PHUKET: Staff from the Patong branch of the Immigration office have all been moved following claims of corruption there by a Phuketwan reader and others.

The claim was published in October last year and taken soon after to Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong, who said he would set up a committee to investigate.

The Commander of Phuket Immigration, Sanchai Chokkayaikit, said today: ''All of the staff from Patong have been moved and replaced.''

The letter was about the Immigration office in Patong but it has been followed since being published on Phuketwan by other readers' complaints about other Immigration outlets at Phuket International Airport and at the headquarters in Phuket City.

The success of the governor in having the complaint investigated and acted upon indicates that all similar complaints of illicit charges and corrupt behavior should be directed through the governor.

Phuket Immigration continues to deal with large numbers of people who are often confused and concerned about procedures and paperwork.

The letter that generated the investigation, first published on October 11 last year, reads as follows:

Letter of Complaint

Today I went to the immigration office in Patong to get a re-entry permit as I have to leave Thailand quickly because my father is dying in the UK.

The price I know I always pay is 1000 baht. I had prepared the form at home already and I handed this over with my documents and application form to the officer, he immediately told me there was a 200 baht service fee as well as the 1000 baht at the Patong office.

I have never heard of this before but I paid it as I was in a hurry and also worried about my father, but I asked for a receipt . When I got the receipt it only showed 1000 baht , so I asked the officer for a receipt for including 200 baht the service fee he had charged me.

This he refused and told me he can't give a receipt for the service fee, he said his office is expensive to run, he told me that the Patong office is not a government office.

He said you know I have to pay my staff 20,000 a month, so I have to charge a 200 baht service fee.

I then told him I had been living here 13 years and I feel that this is not correct, I also told him and his boss that I feel I should report this and made it clear to them that I was not happy.

Then both the officers, the one in the photo [Phuketwan was sent the photo] and his boss told me that ''this is not a government office, its half half we are an agency.

This I know is incorrect, this was the Patong Immigration office on the beach road.

I would like to ask is this correct as I have lived here since 2001 and I have never been asked to pay a service fee like this before.

I took a photograph of the officer who asked me for the 200 baht service fee and the same officer refused to give me a receipt.

I am sure all this can be checked on the CCTV, the time was 12.00 pm Monday 15/09/2014.

Phuketwan has since received the following email:

Just wanted to share this info with you that i was on a visa run (non-B) to Penang, Malaysia and as we were about to leave Thailand from southern border our driver told us:

On the way back you put 200 baht inside your passport. This is the fee for Thailand entry.

Day after as we approached the border this information was repeated several times.

In my group, we had small chats and some of us decided to no put the money.

Our driver noticed and he got more involved. We told him we do not have the money and he opened his own wallet and gave us 200 baht.

He said in Thailand you pay back!

This was kind of proof to me that we won't be able to pass through immigration in case we refused to pay. I placed myself last in the line of our group just to see all others.

At this point i had only our drivers behind me. One person in our group had decided to not go with the flow. I was right behind him.

As he stepped in to immigration counter i whispered: Did you put the 200 inside your pass? He shoke his head in a denial way that No he has Not.

Anyway he passed the immigration but the officer looked at him very angrily.

Our driver was behind me. He was controlling the flock. He told again 200 inside your passport.

I put the money back in my passport and handed over to the immigration officer. He took my passport and discretely removed the 200 baht from my passport.

He then found un-explained errors with my visa! He started chatting with my driver who was behind me. Driver said: No Good!

I understood the problem was not with me or my visa but they were talking about the guy before me who passed in without giving the 200 baht.

Finally i got my stamp and went in. I approached the person who had refused to pay and he proudly confirmed that he had not paid the money.

As we were talking the driver caught up us and said: No good. You did not pay 200 baht. No good! You must pay.

The two men kept arguing till the driver got the 200 baht and went back to the immigration counter. He paid (?) and got back saying .. no problems. Let's go.

All of us, 10 people paid 200 baht. None of us got a receipt.