What are the implications of the Thai government's plan to track foreigners through a new database by the Defence Ministry?

Also gets me in museums, attractions etc at thai prices

It has address height and all my info on it.

Yes I need passport at immigration but its still my official thai id card !

Exactly same as my wife's only different colour

Robert I'm sure it is a id card, pink as you say. I use it at airports instead of passport and also to check in hotels

@Robert ******

thank u----🤗

not driving licens?

Yes same id card as the thai nationals have

thai id?

Pretty obvious really, sorry, never thought of it like that.

buh bye

@Liam ****

some foreigners are a threat and since many governments have decided to monitor aliens more closely. But nothing forces one to be an alien

@Robert ***********

True i guess. I think the data that Google and Facebook hold on us is far more scary/invasive/creepy

I think it would be of greater concern IF they tracked us, without telling us....OR, perhaps what we don't know will never hurt us??? Either way, we have no choice, except to leave...

I think the reasons some people have a problem with it is because, a) their record with data security is, at best, mixed, b) there is already an immigration database, so why can't they just share info internally, and c) the fact that this is with the Ministry of Defence tends to suggest an underlying view that 'foreigners' need to be tracked because they are some kind of threat.

@Robert ***********

🤗

@Tony *******

I will live here until I die and I'm fine with it...

@Robert ***********

I agree and I'm fine with it.

@Tony *******

If you have nothing to hide, then it shouldn't be a problem ;-) western countries do a lot more to track people.

@Robert ***********

very easy to put everyone in the same database

I've been doing that for the past 17 years...this seems to be something new and focusing on those that "arrive" and "depart" regularly via a border crossing or an airport...

you dont report every 90 days?

Honestly, that's the tourist site I would pay to see.

@Tony *******

yeah, that's what I originally said ("It's more that they realise that there is an overall economic benefit to you being here, so they begrudgingly accept it and want to keep an eye (or several eyes) on you")

@Liam ****

economic benefit. why else would they welcome me into their country and pay all those salaries for immigration officers etc??

@Paul ********

thanks buddy 😂

@David *********

I'm in Melbourne now I'll send your regards 😉

@Tony *******

I lived in Melbourne for 17 years, and look at the mess of the place now, I'm an Australian citizen, but the way the immigration treats people there is as bad as here, if not worse,

The point being, when moving to another country, it's always hard and frustrating, this is my second move to a new a country

@Paul ********

and why would or should they offer more? they obviously feel they have enough citizens. australia has decided they want more citizens

@Tony *******

don't know maybe some of us contribute to society more than citizens 🤔 im married to a Thai, if she lived in Australia she would have the same rights as me, here im only a non-immigrant because thats the only thing they offer.

@Tony *******

No shit

@Liam ****

and you are a NON-immigrant too

@Paul ********

I know,

@David *********

i do enjoy it also, my comment was more of an observation

@Tony *******

Well, also the part that creates different rules at the bank, different rules for buying a sim card, various databases for 'tracking' foreigners while they are in Thailand, different prices for all sorts of stuff, etc

@Paul ********

why would they treat youi equal to a citizen, youre a NON-immigrant

@Paul ********

I understand the frustrations, we can't do anything about it, I just try to enjoy and do my own thing

@Tony *******

dual pricing, being treated differently by the police, 2 rules for us and them, makes you happy? Don't get me wrong with all this i still love it here, but it would be nice to be treated the same legally when we consider this our home, we will always be outsiders here.

@Liam ****

one part anyway, and a pretty minor one at that

@Tony *******

No, which is why i said "it reflects an opinion among parts of the officialdom"

It's simple, one rule for Thais, one rule for us, pricing for Thais, pricing for us, if we don't like it we leave, simple, I like it here

@Liam ****

a policeman is hardly "officialdom"

@Tony *******

I'm not saying 'all Thais hate us all', I said that a policeman genuinely said that, and it reflects an opinion among parts of the officialdom that foreigners are to blame for crime and other various social ills

@Paul ********

yes

I mean in our home countries

@Paul ********

you are kidding right, but that's part of life here, all good

Of course

We have no control over it, so just go with the flow 😂😂😂😂

@David *********

hard to get in but when you do you have the same rights as a native.

@David *********

- yes, it could be much, much worse -

@Paul ********

yes I am. life is grand when things please me

@Liam ****

one policeman thought that way?? well that proves it, Thais hate us all! 😄😄😄

@Tony *******

my how easily pleased you are

You know with some comments I read. Makes me realise how immigrants feel when they go to our country's

@Liam ****

Bingo

It's more that they realise that there is an overall economic benefit to you being here, so they begrudgingly accept it and want to keep an eye (or several eyes) on you because, in the words of a policeman I once spoke to "all crime in Thailand is caused by foreigners"

So we stay because we are stubborn 😂😂😂

well, they give me a visa every year, stamp me in and out with no hassle so I have seen no evidence they dont want me

@Tony *******

@Robert ******

why you are asked to fill in your address on the TM6 card everytime you come in the country? If they would put this on their database manual (not directly off course but lets say within 24 hours ;-) ), or better even, scan it and with handwriting recognition put in their database (believe me, those systems exist aleady), they could automaticly cross check this with the TM30 formular that every hotel and landlord has to send in, or the data known by immi already. All this can be done digital.

Thailand governement (police) is ahead of many things already. Like scanning and spying on us. They use same technology that the Chinese have developed. In China they work with face recognition. In Thailand also. I do not mind, i have nothing to hide really. It gets more scary if, like in China, the thai immi would scan any tourist all the time, reports all wrong things you do (like driving motorbike without helmet) and present you with a Bill or Penalty the moment you leave the country again. But, as we know, there is soo much data from these 30+ milj. visitors, it would take giant computers to keep reporting, updated and recognize all wrong things you do (which again China has, but not Thailand). The more data the Thai gov collects, then less chance that you get caught. Keep up the good work, gov.

@Ton *****

they want to know where you are located.

@Tony *******

the moment you come into the country should be the moment to update. Silly rule now is that if you have a visa or extension, you still have to go after coming back into Thailand within the next 24 report at immi...

how else would they update their database?

The passport is swiped like all UK passports are swiped. Do you think they don't know if a UK passport holder is walking in and out of the country? Of course they know who's going in and out.

There’s no scan, no check of her passport other than by the airline staff.

They know you've left. It's on the system but your passport isn't stamped. I'm stamped into the US on a UK passport but never stamped out. They of course know I've left though.

They try. When my wife visits the UK they stamp her in (a record of that is kept) but when she leaves, she just leaves (no stamp, no record of her having left) so they don't really know if she left or not.

Yes.