Bengal

First  of  all  i/m  surprised  Pattaya  Immigration  amongst  others  keep  advising  people  to  overstay  ..............it/ll  have a  serious  outcome  one  day  for  someone.

Bengal  dont  worry  about  it  you  have  done  nothing  wrong , are  you  sure  it  says  "not  approved".............ive  just  checked  a  few  of  my  old  extension  stamps  and  it  says,

        Application  of  stay  is  permitted  up  to  xxxx  (date  in  red  ink )

        Applicant  must  leave  the  Kingdom  within  the  date

        specified  herein. Offenders  will  be  prosecuted.

        Signed.................

        Then  it  has  the  date  of  approval  by  Pattaya  Immigration.

Anyway  i/m  100%  sure  you  need  not  worry.

One  further  point  at  Pattaya  Immigration  if  you  hand  your  passport  into  them  on  the  morning  you  normally  get  it  back  on  the  same  afternoon...........if  you  hand  it  in  after  lunch  then  its  the  following  day  when  you  collect  it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is what the stamp in my passport says verbatim:

Pattaya Immigration Office(in purple)

Application For Extension Of Stay Is Not Approved(in purple)

Applicant Must Leave Kingdom Not Later Than(in purple)

4 JAN 2006 (red stamp)

_____________________________________________

Signed_________________________(signature of Immigration Officer on line in blue ink)

IMMIGRATION OFFICER(in purple)

19 DEC 2005(purple stamp)

I didn't pay attention to the stamp because it was behind the stapled departure card. When my passport was handed to me, the receipt for the 1,900 baht was inside it as well. When I went through immigration at Bangkok Airport before flying home, I got the regular departure stamp I have always gotten when I have left the country. I know I am making more out of this than I should, but when I read the stamp, it doesn't sound positive. On the other hand, I got the 15 day extension. I was merely trying to do the right thing and avoid the posssibilty of being caught overstaying and ending up in an Immigration Detention Facility.

Not wanting to overstay my visa by three days before I go home, I decided to head off any potential trouble by going to Pattaya Immigration one day before my visa was to expire on Dec.19. The lady there told me to pay the fine at the airport. Concerened about what could potentially happen by overstaying if caught, I applied for a 15 day extension and paid the 1,900 baht. When I paid the money, the lady who takes payments told me to come back tomorrow. I then asked if there was a way to expedite the processing my my extension as I need my passport to cash traveller's cheques. A supervisor overseeeing the situation told me to come back in two hours. I cam back two hours later and was handed my passport along with my receipt for the 1,900 baht back by a man who said number 4 January, 15 days after December 19. I never bothered to look at the stamp until I was on the plane to Tokyo today and it says in purple letters Pattaya Immigration Office Application of extension of stay not apprroved Applicant must leave Kingdom no later than Jan 4 with the date stamped in red. Signed the immigration officer with the date Dec.19 stamped underneath, I hope I won't have any problems coming back to Thailand. I have never been in any kind of trouble and did not do anything wrong. Do I have anything to worry about?