Arguably, much of the law enforcement in this country is "discretionary". ฿฿฿
Whether openly, or informally.
Hence, people can get a retirement visa without meeting financial requirements for about 14,000.
It's the same policing other sectors.
By Barry Kenyon
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Gaybutton
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Re: By Barry Kenyon
The problem is if these crackdowns go far enough, what happens to those caught having gotten their visa that way? While I realize some can't get the visa any other way, I wouldn't want that "Sword of Damocles" hanging over my head.
Re: By Barry Kenyon
Do you think the "crackdowns" are to stop corrupt practice, or to ensure more tea money is collected and funnelled up the chain of command?
I'd assume anyone caught needs to pay a bigger bribe. But that spoils the steady stream of tea money.
Also, can any board member name a single activity where corruption has been stopped?
If anything, they seem intent on expanding the practice.
Me too. If I were settling here, I'd do it properly, with 800,000 in the bank. On the other hand, if I wanted a one off 6 month holiday, a tea money visa might just be worth it.
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Gaybutton
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Re: By Barry Kenyon
I don't know. And I'm not willing to just assume it's dependent on tea money. I don't know how it works. Neither do you. I would not want to be among those who might find out the hard way. Those who obtain a retirement visa by dubious methods - do so at your own risk. I'm just glad I don't have to be among those getting their visa that way. And they have to hope that process will continue year after year - for as long as they are retired and living in Thailand.
Maybe tea money is involved and maybe it isn't, but I would not want to live with the fear that visa agencies might eventually be stopped. For me, that's a "no thanks".
Those living in Thailand without the 800,000 in a Thai bank account and who cannot meet the 65,000 baht per month income minimum probably are using visa agents or trying to live on visa overstay and praying they don't get caught. If visa agents eventually no longer can get visas for those people, I hope for their sake they have somewhere to go if they have to leave Thailand.
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Gaybutton
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Re: By Barry Kenyon
Increasing consular caseload for British embassy in Thailand
By Barry Kenyon
March 13, 2025
According to the British embassy’s consular team, the total number of assistance cases last year rose to a total of 2,007 of which over one third were death-related and over 10 percent were arrests and detentions. Other categories included hospitalizations, welfare and missing persons. The numbers rise every year.
Separately, the team provided over two thousand notarial services and about six hundred emergency passports. The report added that there were 1,057,995 British visitors to Thailand in 2024 with 10 percent of them categorized ambiguously as “residents”. Presumably these entry figures are borrowed from Thai immigration printouts which tend to exaggerate as each arrival is regarded as a new individual. That’s misleading because many tourists and expats go on border hops or visa runs, or have re-entry permits to protect their visas.
Obviously the most publicized cases are the most vulnerable: pensioners such as Des and Mary Byrne, who have dominated the news in the last few days, and dozens of accident victims on Thai roads who run out of money and are unable to pay medical bills. Most of these cases result in complaints, usually from relatives in the UK, that the Bangkok embassy and its bosses in London are not doing enough to help their distressed citizens.
It’s worth noting that all embassies in Bangkok play a remarkably similar tune. They say they can contact third parties such as relatives, visit hospitals and prisons and give out a list of attorneys and funeral directors who speak English. What they can’t do is pay personal debts, loan money or intervene in judicial cases – precisely the things most in demand in serious tragedies.
The British foreign office maintains one of the most detailed websites for citizens visiting or locating in Thailand. There are even warnings about the risks of investing in or buying property, not to mention urgent pleas to make sure you are properly insured for potential hospitalization. There is no published research on how many travellers actually study and implement the recommendations in advance. Probably not many as it’s human nature to assume that bad luck only happens to other people.
Embassies have evolved over the decades. Technology has changed from fixed phones and mailed letters to cell phones and emails, then on to video conferencing (prison visiting can be done by Zoom) and the surge of developments known as artificial intelligence. Most embassies now insist on prebooked appointments, if actually needed, whilst the expansion of e-visas often means there is no need for face-to-face interviews. Within 10 years it’s quite possible that traditional passports will have been eclipsed by digital ones.
Consular assistance work within embassies, including the British, has also changed. There is less dependence on frontal meetings as the information about what to expect is there on the internet. There is also the assumption in government circles that technological change will reduce the salary bill for traditional diplomats. The reality is that the end users of consular services and their relatives need to adjust their expectations by better research in advance of travel. When tragedy strikes, it’s often too late.
