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Thai police arrest six visa-overstayers
Letâs play "Spot the clue".Six foreign tourists staying on Thailandâs backpacker mecca Khao San Road were arrested Sunday for overstaying their visas in a crackdown that also saw 13 Thai guesthouse owners fined. Deputy immigration commissioner Pongsapat Pongcharoen told AFP the tourists, including at least four Nigerians, would be fined and faced deportation after spot checks by police at the scores of guesthouses along the famed road. Nigerian backpackers, huh? Nigerians have been in the news a lot lately, and not in a good way. He could not immediately confirm where the other nationals were from. Or if any turbans were found in their backpacks. As part of the crackdown, which Pongsapat said would be expanded to other tourist spots across the country, police also fined 13 guesthouse owners for failing to report the names and numbers of foreign guests staying with them. "If we didnât have this law, we would not be able to know where tourists were after they entered the country," he told AFP. "How could we find them if something happened?" "How could we ID their bodies if they blew themselves up?" Posted by: Steve 2004-01-12 |
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