Immigration Sensation

On Friday, Tim and I went down to the Thai Immigration office so that I could apply for a one year visa based on having a Thai wife. The passport stamp actually reads "Thai Wife".

The reader's digest version of the day is that we spent about four hours there, including the time we spent at lunch. The application is complete, and I have to return to the office on January 4th to find out the results. I don't want to be too confident, but part of the process was an interview of me. They told Tim that everything was in order so they didn't have to ask me a single question.

Of course, this trip to Thailand is about experiences. During my four hours, I had some experiences that I'd like to share.

A couple of immigration officials that we worked with really represented the best and worst of Thai people and culture. Its not that they as individuals are the best and worst people in Thailand, but how they interacted with us reveals a lot about this land of smiles.

The "best" was a woman who is a friend of a friend. She doesn't work directly in the visa department, but she knows the people and the system. Over the course of our two trips, she has probably spent seven or eight hours helping us. It started with our arrival. As parking is horrendous at the office, she came out and opened up a reserved spot for us to park. She helped Tim fill out the paperwork, took it to the proper official, and arranged appointments for us so that we did not have to take a number and wait in the queue. She stayed with us while we waited for our interview and sat close by during the interview in case we needed help.

The entire time, she had a smile on her face. She responded "mai ben rai ka" (which means don't worry about it or no problem) and genuinely seemed as though she meant it. She was very nice, and it was clear that she really wanted to help us get this completed, and not just so that we would get out of her hair. She really epitomized "mai been rai ka" for me.

The worst of the Thai people was represented by the supervisor who conducted our interview. To describe the process as an interview is a bit misleading. We sat at her desk for approximately thirty minutes while she reviewed our paper work, and asked Tim a few questions.

Her behavior might have been the rudest that I have ever experienced here in Thailand. Its not what she said, but what she didn't. Not only didn't she say hi, but she didn't even glance at me the entire thirty minutes, although I was sitting two feet away from her at her desk. The only acknowledgement that I was even present was when she put a piece of paper between Tim and I and she pointed at it for a signature.

Even from a western perspective, its rude to not even acknowledge someone sitting at your desk for thirty minutes. But here in Thailand, where people typically great each other with a "sa wa dee" and a wai, it seemed ominous. If she hadn't wai'd me, I would have understood. The when and where to wai has a lot to do with social status and I have hardly mastered its nuances. The fact that she didn't look at me, however, prevented me from saying hello and wai'ing her. I guess on the plus side, she didn't ask me any tough questions.

The woman was also curt with Tim. After the interview, I said to Tim that I thought that this was one of the rudest persons I had met here. She readily agreed, confirming that in this case, I was not the ugly American put off by having to deal with third-world officials. Tim's insight on such matters is valuable to me, because not only is she nicer and more tolerant of ass-hattery than I, she is more in touch with Thai behavior.

I think this woman represented a combination of difficulties working with any immigration service and the hierarchical nature of Thai society. People often complain about difficulty working with governments. I think immigration departments are by nature the most difficult. They are dealing with people who are not citizens of their country. Say what you will about an unresponsive DMV in your county, but if enough voters make a fuss about it, a responsible official hoping to keep his job just might intervene. Immigrations officials are usually working with people who are not citizens, but have not choice but to take it.

Thai society is very hierarchical, with people of a lower social status generally showing a great deal of respect and deference to someone of a higher status. People of a higher status can easily abuse their positions of power and could run roughshod over others. Perhaps the fact that she was a supervisor who had the power to approve our deny our visa request caused her not to show me and Tim much respect.

One final thought on the supervisor. Personally, the fact that she showed me not a modicum of respect caused me not a moments unrest. The fact is, her actions were notable only in that the so differed from how others have treated me. So long as my visa is approved, which is almost certainly will be, I could not give a shit less what she thinks of me.

There were some other interesting things I observed that day. I saw first hand how Thai's different treatment of men and women could affect a family staying together. As you may remember, I described how a woman needs to prove that she makes at least 30,000 baht per month and prove she has paid taxes on it to obtain a visa for a foreign spouse, while a man merely has to sign that he can provide. The amount is actually 40,000 baht per month.

A Thai woman and her German husband talked to the supervisor while we were there. There household income was 30,000. The average Thai income is about 24,000 baht. The supervisor told them that if they didn't have 40,000 baht in monthly income, that he would have to leave when his visa expired. So, unless they increased their household income by 10,000 baht or the wife magically sprouted a penis and the husband a vagina, they very well could be separated.

Adding insult to injury, the supervisor reminded the woman that if he overstayed his visa, the fine was 500 baht per day, which he would be forced to pay if he ever wanted to re-enter the kingdom. The supervisor "confided" to Tim that they had bumped up the fine to 500 baht per day, because foreigners didn't seem deterred by paying 200 baht per day that they overstayed their visa. Given that 200 baht a day would come out to less than $200 a month, I can understand while some westerners might not be bothered. If I were going to overstay my visit for only a month or two, and I had to go through the normal immigration process (i.e., sans our friend who took us to the front of all the lines), I would be sorely tempted to just pay the fine.

Honestly, their story did not completely tug at my heart strings, it was a useful instrument to talk again about how Thai's treat men and women differently. Perhaps I am being too hard on her, but I would not be surprised if they met in one of those establishments where foreigners exchange hard currency for hard "fun".

There was a delivery man who walked by me while I was waiting who walked with a noticeable limp. A quick glance showed that his right foot was turned in, and that he walked shoeless on the side of his foot. I had to think that working a job requiring one to talk a lot, as delivery men are wont to do, would be difficult for someone so situated. In any case I admire his perseverance. Strangely, as we left, I saw a one-armed man order food from a side-walk food stall.

Overall, I would hardly describe the experience as fun, but on reflection it was interesting. Still, I'm hoping the blog entry from January 4th will read "Its approved!"