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... and-493817
By Barry Kenyon
March 13, 2025
According to the British embassy’s consular team, the total number of assistance cases last year rose to a total of 2,007 of which over one third were death-related and over 10 percent were arrests and detentions. Other categories included hospitalizations, welfare and missing persons. The numbers rise every year.
Separately, the team provided over two thousand notarial services and about six hundred emergency passports. The report added that there were 1,057,995 British visitors to Thailand in 2024 with 10 percent of them categorized ambiguously as “residents”. Presumably these entry figures are borrowed from Thai immigration printouts which tend to exaggerate as each arrival is regarded as a new individual. That’s misleading because many tourists and expats go on border hops or visa runs, or have re-entry permits to protect their visas.
Obviously the most publicized cases are the most vulnerable: pensioners such as Des and Mary Byrne, who have dominated the news in the last few days, and dozens of accident victims on Thai roads who run out of money and are unable to pay medical bills. Most of these cases result in complaints, usually from relatives in the UK, that the Bangkok embassy and its bosses in London are not doing enough to help their distressed citizens.
It’s worth noting that all embassies in Bangkok play a remarkably similar tune. They say they can contact third parties such as relatives, visit hospitals and prisons and give out a list of attorneys and funeral directors who speak English. What they can’t do is pay personal debts, loan money or intervene in judicial cases – precisely the things most in demand in serious tragedies.
The British foreign office maintains one of the most detailed websites for citizens visiting or locating in Thailand. There are even warnings about the risks of investing in or buying property, not to mention urgent pleas to make sure you are properly insured for potential hospitalization. There is no published research on how many travellers actually study and implement the recommendations in advance. Probably not many as it’s human nature to assume that bad luck only happens to other people.
Embassies have evolved over the decades. Technology has changed from fixed phones and mailed letters to cell phones and emails, then on to video conferencing (prison visiting can be done by Zoom) and the surge of developments known as artificial intelligence. Most embassies now insist on prebooked appointments, if actually needed, whilst the expansion of e-visas often means there is no need for face-to-face interviews. Within 10 years it’s quite possible that traditional passports will have been eclipsed by digital ones.
Consular assistance work within embassies, including the British, has also changed. There is less dependence on frontal meetings as the information about what to expect is there on the internet. There is also the assumption in government circles that technological change will reduce the salary bill for traditional diplomats. The reality is that the end users of consular services and their relatives need to adjust their expectations by better research in advance of travel. When tragedy strikes, it’s often too late.
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... and-493817
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Gaybutton
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Re: By Barry Kenyon
UK benefit fraud keeps Pattaya in the headline news
By Barry Kenyon
March 15, 2025
The UK inspired T-shirt says that good guys go to heaven and bad ones to Pattaya. There has been a recent spate of juicy reminders such as naughty boys urinating on the beach, arrests for poker enthusiasts and Liverpool “kiss” street fights involving knuckleheads outside a mobile brothel in a city red light district.
Now there’s benefit fraud, with TikTok celebrity Ellis Matthews – arrested in Pattaya for visa overstay – having allegedly cheated the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) out of 2,300 pounds monthly maybe for years. Ms Matthews says she enthusiastically advised her followers on social media how enjoy luxury in Thailand at British taxpayers’ expense.
How much of her cash story to believe, as detailed in UK newspapers, is an open question. Why would someone so rich go into overstay in the first place? Extensions and border hops are very easy and cheap to obtain lawfully in Thailand. Why wouldn’t a jealous TikTok reader report her to the well-publicized phone number of the DWP fraud and error service?
There’s no denying benefit fraud (90 percent of it within the UK) costs the UK government a lot of money, perhaps 8 billion pounds a year according to one DWP estimate. Yet Thailand is not amongst the front runners. A DWP report has Spain as number one and there’s even a special fraud hotline number based there. Then comes Pakistan, Turkey, India, the US, France, Bangladesh and finally the Land of Smiles with a modest 172 cases known.
It’s not possible to receive state benefits – beyond the frozen state pension entitlement – if you live in Thailand and if the UK government knows it. In 2016 a found-out claimant living in Pattaya had received income support, employment support allowance, jobseekers’ allowance, housing and council tax benefit. But he had kept a flat in UK specifically to deceive the authorities and had even managed to book flights without using his real name.
