at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and he noticed that 80%…

  • World News

    Thai-Myanmar border blocked with barbed wire, security increased due to Covid-19

    Prachuap Khiri Khan border patrol say they’ve closed the Thai-Myanmar border, making sure the natural passageways are blocked by barbed wire fences. With Myanmar’s increasing number of Covid-19 cases, border police have drastically increased patrol. New barbed wire was placed around the natural passageways in the western province to prevent Burmese migrants from crossing into Thailand. The army is controlling…

  • World News

    Police arrest 14 Laotian migrants for allegedly crossing the border

    Border patrol police arrested 14 Laotian migrants who allegedly crossed the Thai-Laos border into Ubon Ratchathani. The arrests come after orders to tighten border security in fear that illegal migrants might carry the coronavirus. Police got a call that a white Toyota van looked suspicious and appeared to be carrying migrants from the border. Officers tracked down the van and found…

  • Covid-19 News

    Border police camps to be turned into quarantine centres

    Border patrol police camps might be turned into quarantine bases for migrants workers employed through a labour program, but the government just needs the officers’ permission first. The plan would provide employers a cost efficient option for the mandatory 14 day quarantine and Covid-19 testing whilst allowing for migrants to return to work in Thailand since fleeing back to their…

  • World News

    23 Cambodians found in Thai forest after allegedly crossing the border

    Nearly 2 dozen Cambodians were found in a forest near the Thai-Cambodian border. Thailand recently increased border patrol in fear that those sneaking in could be unknowingly be carrying the coronavirus. Numerous migrants have been arrested in the recent weeks for illegally entering Thailand through natural passageways, like rivers and forests, especially along the country’s western border with Myanmar. Thai…

  • Visa Information

    The end of the visa amnesty – get your house in order

    Up to 500,000 foreigners are now thought to have been part of the Thai government’s visa amnesty which was introduced in April for foreigners, both on tourist and other visas, who were stuck in Thailand and unable to leave. Around the world, planes had been grounded and Thailand closed its borders at the time. Six months later, and following 2…

  • Expats

    Belgian arrested after living and working in Thailand without a passport for 4 years

    A 49 year old Belgian man has been arrested by Thai immigration police after being discovered living in the Kingdom without a passport. The man was reported to be living in an apartment at Wang Thonglang, a north east suburb of Bangkok. Officials started an investigation into a “good looking European man” that spoke fluent Thai and discovered that the man has…

  • World News

    Chinese nationals caught crossing the border

    Border patrol officers arrested 6 Chinese nationals who allegedly crossed the Thai-Myanmar border this morning. The arrests follow a series of busts driven by Thailand’s heightened border patrol, a measure aimed at preventing the return of the coronavirus after Myanmar reported a spike in cases. The migrants had waded through the Moei River, which separates Thailand and Myanmar, and were…

  • Expats

    A glimmer of hope for expats unable to satisfy minimum income requirements

    September 26 looms as a dark day for many foreigners who have been unable to sort out a way to either leave the country or stay in Thailand. But at least one Thai immigration office appears to be discussing some leniency in this crazy time. Phuket Immigration has specifically addressed the issue for foreigners on a non-immigrant B (Business) visa…

  • World News

    Truck flips after police chase near the Myanmar border

    A truck flipped over, critically injuring 2 people, after police chased a truck with Burmese workers who allegedly crossed the border illegally. The government recently ordered border officials to step up their patrol on Myanmar border and make sure people aren’t crossing illegally after the neighboring country reported a spike in coronavirus cases. Immigration police in the northern province Tak…

  • Expats

    90 day Thai Immigration reporting deadline passes

    Today was the last day to update your 90 day report if you weren’t doing the reports during the visa amnesty Thai immigration set the end of today as the deadline for foreigners, with current visas, to do their 90 day report. Otherwise fines will be imposed. You had to report, or update, your residential address before the end of…

  • World News

    Burmese workers caught crossing the border, 2 had a fever

    About a dozen Burmese workers were caught illegally entering Thailand and 2 of the them had a fever, border officers say. The bust comes after the Interior Ministry tightened security measures along the Myanmar border to stop illegal border crossings in an effort to prevent a coronavirus outbreak. The neighboring country had a spike in new cases with hundreds of…

  • Bangkok News

    Bangkok visa agent arrested for fake extensions

    If you’re looking into getting a visa, be careful what agency you choose. A Bangkok visa agent was arrested for allegedly forging visa extensions. Reports say the woman was charging thousands of baht for the fake extensions. The 33 year old woman Thai media reports as Sukanya has a shop in northern Bangkok advertised as a visa agency. A Burmese…

  • World News

    16 Burmese arrested for illegally crossing the border

    Even though borders have tight restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, people have crossed the Malaysia border and entered Thailand illegally through what Thai media reports as “natural passageways.” Police arrested 16 Burmese workers who entered the country illegally including 2 pregnant women. They were found hiding at a Chinese Cemetery in the Southern province Songkhla. Thai media says many…

