Help: My son has been arrested for overstay

[bazzer]

I am a UK Resident who's son  was arrested yesterday 3/4 for overstaying visa, I have heard that overstay was approx. 4 years, I am trying to help to get him back home,  what does he face first, court appearance tomorrow

[richard_smith237]

Others will have a better idea of whats going to happen... but its after midnight in Thailand now so you may not get a response from those who know in details until tomorrow....

 

Firstly, after discovering the overstay your son as been arrested, I assume he's either already in the International Detention Center or a Police Cell. 

 

Theoretically, he'll be transferred to temporary holding at the International Detention Centre. 

He'll be held until his court date (fortunately tomorrow) - it is likely that he will be charged with Overstay and expelled from Thailand. 

 

He will then be transferred to a regular cell at the International Detention Center (shared cell with a lot of others 20 to 40 per cell, I think with one toilet in the corner). 

He will stay there until his flight out of the country. 

On the day of his flight out of the country he will be transported by Immigration to the Airport, and held in a cell, at boarding time he will be transferred onto the plane, his passport will be handed to the Flight Manager (head flight attendant). 

 

 

There are more complexities.... 

He may be charged up to 20,000 baht fine for overstay - he will have to pay this before leaving. 

He will need to have his flight ticket home bought for him, as he is locked up and unable to do this. It would be helpful for him if he has a friend in Thailand who can help with this, who will need to find out on which day he will be permitted to leave Thailand, this friend will need to purchase a ticket and give the Ticket to the IDC Officers. 

This flight will need to be approved by the Immigration officers, and will usually need to be a direct flight with the country of origins nation carrier (i.e. BA for British Citizens).

 

 

It's likely your son will be banned from visiting Thailand for 10 years. 

 

 

[bazzer]

Many thanks your reply, as I am based in uk, what ways would I have to pay fine, he was arrested in Hua Hin, would he be held there or have to appear in court somewhere else 

 

[richard_smith237]

14 minutes ago, bazzer said:

Many thanks your reply, as I am based in uk, what ways would I have to pay fine

 

Does your Son have a Bank account in Thailand? does he have sufficient funds in this bank account (i.e. to pay 20,000 baht fine and the flight ticket: I guess about 30,000 baht or less)

 

It's possible that your Son could be escorted to an ATM by an Immigration officer to withdraw his fine from the ATM, he may also be able to withdraw money to pay for his flight ticket. 

 

IF your son doesn't have an access to an ATM or an account with funds, the issue becomes more complex. You'll need someone else to pay for him, which means getting someone in Thailand to help (i.e one his friends).

 

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, bazzer said:

I am a UK Resident who's son  was arrested yesterday 3/4 for overstaying visa, I have heard that overstay was approx. 4 years, I am trying to help to get him back home,  what does he face first, court appearance tomorrow

 

56 minutes ago, bazzer said:

Many thanks your reply, as I am based in uk, what ways would I have to pay fine, he was arrested in Hua Hin, would he be held there or have to appear in court somewhere else 

 

 

Your son will be transferred to the IDC in Bangkok. He will appear in court on Friday if lucky otherwise it won’t be until Monday.

 

The court will find him guilty and impose a fine which should around 3 to 6,000 baht. It won’t be 20,000. That will need to be straight away. If he can’t pay he could be sent to prison until he can. Once paid he will be sent back to the IDC.

 

He will need to book a direct flight to the UK. He will be held at the IDC until the day of his flight. 

 

On the day of his flight he will be escorted to the airport and handed over to the custody of the airline who will hold his passport until he lands in the UK.

 

He will be banned from Thailand for 10 years.

[ubonjoe]

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

This flight will need to be approved by the Immigration officers, and will usually need to be a direct flight with the country of origins nation carrier (i.e. BA for British Citizens).

I think you will find that they  have dropped the national carrier requirement long ago since there are many countries that do not have one now.

 

[ubonjoe]

A inflammatory post and replies to it have been removed.

[wotsdermatter]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I think you will find that they  have dropped the national carrier requirement long ago since there are many countries that do not have one now.

