Immigration Crackdown - Need To Carry Passport?

[freckle]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Mobi]

I'll scan my passport one of these days. It's all there in stamps. No worries.

cannot afford to do the visa runs but can afford to pay a 20k overstay charge at the airport?

something sounds not quite right there

I am afraid he is right 20K at the end of 9 months overstay is cheaper than doing a number of visa runs which are expensive, especially if you fly out to Singapore or Malaysia, time consuming and tedious. Also you can not now do more than 2 visa runs.

I do not condone breaking the law especially here in Thailand and I for one would not risk it but as a person under 50 living in Thailand I can certainly understand why people (like freckle) do.

Yes, it worked out this time because he didn't get caught. But nine months living with one eye over your shoulder scared of the shadows? Not for me. All the time worried about a minor accident, a police raid on the wrong bar at the wrong time, unknowingly p1ssing off the wrong person, an inquisitive immigration officer who wonders how that farang can be in Thailand so long. Plus, the chance that one day the immigration department will wake up to this bargain offer and up the anti to max 40k, 50k whatever they like, could even decide to throw in a free PNG stamp for good measure.

Oh well, it is truly up to you freckle but if by some mischance you do get caught you know where to come for a sympathetic ear.

The direction of this thread has prompted me to share with you a little bit of 'visa overstay' history.

Way back in the 70's, when there was only a fraction of the numbers of farangs in LOS than they are today, there was no such thing as Visa runs, or indeed 60 - 90 day tourist visas. The only way to stay here was to get a 90 day non - immigrant Visa (by having a job and a work permit), and then going to Honk Kong or Singapore every 90 days to get a new one - armed with employers' letters etc. It would take about 3 days to get the visa, and most of us in that position would go to Hong Kong, and stay in a really cheap hotel, which has long since been demolished.

For those who were bumming around Thailand, without work permits (teachers and such like), there really as only one option - overstay. I had many friends who did this as a way of life,sometimes overstaying for years at a time, and when I was down on my luck, I also overstayed for about 3 months. We never had to worry about police looking at out passport visas, because it just wasn't an issue. In those days farangs were almost universally respected, and assumed to have money and/or power and/or influence, and were not to be messed with.

In those days there was no system of paying for overstay at the airport, and all illegals had to go to court before leaving Thailand. So, it was all set up, that, armed with a ticket oui of Thailand that day, the farang would surrender himself to immigration in the morning, go to court and pay a small fine in the afternoon, and be on a plane out the night. If you didn't have a ticket, you would be kept in custody until you could produce one. Obviuously a small backhander was paid, but it was smiles and winks all round, and just part of the normal way of doing things.

Times have changed, and I'm not sure I would feel very comfortable overstaying in the present climate, but if you're young, ugly and fit,I guess a few days in the pokey won't kill you - you might learn something.

I've been there - but that's another story.

[Mobi]

I'll scan my passport one of these days. It's all there in stamps. No worries.

cannot afford to do the visa runs but can afford to pay a 20k overstay charge at the airport?

something sounds not quite right there

I am afraid he is right 20K at the end of 9 months overstay is cheaper than doing a number of visa runs which are expensive, especially if you fly out to Singapore or Malaysia, time consuming and tedious. Also you can not now do more than 2 visa runs.

I do not condone breaking the law especially here in Thailand and I for one would not risk it but as a person under 50 living in Thailand I can certainly understand why people (like freckle) do.

Yes, it worked out this time because he didn't get caught. But nine months living with one eye over your shoulder scared of the shadows? Not for me. All the time worried about a minor accident, a police raid on the wrong bar at the wrong time, unknowingly p1ssing off the wrong person, an inquisitive immigration officer who wonders how that farang can be in Thailand so long. Plus, the chance that one day the immigration department will wake up to this bargain offer and up the anti to max 40k, 50k whatever they like, could even decide to throw in a free PNG stamp for good measure.

Oh well, it is truly up to you freckle but if by some mischance you do get caught you know where to come for a sympathetic ear.

The direction of this thread has prompted me to share with you a little bit of 'visa overstay' history.

Way back in the 70's, when there was only a fraction of the numbers of farangs in LOS than they are today, there was no such thing as Visa runs, or indeed 60 - 90 day tourist visas. The only way to stay here was to get a 90 day non - immigrant Visa (by having a job and a work permit), and then going to Honk Kong or Singapore every 90 days to get a new one - armed with employers' letters etc. It would take about 3 days to get the visa, and most of us in that position would go to Hong Kong, and stay in a really cheap hotel, which has long since been demolished.

Those working in highly paid expat jobs were able to 'buy' permanent residence, and were unaffected.

For those who at the bottom of the pile, who were bumming around Thailand, without work permits (teachers and such like), there was only one viable option - overstay. I had many friends who did this as a way of life,sometimes overstaying for years at a time, and when I was down on my luck, I also overstayed for about 3 months. We never had to worry about police looking at out passports, because it just wasn't an issue. In those days farangs were almost universally respected, and assumed to have money and/or power and/or influence, and were not to be messed with.

In those days there was no system of paying for overstay at the airport, and all illegals had to go to court before leaving Thailand. So, it was all set up, that, armed with a ticket out of Thailand that day, the farang would surrender himself to immigration in the morning, go to court and pay a small fine in the afternoon, and be on a plane out the night. If you didn't have a ticket, you would be kept in custody until you could produce one. Obviously a small backhander was paid, but it was smiles and winks all round, and just part of the normal way of doing things.

Times have changed, and I'm not sure I would feel very comfortable overstaying in the present climate, but if you're young, ugly and fit,I guess a few days in the pokey won't kill you - you might learn something.

I've been there - but that's another story.