UAL Traveler

I just returned to Bangkok from Hong Kong earlier today, and for the first time was asked to show my inbound boarding pass to the immigration officer. They guy next to me was also asked to show his. I was surprised and, after clearing immigration, I asked one of the supervising officers what was up. He said 'new procedure.' Fair enough.

Also, the Immigration Division just asked hotels to maintain a record of foreign guests' Thai visas and current entry stamps (entry date and duration of permitted stay) as well as forwarding copies to the police. In the past, hotels were only supposed to record the TM number (and forward the info to the police). Such procedures were only followed by some hotels, and sporadically at best.

I am actually not surprised that procedures are changing, since the new Thai government has already made changes to document fees for foreigners (e.g. raising work permit fees from 1,000 to 10,000 baht). I will check to see what other procedures might have changed. So far though, I have not seen anything that would be of any concern to the occasional tourist here.

1Kgaggs

The Thai Immigration people are supposed to verify what flight you came in on, as it goes on the Immigratiuon form (although I see no purpose for that, other than to make sure you clear Customs in the right Terminal, so you can collect your luggage).

There is something else they are supposed to do, but never have to my knowledge. They are supposed to check your return airline ticket. They certainly should with me, as I sometimes arrive on a ticket that terminates in BKK, but they don't.

HKG_Flyer1

Thanks for the heads up. I frequently leave my boarding pass on the plane when I disembark.

Sanguan

Don't leave the plane without the bording pass. More than often I (especially on TG), I find than FF miles is not entered properly. You need your bording pass to verify that. Else the airline would just say "Sorry, there is nothing I can do to help you".

HKG_Flyer1

I've been pretty lucky in that regard, even when travelling on TG from, say, Khoen Kaen to BKK (where the miles showed up on my UA account within something like 1-2 weeks).

UAL Traveler

According to local BKK hotel management, the Immigration Department has been told by the Thaksin government to send police to more hotels on a daily basis to check and cross-check on guests that are overstaying their visas. I was told that apparently this is in part a reaction to a recent increase in the number of illegal and undesirable foreigners in Thailand. I have now heard this same story about three times in the past few days. IMHO, that may be true, but in addition it reflects the xenophobic bent of the present administration, and is also a welcome jobs program for the police.

Chiangi

Xenophobic .... The June 25 Tokyo edition of The International Herald Tribune, on its front page, has an article on this change from the pro-Western former PM to Thaksin.

BTW, I was about to take UA875 today (June 25) ... did standby for NC and it didn't clear -- the first time as 1K. (There were too many 1Ks ahead of me when I arrived.) I backed up myself with a NW flight. Oh, well.

UAL Traveler

Chiangi, thanks for pointing the article out. I saw that Bangkok edition ran the same story. The article points out that the Thais are turning inward towards a more self-sustaining economy. What is not mentioned is that the King in his birthday address several years ago encouraged Thais to do just that. He also has many agricultural projects around the country, and feels a stronger economic emphasis should be placed on various agrarian activities, for local consumption as well as export. The King is far wiser than the entire basket of local pols.

My only problem is that despite what the average Thais say about self-reliance, they're now crying louder than ever for more foreign investment. They can't figure out why it has slowed so dramatically, while at the same time they are making it harder and less desirable for big-time foreign capital to return.

Sorry to hear about your UA875 experience. I hope NW treats you well. BTW, it looks like the monsoons are finally settling into their seasonal pattern. We just had a huge rain/thunderstorm which began around 5:15pm and lasted for about 30 minutes in town. I am high up in a building, and can see that to the north, the dark grey rain bands are just beginning to move east of Don Muang, with clearing and a few puffy cu's to the west. Weather should be good for your arrival (I assume this evening). Have a safe flight.