Can Thai Citizen's Be Charge For Overstay?

[gungho]

My wife entered Thailand on her US passport that had a Tourist Visa since her Thai Passport was expired. Now she has overstayed her Tourist Visa. My question is when we leave next year July 08 if she renews her Thai Passport will they still charge a Thai citizen the overstay fines?

I think she should have just shown her Thai passport when we arrived, but at the time it seemed like a bad idea.

Any advice would be helpful. Is there any way we can prevent from paying the 20,000 baht for the overstay (currently 45 days over) since she is a Thai citizen?

Thanks in advance,

Jared

Edited November 15, 2007 by gungho

[naka]

What an interesting scenario.

I would guess if she left on a Thai passport then there would be no questions asked.

Probably a good idea to get new Thai passport soon though.

Naka.

[Norrad]

Immigration policy states "A foreigner who overstays their visa, will be charged 500 Baht per day".

As far as I can tell, even though she entered on her US passport, she is still a Thai citizen and shouldn't be charged an overstay fee. But this is Thailand and anything can happen. This will certainly give the immigration officer on duty a real headache. Should be fun to watch :-)

[mackayae]

If you show her US passport she will be charged. Just show her Thai passport.

[Crossy]

If you show her US passport she will be charged. Just show her Thai passport.

BUT (this may or may not be an issue) she will then have an unbalanced set of stamps in her US PP, could lead some immi. chap somewhere to conclude and illegal exit from Thailand (which technically she did).

I'd be tempted to bite the bullet and pay the overstay for future peace of mind.

[george]

Your wife will be charged for overstay.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/issuesanswers...ails.asp?id=935

[Ski_Goong]

Your wife will be charged for overstay.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/issuesanswers...ails.asp?id=935

Last year I entered Thailand using my US passport (couldn't find my Thai one at the time)...when I left, had to pay for 4 days overstay.

Ski...

[gungho]

Thanks everyone. I guess we will just have to pay the 20,000 baht fine when we leave.

If she overstays more than 200 days does she run any risk of detention at the airport when we leave? Or should we just go pay it now and get a new stamp?

Thanks,

Jared

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Thanks everyone. I guess we will just have to pay the 20,000 baht fine when we leave.

If she overstays more than 200 days does she run any risk of detention at the airport when we leave? Or should we just go pay it now and get a new stamp?

Thanks,

Jared

How about clearing this up now.  She gets a new Thai passport, then down to Immigration, pay the baht 20,000 fine on her U.S. passport overstay.  Might need to depart Thailand and stamp back in on the Thai passport.

Get straight now as there's the slim possibility that she could get picked up for overstay between now and next summer and have a claim to fame of being the only Thai in IDC.

Mac

[samran]

My advice is always: If you are a Thai citizen you should enter Thailand on your Thai passport. Dual Nationality has been legal since 1992.

Coming to the OP's problem, I believe thai's who enter Thailand on their foreign passports can get a 1 year extension of stay in their foriegn passport on production of a Thai ID card, or evidence of their Thai nationality. This will make her legal for the duration of her stay.

The thing to remember is that as she entered Thailand on her US passport, she is subject to immigration rules. She must also depart on her US passport, as that is the one she entered on.

While she is here though, she should apply for a new Thai passport. Next time she returns to Thailand, she should show both her old and new thai passport. The old Thai passport will have the arrivals card stapled into it, and she should fill in that arrivals card, along with presentation of the both the passports. My personal experinece has been, you will be then stamped on on the old expired passport, and the new passport can then be used to leave (and re-enter!!) thailand on any subsequent trips.

[maprao]

Save yourself a headache. Get a new Thai Passport in Thailand now. Get a Taxi or Bus to Aranya Prathet. Walk accross into Cambodia leaving on her US passport. Then turn around and re-enter on her new Thai Passport.

If questioned at immegration explain what happened and that you now wish to stay in Thailand until next July.

You will have no problems.

Edited November 16, 2007 by maprao

[samran]

Save yourself a headache. Get a new Thai Passport in Thailand now. Get a Taxi or Bus to Aranya Prathet. Walk accross into Cambodia leaving on her US passport. Then turn around and re-enter on her new Thai Passport.

If questioned at immegration explain what happened and that you now wish to stay in Thailand until next July.

You will have no problems.

Unless you have tried this trick successfully recently, I don't believe it will work. I've got dual Thai nationality and my experience has been that passport swaps at land borders don't work, as immigration officers on each side will want to follow the stamp trail from the previous country, and will refuse to let you swap passports. Although it should not be that way, it has been my experience.

The best bet, which will work, is to jump on a cheap Air Asia flight to Singapore, departing on the US PP and then re-entering Thailand on the Thai PP in the matter I suggested in a previous post. This will work as the immigration officials at airports, unlike their land counterparts, don't give two hoots about stamp trails, and are generally more knowledgeable about dual nationality.

[maprao]

Save yourself a headache. Get a new Thai Passport in Thailand now. Get a Taxi or Bus to Aranya Prathet. Walk accross into Cambodia leaving on her US passport. Then turn around and re-enter on her new Thai Passport.

If questioned at immegration explain what happened and that you now wish to stay in Thailand until next July.

You will have no problems.

Unless you have tried this trick successfully recently, I don't believe it will work. I've got dual Thai nationality and my experience has been that passport swaps at land borders don't work, as immigration officers on each side will want to follow the stamp trail from the previous country, and will refuse to let you swap passports. Although it should not be that way, it has been my experience.