Ubonjoe is correct.  There are many countries without a national carrier or an airway that has permission to use Thai airspace or use Thai airports or even the capability of flying into Thailand.  Thai Airways was banned from using Canadian airspace and airports because they contravened the agreement between them and was pulling off stunts that were/are acceptable in Thailand but not in Canada, such as removing passengers so that "snobs" etc. could have their seats.  The then Thai government banned Air Canada in a reciprocating act just out of malicious spite and so now anybody flying between the two countries has to have a layover in another country and often change carriers.  Also, just conducted a search and have found statements from every airline that flies into Thailand and all concerned state there are NO DIRECT NON STOP FLIGHTS from anywhere in Canada to Thailand.  Ironically, Air Canada passengers may have to fly Thai Airways from some layover places and, obviously, vice versa.

'nuf sed.

[noise]

Two thoughts

1.  If he has been here 4 years, he has friends.  Funds could be funneled through them.

2.  When a citizen is arrested, the Consul or Vice Consul or a representative should be visiting him in jail.   They can/should communicate with you (if he asks them to) telling you what needs to be done to pay his fine, buy his ticket, and fly home.   If nothing seems to be working, you might send the embassy an email.   I find such emails are answered in 24 hours but I do not deal with the UK embassy.

[Nong Khai Man]

11 minutes ago, noise said:

Two thoughts

1.  If he has been here 4 years, he has friends.  Funds could be funneled through them.

2.  When a citizen is arrested, the Consul or Vice Consul or a representative should be visiting him in jail.   They can/should communicate with you (if he asks them to) telling you what needs to be done to pay his fine, buy his ticket, and fly home.   If nothing seems to be working, you might send the embassy an email.   I find such emails are answered in 24 hours but I do not deal with the UK embassy.

   I find such emails are answered in 24 hours but I do not deal with the UK embassy...........Aren't YOU Lucky then....???

[Nong Khai Man]

There are 3 DIRECT Non-Stop flights from Bangkok to The U.K ( All 3 fly into London Heathrow ).......B.A. Thai & Eva Air.....So you're son has a choice IF He has the Money to buy a ticket !!!

[OJAS]

7 hours ago, elviajero said:

He will appear in court on Friday if lucky otherwise it won’t be until Monday.

More likely not until Tuesday, surely (if not today, of course), since Monday is a substitution holiday for Chakri Memorial Day?

[BritTim]

Liaise with the consular section at the British Embassy in Bangkok. They can tell you what the bottom line cost is going to be to get this all sorted out. You can channel money through them, and they will ensure it is correctly spent.

 

On the flight used for your son's deportation, it is not really a question of immigration agreeing anything. The airline must agree to accept any deportee, and they are usually reluctant to do so. Again, the embassy can liaise with airlines to see who is willing to carry him.

[watcharacters]

42 minutes ago, Nong Khai Man said:

   I find such emails are answered in 24 hours but I do not deal with the UK embassy...........Aren't YOU Lucky then....???

 

 

I hope I'm wrong but that sounds like a dig at poster noise who was actually  trying to be helpful.

[nasa123]

My Embassy told everyone from my home country stay in Thailand that there if some were taken for overstay contact the Embassy immediately. It takes up to 10 days to be transported to Bangkok and you will be seated at least 2 weeks there. They  check if that person is wanted in any country. So call your Ambassade immediately and info them. 

[ubonjoe]

A inflammatory post and a reply to it have been removed.

[rott]

Mate of mine had his lady on 3 yr overstay, fine at Pattaya was 4,000.  IDC specified the airline and arranged the flight (not to a western country) and it cost plenty, full fare no discounts.

[LukKrueng]

5 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Ubonjoe is correct.  There are many countries without a national carrier or an airway that has permission to use Thai airspace or use Thai airports or even the capability of flying into Thailand.  Thai Airways was banned from using Canadian airspace and airports because they contravened the agreement between them and was pulling off stunts that were/are acceptable in Thailand but not in Canada, such as removing passengers so that "snobs" etc. could have their seats.  The then Thai government banned Air Canada in a reciprocating act just out of malicious spite and so now anybody flying between the two countries has to have a layover in another country and often change carriers.  Also, just conducted a search and have found statements from every airline that flies into Thailand and all concerned state there are NO DIRECT NON STOP FLIGHTS from anywhere in Canada to Thailand.  Ironically, Air Canada passengers may have to fly Thai Airways from some layover places and, obviously, vice versa.

