Thai Immigration To Waive Overstay Fee For Stranded Foreigners

[gotlost]

No take that 500 baht fine per day and PARTY ON!!!!

[bkk_mike]

Might be that because they have a ticket to Bombay, they are supposed to use it. No flight restrictions to Bombay.

Good point, I hadn't considered that. I have read elsewhere that people are being refused boarding on flights which go via India. If they don't have Indian Visas then they are not allowed into the country and with no onward connecting flights I guess they don't want lots of 'illegal immigrants' hanging around their airport.

It could be worth getting an Indian Visa prior to travelling, here's some information :

INDIA VISA APPLICATION CENTRE (IVAC)

1, 15th Floor, Unit 1503,

Glas Hauz Building, Sukhumvit 25,

Sukhumvit Road,

Bangkok-10110.

TEL: 02-6652968 / 69 (0830-1630 HRS)

FAX: 02-2605829

Email: [email protected]

www.ivac-th.com

EMBASSY OF INDIA

46, Prasarnmitr Sukhumvit, Soi 23

Bangkok 10110

Tel : 02-2580300-5

Fax : 02-2584627/2621740

I have someone staying with me at the moment in Bangkok. She's meant to be flying back to the UK via India in a couple of days time.

This is worth considering.

It takes a week for non-Thais to get a visa for India, and you need two references (one can be the hotel in India that you're staying at), and I've heard that you can use your country's embassy in India as your second reference if you don't actually know anyone there.

But still - if the flight is in two days, I don't think she'll get an Indian visa in time...

[verygoodgirl]

you said "thinking"?

no...

sorry thats giving a bit too much credit...

[hansnoi]

Great idea.. good for this start in using a wee bit of common sense..

Now can they take it further.. outlaw the wearing any colored shirt that may draw attention to the media.

I say all shirts and blouses removed from all people in or out of all public area or events.. and keep them all off during this hot and steamy season. Shorts and g-strings are optional...

Then they can start on granting pardens to all the falong in all the prisons and send them all back to their home

vountries.

Imagine all the money they will save.

Remove all the restrictions in buying your own home and make it easier to live here and spend all of your retirement money here and not in other countries that seem to make it easier for the westerner to live and invest there.

Go paperless.. in all government offices.

The list could go on and on... LONG LIVE THE KINGDOM and his royal highness THE KING

May be a good idea to ask your government to take some of your bright ideas at heart and grant them to Thai immigrants or even tourists

[bprinceuk]

How predictable!

Immigration announces sensible and positive initiative = chance for usual suspects on TV to have a whinge about Thailand.

Well done LOS, one less worry for the stranded passengers

[charmonman]

This was only fair.

It will save a lot of troubled people something else to worry about.

what other choice do they have -- how can the possibly fine someone who is stuck here against their will and is wishing to leave - has ticket and not plane to catch - come on - even the slightest of logical thinking has to prevail -- but then again -TIT - or maybe they thought that it was going to take too much time and effort on behalf of the poor overworked and stressed immigrations officer at the airport -and they are such happy lot to reduce their work load -

i can just imagine articles in oveseas newpapers --- tourists fined because their flight were cancelled due to world wide fllight ban - well just another nail in the tourism coffin here - must also be running out of nails -- just see that france and spain temp open air space -- interesting to see how this developes--- just amagine the back log -- wonder if travel insurance covers natural disasters -- and if this falls under this category

Hey, give them a break! They did the right thing, so why try to invent explanations as to how their doing the right thing was only because of laziness or some other negative national stereotype? Believe it or not, Thais and even the Thai government are perfectly capable of being reasonable, logical and intelligent on occasion! In fact, in the case of Thai immigration, far more than their counterparts in my own country, Canada. Sheesh!

[Maestro]

...With Qatar Airways unable to guarantee re-booking until upto May 31st then it is not much help is it?

...

Link: Qatar Re-Booking Flights Until May 31st 2010

I think you are reading the "If one of your flights has been cancelled, you have the following options:- 1. Re-book onto another Qatar Airways flight using the same routing with a travel date until the 31st of May 2010..." wrong. I take it to mean that you can re-book for a date any time between the date they start flyig again to your destination and the 31 May 2010. Therefore, if your destination is Heathrow and Qantas starts flying there again on 22 April, for example, you can re-book without charge for 22 April if space is available, or any date after that until 31 May. If you choose to re-book for a date later than 31 May, the regular fee applies, where applicable.

--

Maestro

[syd barrett]

...With Qatar Airways unable to guarantee re-booking until upto May 31st then it is not much help is it?

...

Link: Qatar Re-Booking Flights Until May 31st 2010

I think you are reading the "If one of your flights has been cancelled, you have the following options:- 1. Re-book onto another Qatar Airways flight using the same routing with a travel date until the 31st of May 2010..." wrong. I take it to mean that you can re-book for a date any time between the date they start flyig again to your destination and the 31 May 2010. Therefore, if your destination is Heathrow and Qantas starts flying there again on 22 April, for example, you can re-book without charge for 22 April if space is available, or any date after that until 31 May. If you choose to re-book for a date later than 31 May, the regular fee applies, where applicable.

