63-year-old American arrested in Phang Nga for 745 days of overstay, hadn’t left his house in two years

[The Fugitive]

7 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

You realise this is just a pipe dream for many retired expats that can't 'really' afford to live here - sad.

Even sadder is that, especially in UK, single retirees can't afford to continue to live there either if receiving State Pension only. 

[Spock]

I just hope someone is going to care for his two dogs. I can imagine his wife will do the Thai thing and throw the animals out now that he is gone and the animals loom as a bit of a burden. 

[bkk6060]

His wife cannot just get a Visa and join him.  The U.S. is very stingy with this.  Even if he goes and is dieing she may have to go throught the hoops of getting a Visa which can take time.

[3NUMBAS]

a new record wel done my man

[lopburi3]

20 minutes ago, terryq said:

Years ago

Indeed years ago there were such cases - have not seen any reports of such still being the case however - there was no automatic blacklisting for overstay in the past.

[sqwakvfr]

2 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

I think it might have been his visa.  

Questions for other American

 

Do you not get social security after 60?

 

If do is it not enough to qualify for marrio vida.

 

Also would he not have qualified for COVID extension

 

I am a little confused asto why he was that long over.

 

He had a wife.  He had modest income from farm.

 

Am I missing something.

62 is the earliest one can collect unless one can get SSDI(Social Security Disability).  40,000 Baht is now about $1141 so it is possible for the Marriage visa but Americans can no longer use the Income method unless one does the monthly transfers.  

[BE88]

Another sad story, it can be assumed that this man no longer had the financial means to extend his visa and that if he returned to his country he could no longer return having lost all his savings and so he decided to risk the lesser evil knowing it would be sooner or later discovered.

Who will be the next ?

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

I think it's a shame there isn't some process to determine if this person could remain in Thailand.    As mentioned he clearly represents no threat to anyone and he's Ok to stay in his house.    

 

It's likely there's no home back in his home country so it seems unfair to me to cast him  off like this.

I'm confused where you and another poster KNOW CLEARLY he is no threat to anyone? I read the link twice.  No one has any idea of his background before 2 years. Police records in the states etc.  I just don't understand your assumption. 

[khaowong1]

7 hours ago, digbeth said:

covid extension was available then, and they were quite lenient, I'm sure they could have worked something out if he turns up any time in 2020 asking for covid extension saying that he can't fly home then

even with a few weeks overstay because he didn't jump at the first chance to fix his situation or didn't know better 

Made a bad mistake and didn't know exactly how to fix it. 

[Liverpool Lou]

8 hours ago, ezzra said:

Thailand is not a forgiving regime when it comes to over stayers, it's like you have committed the cardinal sin by god forbid, overstaying... 

Which countries do show lenience and ignore foreigners who have overstayed their visas?  Are there any, or do you just want to have a go at Thailand's immigration laws, maybe your country is the exception?

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Sometimes thai immigration should consider to act in a more humane way , and take into consideration that , really , no damage was done .

Just like your home country does(n't), ignoring overstayers or accepting their no-excuse excuses because "no damage was done"?

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, JimGant said:

Hey, Thailand, why not a quid pro quo for our old, sick overstayers -- for all your illegal Thais working in restaurants in Los Angeles. A little compassion and common sense go a long way,

Are you saying that those illegal immigrant Thais in LA are ignored compassionately when the authorities discover that they're chronic visa overstayers?

[Liverpool Lou]

9 hours ago, bendejo said:

Who tipped them off? 

No one needed to, from the OP...

"...the arrest followed officers patrolling to crack down on overstaying foreigners as part of a December 1st to December 10th, 2022 campaign".

 

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

Just my viewpoint, is all, but I think an appropriate fine without deportation would do the trick. No need to take this life away from him and send him back to the hell of America. That would be cruel and unusual punishment, especially for an older person. Again, just my view, I'm not arguing. 

"...an appropriate fine without deportation would do the trick".

And then allow him to live here visa-free (he can't qualify financially) while the rest of us comply with the law?   Or perhaps you're suggesting that we should all be allowed to live here unrestricted once our visas/extensions have expired?

