BANGKOK, 19 November 2018: Phuket’s immigration has reportedly told a local news channel, Phuket News, that travellers no longer need to carry their passports on the their person, but there is no evidence that the archaic rule has been scrapped.
According to the Immigration Bureau in Phuket, the news report suggested foreigners were no longer required to carry their passports in case of police spot checks. It should be taken with a pinch of salt as the law has not been rescinded, and police officers conducting raids on entertainment districts are very likely to ask foreigners to show their passports.
It also contradicts the ongoing ‘Operation X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner’ crackdown that has netted close to 500 foreigners last week apprehended for various offences.
Even if the rule is archaic it remains on the books and there is no reason to believe that police officers will overlook an infringement. It leaves the visitor open to questioning and a visit to the police station, which spoils the holiday so carry your passport on your person to be on the safe side.
Embassies are warning their citizens to carry their passports wherever they go in Thailand even though
Phuket Immigration chief Col Kathathorn Kumthieng told Phuket News: “Although the archaic law remains unchanged, requiring foreigners to have their passports at the ready to show officials at any time of day, enforcement of the law in Phuket will be not so strict.”
There are other archaic laws one of them requiring foreigners on long-stay residence visas to report to immigration if they were absent from their residence or permanent address in Thailand for more than 24 hours.
Technically, this rule should apply to thousands of expatriates living Bangkok who travel to Pattaya, or other resorts for a weekend holiday. On their return, they are supposed to report to the nearest immigration office in the capital, but the sheer volume of foreigners that would be required to report every week would paralyse the bureau, so the law is apparently ignored.
Foreigners with registered addresses in the provinces are not so lucky. The volume is manageable so they must comply with this rule even when they make frequent trips to Bangkok or even to a neighbouring province. They could face a fine if they fail to report on their return. Hotels and guest houses are required by law to report to the Immigration Bureau the details of all foreigners staying in their premises. The guest’s passport details are uploaded to the Immigration Bureau’s database and that information is available at immigration bureau branch offices across the country.
For foreign residents who travel frequently from their residences in the provinces to other cities in Thailand, or to an overseas destination, they have to report to their hometown immigration office at the end of every trip that exceeds 24 hours. There have been instances when failure to do so has resulted in a fine.
But if you live in Bangkok, you are off the hook. It would be a mission impossible for the bureau to check on every foreign resident in Bangkok on their compliance with the reporting law. If you thought it was bad enough having to report every 90 days how about every week after a weekend golf trip to Pattaya?
