Overstay = Jail

[Daffy D]

Not the short time overstay, there's enough threads on that, more about the semi-residents that run out of money and have nowhere to go.

I'm thinking about those on retirement or marriage visa or having a business that whet bust. If you're on one of those visas and due to some unforeseen disaster don't have the required amount in the bank when your visa was due for renewal and your monthly income is also less than the required what happens to you?

You have enough income to live frugally so are not a down and out but have no friends or relations to bail you out.

I guess if your single you could go to a neighboring country that perhaps does not have such strict financial requirements but say you have wife and kids your small income would be needed by them so you would have nothing wherever you went.

So Immigration come and arrest you and put you in jail. You don't have the money to pay any fine so what happens?

Deportation? I doubt the Thai government would pay for your flight home, nor I'm guessing would the Embassy if you could not somehow repay the fare. They could just take you to the nearest land crossing and shove you through the barrier but with no visible means of support I doubt the neighboring country would let you in so you'd be left to wander in no-mans land for eternity.

Not much money no visa in jail - what would happen in such a situation?

[longstebe]

Don't they give you a house and a car with benefits?

[Tigs]

DaffyD

The rules at the Immigration detention center (IDC) are really simple, you stay there until you or somebody else you know pays for you to leave. There are people who have been in there for 4 months because they can't get the £100 needed to pay for the change of date on a flight, for which they have a valid ticket but for some reason or other missed the original scheduled flight. Some people have been held there for 14 months or more. The thing about the IDC is that your detention is 'indefinite'.

The Embassy cannot for obvious reasons pay for you. At £600 for a flight plus whatever else you owe Thai authorities the commitment would run to massive amounts of money for all the UK citizens that run in to trouble. What the embassy will do is chase up relatives or friends that you give contact details of and send a request from you to them for some money to get you out of there.

The detention center is far worse than some prisons. 30-50 in a single cell, very very hot and very basic food, the only thing in there being a toilet and floor, and being released for 1 hour twice a week. Whoever you are, try to avoid the route at all costs. Depending on your financial status you could be in there for 24 hours or for more than a year (or longer). My understanding is that lawyers and legal process have no place there at all. As an illegal in the country you are held until you pay to remove yourself from Thai soil. The bad news being you cannot scrape together the money to go to Laos or Vietnam etc, when you are deported you MUST be returned to your home country.

Hope this helps.

[Badbanker]

Firstly you and Tigs are misunderstanding a couple of things that I am going to correct for you. This is the Truth the Whole Truth so help me God!

With many people in Thailand, it is a struggle financially to stay here and they keep money aside to do visa runs as often as necessary. I did this for about 7 years.

Many others abuse the system by overstaying, and live a second rate life and just hope they don't get caught!

Overstay, and if as you surmise, your subsequent arrest/surrender, ALWAYS ends in a court hearing. Of the about 50 different cases that I can remember that I have been involved with in court there is a between 1,000 and 5,000 baht receipted fine paid to the court.

Nothing else! NO 20,000 baht fine for you!

Going to court cancels this requirement. If you do not have the between 1,000 and 5,000 baht fine and you are in Bangkok you will be sent to Pathumtani jail where 200 baht per day is deducted from the court imposed fine till it is negated. (5,000 baht fine =25 days) Then you will be returned to the Police Station that arrested you, who will in turn take you to the Immigration Detention Center (IDC)at Soi Suan Plu. Now Tigs seems to be saying the IDC is worse than a typical Thai jail! I have been to the IDC with 5 or 6 people transitioning from a Thai jail and all these people can say is the IDC is heaven as compared to where they have been.

At this time your embassy will be contacted and they will come and see you and check your nationality and passport. They will then try to arrange for a relative or friend to send money to them to arrange a ticket to fly you out of Thailand. Some embassies will lend to their nationals under certain conditions, some embassies would rather you die. If for some reason this cannot be arranged after a period of 6-12 months The Jesuit Refugee Service will normally come and arrange for your repatriation to your home country.

BB

[Tafia]

Don't they give you a house and a car with benefits?

Thats the UK !!

[BWPattaya]

I had a friend who came here with a huge amount of cash. When it was all gone he borrowed money from friends, even his Thai lawyer let him borrow 100,000 Bt. Then another 20,000 Bt. When he could not pay it back the police became involved and then found that he had overstayed for two tears. He was locked up, moved to another police lock-up, then the detention centre. His family in the UK didn't want to help. The British Embassy don't give away money. Eventually a relative sent to money for a flight and pay his fine. The family even had the cheek to ask why we didn't help him, despite the fact that we had provided him with money to pay for a flight but he spent it on beer. Some people just can't be helped.

[Badbanker]

This is a relatively common thing.

Boy arrives in Thailand and goes on a never ending bender and meets all sorts of nice people at bars that offer him all sorts of deals and it is just a matter of time laddie, before the money is gone and so is our laddie!

Many people seem to think because they can't read the laws and because of the relaxed attitude of many people to them that they don't exist. They do exist! Break enough of them and eventually they will really make a problem for you.

Sadly many people come to Thailand because they do not have any close family ties to speak of. This is a land of anonymity and people here like it that way.

BB

I had a friend who came here with a huge amount of cash. When it was all gone he borrowed money from friends, even his Thai lawyer let him borrow 100,000 Bt. Then another 20,000 Bt. When he could not pay it back the police became involved and then found that he had overstayed for two tears. He was locked up, moved to another police lock-up, then the detention centre. His family in the UK didn't want to help. The British Embassy don't give away money. Eventually a relative sent to money for a flight and pay his fine. The family even had the cheek to ask why we didn't help him, despite the fact that we had provided him with money to pay for a flight but he spent it on beer. Some people just can't be helped.