Immigration 24 hour address registration clampdown starts in Phuket

[huahin4ever]

I have stayed in HH for nearly 9 years and have never reported my address. My address is reported everytime I renew my marriage visa, and I have multiple entry and travel in and out of the country several times every year. No one has ever asked me to do 24 hours reporting and Immigration has never said or done anything.

[nil]

There is no consistency. Every immigration office has their own rules which can change overnight. Pattaya immigration are fining people who own their own condo’s and don’t report their address within 24 hours of arriving.

[handdrummer]

Ultimately, people will get fed up with all the changing regulations and retire somewhere else. Thailand always seems to shoot itself in the foot.

[europtimiste]

If you go to Bangkok, Phuket or Ch.Mai, they cannot know that you traveled and when you came back, that's different if you were abroad.

[moater]

If you go to Bangkok, Phuket or Ch.Mai, they cannot know that you traveled and when you came back, that's different if you were abroad.

They certainly can if you stay in hotels. That's the reason hotels ask for your passport. Hotels have a website where they must report your stay to immigration (basicallly doing a TM30 for you). They face hefty fines if they don't, and some already got burned by it.

You can *usually* avoid the report by either having the booking on your Thai spouse's name and letting her check-in, or by providing a Thai ID instead of a passport (the pink one confuses them sufficiently).

Many people get fined for failing to report their new (or old) address after leaving a hotel. The interpretation and enforcement of this requirement varies greatly between offices. Fortunately, HH is very lenient on most things.

[europtimiste]

If you go to Bangkok, Phuket or Ch.Mai, they cannot know that you traveled and when you came back, that's different if you were abroad.

They certainly can if you stay in hotels. That's the reason hotels ask for your passport. Hotels have a website where they must report your stay to immigration (basicallly doing a TM30 for you). They face hefty fines if they don't, and some already got burned by it.

You can *usually* avoid the report by either having the booking on your Thai spouse's name and letting her check-in, or by providing a Thai ID instead of a passport (the pink one confuses them sufficiently).

Many people get fined for failing to report their new (or old) address after leaving a hotel. The interpretation and enforcement of this requirement varies greatly between offices. Fortunately, HH is very lenient on most things.

If you stay in a hotel, the owner will do it. That's about tourists.
If you have a year visa or a 2 month visa, you stay in your condo or house, there is nothing to report.
If you travel abroad, your 90 days report restarts when you come back to Thailand. They requested to report your arrival in order to recalculate the 90 days as many farangs cannot count.

[Phyton]

....
If you have a year visa or a 2 month visa, you stay in your condo or house, there is nothing to report.
...

So if i have a tourist visa, and stay in my own condo, you think no need to report to immigration with TM30.

Can you provide the source of this info please.

[europtimiste]

....
If you have a year visa or a 2 month visa, you stay in your condo or house, there is nothing to report.
...

So if i have a tourist visa, and stay in my own condo, you think no need to report to immigration with TM30.

Can you provide the source of this info please.

No source, just your brain. You have a tourist visa, usually it's for 30 or 60 days. You stay in your condo and leave, nobody will ask you anything at airport.

[HHTel]

It seems to me that the only time a foreigner has to report his address to immigration is if they own a condo as they are the housemaster responsible for reporting the stay of a foreigner.
In all other cases, it's not the foreigner's responsibility but the housemaster, owner or possessor of the residence. It says as much on the form. Unless you are a housemaster etc, it is never the foreigners responsibility to report.

It even goes on to say that if you are submitting a TM30 yourself, then you need a letter (Power of Attorney) from the landlord or owner.

So given that a TM30 has nothing to do with the individual, then how do you report a change of address?

[Phyton]

....
If you have a year visa or a 2 month visa, you stay in your condo or house, there is nothing to report.
...

So if i have a tourist visa, and stay in my own condo, you think no need to report to immigration with TM30.

Can you provide the source of this info please.

No source, just your brain. You have a tourist visa, usually it's for 30 or 60 days. You stay in your condo and leave, nobody will ask you anything at airport.

Okay, example.
I like to renew my Thai driver's license. For this i need a Certificate of Residence from immigration.
TM30 needed or not?

[John A Graham]

Thanks for the feedback! I sometimes think it's better to only volunteer information when it's specifically asked for. Certainly that was the case getting the OA visa in London. I wasn't asked for a medical certificate but handed one over anyway so as not to hold the process up. Then of course I was told it wasn't notarised and I had to go away and get that done. Mind you we Brits are just as bad when it comes to forms; especially since the new data protection act came into force!!

[europtimiste]

So if i have a tourist visa, and stay in my own condo, you think no need to report to immigration with TM30.

Can you provide the source of this info please.

No source, just your brain. You have a tourist visa, usually it's for 30 or 60 days. You stay in your condo and leave, nobody will ask you anything at airport.

Okay, example.
I like to renew my Thai driver's license. For this i need a Certificate of Residence from immigration.
TM30 needed or not?

As tourist are you allowed to have a Thai driving license ? I have a year visa and I never needed to have a Certificate of Residence. Maybe that's new.

[Phyton]

Yes, for the 2 year Thai driving license is also the 30 days entry stamp as the tourist visa valid.

For the 5 year Thai driving license a nonimmigration visa is needed.

[buksida]

There are plenty of threads discussing driving licenses - this one is about 24 hour reporting.

[moater]

If you stay in a hotel, the owner will do it. That's about tourists.

You said "If you go to Bangkok, Phuket or Ch.Mai, they cannot know that you traveled", implying that travel within Thailand won't change your TM30 status. As I explained, that is not true for hotel stays (and some condo stays as well) and it makes no difference whether you are on a tourist visa or on a non-O.