Bangkok—

On November 27th, 2023, Thai immigration officials held a press conference on the arrest of foreign beggars causing alleged annoyance to tourists and passersby in the Sukhumvit area, Bangkok

According to a report by immigration officials, the group of alleged beggars were Jordanian nationals who lived in hotels in the Soi Nana area and had gathered at the NANA Square Mall to illegally ask for money with persistence from tourists.

The group reportedly split into separate groups with children to call for pity, sometimes, they waited for tourists to withdraw cash from ATMs and ask for 500 to 1,000 baht to be satisfied and leave, said Royal Thai Immigration officials.

During an extended investigation, Royal Thai Immigration officials found 7 Jordanian national adults and 16 other unidentified individuals involved in begging for money. They reportedly used tourist travel visas to stay in Thailand but only one of them had a visa expired.

Initially, the Royal Thai Immigration officials revoked their permission to stay in Thailand because their behavior was considered a potential danger to society and citizens. Those illegal foreigners are in the process of being sent back to their respective countries.

Additionally, Thai immigration officials have eradicated more alleged foreign beggars in famous tourist attraction cities such as Pattaya City, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. As a result, there were 27 Cambodian nationals, 2 Myanmar nationals, 2 Russian nationals, and 2 Chinese nationals on the blacklist recently.