Going on vacation or a business trip can be as stressful or stress-free as you make it, but one thing is sure; you don’t want to run foul of the law in a foreign country. Regardless of your guilt or lack thereof, visiting a police station in another country to answer questions is downright unpleasant.
You should carry your passport everywhere in Thailand. By law, visitors to the kingdom must have their passports on their person at all times or face fines as high asTHB2000 / U$60.00. In reality, however, the police usually accept a full-color photocopy or digital scan on a mobile phone/tablet.
My experience is that Thai police are usually level-headed and will only take things further if they suspect you might have something to hide. Treat them with respect and be polite at all times – much like you should anywhere if the police question you.
Law vs. Reality in Thailand
The Law
As noted earlier, all visitors and expats must, without exception, carry their passports with them wherever they go in Thailand. According to Police Colonel Thanasak Vongluekiat, superintendent of the Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phetchaburi Immigration office in Hua Hin, in a recent interview, this subject is closed.
“The reason for this decision is that Immigration needs to keep track of over-stayers and foreign criminals to ensure they do not stay illegally in the country,” he said. There are an estimated five million people working illegally in Thailand at any one time, and Vongluekiat feels that ensuring all visitors carry their passports will make prevention easier
Since the Coup d’état of 22 May 2014, Thai authorities have rediscovered all manner of offenses ranging from traffic to poaching. It seems that after an early bout of enthusiasm, possibly to avoid the wrath of the then self-imposed ruler, Prayut Chan-o-cha, there are many laws and offenses that the authorities find almost embarrassing and nearly impossible to police.
The Reality
These laws were known to some in the past but ignored by most, with only the die-hards making any attempt to implement them, and confusion persists about how serious authorities intend to enforce the law regarding passports in particular.
Another Police Colonel, Voravat Amornvivat, has stated that he wanted to reassure the expat community (and thus all visitors to Thailand) that “Making all foreigners in Thailand carry their original passports with them would be very difficult. We need to exercise reason and use common sense.”
Once visitors get their passports stamped by Immigration, most tend to check into a hotel or guesthouse and lock up their passports in a safety deposit box. Here they remain until the guest leaves unless authorities ask to see them. These visitors are more concerned about having their passports stolen than running afoul of the law.
Amornvivat went on to say that tourists would not have to carry their original passports and that expats could use a Thai driving license if they have one, or a photocopy of their passport, as a form of identification.
Unfortunately, this is typical Thai ambivalence at work, as created by a bureaucracy being too bureaucratic – making rules and laws that are entirely unnecessary in many cases. Fortunately, level heads seem to be prevailing, and the police with whom you may come in contact are generally very sensible.
Passport Requirements When Visiting Thailand
- Your passport is required to be valid for at least six months after you enter the kingdom
- There must be no missing pages or negative endorsements noted in the passport.
Protecting Your Passport in Thailand (and anywhere else!)
After all of the debate on whether or not to carry your passport everywhere in Thailand, you might want to consider a different aspect of traveling abroad. Unless you are staying in a high-end hotel with a private safe in every room, there is no guarantee of safety anywhere.
With this truth in mind, you are probably the person who is best equipped to take care of your passport and other valuables since you are the most invested in their safekeeping.
I always have a money belt around my waist when I travel in Asia. In this, I keep around U$20 in cash for daily expenses, my international driver’s license, a few receipts for authenticity, and perhaps a chapstick or sun cream. The idea is that I have the basics on hand when I need it while going about my day, but if I am robbed, I lose very little.
Under my clothing (and my underwear), I have a flatter, smaller money-belt that is completely concealed and contains my passport, credit cards, etc. Sure, if I am strip-searched, I will lose everything, but snatch & grab villains or sneak thieves have no interest in seeing their victim’s undies. (so far!)
Either way, I have far more confidence in my ability to protect my possessions than I have in a strange host I have only just met.
If you’re taking travelers’ cheques with you, be sure to record the serial numbers and take insurance out on everything, including healthcare, before you leave home. A stitch in time and all that.
Safety in Thailand
Since we have chatted in depth about whether or not you should carry your passport on you at all times (you should IMHO, but well hidden), we should also consider safety while traveling.
Thailand is a very safe country to travel to, but use common sense and avoid dark streets at night if traveling alone or even in pairs, and don’t flash valuables and money in public. Locals are not the only possible source of danger, so keep an eye out for over-friendly foreigners.
Reasons You Might Need Your Passport in Thailand
- Cashing travelers’ cheques – you are expected to produce proof that you are the owner of the cheques, and banks, moneychangers, and hotels will require that you have your passport.
- Larger credit card purchases – depending on the amount, the bank or vendor may well ask to see your passport.
- A Police stop – though rare these days, police do, on occasion, stop visitors randomly and ask for identification in the form of a passport. Sometimes they will accept a clear color copy as already noted, while at others, they might accompany you to your guesthouse or hotel to check the original.
Selling Your Passport
Selling your perfectly good passport when running low on cash in countries like Thailand might sound like something out of Midnight Express, but it happens every day. Sellers are reputed to get up to U$2000 for a new, clean passport with very few stamps, and this ‘lost’ or ‘stolen’ passport is simply replaced by the seller’s embassy.
What these people don’t consider is the impact this has on human trafficking and international terrorism. We all remember Malaysian Flight MH370 that went missing in 2014. The official investigation into the missing plane concluded that it most likely crashed into the Indian Ocean after being hijacked before or after it took off.
Very little wreckage was ever found in the search area, despite two extensive attempts. It has since been proven that two passengers, Pouria Nourmohammadi, 18, and Seyed Mohammad Reza Delavar, 29, both Iranian nationals, traveled on passports’ stolen’ (or sold) in Phuket a year earlier.
No evidence proves either man blew the plane up, but this does show that selling your passport is not a victimless crime, and the final user will definitely be using it to break the law in some way, possibly resulting in the deaths of a plane full of people.
Caveat
When hiring cars, motorcycles, jet skis, etc., always go to a reputable company. Smaller vendors are often illegal, and the percentage of passports’ stolen’ from these merchants is alarming.
Conclusion
Carry your passport hidden on your person, with a color copy in your money-belt or handbag in case required. You are about to visit one of the most vibrant countries in the world, so be sensible, but don’t ruin the trip by being paranoid.