# Phuket Overstays and Work Permit Offenses



## stednick (Oct 16, 2011)

Phuket Immigration Office Crackdown Clarification

Interesting article in the Phuket Gazette, October 20, 2013 provides some clarification of the ongoing overstay and work permit crackdown (no end in sight).

Some points made in the article: 

The office has doubled the number of enforcement officers from 20 to 40. 

Criteria checked/reviewed when investigating a foreigner; "we check five points: 1) They have their passport with them; 2) Their visa is still valid; 3) They have a work permit; 4) The job and the workplace cited in the work permit match what they are actually doing as work; and 5) They are not performing work that foreigners are prohibited from doing by law,"

The article also provides some ambiguous guidelines of how "work" is defined. 

Phuket NEWS: Special Report: Permission to function in Phuket


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## Song_Si (Jun 11, 2010)

and another item, re use (and abuse) of the Education Visa

*Phuket Immigration: new detailed form to monitor education visa holders*
Friday 18 October 2013

PHUKET: Language schools will be required to fill out a more in-depth form for visitors applying for education visas from November 1, as part of attempts by Immigration to control the number of people working illegally in Phuket.

Education visas are required by foreigners who want to stay in Thailand to study.

Subjects that can be studied in Phuket range from teaching of English as a foreign language (TEFL) through to Thai boxing and mixed martial arts. However, some people use this visa as simply a way to stay in the country, do not attend language classes and often find work instead.

*more*


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## stednick (Oct 16, 2011)

Oh, the sweet smell of money ... at each turn of the screw you will find greater enforcement of regulations ... requiring more highly trained regulators who will command higher salaries ... to protect the affluent tourists who frequent Phuket. Guess who gets to pay for them.

The cleanup will continue ... Phuket will evolve ... into what is yet to be seen.

For the resident foreign population I expect increasingly higher costs of living until such a time as only the very affluent can afford to reside in the tourist playground of Phuket. 

I would also advise any who ride the edge of the legal line on visa's to become very proactive in complying with ALL the regulations. With 40 investigators needing to justify their assignments, not to mention the possibility of quota's ... it is only a matter of time.

Also note that in the October 20 Phuket Gazette article, concerning those convicted of overstay and/or work permit violations ... "We will send the foreigner to the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok, where the foreigner's name is added to the immigration *blacklist* before he is deported out of the country," Capt Angkarn said.


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