Following the investigations by Thai police commissioner-general Damrongsak Kittiprapas into Chinese mafias operating locally, Thai language schools nationwide are not able to obtain student visa extensions for any nationality at immigration bureaux until further notice. Thai authorities had expressed serious disquiet after revelations that Chinese expats had influenced adult learning centers to issue false statements of academic progress by individual enrollers. A Pattaya school principal said, “We have been told that, in the future, detailed records of language improvement must be kept on individual foreigners.” An American student said he had been asked by the immigration officer to sing the Thai national anthem as proof he was becoming fluent.
School managers say there is no doubt that the Chinese crisis has led to the crackdown on education visas. The Thai “establishment” has been shocked by evidence of Chinese tycoons riding around Bangkok in expensive cars with bogus embassy insignia and protected by escorts withy fake police uniforms. A large number of alleged crimes has been discovered including narcotics dealing, money laundering, dubious business activities and wrongful issuing of visas and extensions of stay. The issuing of education visas to foreigners with no intention to study has long been an issue across nationalities, but has become a much bigger scandal of late.
In a separate development, Thai immigration offices nationwide are not extending the 30 days visa on arrival now given to Chinese entrants. They are being told they cannot extend by visiting a neighboring land border, but must visit by air a Thai embassy or consulate abroad and apply for a 60 days tourist visa. However, reports from Thai embassies in Phnom Penh and Vientiane indicate that this is proving easier said than done and that Chinese applicants are being told to return to China. Chinese authorities say they are refusing to allow their nationals to board planes for overseas trips if their reason is tourism.
Thai authorities appear to be increasingly concerned about creeping Chinese influence to take over sectors of the Thai economy. Separately, the Thai Board of Investment reports that China is the biggest direct investor in the country. The outstanding question now is how far Thailand’s open door immigration policy to boost foreign arrivals in the post-covid world will be sourly affected by the activities of Chinese mafias in Thai cities.
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