TM30: The form getting expats in Thailand into a bureaucratic tangle
Thailand has long been an attractive destination for Western expats – where money goes further and can buy a good quality of life. But the revival of an arcane immigration law has angered the expat community and got them questioning their freedoms in Thailand, as George Styllis reports from Bangkok.
“I’ve been made to feel as if I’m not welcome here,” says Zareeka Gardner, a 25-year-old English teacher from the US.
She is one of the many foreigners living in Thailand who has ended up having to pay a fine because her apartment manager failed to promptly file a form saying where she was staying.
Thailand’s Immigration Act contains a clause requiring all foreigners to let the authorities know where they’re staying at all times.
