Thailand may be closed to foreign tourists now, but when they return, they’ll be tracked even more closely than before.
The Internal Security Operations Command met June 17 with Chonburi hotel operators, Tourism Authority of Thailand Pattaya Deputy Director Watcharapol Sanson, and Pornpan Weerapreeyakul, director of strategy and planning at South East Bangkok College, to outline upgrades to the tech system linking hotels and the Immigration Bureau.
While hotels currently have to file the TM30 form for each guest who checks in and out, the army and immigration want to be sure that tourists do not fall through the cracks at smaller hotels and guesthouses.
Immigration wants to know about tourists coming in and out so that their whereabouts can be better tracked in case of a new wave of coronavirus cases. Pol. Maj. Gen. Kritsadakorn Kornslip, Deputy Director of the 2nd Operation Center, ISOC, who chaired the meeting, said the upgrade is to catch visa-overstayers and those working illegally more effectively.
Military officials said the upgrades should not, however, make foreigners feel that their privacy and freedom are being curtailed. (PCPR)
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