'nuf sed.

when has that happen? I can't recall air Canada ever flying to Thailand nor and direct flights between Thailand and Canada

[spoon1967]

I hope he gets it all sorted, but 4 years on overstay is quite foolish.

Unfortunately, as mentioned he'll get a 10 year ban, sad if he has made some sort of life in Thailand.

 

Good luck and I hope he gets home soon.

[scorecard]

17 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

when has that happen? I can't recall air Canada ever flying to Thailand nor and direct flights between Thailand and Canada

I'm lost, is the son a UK or a Canadian citizen?

[johnmcc6]

So what did he live on for four years? If they find anything illegal it will be more than deportation. Thai jails are a nightmare of squalor and overcrowding. Get him out of there real quick before they dig into the past 4 years.  Just in case??

[007 RED]

OP…. I’m sorry to hear that your son has caused you a parental heartache and I hope that I can give you some information which will help you.

 

In your original post you did not mention how your son came to be in Immigration custody.  This can be important as it will have a bearing on how his case will be handled.  There are two possibilities, namely:

 

Firstly: 

If your son was arrested or stopped by the police for an unrelated immigration offence, (for example a routine police check following an accident or something more serious) the police may well have asked to see his passport and discovered that he was on overstay, and hence immigration’s involvement.

 

If he has committed an unrelated immigration offence, then that matter will need to be dealt with first by the local police and Court.  Depending what the offence was, your son could be detained in the local police cells until an initial Court appearance which is normally within a week.  Depending upon the nature of the offence, it is possible also that he may be released on bail, but he will have to surrender his passport to the Court and stay at a specified address and report to police on a regular basis until the case is formally heard.

For your information, it can take several weeks before an offence is normally tried in Court.

 

The Court will also be informed of his overstay and that matter may also be dealt with by the Court at the same time as any other offence.

 

For your information, although the fine for overstay is set at 500 THB (approximately £12) per day, the maximum fine that can be levied is 20,000 THB (approximately £494).  The Courts, however, generally reduce the overstay fine to around 3,000 to 6,000 THB.

 

Once the offence matter has been dealt with by the Court, and your son has paid any fines (or served any prison sentence) imposed by the Court, Immigration will detain your son and transfer him to the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Bangkok to await deportation.  This transfer may take several days to arrange during which time he will be detained in a local police cell, or local Immigration facility.

 

Secondly:  

 

If your son was stopped by Immigration in a ‘spot check’, and they discovered that he was on four years overstay, they (Immigration) have the power to detain and deport him from the Kingdom without the need for any Court appearance.  Immigration can also charge him the maximum fine for overstay (20,000 THB) and this will need to be paid before he is deported. 

 

If he has not committed any other offences, he will be transported to the IDC in Bangkok to await deportation.  Transfer, as mentioned above, may take several days to arrange.

 

The police/immigration should notify the Consular Section of British Embassy in Bangkok that your son has been detained, where he is being held and the reason for the detention.  Unfortunately, this can often take several days to happen.  An Embassy representative will contact your son and inform him what assistance the Embassy can, or cannot, give.  See link below

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/451352/Thailand_Prisoners_pack_template_-_Final_Draft_for_publishing.pdf

 

Not wishing to frighten you, but the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok is everyone’s worst nightmare.  Conditions there are about as bad as they can get.  So, getting him out of IDC must be a number one priority.

 

I would strongly recommend that you contact the Consular Section at the British Embassy in Bangkok, their contact details are given in the link I’ve attached above and listen to their advice.  They deal with similar problems on a daily basis and are in the best position to give you advice. 

 

The Embassy will not pay for his flight out of the Kingdom.  However, you can send the Embassy money which they in turn will deposit in an account for him which will be held by the IDC.  The Embassy will make a charge for this service. 

 

Your son will not be allowed any personal possessions or physical money whilst in the IDC, but he can debit his account held by IDC in order to pay for better food, drinking water, mattress or other essentials etc. which he can request the guards to obtain for him.  He will also need funds available to pay for his flight out of the Kingdom.

 

Regarding his flight, again the Embassy staff will best advise you on this matter.  Generally speaking, Immigration will want the deportee to be flow back to their home country by a single carrier, without stops, whenever possible.  This should not be a problem as there are several carriers that fly direct between Bangkok and the UK.

 

I strongly advise that you, or his friends, do not purchase a ticket for him without talking to Immigration first as Immigration need to approve the flight before a booking is confirmed so that they can arrange transport from the IDC to the airport.  This can take a couple of days to arrange. 