--

Maestro

I am having difficulty understanding your post. Qatar airways is not a partner airline of Qantas as far as I know.

My original post was trying to point out the fact that many, many of the stranded passengers on a whole host of different airlines will at some stage have to re-book their flights well into the month of May.

My point being that the Thai Immigration visa waiver offered until April 30th 2010 will be next to useless for many stranded passengers.

Why didn't they make a blanket waiver for all passengers who could prove earlier intended travel from April 15th onwards, to a European country which had been affected by airspace closure?

[gotlost]

...With Qatar Airways unable to guarantee re-booking until upto May 31st then it is not much help is it?

...

Link: Qatar Re-Booking Flights Until May 31st 2010

I think you are reading the "If one of your flights has been cancelled, you have the following options:- 1. Re-book onto another Qatar Airways flight using the same routing with a travel date until the 31st of May 2010..." wrong. I take it to mean that you can re-book for a date any time between the date they start flyig again to your destination and the 31 May 2010. Therefore, if your destination is Heathrow and Qantas starts flying there again on 22 April, for example, you can re-book without charge for 22 April if space is available, or any date after that until 31 May. If you choose to re-book for a date later than 31 May, the regular fee applies, where applicable.

--

Maestro

I am having difficulty understanding your post. Qatar airways is not a partner airline of Qantas as far as I know.

My original post was trying to point out the fact that many, many of the stranded passengers on a whole host of different airlines will at some stage have to re-book their flights well into the month of May.

My point being that the Thai Immigration visa waiver offered until April 30th 2010 will be next to useless for many stranded passengers.

Why didn't they make a blanket waiver for all passengers who could prove earlier intended travel from April 15th onwards, to a European country which had been affected by airspace closure?

* As of now, the waive will apply till 30 April 2010

Reread key words AS OF NOW... subject to change by immigration.

[loelem]

So much for the overstay waiver. Friends of mine stuck in Bangkok because they cannot get to London Via Bombay went to the main office today & were charged 2000 baht, & told that after 4 days they have to pay 500 baht per day or do a border run. What the hel_l is going on? Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing or should we simply do the usual, throw our hands up and say This is Thailand?

This is a little concerning. Which main office did your friend go to and why did he go to a main office ? Was it an immigration office ?

I would expect someone who has a cancelled flight to next see an immigration officer when the flights eventually restart and they are leaving via the airport, these people will be well informed once the flights start and there are plenty of people turning up who were on cancelled flights.

Yesterday i went to Jomtien/Pattaya Imigration for extention. I have to pay 1900 Baht and whit me 200 other people.

Today i go back and ask why i have to pay when it is free. And then they say: we only know it from internet, we didnt get a letter from Goverment, so everyone have to pay.

And another 100 people paid today. I think Imigration in Pattaya is very very wrong

[Maestro]

I am having difficulty understanding your post. Qatar airways is not a partner airline of Qantas as far as I know...

Sorry, I wrote Qantas when I meant Qatar. My post was about Qatar, about the information on the Qatar web page to which you linked:

If one of your flights has been cancelled, you have the following options:-

1. Re-book onto another Qatar Airways flight using the same routing with a travel date until the 31st of May 2010.

...

Source: www.qatarairways.com/global/en/travel-alert-faq.html

--

Maestro

[ableguy]

When you think about it, with all the derisiveness that foreigners, including myself, say about Thailand, this really says:

1. Amazing Thailand

2. Someone has thought this out rationally and probably thought, this may bring these tourists back next time with better thoughts about the LOS.

I congratulate the Immigration Department on their forethought. It truly is a good decision and shows that someone is thinking.

Do nor understand why you are so carried away, any government with half a brain would do this, perhaps you are amazed that they did not take the opportunity to rip farangs off, if that is the case so am I.

[siamtraded]

So much for the overstay waiver. Friends of mine stuck in Bangkok because they cannot get to London Via Bombay went to the main office today & were charged 2000 baht, & told that after 4 days they have to pay 500 baht per day or do a border run. What the hel_l is going on? Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing or should we simply do the usual, throw our hands up and say This is Thailand?

Same in Phuket people are having to pay the overstay I though it was being wavered!?!

[Murf]

Any links for this story yet?

Looks like the praise for the Thai Immigration was premature!!!

It did sound too good to be true!

EDIT:

Just checking the immigration site, it still has the address and map location of the old place in Suan Plu... Why did i expect anything different?

Edited April 21, 2010 by Murf

[george]

No link yet, but it's confirmed.

[Murf]

Confirmed, but people are still getting charged for overstay...

If you are on overstay and have a flight to catch after being stranded for days, do you really want the hassle of arguing with an immigration official, who probably doesn't know about the waiver?

Any chance of contacting "Mr Big" again George and asking for a web site address where it is confirmed in Thai, to show any officials who are clueless to the fact?

Edited April 21, 2010 by Murf

[thaiphoon]

One offtopic post removed. Links to Bangkok Post are not permitted per forum rules.

[jackspratt]

Confirmed, but people are still getting charged for overstay...

If you are on overstay and have a flight to catch after being stranded for days, do you really want the hassle of arguing with an immigration official, who probably doesn't know about the waiver?

