Foreign & Thai Patrons checked during raid of South Pattaya

[colmx]

I used to carry my passport all the time when in Thailand, for the first 4 or 5 visits anyway. Being in the pant pocket while in the bars and discos all night is not good..

Around this time 5 years ago there was another round of similar raids in BKK

Following on advice on this board that i would have "no chance" of getting into any of the discos in Bkk without my Passport... I took my passport out with me...

This was despite the insistence of my BF that there was no need

Of course in 2 nights in Rachada/Lamsari i was never asked once for any form of ID...
And on the 3rd night... I managed to lose my passport!

Of course typically the next day i was due to fly home and coupled with that it was a Bank Holiday weekend in Ireland... so the consulate was closed for the next 2 days.

The bonus was that i got to sepend 6 extra days in Thailand :-)
The bad part was that i had no money left to live it up.. and the hassle of getting the replacement flights, police reports, temporary passport and replacement immigration card were simply not worth it.

Coupled with that getting the replacement passport back home was also a nightmare (notarised/translated police reports) and a warning fro the police that i would not receive a 2nd replacement passport for a period of 10 yeras if i lost the new one!

So my passport is 100% staying in my room!

[Up2U]

I carry a copy of my passport and my original Thai drivers license. When checking in to a hotel I am asked for my passport but I show reception my Thai drivers license which is happily accepted. If I make credit card purchase either my Thai drivers license or copy of passport is accepted. I was cited once when driving a rental car in Phuket and the officer did not accept a copy of my passport. Fortunately, I had my original with me. A Thai policeman or government worker is under no obligation to accept a passport copy or should they. In regards to the mentioned bar raid, it sounds similar to the Mic My raid in Sunee. There, copies of passports were not accepted and the farangs without passports were taken to Immigration at Soi 5 where their immigration status was checked and then they were released.

[francois]

why is it not possible for ex-pats mainly, and hoilday makers to carry an i.d. card same as the thai's do ?
.

For Americans that is a possibility;it is called a USA Passport Card. It is intended for travel to Mexico and Canada for Americans but might serve the purpose in Thailand if one also carried a copy of their actual passport and visa.

[timmberty]

yes francois thats what i mean ... how hard would it be for any and every country to make these things and be able to use them instead of having to worry about carrying a passport around ... ive never carried my passport and ive never yet been stopped .. but you never know.

[bucknaway]

That is what I carried. I locked my passport in my safe but kept the passport card with me. I also used the card when I visited exchange booths or when ID was asked for when I used my credit card.

Yeah but are you confusing what the bank wants for ID and what the police want? I thought they want to see that you are in Thailand legally so they want that paper thing they staple in your passport that shows when you have to leave. One of my friends who has a Thai wife says his Thai driver's licence is usually ok because you can't get one of those unless your on some sort of long term visa and of course its a Thai document so it must be better than anything any other government would produce.

[timmberty]

Yeah but are you confusing what the bank wants for ID and what the police want?

this is 100% true of course ... what the police want is called baht

[bucknaway]

I think it all depends. In some situations with the police you can get by with a smile and kind words of respect and in other situations a smile and kind words will get you nowhere.

I think it all depends. In some situations with the police you can get by with a smile and kind words of respect and in other situations a smile and kind words will get you nowhere.

What has that to do with what the police want to see as ID?

[Geezer]

On message boards one regularly sees hand wringing about losing a passport while carrying it. It's difficult to understand how one who travels has failed to devise some way to prevent that.

For example it is a simple matter to have zippered pockets sewn inside shirts. Short of being rendered unconscious in an accident (in which case losing your passport will be the least of your problems) it is unlikely your passport will disappear. As has been mentioned here, a drugstore will give you a plastic bag which fits your passport exactly. After 10 years it will still look new.

тАж and about being rendered unconscious owing to an accident or what ever. Your wallet, and any identification in it, will likely be the first thing to disappear. It is a good idea to have one or two things of no value, such as a calling card case or small notepad with a contact number on it. I saw a Swedish diplomat with a military style dog tag which was obviously of no value, and unlikely to be taken in a mugging. They can be ordered online.