 

It has been reported that when family or friends have obtained a ticket without Immigration approval the individual was not transported to the airport in time to catch the flight and as a result the airline considers it to be a ‘no show’, which means no refund and having to purchase another expensive ticket.

 

You need to be aware that a single ticket from Bangkok to the UK, booked at relatively short notice e.g. a couple of days, will be expensive – single fares tend to be 2/3rd the cost of a normal return flight and the short notice booking inevitably attracts a higher premium charge.

 

Once a flight has been approved and booked, Immigration will transport your son from the IDC in Bangkok to the airport.  At the airport your son will be taken to the airport detention facility until his flight is ready to board.  His passport will be given to the flight crew and this will be returned to him when he exits the plane in the UK.

 

For your information…  Your son will be banned from entering Thailand for the next 10 years.  This may present him with a problem if he has property and bank accounts here, but that is the least of his problems for now.  Get him out of IDC ASAP.

 

I hope this information has been helpful and best of luck.

[Thailand Outcast]

25 minutes ago, johnmcc6 said:

So what did he live on for four years? If they find anything illegal it will be more than deportation. Thai jails are a nightmare of squalor and overcrowding. Get him out of there real quick before they dig into the past 4 years.  Just in case??

My thoughts were along the same lines.

 

No offense to the OP, or his son, but my initial thinking was the possibility that he has been arrested for a criminal offense, but doesn't want to tell you, and might be using the "overstay" as a false reason for incarceration.  

 

If he had the financial means to legitimately reside in Thailand, he would have had no problems abiding by their visa laws, so, like johnmcc6 says, maybe ask for some direct questions, and demand some straight answers, to assess what may be his "real" situation. of course, he could just be an overstay.

 

Before you criticize me for making this assumption, Thailand has a habit of changing people, and what I am saying is completely possible.  Once again, not offense intended.     

[FarangDoingHisThing69]

Nobody is entitled to squat in or emigrate to any country. This is true for any nation worldwide. It is only Europe and USA that allow and encourage welfare leeches to break the law and enter the nation in order to rake in benefits.

 

If there were jailtime for such obvious violators, there would be more time for immigration to spend on the law abiding tax paying farang and not the overstaying jokers who can’t even survive in their homeland.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

[FarangDoingHisThing69]

OP…. I’m sorry to hear that your son has caused you a parental heartache and I hope that I can give you some information which will help you.
 
In your original post you did not mention how your son came to be in Immigration custody.  This can be important as it will have a bearing on how his case will be handled.  There are two possibilities, namely:
 
Firstly: 
If your son was arrested or stopped by the police for an unrelated immigration offence, (for example a routine police check following an accident or something more serious) the police may well have asked to see his passport and discovered that he was on overstay, and hence immigration’s involvement.
 
If he has committed an unrelated immigration offence, then that matter will need to be dealt with first by the local police and Court.  Depending what the offence was, your son could be detained in the local police cells until an initial Court appearance which is normally within a week.  Depending upon the nature of the offence, it is possible also that he may be released on bail, but he will have to surrender his passport to the Court and stay at a specified address and report to police on a regular basis until the case is formally heard.
For your information, it can take several weeks before an offence is normally tried in Court.
 
The Court will also be informed of his overstay and that matter may also be dealt with by the Court at the same time as any other offence.
 
For your information, although the fine for overstay is set at 500 THB (approximately £12) per day, the maximum fine that can be levied is 20,000 THB (approximately £494).  The Courts, however, generally reduce the overstay fine to around 3,000 to 6,000 THB.
 
Once the offence matter has been dealt with by the Court, and your son has paid any fines (or served any prison sentence) imposed by the Court, Immigration will detain your son and transfer him to the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Bangkok to await deportation.  This transfer may take several days to arrange during which time he will be detained in a local police cell, or local Immigration facility.
 
Secondly:  
 
If your son was stopped by Immigration in a ‘spot check’, and they discovered that he was on four years overstay, they (Immigration) have the power to detain and deport him from the Kingdom without the need for any Court appearance.  Immigration can also charge him the maximum fine for overstay (20,000 THB) and this will need to be paid before he is deported. 
 
