i have a mate that was on a 3 month overstay before he left los. he went through immigration at suvarnabum and said nothing and the immigration fella didnt notice the overstay. he was happy as a pig in sht obviously. could this cause probs when the lucky git returns in a couple of months? anyone heard of anything similar happening? is getting a new passport a must? anyone else had the same happen to them?

Lucky!!!

Anyway, six months ago I would have said 'absolutely zero problem' now, with all the day counting etc. it may well get noticed.

I would suggest he gets a tourist visa from a Thai embassy before he travels. Immigration are soooo happy at seeing people with visas that they don't even bother looking at past stamps

Obviously my opinion, no warranty impied or inferred.

Is this some kind of April Fool's joke or what?

Is this some kind of April Fool's joke or what?

Gospel truth mate. just interested if its happened to anyone else and what the go was when they came back. who have thunk it? an incompetent immigration bloke. astonishing!

If he got a new clean passport im sure they wouldn't notice (they proably wouldn't notice with the old passport anyway)

Nothing is going to make the extra 90 day gap between arrival and departure dates disappear from the immigration computers, at least for the foreseeable future.

Although it would be a blessing if immigration's computer system would access this data at the point of entry and calculate the "Admitted Until" date on the fly (rather than the tedious calculations by hand from stamps), as things currently stand it won't be checked electronically when he seeks to re-enter.*

It's surprising that the traveler got away with it, but those are the breaks. So the problem becomes one of the old overstay possibly being detected on a future entry.

The worst possible solution would be to remove passport pages or alter the stamps. It's illegal in both Thailand and the country that issued the passport.

The safest solution is to replace the passport. Any other solution risks detection when he seeks to re-enter Thailand.

Immigration would probably have the right to retroactively enforce the overstay fine. Whether they would also deny him entry at the checkpoint can only be guessed at, but the cost of a new passport can be viewed as relatively cheap insurance compared to the price of his air tickets (and perhaps the cost of a same-day one way ticket to repatriate him if he's denied entry).

(*Note: There's always a remote risk the excess of days in conjunction with lack of an overstay has been noted somewhere and his record is flagged or he's on a Deny Entry list, but in practice it isn't very likely.)

They will CERTAINLY catch it on the computer at some point; if not upon entry to the kingdom, then surely when he applies for a visa as they always check history when applying for a visa. Should he never apply for another visa, then they may not catch it as I dont believe computer history is checked on visa exempt entry. They won't do anything to the guy other than charge him the 20K baht and delay his receiving a visa until that is collected. So, say he makes a Penang visa run, he will not get the visa until the 20K is taken care of, AND that may not be possible in Penang. Therefore the Penang trip would be a waste. If this guy doesn't stay in Thailand on visas then he is likely ok, but getting the visa, he is surely to get caught, then need to take care of problem at immi office or airport. That history will not go away. Getting a new passport will not clear it

Oh and I might add that should the guy ever go to immi for an extension, they will catch it there on the computer as well.

Edited April 1, 200719 yr by Beavis and Butthead

IMO the guy should go to immi and own up to the mistake, pay the fine and clear the problem. It will save him hassles later

April Fools jokes aside!

Does anyone know if Thai property (eg :- a Condo) in the applicants name, count towards the 800k Baht requirement for retirement visa application?

It was put to me that if a Falang had a company, that owned a property in Thailand, that had a value of 2 million Baht, it would count as the financial requirement demanded in the application for his retirement Visa.

Anyone have an idea on the validity of this?

Albymush

Lucky!!!

Anyway, six months ago I would have said 'absolutely zero problem' now, with all the day counting etc. it may well get noticed.

The days of condo ownership helping someone to get a visa are over

The days of condo ownership helping someone to get a visa are over

Agreed.