June 2 2004

Thai Immigration Bureau: Room 101

Even if your papers are in order, it's natural to feel a little anxious when you visit the Immigration Bureau on Soi Suan Plu. This sign isn't going to calm your nerves, though. Check out the room number where you get your non-immigrant visa stamped. It's all rather Orwellian.

Here's the relevant extract from 1984 by George Orwell. In Chapter 5, the prisoner, Winston, is "softened up" by his interrogator, O'Brian.

"You asked me once," said O'Brien, "what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world."

The door opened again. A guard came in, carrying something made of wire, a box or basket of some kind. He set it down on the further table. Because of the position in which O'Brien was standing, Winston could not see what the thing was.

"The worst thing in the world," said O'Brien "varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths. There are cases where it is some quite trivial thing, not even fatal."

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He had moved a little to one side, so that Winston had a better view of the thing on the table. It was an oblong wire cage with a handle on top for carrying it by. Fixed to the front of it was something that looked like a fencing mask, with the concave side outwards. Although it was three or four metres away from him, he could see that the cage was divided lengthways into two compartments, and that there was some kind of creature in each. They were rats.

"In your case," said O'Brien, "the worst thing in the world happens to be rats."

Useful vocabularly

p?èm/chan m?¢i ch?¥rp n?èo: I don‚Äôt like rats
p?èm/chan r?°k p?™echai: I love Big Brother

[Posted to Visa Run by David]

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Readers' comments

sniffer says:

worst thing in the world? if i were a pattaya hooker I'd say it was being locked in a short time hotel with Nigel his mate and a camcorder...

June 2, 2004 3:27 PM

Bil says:

The truth, unfortunate for humanity as it is, is that Nigel et al. make a fair amount of cash from their site.

I just accidentally came across their payment processor username. The guys are stupidly using the same password for CCBILL as for their hosting account. The amount of registered customers is huge, although most seem to have cancelled their membership after the first month of payment.

As for room 101 - who ever said the Thai officials lacked a sense of humour!

June 3, 2004 5:03 AM

whois informant says:

Please post any information you have that might help in making these monsters accountable for their horrible actions.

Thai government and Thai press should be told about these monsters so that they can be stopped and punished.

If people high in the government hear about these monsters and what they are doing and have done, they will be stopped.
Farangs spreading HIV by fucking this many thai girls without condoms and filming it is a MAJOR LOSS OF FACE for Thailand.

June 3, 2004 8:51 PM

TANAI KWAI says:

By all means. Just don't tell them where you heard about it, if you don't mind.

(...)

June 3, 2004 9:13 PM

Bil says:

If you provide a Thai organization or international NGO that you know can appropriately deal with anonymous informants, I will happily forward the relevant info for them to pursue a line of inquiry.

Tempted to just fuck with them myself, shame about the ethics of the situation.

June 6, 2004 10:29 PM

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