nomadic Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Excuse my late reply but i haven't seen the guy for a couple of days. He actually went through the airport, paid his 20k fine and returned the same day in thailand on a 30day on arrival stamp. According to him the whole immigration process to pay the fine took a couple of minutes, no questions asked. So much for your smart ass comments.. Show us a picture of your (I mean your buddy's) stamp or it didn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanLaew Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Excuse my late reply but i haven't seen the guy for a couple of days. He actually went through the airport, paid his 20k fine and returned the same day in thailand on a 30day on arrival stamp. According to him the whole immigration process to pay the fine took a couple of minutes, no questions asked. So much for your smart ass comments.. How to win friends and influence people.... So he dodged a bullet on this call, there's no need to denigrate the advice of honest punters that you solicited on behalf of a broke and dishonest 'buddy'. At least he appears to have come up with the money for an airfare this time which was an option that was suggested here. If he had gone his own 'economically challenged' route via land, the outcome would most likely have been otherwise. Thanks for acknowledging that his broke arse was saved by TV advice. Don't bother to post here for advice when he cops it next time, or the next... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a99az Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 From what I understand, if you are flat broke with out a Satang to your name (like that English beggar in Bangkok) no one will bother you, as they can't make any tea money. But I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 I suspect many people under long term detention at the IDC would have an issue with your above statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asiawatcher Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 More Thai sensibility... "... you will be jailed and deported until you can pay your fine and show a one way ticket back to your home country. " Cheap way home if they deport you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneyjed Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 As we are all aware,the annual positions as head of different Government departments always signals a supposed crackdown at this time of the year...so reports that overstayers were to be jailed if here for 45 days or longer is no surprise really!The only case so far to make news has been an American woman in Phuket who was jailed 2 weeks back..this may all calm down again after a month or so if it's like ever thing else in the past! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdenner Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 So he has 25k left, 20k for the fine, maybe 1,500 for the visa run, leaves him with 2,350 baht, I have heard some border check points want to see a minimum amount of cash on hand at the time of entry, so he might be allowed to leave and not be permitted to re-enter. I was always under the impression that anyone applying for a visitors visa on entry to Thailand had to produce a valid air ticket out of the country. OR does that only apply to those entering by air? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somtampet Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 A couple of months is 60 days,your mate is in deep shit.I would suggest he uses the little bit of money left,to buy food in the nick and a few tampons just in case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somtampet Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 A couple of months is 60 days,your mate is in deep shit.I would suggest he uses the little bit of money left,to buy food in the nick and a few tampons just in case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steady Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Go to jail do not pass go Steady on!. Whilst I don't agree with huge overstays I don't think it warrants jail time. Some of you really need to get off your high horses and start living! You must come up with some other punishment if you say it doesn't warrant jail time. Also why doesn't breaking the law warrant jail time? It does in every other country I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somtampet Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Excuse my late reply but i haven't seen the guy for a couple of days. He actually went through the airport, paid his 20k fine and returned the same day in thailand on a 30day on arrival stamp. According to him the whole immigration process to pay the fine took a couple of minutes, no questions asked. So much for your smart ass comments.. Would love to be proved wrong as the new law stated over 42 days and big trouble,but this is Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldgit Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 You must come up with some other punishment if you say it doesn't warrant jail time. Also why doesn't breaking the law warrant jail time? It does in every other country I know. Some crimes of course warrent a term of imprisonment, but most don't. I know of no countries that automatically detain visa overstays, do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 (edited) You must come up with some other punishment if you say it doesn't warrant jail time. Also why doesn't breaking the law warrant jail time? It does in every other country I know. Some crimes of course warrent a term of imprisonment, but most don't. I know of no countries that automatically detain visa overstays, do you? Sometimes depends on nationality and the situation as to how one is treated, but Bahrain, Kuwait, and other Gulf countries often detain people until deportation. They actively search for overstayers, but don't always get the results they want, so occasionally offer an amnesty period to encourage people to leave. Edited November 7, 2010 by beechguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 (edited) the best way will be they will fine him and deport him back to his own country who is reponsible for him. But deportation service is not free. First somebody would have to buy a ticket for him, directly back to his own country This is correct. Most foreign embassies will not pay for the ticket and you remain in the Immigration jail in Soi Suan Plu with all the Burmese waiting for some one to send you the money for a ticket. Some people have been there for years. The British Embassy will allow you to call anywhere in the world to get money using a VOIP phone but will not give you government funds. If you have no money to pay the overstay fine, you will be put in the Phathum Thani provincial jail to serve one day for each B200 of the fine, i.e. 100 days in this case. As stated above, you can also be sentenced to two years in jail in addition to the B20.000 fine, although there is no sign of this becoming the norm yet. Seems like the OP's friend did the sensible thing by leaving by air and was quite lucky. However, I can't see why he would want to come back to Thailand, if he has no job and no money. It would seem more sensible to beg for money