Thousands of Foreigners Denied Entry at Thai Airports in 2018
In the first six months of 2018, over 7,000 foreigners have been arrested or barred from entering Thailand at the country’s five major airports, according to Khao Sod English.
Immigration police said that 3,600 had criminal records while more than 3,400 “posed a risk to public order.” The latter group being made up of mostly South Asian immigrants who were suspected of trying to enter the country to work illegally.
As for the travelers with histories, 156 were arrested for transnational crimes and 30 others were refused entry due to sexual assault-related charges. Immigration officials said that letting foreigners with sex-related offenses in would further lend to Thailand’s negative reputation as a “sex country.”
The several thousand foreigners turned away or arrested were only a drop in the bucket of the 14 million passengers who entered through Thailand’s airports in just this year alone.
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