Mr.StickyRice

Good to see the "Beer Chang Love" around here. After you get over the fact that your lovely Beer Sing is like 10cents more (ie. not the fancy shit you think it is) then beer is just beer. Drink more than 2 bottles and does it really matter what the price ...was?

I think beer Sing is really "dry" and "skunky", the same reason I cant stand Heiniken. If they raised the price of Beer Chang by 15Baht everyone would all the sudden be cool if they drank it right?

I hate whiskey though, some sorta asian thing. Only old farts back in the states drink that crap.

Farangs who speak good thai and think that all the sudden they are "cool" and "interesting". Ok you speak thai now so what? If you can speak english does that make you the life of the party in the US?

Im not saying this because I cant speak thai (my thai is not great, but I can get along after 3+ years), but because speaking the language/= "farang tii sut". Your personality points dont shoot through the roof just because you can speak the language. The whole "I am a farang with 2 arms that can speak thai, Im teh cool" shit needs to stop.

If you were a dork at home, you are a dork here. Dont let all the thai girls with the "poot thai geng" BS fool you or your friends please.

Yes, learn the language. Learn the culture. But dont let it get to your head, and dont think you are better than "those chopstick using tourists" because you can order som-tam in Lao for a cheap laugh.

/rant

I took a flight to Phuket and back just using a copy of the first page of my passport, no problems. I have also shown my student ID (about 10 years old) and it worked.

"You can easy clear an heavy overstay at the Airport, but if you are caught by Immigration before you reach the airport, you will be jailed and deported until you can pay your fine and show a one way ticket back to your home country.

If you overstay by one day, there is no charge. After that, it's 200B per day, so 2 days is a 400B fine, 3 days 600B etc...

Paying the fine is simple. When going through Immigration, they will notice the overstay and take you to a desk to pay it, taking about 5 minutes in all. Fines can also often by paid in advance at any Immigration bureau. You will not be jailed it you volontarily clear up your overstay.

mr. sticky rice, i'm curious of the URL where this quote came from.

http://www.thaivisa.com/303.0.html

Oh yeah. I have gotten 2 more 30 days visas since then, no questions asked, no problems. Just leave the country and come back. Look nice.

I recently paid the 20,000Baht fine for almost 2 year visa overstay. I can give you some advice.

1. Dont be nervous. If you turn yourself in to immigration they cannot (by thai laws anyways) put you in jail or deport you if you have the money to pay

"You can easy clear an heavy overstay at the Airport, but if you are caught by Immigration before you reach the airport, you will be jailed and deported until you can pay your fine and show a one way ticket back to your home country.

If you overstay by one day, there is no charge. After that, it's 200B per day, so 2 days is a 400B fine, 3 days 600B etc...

Paying the fine is simple. When going through Immigration, they will notice the overstay and take you to a desk to pay it, taking about 5 minutes in all. Fines can also often by paid in advance at any Immigration bureau. You will not be jailed it you volontarily clear up your overstay.

2. Be ready for alot of questions, false drama, good cop/bad cop, etc...This is immigrations job, they dont want people overstaying and they want you to know it is very illegal and they have the upper hand. Act calm and nice, dont get nervous. Smile!

3. My only excuse was that I was "scared" of immigration and did not want to go to jail. They smiled and told me "never be scared of us, if you have a problem let us know we can help you"

4. It might be a good idea to have more than 20,000Baht maybe 40,000+ or so just so they know you have enough money to get around and are not "breaking the bank" just to pay the fee

5. They do regulary check the buses and trains on the way to Laos and back. It might be a good idea to tell a laywer of your plans to turn yourself in to immigration in case you get stopped before you make it. I didnt do this, but it seems like a good idea now, since I got stopped on my way back and asked to show my passport on the bus.

I say just bite the bullet and get it over with as soon as possible. The overhanging fear and frustration is just not worth it, dont worry unless you really screw up at immigration you are NOT going to jail, and everything should be fine.

Good luck!