Don’t freak out about new rules for foreigners, Immigration Commander says

Next month will tourists and expats caught outdoors without their passports be thrown into jail and fined THB20,000?

No, says a senior immigration official, who said such an assertion attributed to him this morning by The Nation was incorrect.

“Making all foreigners in Thailand carry their original passports with them would be very difficult,” said police Col. Voravat Amornvivat, according to the Thai Visa Forum. “It’s about being reasonable and using common sense.”

That’s a few steps down from comments attributed to Voravat in a story this morning that all foreigners who “failed to produce their passports would be fined up to THB20,000 and jailed for up to two years.”

Neither tourists nor expats need to keep their passport on them at all times, Voravat added, but they should carry some form of ID and be ready to retrieve their original passport in a timely fashion if asked.

Immigration has been tightening up penalties and enforcement of visa scofflaws. Last week punishments including long-term entry bans were announced for those who overstay their visas.

Earlier this week rumors spread that THB2,000 fines would be demanded of any foreign nationals unable to produce original documents, and that officials would enforce rules requiring all tourists and expats to report address changes within 24 hours.

Related:

Stern punishments for visa violators announced



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on