Maintaining a fake address or post-restante in UK is the most popular ruse, provided the claimant has a reliable partner to pick up the mail or answer the door bell. Last year, a Brit living in Pattaya was uncovered when a DWP fraud officer visited the stated Blackpool address and was told by his annoyed wife, “He’s never here, the lucky sod lives in Pattaya”.
British authorities have made several attempts to strengthen the laws governing international fraud. A 2024 bill would have authorized UK banks to share suspect customer information with DWP but it was never enacted because of the British general election. It was replaced by the Data (Use and Access) bill which is only at the beginning of its legislative journey.
Both Britain and Thailand are subscribers to the Common Reporting Standard, a very broad international agreement to crack down on tax evasion and fraudulent banking, which now allows personal banking to be scrutinized by host governments. This has already created a stir amongst lawful expats in Thailand who are now subject to taxation on some (not all) funds transferred from overseas. Perhaps the attention needs to switch from law-abiding retirees to criminals seeking to outwit a UK benefits investigation system which is obviously failing to deter.
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... ews-494069
By Barry Kenyon
March 15, 2025
The UK inspired T-shirt says that good guys go to heaven and bad ones to Pattaya. There has been a recent spate of juicy reminders such as naughty boys urinating on the beach, arrests for poker enthusiasts and Liverpool “kiss” street fights involving knuckleheads outside a mobile brothel in a city red light district.
Now there’s benefit fraud, with TikTok celebrity Ellis Matthews – arrested in Pattaya for visa overstay – having allegedly cheated the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) out of 2,300 pounds monthly maybe for years. Ms Matthews says she enthusiastically advised her followers on social media how enjoy luxury in Thailand at British taxpayers’ expense.
How much of her cash story to believe, as detailed in UK newspapers, is an open question. Why would someone so rich go into overstay in the first place? Extensions and border hops are very easy and cheap to obtain lawfully in Thailand. Why wouldn’t a jealous TikTok reader report her to the well-publicized phone number of the DWP fraud and error service?
There’s no denying benefit fraud (90 percent of it within the UK) costs the UK government a lot of money, perhaps 8 billion pounds a year according to one DWP estimate. Yet Thailand is not amongst the front runners. A DWP report has Spain as number one and there’s even a special fraud hotline number based there. Then comes Pakistan, Turkey, India, the US, France, Bangladesh and finally the Land of Smiles with a modest 172 cases known.
It’s not possible to receive state benefits – beyond the frozen state pension entitlement – if you live in Thailand and if the UK government knows it. In 2016 a found-out claimant living in Pattaya had received income support, employment support allowance, jobseekers’ allowance, housing and council tax benefit. But he had kept a flat in UK specifically to deceive the authorities and had even managed to book flights without using his real name.
Maintaining a fake address or post-restante in UK is the most popular ruse, provided the claimant has a reliable partner to pick up the mail or answer the door bell. Last year, a Brit living in Pattaya was uncovered when a DWP fraud officer visited the stated Blackpool address and was told by his annoyed wife, “He’s never here, the lucky sod lives in Pattaya”.
British authorities have made several attempts to strengthen the laws governing international fraud. A 2024 bill would have authorized UK banks to share suspect customer information with DWP but it was never enacted because of the British general election. It was replaced by the Data (Use and Access) bill which is only at the beginning of its legislative journey.
Both Britain and Thailand are subscribers to the Common Reporting Standard, a very broad international agreement to crack down on tax evasion and fraudulent banking, which now allows personal banking to be scrutinized by host governments. This has already created a stir amongst lawful expats in Thailand who are now subject to taxation on some (not all) funds transferred from overseas. Perhaps the attention needs to switch from law-abiding retirees to criminals seeking to outwit a UK benefits investigation system which is obviously failing to deter.
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... ews-494069
-
Gaybutton
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Re: By Barry Kenyon
Road accident involving Brit again raises insurance ambiguities
By Barry Kenyon
March 20, 2025
Thai boxing student Ricky Eury has suffered serious brain injuries after being hit by a motorbike whilst crossing the road in Phuket. He is unable to communicate his medical insurance details, assuming there are any, to relatives who have rushed from UK to his bedside at a Phuket private hospital.
