Introduction to Thai Immigration

[chinajohn69]

My daughters introduction as a Adult to Thai Immigration .

After confirming with Thai Embassy London the procedure  for renewing her Thai Passport, following there advise and with ALL required documents in hand, she set off for Thailand without her boring PARENTS, to see her Thai family.

Arrived Thailand renewed her Passport, visited family in Nong Khai and surrounding areas not missing her mothers No.1-2-3 temples plus the one her Mother helped build.

Then down to Phuket, friends, Sun, fun. So you maybe asking what's the problem? She left Phuket for Bangkok, SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT, check in ok, Hello Immigration. IMMIGRATION you are 12 days overstay 6,000 baht please,???? Daughter but I'm travelling on a THAI PASSPORT, you are ENGLISH overstay 6,000 baht. ????

at the end of the day she HAD to pay.

Even with all her Paperwork in order Embassy London, New Passport passport office. Birth Certificate, and she speaks Thai FLUENTLY .You overstay 6000 baht.????

She now wonders what's the point of being PROUD to be Thai when IMMIGRATION are to charge her OVERSTAY on a THAI PASSPORT.

Waking me UP  04:00 UK time, not crying, shouting, or screaming as her mother would be doing .only asking WHY. ?  My only comment I could think of that early was,

" WELCOME TO THAILANDS IMMIGRATION SYSTEM for TOURISTS " 

She says she will NOT be standing in any QUEUE to go back to Thailand .again

which is sad, she has family and friends there, I told her to have a good sleep on the plane, and put it down to experience and the learning curve. 

 

   

Edited September 22, 2022 by chinajohn69

[mnomad]

I'll send over someone to fix that broken caps lock..

[flexomike]

If she has a Thai passport and she entered on that Thai passport there is no way she can be on overstqy, why would she be dealing with immigration on an in country flight? Are you sure that something isn't getting let out of this story. How long had she been in Thailand when this happen, 42 days, If so than she must have entered on her UK passport.

 

[howerde]

Sounds like she entered Thailand using her UK passport, if she had entered on her Thai passport she would have shown that to immigration on dep, there could not be any overstay

[blackcab]

Moved to the Visa forum.

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, chinajohn69 said:

Arrived Thailand renewed her Passport

Appears she entered Thailand with UK passport. 

As a result she in same boat as and non Thai tourist.

Poor advice from parents? 

[hotandsticky]

I am calling BS on this. You do not encounter Immigration on domestic flights, you don't even need a passport to fly.

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

I am calling BS on this. You do not encounter Immigration on domestic flights, you don't even need a passport to fly.

She checked for a international flight Suvarnabhumi not a domestic flight. The had the problem at departure immigration.

 

1 hour ago, chinajohn69 said:

Sun, fun. So you maybe asking what's the problem? She left Phuket for Bangkok, SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT, check in ok, Hello Immigration. IMMIGRATION you are 12 days overstay 6,000 baht please,???? Daughter but I'm travelling on a THAI PASSPORT, you are ENGLISH overstay 6,000 baht. ????

at the end of the day she HAD to pay.

 

[chinajohn69]

She entered Thailand with Thai documents ,ID card accepted by Thai Embassy ,Accepted by Thai IMMIMIGRATION Bangkok.

Her return was BANGKOK / LONDON. the last time I flew this route it was International, advise only from EMBASSY. not BS

nothing to do with Parents.

[DrJack54]

7 minutes ago, chinajohn69 said:

She entered Thailand with Thai documents ,ID card accepted by Thai Embassy ,Accepted by Thai IMMIMIGRATION Bangkok.

Her return was BANGKOK / LONDON. the last time I flew this route it was International, advise only from EMBASSY. not BS

nothing to do with Parents.

Your account does not add up on any level.

 

[brewsterbudgen]

12 minutes ago, chinajohn69 said:

She entered Thailand with Thai documents ,ID card accepted by Thai Embassy ,Accepted by Thai IMMIMIGRATION Bangkok.