The best bet, which will work, is to jump on a cheap Air Asia flight to Singapore, departing on the US PP and then re-entering Thailand on the Thai PP in the matter I suggested in a previous post. This will work as the immigration officials at airports, unlike their land counterparts, don't give two hoots about stamp trails, and are generally more knowledgeable about dual nationality.

Samran I think you are right your idea is better. I have done it in the past but it was a long time ago. If you do not live near the border your option would probably come to the same cost.

However the Thai border people can also be very helpful. My wife entered Thailand with my son on his farang passport. She then did border hops to ensure that he did not overstay. The immigration officer asked her what she was doing and he laughed and informed her as he was only 2 years old he could overstay! I did not beleive him and checked with them again and Bangkok immigration. However my point is he checked the stamps and was very observant as he recognised my son.

I think the poster should follow your advice to avoid problems.

[visarunner]

Trying to change Passport at landbordercrossing usually DO NOT work.

[mesohappy314]

Unless the rules have changed recently, you cannot have US and Thai citizenship concurrently. When you are sworn in as a US citizen you are effectively relinquishing Thai citizenship. So, yes, you will be overstaying your visa as you are no longer a Thai citizen.

[dogrun]

Hi,

I am interested in finding out how legal is to have dual Thai and US citizenship.

please comments.

thanks

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Hi,

I am interested in finding out how legal is to have dual Thai and US citizenship.

please comments.

thanks

it is 100% legal and accepted by both countries.

[lopburi3]

Unless the rules have changed recently, you cannot have US and Thai citizenship concurrently. When you are sworn in as a US citizen you are effectively relinquishing Thai citizenship. So, yes, you will be overstaying your visa as you are no longer a Thai citizen.

False. A common misunderstanding but not true. US citizenship oath does not renounce former citizenship. Please Google if you do not believe. This is not a recent change.

[chinthai]

My wife entered Thailand on her US passport that had a Tourist Visa since her Thai Passport was expired. Now she has overstayed her Tourist Visa. My question is when we leave next year July 08 if she renews her Thai Passport will they still charge a Thai citizen the overstay fines?

I think she should have just shown her Thai passport when we arrived, but at the time it seemed like a bad idea.

Any advice would be helpful. Is there any way we can prevent from paying the 20,000 baht for the overstay (currently 45 days over) since she is a Thai citizen?

Thanks in advance,

Jared

your wife cannot show her Thai-Passport, if she leave Thailand. You must show the same passport, which used by the entry. If not, the immigration officer will ask you for the US-Passport, because he see this in his Computer.

My wife before had the same scenario.

If your wife have two passports, so she can go outside (very easy in Mesai) with her US-Passport, pay the fine there and come back 5 min. later with her Thai-ID-Card.

So she is stamped out with the US-Passport and stay in Thailand as Thai. Now she can use her Thai-Passport for go out. In USA she go in with the US-Passport.

My wife do this many years without problems.

[asiaworld]

Guys, there's one specific point in using thai passport, which all of u seem to omit, unless samran can clear that one ..

When thai leaves the country they get this t.m.6? i think paper pinned inside their passport..so itpretty much depends where her thai pp. was issued! if she leaves thailandon a clean pasp. that should be fine, coz she'll get t.m.6 pinned into her pasp. which will be collected on her return. if she does"visa run", she may have fun entering thailand with clean passport... in any case Best bet is to pay a brief visit to immi. office, nothing to worry about(or just call>she speaks thai i presume).. No way on earth they would detain thai citizen !

[samran]

Guys, there's one specific point in using thai passport, which all of u seem to omit, unless samran can clear that one ..

When thai leaves the country they get this t.m.6? i think paper pinned inside their passport..so itpretty much depends where her thai pp. was issued! if she leaves thailandon a clean pasp. that should be fine, coz she'll get t.m.6 pinned into her pasp. which will be collected on her return. if she does"visa run", she may have fun entering thailand with clean passport... in any case Best bet is to pay a brief visit to immi. office, nothing to worry about(or just call>she speaks thai i presume).. No way on earth they would detain thai citizen !

Yes, when a Thai departs they get a fresh TM6 form. The fill out the departure section of TM6, which is taken by immigration when stamped out, and the counterpart TM6 is stapled into the passport, which should be used on return.

When I say "should be used" I mean to say that if you have it, it makes it easier for the immigration people on arrivals to process you back in.

Ultimately though, the counterpart arrivals form need not be used, as you state, there will always be situations where people are entering Thailand on a clean passport (eg, lost the old one, born overseas so never 'departed' Thailand etc etc). When this happens it is important to be firm with immigration, and MAKE them stamp you in on your 'clean' Thai passport.

We've had some members of this board in the past who have been at first refused entry into Thailand on a 'clean' passport. They were then forced to enter Thailand on their foreign passport, resulting in them getting 30 day entries etc. Rather it being an issue of the Thai passport holder breaking some law (it wasn't), it seems the immgration officer does not know how to process someone in on a new passport which the holder never left Thailand on. All I can say in this situation (which I and many other members have done) is to insist that they get stamped in on the Thai passport, or failing that, ask to speak to a superior officer. My and other peoples experience will be that the superior officer will always command the junior underling to stamp in the traveller on their Thai passport.

[chatette]

I came in with my daughter once and the TM6 had fallen out. Wasn't an issue at all.