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Comment by bpoyner | Hacker News Reader

15 years ago a foreigner couldn't even get a hotel room in Thailand without handing over passport information for each guest. I can't imagine it's changed much since then. If the Thai police want to track you down it wouldn't be very hard.

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I can't think of a single country (other than my own, and maybe in the rest of the EU) where I've gone to a hotel and not had to give my passport and credit card. Passport is photocopied, credit card is checked. Passport number is like a US social security number, it's public information.

I don't think I've ever not been asked for my passport (or some other form of government ID) when staying in hotels in the EU. Two weeks ago I stayed at a large chain and I was asked for passports of my whole family.

Been a while since I stayed in the EU, but I was in Brussels in October 2019 and stayed at an Aloft at the time of an EU summit. I distinctly remember remonstrating with the clerk about the embarrassment of my British passport when I handed it over.

I checked into two hotels this past week while getting out of the city without giving any info. My Thai gf booked and paid for them so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it. A couple years ago I had to give my passport to all hotels that I can remember

By law the hotel has to register your arrival online, as a foreigner.

Obviously this is easily skirted by having another person do the check in and you arriving later. I've also stayed in some guest houses in Thailand last month and they did not register me, but that doesn't mean they should have done so.

If they don't, technically you're on the hook for not registering.

I was present at check in, I didn't arrive later

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