The Royal Thai Police and Thai government have held a press conference to announce the enforcement of a new law that prohibits the sale or advertisement of alcoholic beverages via digital channels.
From Monday, December 7, the sale and advertisement
of alcoholic beverages online will be prohibited. Direct selling, persuading consumers, introducing products or other related services via digital channels that enable sellers to complete a sale without meeting the buyer face to face will be banned.
Those caught infringing the law face up to six months in prison and/or Bt10,000 in fines.
Thailand's Immigration Bureau have announced an update to the requirement for TM30 reporting.
The new update clarifies when a TM30 report is due under section 38 of the Immigration Act. People with a multi-entry visa or a re-entry permit who make a
trip abroad, or a visa run, anf return to the same Thai address as that previously registered with a TM30 do not need to file another TM30. See unofficial translation from Thai Visa:
2.2 After the house holder, owner
or possessor of the premise of hotel manager has reported as defined in Article 2.1, the same alien has left the premise and returned for another stay within the valid period, the house holder, owner or possessor of the premise of hotel manager do not
need to make another report;
The alien as defined in paragraph one shall include those who being granted multiple-visa who leaves and returns to the Kingdom with specified time in the visa, and those with re-entry permit.
Previously, most immigration offices in Thailand wanted a new TM30 report within 24 hours every time a person left and reentered the country. This change eliminates that requirement.
The latest announcement was posted on the Chiang Mai
immigration website and came into effect from 30 June 2020.
Thailand has some tracking and address reporting laws that would be considered extreme in an Orwellian state. Foreigners are required to report their where abouts to the immigration police within 24 hours of moving to another location (using form TM28).
In addition Thai hotels or accommodation owners are also required to report the comings and goings of foreigners to immigration police also within 24 hours (using form TM30).
In fact in Pattaya/Chonburi only this 2nd requirement has been enforced by
the police, but with the unjust tweak that the foreigner is forced to pay the fines of the Thai accommodation owners should the TM30 not be sent to the police.
Now Thailand has announced that TM28 is no longer required. In fact Immigration has not
formally revoked the requirement, just made more or less everyone exempt.
But for all the fanfare the TM30 location reporting requirement is still very much in force. Saying that immigration do seem to have relaxed on the concept of holding
foreigners responsible for the failures of the property owners to comply.