Overstay and travel to the airport

[Porzio]

Thanks first of all for accepting me in the forum. I have no excuses and I guiltily let my visa expire, but due to a bad financial situation I had to choose whether to use the little money I had to feed my family or to comply with the visa. I made the choice of the heart and i know that many will criticize me and they are right about it. But now, thanks to someone's help, I can finally go back to Spain. My uestion is the following: I have the plane on Saturday afternoon and eventually I should stop one night, en route, in Chaiyaphum tomorrow, Friday. Problems with immigration may arise when checking into a hotel as i am in overstay? I would check in around 2 pm and leave at 9 am in the morning. Thanks again.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Porzio

[tonray]

Hotel is not likely to check your permission to stay dates. I would not worry so much.

[Porzio]

1 minute ago, tonray said:

Hotel is not likely to check your permission to stay dates. I would not worry so much.

My worry if they send the copy of my passport to immigration. Thank you for your help

[theoldgit]

1 minute ago, Porzio said:

My worry if they send the copy of my passport to immigration. Thank you for your help

 

They should record your details and pass them onto Immigration, but the online system is down so it would probably be some days before your details were received, even then I'm not sure that they'd cross reference.

You should reach the airport safely, though there's always the remote possibility that you were stopped enroute and your overstay was picked up.
The most likely scenario is that you'll reach the airport safely, you'd pay your overstay fine on departure and be on your way.

[KC 71]

10 minutes ago, Porzio said:

My worry if they send the copy of my passport to immigration. Thank you for your help

You will be in the airport before that happens

go early if you can

[KC 71]

Safe Journey ????????

[BritTim]

The hotel is virtually zero risk. In current times, I would worry about road blocks to enforce provincial Covid restrictions, and a random check of your passport by a zealous policeman. The risks of that are still very low. Bon voyage.

[jackdd]

Isn't this also you?

 

[EricTh]

2 hours ago, Porzio said:

My worry if they send the copy of my passport to immigration. Thank you for your help

 

I don't think they will do that.

 

Anyway, I used my Thai driving licence to book hotels, you might try that instead. DL don't have the visa expiry dates.

 

You have to worry about the immigration fine and ban depending on your overstay days.

 

The fine for overstaying is 500 Baht per day, reaching a maximum fine of 20,000 Baht (when overstaying 40 or more days).

 

Overstay more than 90 Days = 1 year ban from Thailand

Overstay more than 1 Year = 3 year ban from Thailand

Overstay more than 3 Years = 5 year ban from Thailand

Overstay more than 5 Years = 10 year ban from Thailand

 

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by EricTh

[2 is 1]

How long you overstay? If im you im worry my trip to airport! So many checpoints now! If police watch your passport and find out you are overstay, you maybe never get to airport!

If you can get night buss straight to BKK use that and sleep there.

More staright is better!

Edited April 22, 2021 by 2 is 1

[Aomelia]

Don’t stay in a mainstream hotel go to a resort short time hotel all over Isaan 

[NoshowJones]

20 hours ago, BritTim said:

The hotel is virtually zero risk. In current times, I would worry about road blocks to enforce provincial Covid restrictions, and a random check of your passport by a zealous policeman. The risks of that are still very low. Bon voyage.

Do the ordinary police, not the immigration police, have the power to check your passport? If they do there is something not right. Is it not the case that your passport is the property of your own countries government?

[Olmate]

2 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Do the ordinary police, not the immigration police, have the power to check your passport? If they do there is something not right. Is it not the case that your passport is the property of your own countries government?

Police of course have the right. There not stealing your pp,there checking it!

[NoshowJones]

20 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Police of course have the right. There not stealing your pp,there checking it!

Thanks. Can anyone tell me if the UK also have the right to check your passport? If they do then it is wrong. Passports should only be for immigration, they are the ones who are trained in passport situations.

[vinny41]

9 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Thanks. Can anyone tell me if the UK also have the right to check your passport? If they do then it is wrong. Passports should only be for immigration, they are the ones who are trained in passport situations.

Yes the Uk Police can check your passport and if you are suspected of breaking the law confiscated your passport

[sirocco]

No, passports are not only verified by immigration.
They can be, by the police, when you ask:
an ex: a certificate of life, an identity check on the road, etc ...
If it's in your country,
an ex: European, there is no obligation to show his passport but your identity document where it is registered your nationality.
Also in your country, foreigners must show their passport, with their residence permit, etc.
For them, their identity card does not work.
So the police are empowered to check your papers.