Treatment in intensive care units in Thailand can cost daily up to 10,000 pounds (430,000 baht) in the initial stages when investigations and surgery mostly occur. A Gofundme account has raised almost 23,000 pounds in several days. The Russian XMAX motorbike driver and his passenger have both been arrested.
Mr Eury has been in Thailand for over a month to study Thai boxing (Muay Thai) which is one of the activities for the Destination Thailand Visa which offers a stay of up to six months. Medical insurance is not a compulsory element of the application process, but access to 500,000 baht (12,000 pounds) is required.
Greg Walters, a Thai-based insurance broker, said, “It may be worth the relatives contacting the Thai embassy in London who could have information to help in this situation.” He added that there were now 13 Gofundme cases in the last year of Brits in Thailand unable to pay hospital bills, usually because they lacked a policy or because the company found a reason to decline cover.
Mr Eury runs Gorilla Thai Kitchens in the Bristol area, one of which was nominated for the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year 2024. Local press reports say he is a popular and successful businessman.
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... ies-494578
By Barry Kenyon
March 20, 2025
Thai boxing student Ricky Eury has suffered serious brain injuries after being hit by a motorbike whilst crossing the road in Phuket. He is unable to communicate his medical insurance details, assuming there are any, to relatives who have rushed from UK to his bedside at a Phuket private hospital.
Treatment in intensive care units in Thailand can cost daily up to 10,000 pounds (430,000 baht) in the initial stages when investigations and surgery mostly occur. A Gofundme account has raised almost 23,000 pounds in several days. The Russian XMAX motorbike driver and his passenger have both been arrested.
Mr Eury has been in Thailand for over a month to study Thai boxing (Muay Thai) which is one of the activities for the Destination Thailand Visa which offers a stay of up to six months. Medical insurance is not a compulsory element of the application process, but access to 500,000 baht (12,000 pounds) is required.
Greg Walters, a Thai-based insurance broker, said, “It may be worth the relatives contacting the Thai embassy in London who could have information to help in this situation.” He added that there were now 13 Gofundme cases in the last year of Brits in Thailand unable to pay hospital bills, usually because they lacked a policy or because the company found a reason to decline cover.
Mr Eury runs Gorilla Thai Kitchens in the Bristol area, one of which was nominated for the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year 2024. Local press reports say he is a popular and successful businessman.
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... ies-494578
Re: By Barry Kenyon
There is little point in having insurance, if you don't keep a copy of the documents.Barry Kenyon wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 12:57 pmHe is unable to communicate his medical insurance details, assuming there are any, to relatives who have rushed from UK to his bedside at a Phuket private hospital.
I print out a copy of my travel insurance certificate and keep it in my hotel room.
I also create a small summary of the details and keep copies of that in my wallet and rucksack.
I suspect this individual doesn't have insurance. That's his problem, not ours.
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Gaybutton
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Re: By Barry Kenyon
I have the same suspicion. Whether he has insurance or not, good insurance or not, it's still his problem. I think it's yet another case of "these things always happen to somebody else", and unfortunately many find out the hard way that assumption turns out to be a BIG mistake.
People, don't travel to a foreign country without having insurance - good insurance.
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Gaybutton
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Re: By Barry Kenyon
Are Brits committing more crimes in Thailand?
By Barry Kenyon
March 24, 2025
It certainly seems so. The popular Bangkok columnist Stickman notes an uptick in arrests based on news reports. Thai authorities are considering shortening the 60 days visa-exempt discretion because of rising crime. Metro UK News notes with alarm the rising number of Brits trying to import banned drugs from Thailand to Britain. Barely a day passes without British and Thai media highlighting shocking activity here, mostly undertaken by young men from London, Liverpool or Leicester.
Actually proving mathematically an increase in foreigner arrests in Thailand is futile. There is no regular statistical information on criminality by any branch of Thai government. The Department of Corrections said there were 14,275 foreign prisoners of all nationalities in a 2020 snapshot, but without elaboration. The Bangkok-based British embassy recently stated in a consular report that there were 220 “arrests/detentions” of Brits in Thailand in 2024, but without further detail.
What is clear is that Thai police technology has dramatically improved in recent years. The recent case of an alleged British child molester, exposed by advanced computer intelligence which identified his face from a fake passport, would never have happened without the most recent facial recognition technology. Tracking drones helped to locate a Brit who had been on overstay in Thailand for decades and had kept a very low profile indeed.
