News Forum - UPDATE: 110 Thais on one flight denied entry into South Korea

[Thaiger]

UPDATE The Thai tourists who were denied entry into South Korea have filed a lawsuit against a tour company who they say is responsible for the whole nightmare. Despite forking out loads of cash for the package ‘holiday’, 71 Thai tourists were detained at the South Korean border for four days and deported back to Thailand. Yesterday, eight Thais on the flight travelled to meet famous lawyer Ratchapol Sirisakorn in Nonthaburi province to take legal action against the tour company. Of the 184 passengers on the flight, 71 Thais had booked a holiday to Jeju Island through the same company. […]

The story UPDATE: 110 Thais on one flight denied entry into South Korea as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

[palooka]

The number of Thais working illegally in South Korea – colloquially called ‘Pee Noi’ (‘Little Ghosts’) in Thailand is estimated to be around 140,000. 

If you abuse a system for long enough, the system will bite back.  

I bet a few Thais have suddenly become uncontactable.

[HiuMak]

Question is do you trust the Korean border control or Thais tourist? Answer is pretty clear 

[Leeshard]

Korean Immigration can easily discern from the make up of these tour groups whether they’re genuine tourists or people seeking to work illegally in Korea. Tourists come as families or as couples. They also have hotels booked for the duration of their stay and return air tickets one or two weeks later. They don’t get fleeced for another 10,000 baht at the airport prior to departure and their tour guides don’t disappear on arrival. These people can sue the tour company but it’ll never have enough money to cover their losses and there’s probably a clause in the contract that says they’re not responsible for the decisions of Korean Immigration.. 

[TWS60]

2013, in a bid to revive their flagging tourism industry following 2011 Tsunami/Fukushima plant disaster, Japan eased their entry policy for Thais, and certain other nationalities with a reputation for visa/labor status violations.  I grimaced at the spectacle of how bad things had to get before Japan lowered the bar.   I was happy to see a few Thai families/couples in my orbit get the chance to visit there so easily, and on the cheap given the circumstances.

Eventually, Japan grew weary of getting kicked in the teeth so flagrantly, and tightened policy again.  Oh well. 

[HiuMak]

Its legacy. Thais reputation precedes them. Many countries border controls are wary of them.

[ChrisS]

The fact that the 'tour guides' disappeared and made no efforts to help their group indicates to me that this was a thinly disguised people smuggling operation which the South Koreans have seen through. Good luck getting the money back from people smugglers.