[BritTim]

55 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Do the ordinary police, not the immigration police, have the power to check your passport? If they do there is something not right. Is it not the case that your passport is the property of your own countries government?

 

In Thailand, the police have the right to demand to see your passport at any time. That is why, officially, you are supposed to carry it with you. Thailand does not like the bad publicity that comes from hassling Western foreigners, so stopping Westerners on the street without a valid pretext is uncommon (though there have been occasional rogue police districts where it has occurred). Asking to see your passport when stopped for legitimate reasons is common. Should this happen, most regular police do not know how to check your immigration stamps, but you can be unlucky.

[NoshowJones]

6 minutes ago, BritTim said:

 

In Thailand, the police have the right to demand to see your passport at any time. That is why, officially, you are supposed to carry it with you. Thailand does not like the bad publicity that comes from hassling Western foreigners, so stopping Westerners on the street without a valid pretext is uncommon (though there have been occasional rogue police districts where it has occurred). Asking to see your passport when stopped for legitimate reasons is common. Should this happen, most regular police do not know how to check your immigration stamps, but you can be unlucky.

i will not ever be carrying my passport with me unless I need it for something, my driving licence will just have to do. unless I am going for immigration purposes, my passport either stays at home or in my hotel safe.

[vinny41]

12 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

i will not ever be carrying my passport with me unless I need it for something, my driving licence will just have to do. unless I am going for immigration purposes, my passport either stays at home or in my hotel safe.

If your stopped by Thai police and you are unable to produce your passport you will be taken to the local police cell and left there until to can produce your passport or someone brings your passport to the police station which might be diffcult if you are the sole person that knows the combination of your hotel safe

Edited April 23, 2021 by vinny41

[BritTim]

9 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

If your stopped by Thai police and you are unable to produce your passport you will be taken to the local police cell and left there until to can produce your passport

 

That has (very rarely) been known to happen. However, just a photocopy of the important pages from your passport is almost always sufficient unless you really upset someone.

[NoshowJones]

23 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

If your stopped by Thai police and you are unable to produce your passport you will be taken to the local police cell and left there until to can produce your passport or someone brings your passport to the police station which might be diffcult if you are the sole person that knows the combination of your hotel safe

Some of the head plods say you do not need to always carry your passport and some say you do, but hey! This  is Thailand.

[Olmate]

2 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Some of the head plods say you do not need to always carry your passport and some say you do, but hey! This  is Thailand.

What about checkin at hotels? Simple enough request from a desk clerk.Why so worried about the BIB,makes me think your anti coppers!

[NoshowJones]

1 minute ago, Olmate said:

What about checkin at hotels? Simple enough request from a desk clerk.Why so worried about the BIB,makes me think your anti coppers!

Yes I am very anti coppers, though not so much the ordinary ones, but the ones who have the silly paid for ranks and don't to anything to see that the ordinary plods actually enforce the law. Road statistics etc?

[KhaoYai]

I think you are possibly worrying too much but if you want to avoid the possibility of being checked, either forget the hotel or get someone else to check in to the hotel for you. Alternatively, as others have said, if you have a Thai driving licence, use that to check in.

 

There are also other options: I don't know if the buses and trains are running normally at the moment but if they are, they usually run 24 hours - travel later and forget the overnight stop or use a sleeper train. Depending on where you're travelling from, you may have to modify your route to achieve that as the 24 hour services are usually only from major cities. For example, there are no overnight buses from Pak Chong anymore but there are from Korat. That would be a pain in the butt but it is at least, possible.

 

Sleeper trains are probably your best solution - they leave from most major cities every day but allow plenty of time as they are rarely punctual.

 

Use public transport to get to the airport when you arrive in Bangkok for the best chance of avoiding checkpoints.  I'm not sure if the Airport Link train from Phaya Thai is running at the moment but check that - if it is, I doubt there will be a police checkpoint on the line ????.

 

If you are prepared to stay in Pak Chong overnight rather than Chaiyaphum, I can probably find you somewhere to stay where they won't need to see your passport.

 

If you are really worried about being checked - why create a problem by staying overnight at all? Its just not necessary.

Edited April 23, 2021 by KhaoYai

[ViajeroLA]

Many hotels don't need a passport even for a foreigner. Any kind of ID should be enough. I usually use my ID  issued abroad etc without any issues, even though technically it's not a valid identification document here ))

 

So the only risk is being stopped by the police. Travelling between cities by bus and using taxis when in BKK should almost eliminate it.