Singapore cracks down on undesirables

Planning to visit Singapore? Better make sure you don't have any skeletons in your closet.

Around 41,800 foreigners deemed undesirable have been turned away at Singaporean checkpoints in the first 11 months of 2025 - and would-be visitors will face even greater scrutiny from 2026.

A new "no-boarding" directive initiative will mean the unwanted will not even get to board flights to Singapore, let alone make it to the immigration desks.

From January, Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Emirates, Turkish Airlines and AirAsia will implement the NBD directive, with more airlines to follow in March.

The new move will bar travellers from boarding their flights if they are found to be ineligible for entry into Singapore, the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said.

Undesirable or prohibited immigrants, and those who do not meet Singapore’s entry requirements, will not be allowed to board flights bound for Singapore.

The ICA currently uses advance traveller information, including that provided in the arrival card, flight manifests and other sources of data, to identify high-risk travellers when they arrive at checkpoints. These travellers are flagged for more stringent checks when they clear immigration.

Now airlines that receive an NBD notice must not allow these travellers on board.

The move aims to strengthen Singapore’s border security by keeping potential threats from reaching the country in the first place.

Airline operators that fail to comply with an NBD notice will be guilty of a strict liability offence.

If a pilot of the aircraft or an employee of the airline operator enables a person subjected to an NBD to board an aircraft, he or she will be liable on conviction to a fine of up to S$10,000 or imprisonment for a term of up to six months, or both.

The Straits Times reported that the 41,800 foreigners turned away so far this year represents a jump of 26% over 2024 and 46% more than those refused entry in 2023.

Trump bans people from 12 countries from the US

We’ve all read about Australians with legitimate visas being refused entry to the United States by “overzealous” US Customs and Border Protection staff. 

Now President Donald Trump has upped the ante by banning anyone from 12 countries from entering the US at all. 

The Trump administration on Wednesday banned people from 12 countries from entering the United States, a dramatic escalation in Trump’s crackdown on immigration, The New York Times reports. 

The ban, which goes into effect on Monday, primarily affects travellers from Africa nations and the Middle East. The list includes Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. 

How dare they not be American? 

Trump has also partially banned travellers from several other countries, including Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

The decision to ban travel from those countries comes after Trump blocked asylum seekers at the southern border of the US and barred international students from Harvard University.

The newspaper says Trump’s order frames the reasoning for restricting travel as necessary because of national security threats, but critics say that the order discriminates against broad swaths of people based on their ethnicity alone. 

In his first term as president Trump barred travel from several Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.

“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don’t want them,” Trump said in a video message posted on social media.

Trump’s order comes just a few days after an Egyptian man in Colorado attacked a group honouring hostages being held in Gaza. Trump administration officials warned that they would crack down on migration in the wake of the attack.

You can just imagine the outrage if countries imposed complete bans on US passport holders. 

Thailand goes digital to cut waiting times

Don’t get caught out.

As of this week, Thailand’s new Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) system is now live.

The Immigration Bureau of Thailand says it will significantly streamline the immigration process at airports and border crossings by doing away with the old-fashioned paper arrival card.

As of May 1, all foreign visitors must submit their arrival information electronically before entering Thailand, whether they travel by air, land, or sea.

The TDAC is the latest phase of Thailand's digital transformation of immigration procedures.

It is designed to minimise paperwork and cut processing time at immigration checkpoints, news hub Travel Mole reports.

The online form should be completed before arrival and is mandatory for all foreign passport holders. No excuses.

It requires filling out personal data and travel details for each traveller, and is open three days before the date of arrival.

Travellers can submit the TDAC individually or as part of a group via the portal. Information can be updated at any time before travel.

Travellers transiting Thailand onto connecting flights that do not have to pass through immigration are the only travellers exempt.

New Bali taskforce to crack down on "naughty" tourists

If you are planning to visit Bali and misbehave then be warned that local residents are being encouraged to dob you in to the authorities.

And if you are a budget traveller with mischief in mind then you may face deportation.

Immigration officials this week launched a new hotline for concerned citizens to report tourists who have been behaving badly on the island, the Bali Sun newspaper reported.

The move came as the Director General of Immigration for Indonesia also launched a new task force dedicated to eliminating disrespectful and illegal behaviour by foreigners.

Speaking to reporters at the launch of the new Bali Becik Task Force, Director General of Immigration Silmy Karim explained how the new hotline will work and why it is needed.

He explained: “We, from the Bali Becik Task Force, invite the people of Bali to report foreigners. Community participation is certainly very much needed in supervising and taking action against unruly tourists.”

Karim said the Bali Becik Task Force will be cracking down on law breaking foreigners in Bali from now until the end of the year.

The Bali Becik Task Force is currently comprised of a team of 25 officers who will be coordinating the tourist control missions in partnership with the immigration offices, police forces, and local community groups.

The newspaper predicted several deportations as a result of the implementation of the force.

Becik means ‘good’ or ‘well’ in the Balinese language.

“As the name implies, the Bali Becik Task Force aims for a safer Bali…with this task force, I hope Bali Becik can really come true,” said Karim.

“The formation of the Bali Becik Task Force is due to the rise of tourists who misbehave. So, in the future, it can minimise the actions of naughty tourists in Bali.

“The main problem regarding foreigners in Bali is the large number of foreign tourists with low spending who often make trouble.”


He described them as "thin-pocketed tourists.”

Image: Jimbaran Beach, Winsor Dobbin