Colabamumbai

If you were told that you a had a counterfeit bill:

1. Would you pass it on, as it had been passed on to you?
2. Would you call the police?
3.Would you keep it as a souvenir?
I would do my best to keep the economy working and use it as my  airport departure tax .

Wouldn't the inquiry towards money be a bit moot?

Realistically, all currency could be considered counterfeit, as no real wealth exist to reflect any such value.

BWPattaya, on 2012-05-20 12:04:30, said:

It's too late know but you should have known that applying for either PR or Thai citizenship is going to result in rigorous investigation of your background by various Thai government agencies to ensure no criminal or political (communist) background.  Several people I know have been caught out in this process for things like not having a second job recorded on their work permit.  Even getting big shot police or army to help them with Immigration didn't save their PR applications.  Their only choice was to cancel their PR applications and apply again after getting the right documents for their situation.  If they refused to cancel the application they would have ended up in court being prosecuted for a criminal offence.  

I have heard of people who have paid bribes to police to cancel criminal records for things like drunk driving or gambling but I really doubt that the police do anything at all in these cases, except take the cash. Someone on TV complained that his Thai wife paid small money to local police to avoid a criminal record for being caught playing cards in her own house in a village.  Years later the offence showed up when she applied to the US Embassy for a visa to go and live with her new American husband in the US.  No new life for her but the policeman got to keep the 500 baht bribe.

In your case paying the bribe of B200k obviously worked quite well because it appears you were guilty of a serious criminal offence of entering Thailand under a false passport and identity for which you could have been imprisoned in Thailand for several years and they would have stolen any cash you had on you at the time.  You would also have been deported to your real country of origin after finishing your sentence and probably blacklisted for life by Thai Immigration.  Instead it seems you got your money's worth.  You avoided prison, theft, deportation and blacklisting and you've presumably been allowed to stay and work in Thailand for many years and now have a Thai wife.   The bribe kept you off the blacklist but didn't stop your finger prints from going into the police database which was probably a wise precaution by the Immigration officers.  If you had committed a further criminal offence in Thailand there might have been questions raised as to why the officers failed to record your fingerprints.  Although the officer in charge at the airport probably has some discretion to let visa offenders leave the country without arrest, the Thai police are fanatic about their fingerprint database, as they still don't have anything much more high tech than that, and questions might have been asked from high up as to why your fingerprints were discarded.

As others have suggested you should see a lawyer who has experience and good contacts with Immigration.  My guess is that should be able to resolve the matter by cancelling your PR application and never applying again for that or Thai citizenship.  Since your past offence was a criminal matter, you may find you are asked for some more tea money for Immigration to let it go at that without deportation, blacklisting and/or prosecution.  I doubt that you can pay any money to get your fingerprint record from 1999 deleted from the police database.  B200k didn't do it in 1999 and now a match has been made.  Also PR applications have to be approved by the National Intelligence Agency as well as the office of the National Police Chief, both of whom need a clean bill of health from the Police Criminal Records Dept and Thai Interpol and that seems to be where you have been caught out.   Foreigners in Thailand only have to supply fingerprints to apply for PR and citizenship and if they are arrested on suspicion of committing a criminal offence.  If you don't do any of those things, you will probably be OK.

Good on ya, Colabamumbai!

Agree with you totally - it gets chronically tiring having to put up with those posters that don't contribute to the topic, but insist on either trying to "bait" the OP with their stupid remarks - or apparently seek to belittle the original question as much as possible. Good on the mods, too, for removing these insane remarks where they can!

Your very legit question (and some of the real comments from others) have been  of great help and very interesting to read!

Err...I suppose this is all really a bit off topic, isn't it......

Cheers  

Splod

Their logic is;
to pay the victims would trigger corruption investigations. So don't pay them.
Well duh. The reason the BMA was deemed liable to pay was because of corruption in the BMA inspections.
This is one of the lamest excuses ever. Why don't they think before they speak?

As if the boss being on a road trip means he can give his ok.
What no phones and fax machines or fedx postal service where he is?
The inmates are running the asylum.

Se jodieron , compadres, vayan a robarle al cono de su puta madre, hijos de puta!

Colabamumbai, on 2012-04-06 18:22:05, said:

Pseudophedrine can cause a false positive methamphetamine test, but perhaops the cops positive result was not a false positive.

Lock up and then deport tens of thousands (many tens)  of (mostly) honest openminded useful and generally quite good people, who are often caring for children ( mostly Thai children) , who may be partially supporting other familymembers . . . Who are good for the Thai ecconomy, mostly bringing a lot of good cold cash into the country on a regular basis . . .    And think about it 30% of even Pattayas beach front land, no way . . .

I'm an American developing 2 venues in Chiang Rai for tourists. Both are rural and small scale, relating to camping and recreation.  I'll probably have to get a Thai Corporation in order to secure them in my name (I have already secured the properties).  When doing that, I'll probably have to get a 'work permit' - though it will likely force me to change my current visa, which is type O non-imm annual visa. I'd like to maintain my current visa if possible.

I could put the businesses in Thai friend's name (am not married), but there could be problems with that down the road - when that person sees money coming in and realizes the value involved.  This morning, am going to see a Thai attorney about this.  Any advice is appreciated.

Have been asked for advice on this matter and although I think I know the answer, would like some backup..
Sitution is thus:
Guy has/had a Mulitple Entry O Visa...
Got offered teacher's job at language school...
Obtained a Work Permit with 1 year Extension to Stay...
Been employed for about 5 months...
Last Tuesday he learned that his WP had been cancelled on 19 July (the Employer has said nothing to him nor given him any written notice)...
WP still in the guy's possession...

Is the Employer legally bound to inform him that he was no longer employed and that WP is cancelled?
What should he do, both at Labour Department and Immigration?