# Overstay of Visa



## davejac

If I overstay a 30 day tourist Visa by say 10 days with no application for extra 30 days, what is the fine and can it be a difficult process in the airport to go out?


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## joseph44

Overstay will cost you THB 500 per day. 
Usually, if you leave the country on the 1st day of overstay it will be waived. 
On the 2nd day it'll cost you THB 1,000 (including the 1st day), but that is all peanuts compared to what can happen if you get caught during your overstay by any random police check or bar-raid:

You will be detained for one or 2 nights at the local police-station.
If you are not able to arrange the overstay-fine, an air-ticket outbound and possibly some tea-money, you will be transferred to the immigration detention center in Bangkok. 
There you have to take care of the same matters: fine and ticket. 

If you dare to take the risk there will be NO problem at the airport upon leaving the country. 
Just tell the immigration-officer that you are sorry for the overstay and from there you will go "behind the curtain" to pay the fine and get a stamp in your passport. The stamp has no influence on future entries to Thailand.


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## visual effects editor

If you get arrested for overstaying your visa, make sure you have a small poison capsule you can swallow so you will die before you get to the jail.


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## davejac

Thanks for the advice, will get an extra 30 days visa!!!


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## joseph44

davejac said:


> Thanks for the advice, will get an extra 30 days visa!!!


There is no 30 visa. 
You should apply for a tourist-visa - single entry - 60 days and you are covered.
or
You enter Thailand without a visa and you'll get 30 days of stay.
At the end of this period you do a border-run to the nearest border and upon return you'll get another 15 days which will also cover the total length of your stay.


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## Song_Si

at the other extreme, this Canadian man arrested in Phuket yesterday for an almost three-year overstay



> *PHUKET: A Canadian expat resident has been arrested for overstaying his visa on Phuket and faces a hefty fine and deportation from Thailand.*
> 
> Acting on a tip-off, Immigration officers went to central Phuket yesterday evening and took James H. Nelson, 64, from the Lake View Apartments in Tungthong for questioning.
> 
> Mr Nelson was kept in the cells at Tungthong Police Station overnight and will face Phuket Provincial Court today.
> 
> Overstays are fined at the rate of 500 baht a day but this amount is usually capped at 20,000 baht, Captain Wattanatorn Bamrungtin of Tungthong Police told Phuketwan today.
> 
> In theory, the penalty could be 20,000 baht plus a two-year jail term, the captain said. However, the maximum was unlikely to be imposed.
> 
> In the event that Mr Nelson could not pay a fine, one option was for him to pay off the amount by serving jail time at the value of 200 baht a day.
> 
> *Phuketwan*


Phuket Gazette adds this - 'Bangkok' will I think mean the Immigration Detention Centre



> He has been charged with illegally staying in the country and will be sent to Bangkok to be deported,’ he added.


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## stednick

This topic has always boggled my mind. Can anybody enlighten me as to the pro side of overstaying. Who in their right mind will risk incarceration in a foreign detention center, jail or prison. You don't know the laws, speak the language or understand the culture. You know for a fact that you will be in for the roughest time in your life. 

What benefit is so attractive that you would risk putting yourself in the hands of a foreign judicial system? 

What can you possibly gain that justifies the risk?


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## Song_Si

*Overstaying UK man to be deported*

another one yesterday, and more to follow 

interested in penalty for this one, in addition to overstay he's reported as having worked 2yrs without a work permit, a more severe penalty possible than just overstay



> An alien who performs work that is proscribed by the Royal decree B.E. 2522(1979) which prohibits alien employment in certain occupations and professions is liable to be imprisoned not exceeding five years, will be fined from 2,000 to 100,000 Baht or both penalties.





> *British realtor to be deported*
> 2 July 2013
> *PHUKET: Phuket immigration today arrested for illegal entry a British man who had been working on the island as a realtor, a profession reserved for Thais, since 2011.*
> Richard James Daffund, 44, was picked up by police as he walked along Phuket Road, just several hundred meters from the Phuket Immigration Office.
> “According to our records, Mr Daffund entered Thailand in December 2010 and left in January 2011. We have no records for him after that date,” he said.
> He confessed that he had entered Thailand illegally through Malaysia in 2011 and had been working in Phuket as a realtor, he said.
> “He will be transferred to Bangkok to be deported,” he added.


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## Song_Si

stednick said:


> This topic has always boggled my mind. Can anybody enlighten me as to the pro side of overstaying. Who in their right mind will risk incarceration in a foreign detention center, jail or prison. You don't know the laws, speak the language or understand the culture. You know for a fact that you will be in for the roughest time in your life.
> 
> What benefit is so attractive that you would risk putting yourself in the hands of a foreign judicial system?
> 
> What can you possibly gain that justifies the risk?


Desperation. The Canadian was reported as having just a 11,000 baht per month pension. No idea how he could survive in Phuket on so little; read on another forum a claim (not confirmed) he was _'Jim The Canadian_' who begged/borrowed from westerners at the Phuket Town Tesco-Lotus complex.

On his 11k per month, unlikely to have the 800,000 baht requirement to apply for a 'retirement' visa and its associated fees, or be able to save enough for the air fare back to Canada. I've seen stories often enough of homeless/sleeping rough westerners begging for food/money, getting by on charity.

Word will get around there will be a few worried people, about to face the inevitable.


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## stednick

*Harsh Reality Sets In*

Desperation? May well be how he feels now that he has to pay the piper.

Crime and punishment, (overstay is a crime), all countries have a judicial system to administer their laws. Laws are implemented and serve a specific purpose - they maintain quality of life. Scofflaws impact ALL in a negative way, natives, resident aliens, tourists, law enforcement and the courts. I cannot think of a situation where an overstay scofflaw benefits anyone other than themselves.

I doubt the fellows who got caught are mentally challenged (probably the only excuse I would accept to justify ignoring a host countries laws). I also wonder if those who got "caught" had requested help from their Embassy to return to their home country BEFORE they got caught. 

They made their decision and they intentionally broke the law, ignoring specific legal criteria. Perhaps, a jail term in a Thai jail is a fitting end.

Sorry, no sympathy, if you can't do the time, don't commit the crime.


I wonder if the threat of a "crackdown" will cause a mass exodus.


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