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, shackleton said:

Seems recently quite a few cases of people foreigners over staying ???? 

No doubt will read of more In the coming weeks 

Coming out of the wood work????

"Colonel Phakkapong told the Phuket Express that the arrest followed officers patrolling to crack down on overstaying foreigners as part of a December 1^st to December 10^th, 2022 campaign".

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

9 hours ago, jvs said:

He will be deported back to the US.

Is that correct? AFAIK you have to pay your own way home and if he's short on cash...

Being skint doesn't mean exemption from deportation for illegals, if it did, everyone would be jumping on that bandwagon!

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

I think it might have been his visa.  

Questions for other American

 

Do you not get social security after 60?

 

If do is it not enough to qualify for marrio vida.

Also would he not have qualified for COVID extension

I am a little confused asto why he was that long over.

He had a wife.  He had modest income from farm.

Am I missing something.

He was skint, the OP explained it.

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, renaissanc said:

even if I'm 95 years old, Immigration will kick me out of the country even if I have nowhere to go to.

Every foreigner has their home country to go to if they don't qualify to stay in a foreign country.

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, Mickeymaus said:

 ... it is also a reminder that we are only tourists here. Also visa regulations and requirements can change at any time. 

No it's not, there were no changes in visa regulations that caused his overstay.

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, Robbie2618 said:

I'm going to guess this man had issues that he couldn't get over, unfortunatly many suffer from panic attacks and stress that most would find irrational but for them its uncontrollable and overwhelming. Many people became shut ins do to covid fears.

You don't have to guess, just read the OP.  He was voluntarily shut-in because he was skint and couldn't afford the visa, nothing to do with "uncontrollable, overwhelming stress, panic attacks or covid".

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, In Full Agreement said:

he clearly represents no threat to anyone and he's Ok to stay in his house.    

The vast majority of us pose no threat to anyone here. either, but we have to have a visa.  How could he be granted an exception and allowed to remain here without one, does your country operate like that?

[Liverpool Lou]

5 hours ago, sikishrory said:

How's this news?

Gawd...  Because it's never happened to him before. 

[Liverpool Lou]

4 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

a new record wel done my man

Nowhere near the record.

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, BE88 said:

it can be assumed that this man no longer had the financial means to extend his visa

No need for assumptions, that's clearly stated to be the case in the OP!

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, khaowong1 said:

Made a bad mistake and didn't know exactly how to fix it. 

Yes, he did know how to fix it but he didn't have any money.

[Lemsta69]

5 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

a new record wel done my man

745 days is tiddlywinks.

[Stargeezr]

I would have thought that most posters on this forum know what they have to do to stay in Thailand 

long term. This guy is only in his 60s, so why did he not just renew his visa? Now he gets deported and blacklisted

at least for a few years. I hope he has learned a lesson.

[thaibeachlovers]

13 hours ago, ezzra said:

Thailand is not a forgiving regime when it comes to over stayers, it's like you have committed the cardinal sin by god forbid, overstaying... 

Are you saying that the law should be ignored?

If Thailand was like certain other countries he could just return on a leaky rubber boat and be welcomed, and given taxpayer largess.

Thank goodness Thailand ain't one of those countries.

[Onerak]

12 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

A life destroyed for what ?

He made a mistake , but nobody got harmed .

 

Sometimes thai immigration should consider to act in a more humane way , and take into consideration that , really , no damage was done .

Ask that to his fellow country man who shot a black kid for playing with his kiddy gun. At 63, he should get his social security and can purchase a retirement visa for meagre 15K. Thailand is very easy to live with social security money even if somebody does not make 65K/month. 

[thaibeachlovers]

9 minutes ago, Stargeezr said:

I would have thought that most posters on this forum know what they have to do to stay in Thailand 

long term. This guy is only in his 60s, so why did he not just renew his visa? Now he gets deported and blacklisted

at least for a few years. I hope he has learned a lesson.

Perhaps he couldn't afford a visa extension.