BANGKOK, THAILAND – A foreign resident’s routine visit to the immigration office turned into a perplexing encounter with an unexpected fee, prompting questions about official procedures.
I have been living in Thailand for over twenty years and have always adhered to the country’s regulations. This incident deeply affected me, not due to the amount of money involved, but because it shook the trust one builds in governmental processes over many years.
My visit to the immigration office was for my routine 90-day report. A friend had the same deadline, and since I was going anyway, I offered to take his passport and complete the report for him. This is a common practice among foreigners and has never caused any issues in the past.
At the counter, I dutifully handed over both passports. A young official accepted the documents without a word and then passed them to her supervisor without any explanation.
The supervisor then demanded one hundred Baht for processing my friend’s passport. I politely but firmly pointed out that the 90-day report is a free government service. Her justification was that anyone who does not submit their report personally, but through someone else, must pay this fee.
In all the years I have been submitting these reports for myself and occasionally for friends, I have never been confronted with such a demand. I refused to pay. One hundred Baht is not a large sum, I know that. But that was not my concern at that moment.
If a government service is free, it is free, whether you appear yourself or send someone. An authority cannot simply invent fees at will. My refusal led to the official becoming increasingly unfriendly.
She threatened not to accept the report for my friend. What made the situation particularly peculiar was that she had already clearly stamped his passport with the confirmation and date. The entry was made – yet she suddenly wanted to backtrack. I remained calm and sat down again at the chair in front of the counter, requesting her objectively to officially cancel the already entered stamp. I understood what this would mean for my friend: a personal trip of about 160 kilometers, unplanned and at his own expense. This was not a pleasant prospect.
To my genuine surprise, she eventually relented. Without comment or explanation, she waived the hundred Baht, handed me the completed documents, and curtly asked me to leave the building.
This brings me to my main question for the editorial team and the readership: Is this actually a new official regulation that I am unaware of? Has it been quietly introduced somewhere that representation for the 90-day report incurs a cost? Or was it simply an attempt to earn a few extra Baht at the expense of an unsuspecting foreigner?
I look forward to an objective assessment from the editorial team and to reports from other readers who may have experienced something similar. Sincerely, an attentive resident.
Editorial Note: We thank you for this report. The 90-day report in Thailand is a fee-free government service – this explicitly applies even when the documents are submitted by a representative. Such everyday accounts are important for drawing attention to potential shortcomings in administrative practices. We now pass this question on to our readership: Have you ever had similar experiences with sudden fee demands for actually free services at the immigration office – and how did you handle that situation?