Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Thai visa run crackdown: Latest update from Thai/Cambo border


- No Out/In for any nationality along Thai/Cambodian border
- Phu Nam Ron, Kanchanaburi refusing to stamp anyone EVEN people with valid visas
- ‘Business as usual’ at Thai-Laos border

BANGKOK: -- Bomber Blame Game Sees Thailand Immigration Abruptly Change Visa Rules (Update #3)


 #Update #3 This story was updated at 11.45pm on Sept 15, 2015: As of 8.00pm Thailand-Cambodia border crossings at Ban Laem/ Daun Lem, Ban Pakard/ Phsa Prum, and Aranyaprathet/ Poipet were refusing to allow out-in or exit-entrance (border hop) visa exempt entries. Tourists able to show... (See details below)

Foreign workers and tourists who use the country’s visa exempt entry provisions are the unwitting victims in a high-stakes blame game being played out in the wake of the Erawan shrine bombing on August 17.
On Saturday morning Thailand border crossings along the Cambodia border, along with the Phu Nam Ron/ Htee Khee border crossing at Kanchanaburi crossing into Myanmar abruptly stopped allowing people to enter Thailand using the visa exempt entry method with some reportedly also not allowing people to depart and return (out-in border hop) to activate second- or multiple-entry visas of any class.

Thailand has six land crossing with Cambodia – Ban Pakard/ Phsa Prum, Ban Laem/ Daun Lem, Chong Sa Ngam/ Anlong Veng, Chong Jom/ O Smach, Hat Lek/ Ko Kong and Aranyaprathet/ Poipet – and all are said to be affected, with local variations as to who can enter and who can not.

The instructions are said to have been issued from “someone high up in the immigration department” according to one visa service company operator who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the need to work with Thailand immigration officials on a daily basis.

According to the visa service operator the affected Thailand-Cambodia and Thailand-Myanmar border crossing received the instructions by telephone late Friday afternoon.

“At the Ban Laem/ Daun Lem border they issued visa exempt entries up until 8am, but only for people who had four or less stamps. At 8am they stopped stamping anyone in, whether they had a valid visa or not, and about one hour after that it changed again; People with valid visas were allowed to enter, but no visa exempt entries”

No mention of the abrupt change in policy was posted on the Thailand Immigration Department website, the move catching hundreds of tourists by surprise.

Equally caught by surprise were the thousands of foreign expatriate retirees and others in Thailand who are required to exit and re-enter the country every 90-days, as well as those in the country on multiple-entry tourist, or business visas.

While visa service companies that cater for the out-in border hopper and tourists travelling overland into Thailand are the most visibly affected by this sudden change in policy, the unseen victims are the tens of thousands of Laotian and Vietnamese migrant workers who use the visa exempt entry method to stay long-term in Thailand, many of them working illegally.

Also affected are thousands of Filipino domestic workers and English-language teachers who also use the visa exempt entry provisions to stay for extended periods of time in Thailand.

According to the visa service agent “the number of tourists, long-stay expats and Filipinos who cross the border each day and come back using the visa exempt entry method is minuscule compared with the number of Vietnamese and Laotians who exit and reenter.

“These companies [who transport the migrant workers] don’t have websites, they don’t advertise and you will have never heard of them, but each day they take between 400 and 800 people to the Phu Nam Ron/ Htee Khee border crossing and another 400 to 800 to the Ban Pakard / Phsa Prum border crossing.

Almost all [foreign] workers leave it until the last possible time to do their visa run so as to get the maximum stay possible. This will cause many of them to be “overstay and now illegal”, he said


 Read more: ABCNews

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Tuesday, 15 September 2015

Thailand set for record Tourism year


#BANGKOK, Thailand - A series of recent reports released this week point to Thailand exceeding all previous tourism arrival predictions despite the recent bomb in its capital city. The official target of 28.8 million inbound tourists this year is expected to exceed 30 million - a record. 

CBRE reported in their Hotel Trends Q2 2015, that Thailand saw strong demand for hotels from local and foreign buyers. With a weaker baht, the report claims that the tourism market continued to recover strongly with total arrivals up 30% on LY. Arrivals from China the report said, are growing significantly and tourists from this market now account for 28% of total visitors. Bangkok is benefiting in particular from more short-break and independent visitors from China. The report suggests strong increases in visitor arrivals have continued to push up occupancy in Bangkok to 70% in Q2 2015, a huge improvement on the 50% recorded in the same period last year. ADR and RevPAR grew slightly, the report stated. 

"Thailand Travel Grows 30%" was the banner headline in TTR Weekly's latest report, citing international tourist arrivals to Thailand improved 30.93%, January to July 2015, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ data. The data showed the country attracted 17,504,204 international visits during the first seven months of 2015 up from 13,368,979 visits during the same period last year.

At the recent Tourism Trends in Thailand seminar, held this weekend, moderated by Assumption University’s Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, expert opinion suggested inbound tourism arrivals would reach 30-31 million for 2015. 