If he has not committed any other offences, he will be transported to the IDC in Bangkok to await deportation.  Transfer, as mentioned above, may take several days to arrange.
 
The police/immigration should notify the Consular Section of British Embassy in Bangkok that your son has been detained, where he is being held and the reason for the detention.  Unfortunately, this can often take several days to happen.  An Embassy representative will contact your son and inform him what assistance the Embassy can, or cannot, give.  See link below
 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/451352/Thailand_Prisoners_pack_template_-_Final_Draft_for_publishing.pdf
 
Not wishing to frighten you, but the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok is everyone’s worst nightmare.  Conditions there are about as bad as they can get.  So, getting him out of IDC must be a number one priority.
 
I would strongly recommend that you contact the Consular Section at the British Embassy in Bangkok, their contact details are given in the link I’ve attached above and listen to their advice.  They deal with similar problems on a daily basis and are in the best position to give you advice. 
 
The Embassy will not pay for his flight out of the Kingdom.  However, you can send the Embassy money which they in turn will deposit in an account for him which will be held by the IDC.  The Embassy will make a charge for this service. 
 
Your son will not be allowed any personal possessions or physical money whilst in the IDC, but he can debit his account held by IDC in order to pay for better food, drinking water, mattress or other essentials etc. which he can request the guards to obtain for him.  He will also need funds available to pay for his flight out of the Kingdom.
 
Regarding his flight, again the Embassy staff will best advise you on this matter.  Generally speaking, Immigration will want the deportee to be flow back to their home country by a single carrier, without stops, whenever possible.  This should not be a problem as there are several carriers that fly direct between Bangkok and the UK.
 
I strongly advise that you, or his friends, do not purchase a ticket for him without talking to Immigration first as Immigration need to approve the flight before a booking is confirmed so that they can arrange transport from the IDC to the airport.  This can take a couple of days to arrange. 
 
It has been reported that when family or friends have obtained a ticket without Immigration approval the individual was not transported to the airport in time to catch the flight and as a result the airline considers it to be a ‘no show’, which means no refund and having to purchase another expensive ticket.
 
You need to be aware that a single ticket from Bangkok to the UK, booked at relatively short notice e.g. a couple of days, will be expensive – single fares tend to be 2/3rd the cost of a normal return flight and the short notice booking inevitably attracts a higher premium charge.
 
Once a flight has been approved and booked, Immigration will transport your son from the IDC in Bangkok to the airport.  At the airport your son will be taken to the airport detention facility until his flight is ready to board.  His passport will be given to the flight crew and this will be returned to him when he exits the plane in the UK.
 
For your information…  Your son will be banned from entering Thailand for the next 10 years.  This may present him with a problem if he has property and bank accounts here, but that is the least of his problems for now.  Get him out of IDC ASAP.
 
I hope this information has been helpful and best of luck.

So now he has become a burden on his family because of his irresponsible actions. Sounds like someone that has all the right cards.

Also, giving advice to a criminal is against forum rules.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[jspill]

It's just a case of getting cash to him, he has to pay for a flight home, plus a few thousand baht express fee to get that done quickly, plus the fine for overstay in court which is only around 3000 as said. So get in touch with someone who knows him and have them take him around, say, 40000 baht in cash to be on the safe side, most of that being for the expensive last minute flight. He won't have access to an ATM, his bank cards, his phone, nothing so someone will need to go visit. The embassy staff can take days to do that so ideally you can get in touch with a friend of his there. 

[ubonjoe]

Off topic posts meant to derail the topic and the resultant replies to them have been removed.

[Thailand Outcast]

Not questioning moderation, Ubonjoe, but is overstaying a criminal offense? 

 

I was under the belief it was not a criminal offense, because an overstayer, whilst there were arrested, they were only detained, and deported, not jailed.

[ubonjoe]

Just now, Thailand Outcast said:

Not questioning moderation, Ubonjoe, but is overstaying a criminal offense? 

Not really a criminal offense since it it is violation of the immigration act. The only punishment shown in the immigration act is a max fine of 20,000 baht.

[ifmu]

a lot of unknowns    as for me 

1. go to thailand with a lot of  cash money  .. 

2. find an interpreter 

3. start the paperwork 

OR 

let him deal with it  .. you know tough love  .. (at least for a while)  lesson learned kind of thing 

but what ever you decide to do as a parent  .. i wish u luck