Thai woman denied entry to SKorea for insufficient documents

BANGKOK, May 19 (TNA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that a Thai woman who was denied entry to South Korea and sent back home recently submitted insufficient documents to Seoul's immigration authority. Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Busadee Santipitak, who is also Director-General of the ministry's Department of Information, told journalists on May 18 that the Thai Embassy in Seoul has clarified the incident, saying that the Thai female tourist failed to submit all required documents to the South Korean immigration authority and did not properly communicate with the authority. The spokswoman's remarks were in response to a claim by a Facebook user, named "Punnabhat Sri", that she was the only one among her friends who was denied entry to South Korea by Seoul's immigration authority on May 13 although she had her passport, air ticket, a travel insurance policy and a clear tour schedule with her. The Thai woman also claimed that she had been detained for about 13 hours by the South Korean immigration authority before being sent back to Bangkok. The spokeswoman stated that the Seoul government has allowed Thai nationals to each enter South Korea without any visa for 90 days, but a number of Thai people were found to over stay for working illegally in the country and about 20,000 of them were arrested and sent back home annually. The spokeswoman, thus, urged Thai nationals who want to travel to foreign countries to strictly follow immigration rules and regulations of the countries, while suggesting tour agents to also provide proper information to their clients. The spokeswoman also advised Thai nationals who want to work overseas to contact only legally-registered employment firms or directly seek support from the Thai Ministry of Labour. According to the spokeswoman, there were 101,000 Thai nationals in South Korea during the first quarter of this year, over half of them, or more than 57,000, were found to over stay in the country and the Thai and South Korean governments are, therefore, working together for a long-term solution to the problem. (TNA)