Tourist applies for visa, arrested for not carrying passport

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Altijd je paspoort of een kopie van je paspoort bij je dragen of een kopie on-line bewaren die je kan tonen als je op het buro.
Onderstaand verhaal komt wat streng over maar meestal is een en ander wel te sussen met bovenstaande.
Expats, ook je thai rijbewijs is afdoende


Thonglor, BKK - A Swedish tourist ordered a trip to Burma at a Thai travel-agency in Bangkok. The agent also offered to arrange visa formalities on behalf of the tourist, a procedure which is common and legal. The tourist handed over his passport to the agency.
At a routine check for identification the tourist was arrested while walking with two Thai friends near Thonglor BTS sky-train station, Sukhhumvit road. Not having a passport he was arrested, despite carrying a original Swedish driver's licence and explaining the situation to the police.
He also offered to call a friend to produce the receipt from the travel agency, but the police stated that they were not interested, and stated that nothing else than the original passport would be satisfactory, "as the law requires". As there would be no way to contact the Burmese embassy at that time of day the police told the tourist that he would have to be detained until next day.
The procedure took several hours, after where the tourist was released after one of the Thai friends paid 3000 Baht to the police. No receipt was given.
It is compulsory for foreigners to carry a valid passport at all times in Thailand. In praxis very few does, as losing it would establish a very difficult situation. An unofficial statement from the police says that an embassy-certified copy will be accepted instead. It is not known how many tourists, e.g. when applying for visas elsewhere, go to their embassy first to get such a copy.