What should I do if Thai immigration is wasting pages in my passport with stamps?

Sep 19, 2022
2 years ago
Daniele ***********
ORIGINAL POSTER
So this is what I tried to do to save my last few pages from immigration monkeys, didn't work, they just removed the note and stamp in the middle of the page.

Last month they managed to waste another half page by stamping wrong not 1 but 2 times.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The post discusses frustrations with Thai immigration officers who unnecessarily waste pages in passports with stamps, leading to limited space for future visas or entries. Comments reveal a mix of empathy, criticism towards the immigration process, and advice on how to communicate better with officers, such as using polite language or even offering small tips. Community members share their own experiences with passport stamping practices in Thailand and around the world, emphasizing the importance of respecting local customs and procedures.
Dylan *********
By not using the word "Please" you actually made them do it! Next time use kind words!
Chan *****************
You can't tell Immigration officers what to do, Not here Not anywhere in the world. Also No please No Thank you. What do you expect?
Carlos *********
Lack of planning on your part shouldnt constitute an emergency on their part. Come with at least 6 months and pages on your passport
Paul ********
First world problems.

At a time when millions are displaced or otherwise impacted by war, millions more facing winter with heating prices up 10X, severe food shortages, violent weather and flooding everywhere, and a nuclear power credibly threatening to unleash their arsenal on the rest of us.

Really?
Kevin ****************
They always try to fuck up as many pages as they can
Ronaldinho **********
They are fuckers. Because Thai immigration had skipped a page in my passport during the 3 years I lived there, when I returned to Europe I had only 2 full blank pages left in my passport but not consecutively. Because of this I couldn't get the visa I needed to move to Romania. I needed to get a new passport first. The whole process took about 2 months even though I paid £200 for the ultra fast track service. I also paid probably around £400 in train, bus and plane fares to and from London. When I got my new passport I took it straight to get my Romanian visa and the jokers turned to roughly the middle page of a completely empty 50 page passport and banged it right in the middle 🤷🏽‍♂️ I just think it's a prerequisite that your either a clown, a nihilist or a cunt if you work in immigration regardless of the country
Mihai ********
In the usa .it happened
Mihai ********
Troy Rockwell I politely ask the emigration officer not to use a new page to stamp my entry in the USA because I'm a sea man and I'm short of empty pages!!!! And he stamp on my visa,,,,I was shock😄

I ask him why????he replay it's ok.....

But I did not have any problems, and use that visa 4+ years
Ադամ ********
Troy Rockwell Stamping an unnecessary arrival chop (for us citizen) right in middle of passport. Agents making pen marks on your data page because they use your passport as a writing surface to mark boarding passes.
Mihai ********
I did same.....and he stamp ON THE VISA .....i was ...omg ..why.....????

But it was not a problem😅😅
Exit **********
🤦
Colin *********
5555
Thomas ************
You're surprised they didn't like you trying to tell them how to do their job?
Richard ******
By doing that you almost forced them to do it! Been here long?
Tommi ********
1000 baht goes a long way
Ben *********
Try the next time this little word "please",🤷🏻‍♂️
Antonino *******
Two years ago the employee of the Thai Consulate of Genova put the Non-O Visa on my new passport on page 12, leaving five empty pages, but it doesn't matter, now I have stopped going around the world for work; everyone of us is responsible for their documents, but the bureaucrats do what they want all over the world.
Steve ********
Like they could read that. Why didnt you have someone write in thai?
Ben *********
They were going to have to remove those in case you were hiding something under there you didn't want them to see. So, you gave them extra work.
Ben *********
Troy Rockwell could be anything? Overstay stamp in Thailand or another country?
Chris ************
should have written it in thai...
Jo **********
I have 4 passports and have travelled to about 40 different countries. I travel for my work continuously. I know when I hand that passport over to an immigration officer it will get stamped where they choose. That’s the way it is
Todd *******
You know why they do it? Because they can. Way ng ker s
Winston *********
@Todd ******
no, he wrote it in English assuming they'd both read English and accede to his demand. Please and thank you go a long way, especially when you show respect and (at least) try to say it in the local language worldwide.
Bonnie *********
@Todd ******
if you hate the Thais, why are you here?
Robert ******
It’s a power thing with these Thai’s yes I want to upset you & make your life miserable & awkward as I possibly can so I can look down on you & more & more of them are adopting this attitude all we are if you remember a couple of years ago what was said about us all when covid was on lockdown dirty farangs.
Todd *******
@Bonnie ********
huh? Immigration and government officials worldwide are often not pleasent.
Michael **************
When I did my visa for Thailand this year I did a electronic one and there is no stamp involved
Nick *********
Just go to your embassy and get pages added to your passport
Stuart *********
@Nick ********
don’t believe any country does that anymore. US used to but no longer.
Nick *********
@Stuart ********
that's surprising . I've gone to the U.S. embassy in Bangkok and done it but it's been a long time . I requested extra pages when I got my last passport but that was almost 9 years ago now
Stuart *********
@Nick ********
yeah can’t remember when they stopped doing it. Maybe
***
years ago.
Delvonte ********
Well they did exactly what I would have done if I had a bad day 😆 . They went back into earlier parts of my passport to stamp thankfully
Stuart *********
There’s very few terms in Thai that are more derogatory than calling someone a “monkey”. Probably on a par with comparing someone’s intelligence with a buffalo (Kwai). You’ll seriously not get far over here doing that to officials. Aside the assumption that it could be deemed racist as hell.
Michael ********
@Stuart ********
you forget John Grays nickname
@Ling ****
Jo **********
@Stuart ********
my Thai wife calls me monkey actually sometimes ling long. calling someone a monkey depends on the context. ‘Those monkeys in the department store are crazy’. Nothing to do with race or nationality.
Peter ************
An insult to monkeys really 🤡🌶🙏🌙
Otto *********
That were monkeys in cameo, dressed up like humanns?

