Immigration's BMW "smart car" nabs snitched on overstaying Australian pensioner - he thought hiding

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Kap Chong R Us Member
Immigration's BMW "smart car" nabs snitched on overstaying Australian pensioner - he thought hiding in a country village would keep him safe





Image: INN



Thai media has reported the arrest on overstay of a 63 year old Australian pensioner. He was hiding out in a quiet country village in Thailand's rural north east.



But 63 year old Mr Daniel proved no match for immgration's BMW Smart car after he was snitched on by fellow villagers.



INN reported that the "hiding kangeroo" told arresting officers that he hoped by keeping a low profile he would avoid detection.



The media said that Region 4 immigration had received a tip that a foreigner was wandering about in the Khanun area of Sisaket, though the informant did not know the man's actual address.



The BMW smart patrol car was sent in to investigate and a man later identified as Mr Daniel was seen walking in Ban Na Sai village.



A check of his passport showed he had an extension stamp from early last year. But he was now on overstay of 356 days.



He reportedly admitted his wrongdoing. He said that he hoped by hiding out in a small, rural village and avoiding built up areas and big cities he would go unnoticed.



He was handed over to the local police for processing.



A vinyl board had a heading indicating that the suspect was a "hiding kangeroo" and INN referred to the arrested man as "from the land of kangeroos" in their headline.



Source: INN
 
What's so smart about the BMW? I appreciate that it doesn't have to be a genius to have a higher IQ than many Immigration Officers but..........?
 
"Naew Na reported that a brand new BMW smart car was sent into action in Pattaya on Wednesday under the orders of Chonburi immigration chief Pol Col Naren Khreuangsanuk. It wasn’t long before the BMW – set up with state-of-the-art onboard diagnostics – was used to verify the status of a foreigner walking about outside his house in South Pattaya Soi 7.

The vehicle will be used, according to immigration, to quickly verify the passport status of suspicious looking and acting foreigners across the city. The vehicles computer has the ability to instantly check the passport and criminal background status of foreigners.

Immigration soon realised that Imadh. M., 54, from Sudan was in Thailand illegally after running a random check on him from the vehicle.

He was taken off to Pattaya police station for processing and will be deported and blacklisted at his expense.

Pol Col Naren revealed this was all part of IB chief Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang’s plan to rid Thailand of illegal aliens and foreigners up to no good.

The Pattaya News notes that profiling and stopping one for a random passport check is completely legal in Thailand. It is Thai law to have your passport on you at all times, although in practice a copy is generally permitted. The copy must have the individuals arrival and visa stamps, not just the identity page.

Chonburi Immigration told the media that they will continue to conduct random checks across Pattaya on a daily basis, looking for suspicious individuals. They did not define exactly what makes an individual suspicious. Immigration also noted that those legally in the country and following the rules have nothing to be worried about and a normal check only takes a few seconds.

The public should continue to call 1178 to report infractions of the immigration laws or if they believe someone is on overstay or in the country illegally."

The Pattaya News.
 
Wouldn’t a phone call back to the office, do exactly the same as this ‘state of the art’ expensive equipment in a very expensive foreign car???
Or have I missed something??

(BTW, I saw it, when going to do a 90 day report this week)


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Wouldn’t a phone call back to the office, do exactly the same as this ‘state of the art’ expensive equipment in a very expensive foreign car???
Or have I missed something??

(BTW, I saw it, when going to do a 90 day report this week)


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I think these BMW's are "leftovers" from last year ASEAN summit in Bangkok. Note the "police" on the side of the cars, rather then "immigration".

No need (as a police or immigration officer) to cruise the streets in Isan in a expensive German luxery sedan. A Toyota Vios would do too..
 
I wonder just how many innocent foreigners got fingered before they found the one guilty one. Government stupidity obviously hold no bounds as when tourism numbers are down lets make sure they never come back. Yes well within the law..... BUT !!!
There has to be more on that story of the overstay Aussie. I wonder who the ***** was. Him or his wife? To be informed on like that.
It was probably him. There is a Yank in my village, getting on the wrong side of the locals as they never fail to tell me, what kind of ***** he is. I have never met him formally. He has walked past me a few times. Might be a nice feller, but who knows. They can only go on mannerisms, when he does not speak the language.
 
I guess there are likely to be a number of farangs out in the ‘boonies’ with less than legal status. Some might be in ‘marriages of convenience’ and some might just be hiding, because they cannot afford a visa/trip to Savanakhet once a year.
As suggested above, I guess he pissed-off someone in his village.

I read that they use one of these cars in/around Pattaya and also advertise a 4 digit phone number to report (suspected) illegal aliens.
https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/11...omes-to-pattaya-no-escape-for-illegal-aliens/

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I assume from the comments that the Sudanese guy had been informed upon too, though the article doesn't say that.

I agree that it might be cheaper for the immigration guy in the BMW to take send an image of the suspect back to his office for verification by a facial recognition device, though I imagine that the technology in the car performs facial recognition linked to a database which would allow faster processing followed by arrest on the spot.
 
I assume from the comments that the Sudanese guy had been informed upon too, though the article doesn't say that.

I agree that it might be cheaper for the immigration guy in the BMW to take send an image of the suspect back to his office for verification by a facial recognition device, though I imagine that the technology in the car performs facial recognition linked to a database which would allow faster processing followed by arrest on the spot.
I doubt if they can even drive the car properly!


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