Her return was BANGKOK / LONDON. the last time I flew this route it was International, advise only from EMBASSY. not BS

nothing to do with Parents.

Her Thai ID card is irrelevant as it can't be used to enter Thailand. It seems obvious that she used her UK passport to enter Thailand. A lesson learned, I think.

[chinajohn69]

She received her advise from Embassy London, they accepted it was ok to travel Thailand with her Thai ID card, arriving Bkk Immigration accepted her ID card in place of expired passport.

Passport was renewed at Passport office. ALL now in order. and legal.

 

[ThailandRyan]

2 minutes ago, chinajohn69 said:

She received her advise from Embassy London, they accepted it was ok to travel Thailand with her Thai ID card, arriving Bkk Immigration accepted her ID card in place of expired passport.

Passport was renewed at Passport office. ALL now in order. and legal.

 

Did she have a UK Passport with her.  Better check the Passport for the arrival stamp....it will also have the overstay stamp inside as well and with the amount paid.......

Edited September 22, 2022 by ThailandRyan

[chinajohn69]

yes she did have her UK Passport. she explained situation at Immigration BKK, and they accepted her ID card.

I have told her to put this down to experience.

Her only question to me, was she had a Thai Passport. how can she be charged overstay.? I have no idea if her UK passport was stamped  will check when she gets back UK.  

[DrJack54]

5 minutes ago, chinajohn69 said:

I have no idea if her UK passport was stamped  will check when she gets back UK.

Would have been a good thing to check prior to post. 

[ThailandRyan]

1 minute ago, chinajohn69 said:

yes she did have her UK Passport. she explained situation at Immigration BKK, and they accepted her ID card.

I have told her to put this down to experience.

Her only question to me, was she had a Thai Passport. how can she be charged overstay.? I have no idea if her UK passport was stamped  will check when she gets back UK.  

Check her UK Passport to see if it has an entry stamp.  They may have stamped her in on it even though they said her ID card was fine.......You have to enter on an expired Thai Passport not a Thai ID Card.  Thai's entering on the expired passport are not stamped in and neither are Thais with Thai passports.  Went through this with the now ex-wife and my Thai/American daughter.  Both entered on expired Thai passports in 2017, and no their Thai ID's were not accepted. They did enter through the Thai side and not the Foreigners side of Immigration.  You best check before you find yourself becoming more frustrated.

[blackshadow]

2 hours ago, mnomad said:

I'll send over someone to fix that broken caps lock..

the poster is EMPHASING.....points....nothing wrong with that/this........

[chinajohn69]

hindsight is a wonderful thing, at present I believe she is about 35,000 feet 2 hours out of BKK. will check when she gets back LONDON.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Appears she entered Thailand with UK passport. 

As a result she in same boat as and non Thai tourist.

Poor advice from parents? 

It appears to me that this is a stupid troll topic. You do not encounter any immigration officials when checking in and boarding a flight from Suvarnabhumi to Phuket. If (highly unlikely) she encountered a scammer who convinced her that they were from Immigration and handed over 6,000 baht, that would not be Immigration's fault.

[ThailandRyan]

5 minutes ago, chinajohn69 said:

hindsight is a wonderful thing, at present I believe she is about 35,000 feet 2 hours out of BKK. will check when she gets back LONDON.

Please let us know.  Check that passport for the stamp as well as the overstay stamp.

[Upnotover]

3 minutes ago, BritTim said:

It appears to me that this is a stupid troll topic. You do not encounter any immigration officials when checking in and boarding a flight from Suvarnabhumi to Phuket. If (highly unlikely) she encountered a scammer who convinced her that they were from Immigration and handed over 6,000 baht, that would not be Immigration's fault.

Or perhaps flew from HKT to BKK then checked-in for the UK and went through immigration.  As for "a flight from Suvarnabhumi to Phuket" you are the only one to mention that.

