gene1944 Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 Suzibandit said: Oh and the stamp isn't the B008 one. Thanks guys, and I'll report bak on whatever happens. The police know about other fake stamps as well.... In the Sep 13 Nation Newspaper there was an article ("Visa Racket Busted", page 6A) that describes the arrest of a Thai woman tour operator (K. Rungnapa of Mama Tours) on Khao San Road who used false immigration stamps ro provide a visa service to foreigners. The article states that the police confiscated fake immigration stamps for Songkhla's Sadao check point AND Bangkok International Airport. Article goes on to say that the police are investigating a claim in the Lonely Planet Guidebook that a "Mr J" can renew visas for tourists who don't want to leave the country. Wonder how many of these boards the government is looking as well to get useful intelligence.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steffi Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 Does anybody know if this was the younger of the two women who worked at Mama or not? I was hoping they'd arrested the old guy as he's a bit of a prick but the girl with the longish black hair late twenties and early thirties seemed quite friendly in past dealings with her there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 Article goes on to say that the police are investigating a claim in the Lonely Planet Guidebook that a "Mr J" can renew visas for tourists who don't want to leave the country. Now, if only they 'ban' LP sales in LOS for 'encouraging illegal activities'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iono Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 How computerized is the immigration system in Burma or Laos, are there only one or two legal entry points for tracking tourist?.....I would think hitting a small town boarder crossing would alleviate any worries of real time tracking and get you a proper reentry stamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 Iono.. perhaps you are missing the point here. Whle you certainly may be able to go accross some small border and not be 'detected' for having a fake previous stamp, don't count on it. As Oran states the Thai Immigration has a very resourceful computor network and eventually 'everything' will get entered. They also have a burr under their saddle right now, perhaps due to the abuses that Farangs and other foreigners have blatently committed in the past. Bit of a face and honor thing here as well. So when you finally do go to leave the country and the Immigration chap runs your passport through the computer and then tries to match the stamps in there......oops (BIG OOPS) they don't match. Now YOU are the one who has to explain why. So even if you have a legal visa now, your past may and probably will catch up to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 if only they 'ban' LP sales in LOS for 'encouraging illegal activities' -------------------- :D , ahahah, time for JC to get his "get out of jail" cards handy!!!!! :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khwaimaisabai Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 Says gene1944: Wonder how many of these boards the government is looking as well to get useful intelligence.... Hi gene, Almost certainly all of them. Embassies monitor sites as well, for sure. All the bright ideas for getting a visa for a BG they know about if posted on the web. Khwai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2003 Report Share Posted September 16, 2003 Hi Whilst I cannot know the workings of the Thai Immigration's computer system I can say this from a personal experience. My ex Thai wife not more than 2 years ago needed for some reason (an insurance claim if i recall) to prove from the Immigration's computer system that she had been either in or out of the country on certain dates. Dates that we knew she had entered and departed (less than a year previoulsy) did not show up in the operators search, whilst other dates did. I was with her at the time and remember this very well as it was quite infuriating that the dates we were not so interested in showed-up under a search whilst the dates we WERE interested in did not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaus Posted September 17, 2003 Report Share Posted September 17, 2003 Was talking to a bloke the other night. Caught at Bangkok airport. Fake stamp. Spent a few nights in prison ? terrible experience, unless you like fish head soup with a dollop of rice three times per day served out of a large trash can and you?ve already tried Weightwatchers (apologies for the flippancy ? but after all nobody dies; it?s not a hanging offence). He?s out on 150,000 baht bail. Could have been 300,000 or even 500,000 baht bail if he hadn?t been able to come up with the money pronto (plus a Thai guarantor), and he?d gone before a magistrate. Meanwhile he?s no idea when his trial date is; he?s stuck here, and his business in farangland is going to the dogs. He claimed it was the first time he?d ever used such a service. Unlucky for some. The Thai agent, who arranged all this for him, seems to have got off Scot free, even though he made millions of baht out of an old rubber stamp. But here?s the good news. His mate now aware of this bloke?s plight, went to immigration and came clean about using the same agency and said he thought perhaps he had a fake stamp too. They simply made him pay the overstay fee. Will try to get more details. I may not be smiling in a few weeks? time when I leave the country. All my stamps are legal, but on a trip earlier this year I came up overland from Singapore and Malaysia ? via Sadao crossing! :( Hope I don't get tarred with the same brush. When all this furore dies down, and this scam rears its head again, perhaps newbies should be reminded of the consequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 17, 2003 Report Share Posted September 17, 2003 Thanks from all for the excellent report. That's what we all need. Real info... good or bad. No sure this 'furore' will ever go away. Just a new fact of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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