Thailand Immigration: TM30 24 hour reporting thread

[Big Boy]

No, but it's a strange question to ask on a form primarily designed for hotels, who won't have a clue about when their guests departed or from where.

[Scout]

I looked at an online copy of the form. It’s a 2 part form that appears to have been designed to fill out after the fact, after the person has arrived and departed from the location doing the reporting. You’re right BB, it isn’t intuitive what to put in the departure date field, unless it’s a hotel and the person is only staying one night. Having thought about it, I think it would be very difficult to design a perfect form to cover all the situations covered by the TM30 law, probably best not to overthink it and simply put “unknown” or “N/A” in the departure date field if it’s not known.

[Nereus]

Anybody interested that has just on 2 hours to spare, here is video of the recent FCCT meeting with Thai Immigration.

The old general was completely out of his depth and kept repeating the well used Thai expression: "we will try our best". The last official that frequently used that expression is now living in exile!

They kept making a big thing about this stopping "bad guys", but nobody asked them why the latest move is to allow Chinese and Indians visa free entry! The well spoken Thai officer complained about over worked staff, but his logic system could not get around the fact that their current enforcement of TM30 may be causing some of it!

The best suggestion was made by, I think it was the Australian speaker on the bench, was to both issue and make better use of an ID card.

In regard to criminals entering the country; that is surely a border control issue, and nothing to do with where legitimate visa holders spent the their last night. I don't think anything is likely to change anytime soon!

[PeteC]

https://www.nationthailand.com/cartoon

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[Governor]

I applied for online registration last weekend, still waiting for a password and user name.

I got my user name and password this morning.

[HHTel]

I'll just carry on ignoring it. It's not been a problem so far. Traveled around Thailand in the last few months and still renewed my extension this past week. TM30? "Sorry, don't understand!"

[STEVE G]

No, but it's a strange question to ask on a form primarily designed for hotels....

I've got a suspicion that what this whole thing is about is the increased popularity of AirBnB and the like which would potentially make it easier for those trying to evade surveillance to find accomodation if the owners aren't reporting who is staying there, as most don't.

[buksida]

OPINION: TM30 ALIENATING LAW-ABIDING ALIENS
Imagine you’re an expat in a country where you must report to the police within 48 hours each time you travel to another province for longer than 24 hours.

Amazingly restrictive and burdensome, isn’t it? Welcome to Thailand 2019!

Whether it makes sense or not, Thai immigration police are requiring expats living in Thailand to do just that through an online “TM30” form.

The commander of Bangkok’s immigration police, Pol. Maj. Gen. Patipat Suban na Ayudhaya, insists it’s for the safety of both foreigners and Thais.

“We will try our best to distinguish between the good and bad guys. I promise all of you: we try,” Patipat told the jam-packed, mostly frustrated western audience at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand on Thursday evening.

The law requiring foreigners to report themselves has been around since 1979, during the height of the Cold War. But immigration police have only just begun enforcing it (though tourists are largely spared when hotels fill out the form for travelers).

Expats have the option to fill out the form online, but many say the application is slow and that it takes as long as five weeks just to get a login password.

Patipat’s main immigration superintendent, Pol. Col. Thatchapong Sarawanangkul, insisted that is nothing wrong with the online app, however.

Nevertheless, even Thatchapong admitted he has to work until 10pm every night with no holidays, even though his wife will give birth to their baby by the end of this month, in order to clear the forms.

Patipat added that only 10 officers have been assigned to handle the online app, in further admittance that immigration police are ill-equipped to manage the controversial online form. Officers have to check reports one by one in the hopes of spotting potential ‘alien criminals’ bent on committing crimes in Thailand.

This may be a noble goal but let us pause for a second. Would a real alien criminal be foolish enough to submit genuine details of their latest whereabouts in order to wait for the Thai immigration police to arrest or deport them? The chances of catching bad guys from the TM30 immigration form are very slim.

It’s the majority of expats in Thailand – the so-called good aliens – who bear the brunt of the inconvenience and feel stifled. It’s as if Thailand is turning into a police state for largely law-abiding expats.

Instead of making them feel welcomed and at home so Thailand can boost its economy and enrich its culture and society, the pedantic TM30 immigration form has alienated hundreds of thousands of law-abiding expats. Mounting damage is growing on a daily basis in the form of increase numbers considering whether living in Thailand is worth the trouble.

When something makes no sense, it should be done away with. For decades the regulation wasn’t even imposed. It’s not too late to make the law defunct again before it ends up causing more problems than it solves.

TM30 is an unnecessary waste of time and resources in the name of national security. Such pedantic and restrictive rules don’t belong in a country wanting to attract more foreign expats and investments.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/opinion/2 ... ng-aliens/


For those that say it doesn't matter because Hua HIn are not asking for it, how long do you think that will last? They didn't ask for the 90 day report either when that was first introduced.

[Dannie Boy]

This is slightly off topic, but I arrived back in the country yesterday for the first time in over a year and the new landing card now asks you to provide your telephone number and email address- they track you everywhere


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[sateeb]

I noticed that too so i just made up an e mail address.

[Nereus]

I am not going to copy this article here as the contents have already been discussed, or it can be viewed on You Tube.
The point is the subject is once again being reported in the Bangkok Post, which hopefully can only be a good thing.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Confusion reigns in TM30 palaver

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/sp ... 30-palaver

Special report: Expats 'none the wiser' after FCCT forum, immigration put on defensive, writes Thana Boonlert

Long-term foreign residents of the kingdom have spent the weekend scratching their heads in bewilderment over the baffling requirements of the now notorious TM30 form after a recent forum at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) with senior Thai immigration officials present on the panel.

………………………………………>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>on and on!

[europtimiste]

This is slightly off topic, but I arrived back in the country yesterday for the first time in over a year and the new landing card now asks you to provide your telephone number and email address- they track you everywhere


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I know, they also ask for income. I simply ignored income and phone and email requests.

[handdrummer]

Soon you'll have to purchase thigh-high wading boots to get through all the BS.

[PeteC]

For sure those landing cards go into a big box somewhere probably never to be seen again. They have problems processing TM30 electronic applications, then who the hell is sitting entering data from ten thousand + landing cards per day? They are not machine readable IMO.

This is why the argument that foreigners can be tracked from the landing card hits a stone wall each and every time it's brought up, there is no system linking and there's no comprehensive data entry into those systems except for passport scanning.

The TM 30 system isn't even up to date. I arrived back in Thailand July 22 late and stayed a night in an airport hotel. They took passport and recorded data for their reporting to the Gov. Next day afternoon I drove home, picked up my paperwork and went to Immigration in my area to file the TM30. Their system had no record whatsoever that I had stayed in a hotel the night before therefore I was late with the 24 hour arrival reporting. You couldn't make this stuff up!

[pitsch]

This is really confusing. I never heard of the TM28. Do I have to provide a TM30 and a TM28 if I return to my home? And is the present address and the "address where alien received permission" the same in TM30?