Police are tracking down 142 foreigners said to be paying up to 100 million baht a month in bribes to local police for overstaying their visas in Phuket. He said the 15 Phuket police officers involved in the arrests were already being investigated for not reporting the arrests to immigration police for follow-up. The 142 foreigners, he added, were not blacklisted but police were checking to see if any of them posed security threats. Some local officers had been dismissed in connection with the allegations, he said, adding that he was not aware of similar problems in Chon Buri and Chiang Mai, two other provinces with a lot of foreign tourists. Immigration police in Phuket reported that from Tuesday to Thursday they rounded up 95 foreigners staying illegally in the province.

Source: Bangkok Post November 10, 2017 13:04 UTC