  • Covid-19 News

    I flew home to get a new visa – one person’s experience with the “new normal” in Thailand

    Theo, from The Netherlands, flew back from Thailand to arrange a new visa in his home country. When he returned he had to stay in an Alternative State Quarantine hotel in Bangkok. What were his challenges? How much did it all cost? I am from the Netherlands, I am 44 years old, married with my Thai wife for over 5 years…

  • South Thailand News

    Thai immigration police arrest foreigners with fake IDs

    Thai immigration officials have arrested 2 Pakistani men who were using fake Thai identification cards. Now the officers have opened an investigation to see if more foreigners might be connected to the case and are living in Thailand with a fake ID. Immigration officials in Pattani, in the far south of Thailand, were recently tipped off about a foreigner with…

  • Tourism News

    Struggling Samui seeks government help

    Desperate for tourism revenue during the ongoing travel ban and with not more than a dribble of domestic visitors, the president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui says he needs to meet with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration to come up with guidelines to allow foreign tourists to visit Samui. And soon. Worasit Phong-amphan says Samui saw 2.3…

  • Thailand News

    Foreigners on short-term visas warned they must leave Thailand by September 26

    Don’t overstay your welcome… Thai Immigration officials are warning foreigners on short-term visas that they must make arrangements to leave the country before September 26. A visa amnesty in place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic was recently extended until that date, but it looks like authorities want to make clear there will be no further extension, except in…

  • Covid-19 News

    Extension to visa amnesty to be published in Royal Gazette

    Foreigners in Thailand can breathe a sigh of relief as government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul confirms the Cabinet has agreed to extend the visa amnesty until September 26. The good news was first announced yesterday , taking the pressure off of thousands of people who faced the prospect of having to leave the country- at a time when only limited international…

  • Thailand News

    Dozens of Cambodians arrested for attempting to enter Thailand illegally

    Thailand’s border patrol forces are upping their game in the fight to prevent the Covid-19 virus being imported by illegal migrants. A report in The Pattaya News says officials have arrested dozens of Cambodian workers for entering the country illegally. The arrests took place in Sa Kaeo, in the east of the country, less than 50 kilometres from the Cambodian…

  • Covid-19 News

    Visa amnesty extension “very likely”. Decision this week.

    Only 11 days to go until we reach the end of the current visa amnesty, which has allowed people with expired visas to remain in the Kingdom during the midst of Thailand’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak. But even today Immigration officials say that a proposal to extend the visa amnesty, or some similar alternative, is before the government for…

  • Expats

    More details on visa amnesty “grace period” proposal

    The Thai Immigration Bureau has provided more details on a proposed visa amnesty extension. The proposal, expected to go before the Cabinet at its regular meeting on Tuesday, is being presented as more of an application for a grace period than an extension. The proposal would essentially provide a grace period for those on amnesty without a valid visa, to…

  • Expats

    Immigration official says visa amnesty extension “is unlikely”

    As the deadline for the visa amnesty draws closer, conflicting whispers are emerging from Immigration offices around the country. The Thaiger is privy to a discussion with an Immigration officer this morning where an extension was said to be likely, for 1 month beyond July 31. But just this afternoon Khaosod English has published a contrary story saying that an…

  • Expats

    What will happen to foreigners with expired visas after July 31?

    Before you read further, seeking a definitive answer, we don’t have one. But stranded foreigners, who have been able to stay in Thailand via a visa amnesty, have an approaching D-Day – July 31, 2020. This is the sunset of the current amnesty for foreigners who have, through no fault of their own, been stuck in Thailand whilst the borders…

  • Covid-19 News

    90 minute Covid-19 test at BKK being tested

    A Covid-19 test that takes about 90 minutes. This is a new ‘outside the box’ way at bringing people back into Thailand and checking them before they go through Immigration. The new ‘rapid’ tests were unveiled today at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The new tests would be offered for overseas arrivals as the Thai government wrestles with the desire to reboot…

  • Covid-19 News

    Visa amnesty extension for foreigners “being considered”

    Thailand’s Immigration Bureau is considering extending the current visa amnesty for foreigners stranded in Thailand. The Foreign Ministry’s deputy spokesperson made the announcement at this morning’s daily Covid-19 briefing by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The Cabinet’s last resolution was to grant an automatic visa extension for foreigners stranded here to stay until July 30. The deputy spokesperson asked…

  • Expats

    TM30 immigration reporting requirements updated

    The immigration reporting requirements for foreign visitors and residents have changed: the Immigration Bureau has announced an update to the requirement for TM30 reporting, clarifying when a TM30 report is due under section 38 of the Immigration Act. Here is an unofficial translation of the crucial part of the announcement for expats, in Section 2.2: “2.2: After the householder, owner…