Recent regulatory changes and stricter enforcement of Thai immigration rules have led to the tightening of foreigners’ residential reporting requirements and crackdowns on retirement and other visa types.
Particularly bewildering for the foreign community is the controversial TM30 form, officially described as a means for “effective monitoring, so foreign criminals are less likely to choose Thailand as a place to hide out.” The TM30, according to the Immigration Bureau of Thailand, takes immigration tracking “beyond the airport or land border and to the residence of each individual.”
The form is also used as “a means of providing information on tourism,” the bureau has noted. This applies to all foreigners, tourists and residents, but imposes particularly onerous obligations on residents to inform landlords when they leave the city to travel elsewhere in or out of Thailand and requires landlords to report their absence.
A panel of Thai and foreign experts and commentators examine the enforcement of immigration rules, government policies and concerns, and recent shifts in official procedures and attitudes.
They attempt to clarify the TM30 reporting process, analyze its impact and discuss the future of this unpopular law.