Anyway, a passport has become expensive and there should be no waste of space in it. Even with an extended passport (48 instead of 36 pages) my passport never lasts the full 10 years.
Mark *********
@Otto ********
Absolutely. We need to be able to order lengthier passports at the outset. I wonder how many years ago these lengths were insitigated. People travel more now, also settle in more countries which is what really causes loss of pages to visas.
Alexis **********
Stop calling the thai monkeys you cunt and maybe you get what you want ! It's one page lmfao
Oliver **********
FFS, at least you could have got someone to write it in Thai for you. You are evidently the monkey in this fable
Richard ***********
Not as bad as Dubai. They put a large stamp to enter right in the middle of a new page and a large stamp to exit right in the middle of another new page about five hours later when I was on a short layover. Deliberate. Malicious. Knowing. And I have a 48-page passport and travel frequently around Asia where I live so need every page. I’ve found Thailand’s stamps to be quite reasonable. Apart from one period when I did exactly what you did and tried to reserve some blank pages with post-it notes. I got turned away at BKK and had to relent.
John *********
Is it legal to do that?
Alan *******
@John ********
It’s done all the time in Thailand. By immigration officers, visa agents, employers, non-profits. Nothing that can’t be undone with a staple remover.
John ******
@John ********
I was thinking that myself. You would not want to be accused of altering your passport in some countries.
John *********
Luc ************
Who's the monkey in this story? 🤷‍♂️
Brett *********
1. You can't reserve pages. QED 2. You can't tell immigration officers how to do their job. 3. The level of pompous disrespect you show, I would have denied your extension, taken your 1900 baht, and given you 7 days to leave.
Sophie *********
'Monkeys' Seriously? If you'd written a polite note, in Thai, then you'd have stood a better chance of getting what you wanted. I don't feel your imperious attitude would have gone down too well in any country to be honest.
Steve *******
Monkeys is very flattering.

None of them have ever left Thailand so they have no clue that a passport is used internationally. They treat them like they treat their own livers.

Meanwhile I went to Japan, Korea and Hong Kong and all of those stamps were put on the same page, as to not waste space.
Winston *********
Next time add a ฿1000 note, say please,and don't call them monkeys. Or you could just show a little respect. Or you could just not travel to a country where you have contempt for people doing their job. Or you could just visit your consulate and get a new passport when the old one gets full. So many options, I guess it's easier to degrade and complain. 🤷🏼‍♂️
Steve *******
Winston Forrest he actually tried to solve his issue with notes, but the monkeys didn't care. Your argument is invalid.
Leszek *********
@Steve ******
Polish border Officer mich worse anyway
Andy ***********
@St***
-
@Dan****
clearly has respect issues - not good with thai immigration!!
Winston *********
@Steve ******
because we a know that placing demands in a foreign language is always going to work. Oh, and I made no "argument". I gave options. Learn the difference.

What's it like to toss around racist epithets knowing that you're insulting people just trying to make a living? I've always found it to be counterproductive to a quality experience.
Garrett ***********
They 100% did that on purpose
Mika ********
@Garrett **********
indeed ,very likely
Thai ******
Maybe if you had asked politely and explained why, U may have got a better result.
Paul ********
I assume your country offers the option of a passport with a large number of extra pages?

Next renewal, get one. Trying to change Thai Immigration’s stamping procedure strikes me as an extravagant waste of your time.