Despite the fallout from the recent Bangkok blast, The Tourism Council of Thailand is also feeling bullish enough to revise up its expected forecast from 28.8 million to 30 million inbound tourists this year. 

TCT president Ittirit Kinglake said 8.1 million international tourists are expected to visit in the fourth quarter, a rise of 9% from the same period last year. "The bomb blast at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, last month, hit the sector, but only for a short time. This will not affect the industry during the coming high season," he said. 

Reports show that since the downturn in Russian tourists due to the weakened ruble, the China market has edged even further ahead as the dominant tourist market in Thailand. Eight million Chinese visitors are expected this year. 

Thailand lost about 1.3 million global tourists due to the Erawan Shrine blast but has bounced back quickly. Hong Kong for instance will withdraw its travel warning within 3 or 4 days. The Tourism Authority of Thailand report on plans to invite celebrities from Hong Kong and mainland China to perform concerts in central Bangkok and to visit the Erawan Shine in order to promote confidence in the city. 

Finally the UNWTO reported that Asia and the Pacific recorded a 5% increase in international arrivals in the first half of the year. Destinations in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, both with +5% arrivals, was led by Japan with +47% through July and Thailand an impressive +30% through July 2015. 

Source: Eturbonews

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Thai Immigration launches 'new' crackdown on visa runners


Understands that Immigration officials at land border crossings will no longer allow foreigners to complete an ‘Out/In’ visa run.

Reports of a ‘crackdown’ on border runners along the Thai/Cambodian border first started surfacing over the weekend when several Thaivisa members posted about not being allowed to re-enter Thailand on visa-exempt entries.

On Monday evening, Thaivisa spoke to an Immigration officer based at Chaeng Wattana who confirmed that renewals of 15/30 day visa exempt entries are not allowed.

The source, who did not want to be named, also said that this apparent ‘crackdown’ is actually nothing new and stressed that foreigners are not permitted to stay in Thailand on renewed 15/30 day visa-exempt entries.

Instead, any foreigner wishing to stay in Thailand beyond 30 days should ensure they have the correct documentation, such as a valid tourist visa, Non-Immigration or extension of stay based on marriage, work, education, retirement etc.

This latest news does not affect those people with valid tourist visas or those who are on multiple entry Non-O, Non-B.

This ‘crackdown’ only applies to those people who stay in Thailand on visa exempt entries, without valid visas, and therefore have to complete a border run every 15 or 30 days.

Thaivisa understands that because Thailand is currently in a state of heightened security following the Bangkok bombings, government officials have informed all Immigration offices and border checkpoints nationwide to carry out rigorous checks on foreigners trying to enter the Kingdom and ensure that all foreigners do so with the correct visa documentation.

Foreigners entering Thailand can also be expected to provide information on where they will be staying in the Kingdom, as well as items such as a valid travel itinerary, if requested to do so by Immigration officials.

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 “The order is not new. Originally, officers were authorised to consider giving permits. But in this current situation of heightened security, all officers have to step up restrictions,” said an official at the Immigration Bureau.

Many foreigners regularly go on visa runs to Cambodia and return through the Sa Kaeo immigration checkpoint, he said.

“Some foreigners do not even go themselves, but get illegal networks to obtain the entry stamp for them,” the source said, adding that the government has cracked down on the border-run syndicates, prompting them to change tactics.

Now the networks provide a one-day tour for foreigners to the Cambodian town of Poi Pet, so they can re-enter Thailand afterwards with permission to stay for another 15-30 days.

Law enforcement on these types of activities will intensify, said the source. From now on, foreigners who are re-entering Thailand will be screened rigorously.

They will need to provide information about their accommodation, tour company or other details to confirm they are in the country to travel as tourists.

The measure is likely to block scores of foreigners from re-entering Thailand through Sa Kaeo. Those wishing to enter Thailand from Cambodia will have to go to Phnom Penh to apply for a visa at the Thai embassy.

The police investigation into the bomb blasts at Erawan shrine on August 17 and the Sathon pier on August 18 discovered immigration police were bribed by an illegal network linked to the perpetrators.

The issue prompted national police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang to call a meeting with the heads of immigration checkpoints on Sept 7, and was followed by a reshuffle in immigration police staff.

“The immigration police are coming under intense scrutiny,” said another high-ranking official at the bureau.

Some army-backed officers were moved to head up the checkpoints in the recent reshuffle.

Pol Gen Somyot is now wrestling to oust bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Sakda Chuenpakdee, who allegedly failed to follow the government order to transfer officers linked to Rohingya traffickers out of his jurisdiction.

Pol Gen Somyot also handed out a report exposing the unlawful practices of immigration police under the command of Pol Gen Sakda, such as allegedly accepting B300-500 bribes from foreigners cutting the queue to apply for visas at Suvarnabhumi airport, the source said.

The practice is said to make about B2 million in profit for the immigration police every day.

“Pol Gen Somyot aims to destroy the treasure trove plundered by the bureau,” the source said.


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