The Technology Crime Suppression Bureau, which most criminals have never even heard of, uses the latest online technology to crack down on gambling websites and other illegal business websites. Raids then arrest the suspects. Thai immigration offices now have BMW smart cars and mobile service vehicles whose onboard computers specialize in catching illegal workers and visa defaulters.
Gorilla Technology Group, with headquarters in London, recently signed a deal with the Thai tourist police to integrate international data bases for facial recognition, wanted persons and even license-plate tracking. Thai banks are increasingly sharing investigation of fraud strategies to achieve real-time customer protection and to close mule accounts. The latest technology enables the police, in specified cases, to track an individual’s exact location when he or she makes a mobile telephone call.
Extensive use of public video cameras (when actually in service) and the general availability of photos and videos filmed by the general public are also pertinent. A recent case of a Brit attacking a bar girl came to court because a cell phone video, shot by a customer, made crystal clear who was responsible. A Manchester man was arrested in Pattaya after an amateur video showed him trying to throw away a quantity of heroin. Thai airports now employ “screeners” who help identify possible drug traffickers from official videos in public areas.
Of course, abuses exist. Some Thai police are bribable and there are regular reports of some arrested foreigners bypassing the judicial process with cash. Thai police deal with 500,000 criminal cases every year, mostly of course not involving foreigners. It’s also true that arrested and convicted Brits are a tiny proportion of the total foreigner indictments. The arrest of British mules, carrying drugs in their suitcases, likely reflects extreme naivety about the chances of being caught. As the head of Phuket immigration bureau said recently, “If we don’t catch you, new technology will.”
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... and-495120
By Barry Kenyon
March 24, 2025
It certainly seems so. The popular Bangkok columnist Stickman notes an uptick in arrests based on news reports. Thai authorities are considering shortening the 60 days visa-exempt discretion because of rising crime. Metro UK News notes with alarm the rising number of Brits trying to import banned drugs from Thailand to Britain. Barely a day passes without British and Thai media highlighting shocking activity here, mostly undertaken by young men from London, Liverpool or Leicester.
Actually proving mathematically an increase in foreigner arrests in Thailand is futile. There is no regular statistical information on criminality by any branch of Thai government. The Department of Corrections said there were 14,275 foreign prisoners of all nationalities in a 2020 snapshot, but without elaboration. The Bangkok-based British embassy recently stated in a consular report that there were 220 “arrests/detentions” of Brits in Thailand in 2024, but without further detail.
What is clear is that Thai police technology has dramatically improved in recent years. The recent case of an alleged British child molester, exposed by advanced computer intelligence which identified his face from a fake passport, would never have happened without the most recent facial recognition technology. Tracking drones helped to locate a Brit who had been on overstay in Thailand for decades and had kept a very low profile indeed.
The Technology Crime Suppression Bureau, which most criminals have never even heard of, uses the latest online technology to crack down on gambling websites and other illegal business websites. Raids then arrest the suspects. Thai immigration offices now have BMW smart cars and mobile service vehicles whose onboard computers specialize in catching illegal workers and visa defaulters.
Gorilla Technology Group, with headquarters in London, recently signed a deal with the Thai tourist police to integrate international data bases for facial recognition, wanted persons and even license-plate tracking. Thai banks are increasingly sharing investigation of fraud strategies to achieve real-time customer protection and to close mule accounts. The latest technology enables the police, in specified cases, to track an individual’s exact location when he or she makes a mobile telephone call.
Extensive use of public video cameras (when actually in service) and the general availability of photos and videos filmed by the general public are also pertinent. A recent case of a Brit attacking a bar girl came to court because a cell phone video, shot by a customer, made crystal clear who was responsible. A Manchester man was arrested in Pattaya after an amateur video showed him trying to throw away a quantity of heroin. Thai airports now employ “screeners” who help identify possible drug traffickers from official videos in public areas.
Of course, abuses exist. Some Thai police are bribable and there are regular reports of some arrested foreigners bypassing the judicial process with cash. Thai police deal with 500,000 criminal cases every year, mostly of course not involving foreigners. It’s also true that arrested and convicted Brits are a tiny proportion of the total foreigner indictments. The arrest of British mules, carrying drugs in their suitcases, likely reflects extreme naivety about the chances of being caught. As the head of Phuket immigration bureau said recently, “If we don’t catch you, new technology will.”
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... and-495120