Hi ,hope this is the right place .

I'm in Thailand on a tourist visa, and have extended it for 30 days .

I just booked an air ticket to leave, misread the extension , and have a ticket that leaves on 21st ...not 20th

   Flight is early morning ....can I go through passport control before 12.00 midnight to avoid a fine ?

To change the ticket costs $75 , I presume any fine would be less than that if I do have to pay

  Do they stamp anything bad in the passport .....or is there any other way round this .....advice gratefully received.....Phil

There would be no fine for an overstay of less than 24 hours if departing from BKK, they will stamp in your passport, but this should not cause issues later on, if you are able to check in etc. before midnight, then it should avoid the stamp.

No fine will be issued.

18 minutes ago, philcol said:

can I go through passport control before 12.00 midnight to avoid a fine ?

Yes. However, they don't, as standard practice, charge if leaving one day late, and they should waive the fine (500 baht).

 

18 minutes ago, philcol said:

Do they stamp anything bad in the passport .....or is there any other way round this

They might stamp your passport with an overstay stamp. An overstay stamp shouldn't cause you any problems in the future, but it would be better to avoid it and clear passport control before midnight if you can.

 

 

Edited November 7, 20178 yr by elviajero

1 minute ago, elviajero said:

They might stamp your passport with an overstay stamp

They almost certainly will put an overstay stamp in his passport if clearing immigration after midnight, as he is then on overstay, even if it is only a few minutes / hours, agree no fine will be applied, if he can go through before midnight and doesn't have too long to wait for his flight, then agree, better doing that, keeps the passport clean.

19 minutes ago, Mattd said:

They almost certainly will put an overstay stamp in his passport if clearing immigration after midnight, as he is then on overstay, even if it is only a few minutes / hours, agree no fine will be applied, if he can go through before midnight and doesn't have too long to wait for his flight, then agree, better doing that, keeps the passport clean.

Plenty of people haven't had their passport stamped in the past. It's not certain, which is why I said "might".

i've overstayed by over a week in the past and didn't get any overstay stamp. a few years back and a friendly border mind. just paid the fine. 

Thank you all for your swift and helpful replies ....I think I'll go through before midnight ...don't fancy extra stamps in the passport ,

Only lose a few hours sleep ,,??

 

One thing for you to look out for. Obviously, you will need to be checked in for the flight before you can go through immigration (probably you can do that online) but your airline may also require document checks before you can go through. This depends on the airline and your destination. If you will be using an airline that does not always have check in desks open, you may want to contact them to confirm this will not be an issue, and you will be able to clear immigration before midnight. It would be annoying, to say the least, to arrive at the airport six hours early, and then need to wait around for hours waiting for the check in desks to open.

If you leave from DM or Swampy it's free, from all provincial airports you have to pay 500 baht and you do get a stamp in your passport. Also they supply you with an official police receipt for the 500 baht.

7 hours ago, Mattd said:

They almost certainly will put an overstay stamp in his passport if clearing immigration after midnight, as he is then on overstay, even if it is only a few minutes / hours, agree no fine will be applied, if he can go through before midnight and doesn't have too long to wait for his flight, then agree, better doing that, keeps the passport clean.

Nothing wrong with the stamps. If it's only 2 or 3 and a couple of days nobody cares. 

 

But you WILL get a stamp if passing immigration even at 12:01am 

Thanks again ....good call on the desk being open for checking before midnight !

Have to look into that !

Nice forum ....ta

Be aware that checkin only opens some 3 hours before departure and figure about a 30-40 minute queue at immigration at this time of the day.

25 minutes ago, wump said:

But you WILL get a stamp if passing immigration even at 12:01am 

MIGHT. It depends on the IO stamping you out.

If this wasn't standard procedure I doubt that the IO would have done all the paperwork for the 30 seconds I was over and with no personal benefit to him.

11 minutes ago, wump said:

Be aware that checkin only opens some 3 hours before departure and figure about a 30-40 minute queue at immigration at this time of the day.

Depends on the airline. Many open more than three hours before, and if you check on online it's usually available within 24 hours.

18 hours ago, Mattd said:

They almost certainly will put an overstay stamp in his passport if clearing immigration after midnight, as he is then on overstay, even if it is only a few minutes / hours, agree no fine will be applied, if he can go through before midnight and doesn't have too long to wait for his flight, then agree, better doing that, keeps the passport clean.

It's based on what time your flight is not what time you check-in

Just now, ericthai said:

It's based on what time your flight is not what time you check-in

I am not so sure that is 100% correct, as IF he passes through immigration before midnight, then he is officially cleared out of the country from an immigration point of view, it would be extremely harsh for them to impose overstay in that situation and I doubt if they would.

4 minutes ago, Mattd said:

I am not so sure that is 100% correct, as IF he passes through immigration before midnight, then he is officially cleared out of the country from an immigration point of view, it would be extremely harsh for them to impose overstay in that situation and I doubt if they would.

might not be 100% correct, this is what I've seen in the past.  Maybe Unbonjoe can advise on this.

It is immaterial really, as the OP would not be subject to an overstay fine in either event, the only difference would be a stamp or no stamp.

Edited November 8, 20178 yr by Mattd

WHY get a overstay stamp when it can be avoided?

 

As Immigration rules tighten, WHO do you think will be the object of scrutiny, a person with a "clean" passport or a person with a "overstay" stamp?  Also upon entry into another country, might the overstay stamp be noticed?

 

Play safe, exit to the transit area BEFORE midnight.

I don't recommend overstay even one day

It remains on your permanent record.

If you get a stamp in your passport, other countries you might apply for a visa

might not like that and not understand how minor is a one day Thai overstay.

Worst is the remote possibility of a police check before you get to airport.

If caught on overstay you will have problems.

 

 

 

 

 

8 hours ago, ericthai said:

It's based on what time your flight is not what time you check-in

It has nothing to do with flight time or check in time. It is the time/day you get stamped out of the country by passport control. You need to clear passport control by midnight of your last day, or the time the IO changes the date stamp, otherwise you've overstayed.