[hotandsticky]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

She checked for a international flight Suvarnabhumi not a domestic flight. The had the problem at departure immigration.

 

 

I didn't see any mention of an international flight in the OP (I understand that is where an issue could arise if she was stamped in on a British passport)..

 

I read this "She left Phuket for Bangkok, SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT, check in ok, Hello Immigration....."..... as referring to a Phuket/Bangkok flight.

[thurien]

13 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Her Thai ID card is irrelevant as it can't be used to enter Thailand. It seems obvious that she used her UK passport to enter Thailand. A lesson learned, I think.

as a Thai citizen you may return to TH overland with ID card only from e.g. Laos, Khmer, Malay (?)

[ThailandRyan]

4 minutes ago, thurien said:

as a Thai citizen you may return to TH overland with ID card only from e.g. Laos, Khmer, Malay (?)

Correct, through the border entry points only, and not while entering or leaving on an international flight.

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, thurien said:

as a Thai citizen you may return to TH overland with ID card only from e.g. Laos, Khmer, Malay (?)

Only if they got a border pass to enter some of them that allows a short stay.

A case where a Thai could leave another country without a valid Thai passport would be they had a passport for the other country (dual nationalities).

 

[marin]

I have posted this before but on another thread. My daughter returned to Thailand from California on Sept 5. Both her Thai passport and ID were expired, and she was carrying her US passport. Just to avoid a possible situation like this we asked her to enter on her expired Thai passport. When attempting to do this she was warned she could not leave Thailand at all without a new passport as her US passport would not have a stamp. She entered on the expired Thai and that Friday we got both the passport and ID renewed. On the following Tuesday her new Thai passport arrived via EMS. So on departure she showed entry on the old Thai passport and then exit on her new one. 

 

I have no idea what happened to your daughter but it does not seem the same procedure as I outlined here was used, as this way there was absolutely no problem. Looking forward to seeing how your daughters tale of woe turns out.  

[CMBob]

As has been noted, it appears the daughter went to Phuket for fun and then flew back to Bangkok to board her international flight and that's where the overstay problem occurred. 

But I too bet she was stamped in with her UK passport as that's the only thing that makes sense.  Without that happening, there is no way for Immigration to know let alone calculate the amount of days in an overstay.  And, yea, there is no way the daughter entered Thailand only with a Thai ID card.

 

OP.....given you've doubted that, why not return to the thread to advise when you view your daughter's passport?

[Skeptic7]

20 hours ago, mnomad said:

I'll send over someone to fix that broken caps lock..

????????

[Old Croc]

On arrival the only valid passport held for travel was the British one.  She was apparently landed on this despite showing her old, expired Thai ID and passport. Expired documents are not proof of current citizenship.

It was reasonable, and easier, for the incoming IO to process entry with the only valid document. If she hadn't presented the British PP then entry may have been delayed while her claims were investigated.

 

She then obtained a new, valid Thai passport confirming her dual citizenship. She later attempted to depart using the new passport, but inflexible and poorly trained staff would only accept her as the Brit citizen she was when landed, hence the fine.  They could have been more flexible and sensible in waiving a fine, but Thailand.

The computer system could have been updated to reflect her status as a Thai, and obviously fines could not be legally levied.

Computers can be more flexible than those operating them,

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2022 by Old Croc

[JimGant]

20 hours ago, chinajohn69 said:

you are ENGLISH overstay 6,000 baht.

Obviously her UK passport was involved in her entry. Her mistake, as her Thai ID and an expired Thai passport are perfectly allowable for entry for Thais. My wife is dual US/Thai and years ago she was advised to hide her US passport when entering Thailand on her Thai passport --'cause some Imm officers are not well briefed on dual citizenship, and will opt for the US passport. That your daughter was standing at the counter with a Thai ID, expired Thai passport (?), and a UK passport -- guess what they'll reach for.