Integrity Legal - Law Firm in Bangkok | Bangkok Lawyer | Legal Services Thailand Back to
Integrity Legal

Legal Services & Resources 

Up to date legal information pertaining to Thai, American, & International Law.

Contact us: +66 2-266 3698

info@integrity-legal.com

ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawVisa NewsNew Thai Immigration Chief Looks to "Assist Good Tourists"

New Thai Immigration Chief Looks to "Assist Good Tourists"

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the new Immigration Chief and his name is Lieutenant General Sompong Chingduang

The interesting thing about the new Immigration Chief is there have been some recent announcements in various newspapers where the Immigration Chief has reiterated prior policy but also made some statements that I found interesting wherein he has made it clear that certain policies not only will remain with respect to security, but also policies with your with respect to facilitation of tourists will also be undertaken.   

I have made it clear in other videos on this channel. Notwithstanding that I talk a lot about immigration raids, immigration policy enforcement, the tightening of overall immigration enforcement, heightened scrutiny of various applications, at the end of the day as I have noted in previous videos, Thai Immigration is not particularly interested in “disturbing” genuine tourists, for lack of a better term. That is not their function. They don't really want to cause any problem for tourists if they are genuinely here for tourism purposes and this was put on display quite clearly in a recent article from the Bangkok Post. That article is entitled:  New Immigration Chief Bullish and they are discussing the new Immigration Chief, again Lieutenant General Sompong Chingduang and to go ahead and quote directly from the new Head of Immigration; Quoting, ”We want to assist the tourists who have purchasing power. They bring income to the country. As for security arrangements, we focus on checking backgrounds of various people with Interpol and Immigration Authorities in other countries."  I think that that is really noteworthy because he said this specifically and I have noted this before and he is being very clear about it. Look, there is clearly an economic boon to Thailand by tourists coming in but also I think they are trying to make it clear, yes security concerns are paramount with Thai Immigration lo these past few years now. They have really ramped up enforcement efforts as we have seen in the various raids; Operation X-ray Outlaw Foreigner etc., the "Good Guys In, Bad Guys Out" initiative.  All of that shows that overall security is a primary factor in what they are doing.  

But that being said, as noted here, tourism is also a primary factor. It contributes extensively to the GDP of Thailand and for that reason I think any tourist who is watching this video or prospective tourists, don't be upset by some of what you will see on this channel.  With respect to those who are trying to live in Thailand, yes there are various obstacles associated with obtaining, keeping and maintaining one's lawful Immigrant status here in the Kingdom or Immigration status I should say, and for that reason I do a lot of videos on those topics.  But as stated from the Head of Immigration himself, those genuine tourists looking to come in and just travel around Thailand and the ones that bring in economic benefit to the country, they are going to be facilitated.  They are not going to be disturbed for lack of a better term.

Take that as you will but I think it is pretty nice to note that Thailand is not looking to cause problems for tourists and I won't even say they are looking to cause problems for Non-immigrants, it is just they needed to tighten up the apparatus and it is causing a little tension here while everybody is getting used to the new system.