Not only that, but Thai immigration officials are known to get grouchy. Trying to micromanage the way they do their job is likely to lead to unexpected negative consequences. Remember that individual officers have extremely broad personal discretion in granting visas and extensions. Your hissy fit over a stamp could easily result in a denial with no recourse of a visa, extension, or re-entry permit. Seriously.
Sophie *********
@Paulo ********
That's all true!
Guillaume ********
@Paulo ********
Not all countries offer that. Canadian passport used to be 24 to 48 pages. They changed it to a fixed 36 pages for everyone with no choice. I hate it, it's the bane of my existence lol.
Paul ********
@Guillaume *******
Far easier to get Canada to offer an increases page count option than to get Thai immigration officials to carefully stamp passports to reduce waste.
Justino ******
You must be one of those woke entitled bores.. ''It's my passport.''
Sonja *******
Justino Webb it actually is his passport, so not sure what your comment is adding to the conversation. Maybe you should sleep a bit more, so you don't woke so grumpy. 🤣🤣🤣
Paul ********
@Justino *****
I don’t get your connection between being “woke” and feelings of entitlement. Conservative whackos are far more likely to be entitled Karens than woke liberals are.
Justino ******
@Paulo ********
OK Megan..
Ivan ************
I have verbally asked them before when I had this situation, and they were very considerate, squeezing stamps in very tight in some places so I could keep a couple of pages blank. I get it's more difficult to do this with an extension though if the person actually stamping isn't doing it right in front of you.
Av **********
Yeah you aren't allowed to do that....
Garrett ***********
@Sophie ********
He didn't deface it, he left a note in it..
Garrett ***********
@Av *********
He didn't deface it, he left a note in it...
Av **********
@Garrett **********
says the embassies...u cant deface your passport, put holes in it...
Sophie *********
@Garrett **********
It's pretty standard not to be allowed to deface your passport.
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Garrett ***********
@Av *********
Says who?
Martin *********
What makes you think they can or need to read English regarding your passport ?
Ryder *********
It's what you get for considering them monkeys.
Felix ******************************
@Ryder ********
Stupidest thing I've read on this whole post.
Andy ***********
Did you write it in english and thai ?
Mike ****
I don’t think they are monkey, but some one else.
Frank-Steven ***********
I feel you. Not only do these far to frequently needed extension stamps take up way to much valuable passport page space, the (relatively small) entry stamps are also way to often than not placed in a manner with the most possible space wasted. But what can we do. I give you points for creativity here - even if it did not work.
Jared **********
I don’t think they’re the monkey here
Felix ******************************
@Jared *********
They are literally monkeys, it's not figurative.
Jared **********
@Felix *****************************
well we can’t all be princesses 🙃
John **********
There's a stamp above blurred out. Is that related to the new stamp? They like to put related stamps together, makes life easier
Bruce ***********
@John *********
Kalasin are great they squeeze everything together to save pages
Daniele ***********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
lol where have you been? They just stamp randomly all over the passport, preferring empty pages
James ***********
@Daniele **********
sometimes they do that, but in my passport most of the exit stamps are on the same page as the entrance stamp.
John **********
@Daniele **********
they always match stamps up for me, without me asking
Steve *******
@John *********
which immigration office do you go to?

In Pattaya they put the stamps in random places, sometimes skipping several empty pages and stamping in the middle of a new page, for no reason.
John **********
@Steve ******
I'm in Sa Kaeo
Steve *******
@John *********
give them praise for doing a good job. It's a sh*tshow where I live.
Karine *******
I think it might work better to encourage someone to do something, than to ask them not to do something. You cold put your boarding pass where you want the visa stamped and point at the space for the stamp, and smile.
Daniele ***********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Karine ******
that's not how it works, they keep your passport and give it back next day or Monday if it's the weekend
Karine *******
@Daniele **********
In that case, 'please' and a smiley face (emoji) might help.
Daniele ***********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Karine ******
more staples is the only thing that might have worked with that kind of people. Too much work to remove the note -> stamp on another page
Darren *******
To be fair, if I was an immigration officer and I saw that then I'd make a point of stamping that page too.
Daniele ***********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Darren ******
I tried what I could, can just accept some people are like you and them 🤷
Darren *******
@Daniele **********
you'd have been better asking them not to stamp those pages instead of doing what you did.
Paul ********
Fella every Immigration officer are the same?? Very sad Travel n Holiday never
Stuart *********
You’re lucky they didn’t reject your passport entirely for being defaced. Well within their remit to do so.
Daniele ***********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Stuart ********
lol they defaced it not me
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