Besides the single incident quoted on this thread (London via India), of which we know little about the facts, can you provide a link/s to other instances of people being charged overstay at the moment?

[Murf]

So much for the overstay waiver. Friends of mine stuck in Bangkok because they cannot get to London Via Bombay went to the main office today & were charged 2000 baht, & told that after 4 days they have to pay 500 baht per day or do a border run. What the hel_l is going on? Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing or should we simply do the usual, throw our hands up and say This is Thailand?

Same in Phuket people are having to pay the overstay I though it was being wavered!?!

Just going from some of the posts in this thread...

[cbm826]

Dear mr. Administrator, this story, where ever you got it from is NOT true. I was just to the Cambodia border an had to pay a 6 day overstay fe regardless that I had proof of my ticket to leave on the 15th of April. You need to get your facts stratight and back it up with immigration web site reference.

AND IT NOT CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!

[Ritzo]

If it is "confirmed" then Thaivisa.com ought to provide the evidence.

Besed on the original thread, some people might have decided that a visa run was unnecessary. But, if there was no substance to the story, those same people will now finish up paying a lot more to clear immigration.

[syd barrett]

Dear mr. Administrator, this story, where ever you got it from is NOT true. I was just to the Cambodia border an had to pay a 6 day overstay fe regardless that I had proof of my ticket to leave on the 15th of April. You need to get your facts stratight and back it up with immigration web site reference.

AND IT NOT CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!

Why did you do a land visa-run?

Better to face Immigration at Bangkok Airport along with thousands of others on overstay and refuse to pay any overstay. They cannot jail everyone, it would receive the attention of the world's press.

Imagine the headline: "Thailand tourist jailed for visa overstay after spending one week sleeping on airport floor."

[ukrules]

I suspect that if your flight is cancelled and you get onto the replacement flight which is rebooked and show your original ticket / eticket then you won't have to pay - this is the way I read the original post.

As it's only intercontinental flights that have been cancelled I would imagine that they are only waiving the fee at the international airports and only when you board the flight which was originally cancelled, I doubt they have declared a free for all so people can extend their trips and take additional foreign trips to neighbouring countries.

[Ritzo]

Barrett - I don't think people who have been sleeping on floors would jeopardize their chance to get away by staging a "sit-in".... do you, really?

I think the point is; that Thaivisa.com has given 'mis-information' ( contrary to the spirit of the website ) and this is now costing people hard cash.

[syd barrett]

Barrett - I don't think people who have been sleeping on floors would jeopardize their chance to get away by staging a "sit-in".... do you, really?

I think the point is; that Thaivisa.com has given 'mis-information' ( contrary to the spirit of the website ) and this is now costing people hard cash.

It seems absolute common sense to me, that 'visa overstay' fees must of course continue to be paid at land borders.

The whole idea of a waiver of overstay fees until April 30th means that visa-runs are unnecessary and a waste of money.

People departing from Bangkok airport only have to prove visa overstay from April 15th onwards and proof of a previous cancelled ticket and will pass Immigration unhindered and without paying the 500 baht daily fee.

I don't think 'George' the #1 man on TV would have posted fiction.

However I do think that the April 30th deadline needs to be extended, as there is a backlog of passengers and a lot of full flights.

[jackspratt]

Dear mr. Administrator, this story, where ever you got it from is NOT true. I was just to the Cambodia border an had to pay a 6 day overstay fe regardless that I had proof of my ticket to leave on the 15th of April. You need to get your facts stratight and back it up with immigration web site reference.

AND IT NOT CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!

Ticket on the 15th April to go where?

[happy2]

Does "all immigration ports in Thailand" include land borders? I have a one year non o which expires 29th April and the current visa stamp expired on the 20th - I also have a ticket to UK for the 20th that I couldn't use. I'm now waitlisted to fly 28th, and if it gets confirmed I'm fairly sure the overstay would be waived at the airport, but if a seat doesn't come through before the end of this month I may need to reschedule my UK trip to late May due to other commitments.

If so, and I go to the border on 29th for a further 3 month stamp on the non o before it expires, how will border immigration treat the 9 days of overstay?

[Mario2008]

The notice from immigration:

Thai immigration to waive overstay fee for stranded foreigners

Thai Immigration Bureau has instructed all immigration ports in Thailand to waive fee for visa overstay for foreigner stranded in Thailand with proof of the following;

* flight details shown they are due to fly on flights which are disrupted by the airspace closure (Volcano Ash)

* visa stamp in passport expired on and after 15 April 2010

* As of now, the waive will apply till 30 April 2010

http://www.imm2.go.th/index.php

(Suv. Airport immigration webiste)

[ukrules]

* As of now, the waive will apply till 30 April 2010

This is completely inadequate, my rebooked flight is not until May the 18th and that was the first one available without upgrading my seat from economy.

I am tempted to upgrade it so maybe I can get the date moved.

I wonder if they realise or care that a large number of people will be here into May through no choice of their own.

[Mario2008]

It says "as of now", so they might extend it. I would also inquire with the airline. They will have some laison with immigration and might be able to help.