for a ticket home from family or friends and go back there and look for a job. Jailing people for immigration offences doesn't serve much purpose, as several have suggested, but countries are getting more militant about their immigration laws. Thais are brutally caned and scarred for life for overstaying and working illegally in Singapore and Malaysia. If they overstay in farang countries, they are blacklisted which has the effect of blacklisting them from other farang countries too. If Thailand wants to enforce its immigration laws more strictly, the farang approach of blacklisting flagrant overstayers would be more effective than jail sentences or caning. The B20,000 maximum fine hasn't been increased for some years and should probably also be increased. Edited November 7, 2010 by Arkady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 I know of no countries that automatically detain visa overstays, do you? Some have been mentioned above. Try leaving India if on overstay and you'll find another, even at the airport you will be detained and you will miss your flight. Seems our OP's buddy did a run via the airport and got away with the 20k fine and slapped wrist. It's still not worth the risk, you could be the first to be jailed (there's always a first). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokay Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Broke in Thailand? Go home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombkk Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 A couple of years ago, a friend came to me as he had overstayed his visa for 2 years. He already had a ticket home. I took him to immigration (located at Suan Phlu ast the time), and he presented himself, got his fingers stamped and was asked to return one day before his flight. During the remaining week or so, he was officially released into my custody. (They said there was no flight risk, as he had come in voluntarily, already had the ticket home, and convinced them that he really wanted to go home, which was true). The day we returned to immigration, he was taken to court and sentenced to THB 3,000 and a night in jail. At the time, if you were "caught" at the airport, the maximum fine was THB 20,000 (I think), but if brought before a judge, the maximum fine was THB 3,000. Plus that minimum one day in jail, of course. He was then taken by police car to the airport where I met him and the escorting police officer with his baggage at check-in. I don't know whether this still works, i.e. reporting yourself to immigration and being sentenced to a much lower fine. Maybe the experts on this list know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dighambara Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 I agree with sentiments of a couple of others. I personally hope they lock your so-called "buddy" up. A 240 day overstay is considerably more than being "pretty broke the last couple of months" and not being able to afford a couple of thousand baht visa run. In fact that works out to being too broke for eight months. Amazing he managed to eat and have somewhere to sleep for that long but lo and behold he suddenly by some miracle has Bt25,000 left - so he can get another visa and then stick his fingers up to the Thai visa regulations again no doubt. It's not called Amazing Thailand for nothing. As soon as people like you so-called "buddy" start seeing life from behind bars for flagrant breaches of Thai laws the better. No wonder the rest of us get put through the hoops and regulations and fees are constantly being increased and/ or changed. As a direct result of people like your "buddy". This is the best post so far. Because a few idiots screw around, those of us who obey all the rules end up jumping thru hoops at Immigration. Although, I do know the other side of the coin and overstayed two weeks in 1968. In those days, Don Muang (Bangkok Airport) was outside of town. So I was held in custody (no handcuffs), missed my flight, taken to see the Judge in Bangkok, fined, Passport stamped to show my mistake and I was returned to the airport to await the next available flight. After eighteen hours of being in custody, I was quite happy to get on the plane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denissr Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Can I ask the "hang 'em high brigade" what does throwing somebody in jail actually achieve? I'm all for people abiding by the rules and I have no time for those who have such a disregard the Immigration Laws, but simply throwing people in jail for overstaying seems very vindictive to me. I believe the reason for punishment, is so people won't keep breaking the laws/rules. Someone correct me if I am wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13budgies Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 At the neck....just joking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelhammer Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Excuse my late reply but i haven't seen the guy for a couple of days. He actually went through the airport, paid his 20k fine and returned the same day in thailand on a 30day on arrival stamp. According to him the whole immigration process to pay the fine took a couple of minutes, no questions asked. So much for your smart ass comments.. Show us a picture of your (I mean your buddy's) stamp or it didn't happen. Exactly, I don't believe he could clear his overstay and got 30 days again without having any money to buy an air ticket. And 30 days you will get only by arriving at an International Airport. So where did he fly and returned the same day without money? Are you kidding us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunholidaysun1 Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 (edited) I agree, total hog-wash. If he only had 25k to start out with and had to pay 20k at the airport immigration , that only left him with 5k. Where did he go , with what airline and how long did he stay. Some local countries you cant enter without a visa , others have visa on arrival that you have to pay for and then theres the airport departure tax . Coming back on an international flight would get him a 30 day stamp true but the rest of the story I think is BS. Edited November 7, 2010 by sunholidaysun1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldgit Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 I believe the reason for punishment, is so people won't keep breaking the laws/rules. Someone correct me if I am wrong. You're correct. I'm not, and didn't say that immigration offenders shouldn't be punished, there are many way of punishing offenders, for example offenders could be fined 20,000 Baht, or even more, I am saying that the use of a custodial sentence is out of proportion to the offence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midas Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 Excuse my late reply but i haven't seen the guy for a couple of days. He actually went through the airport, paid his 20k fine and returned the same day in thailand on a 30day on arrival stamp. According to him the whole immigration process to pay the fine took a couple of minutes, no questions asked. So much for your smart ass comments.. And how long does he intend to overstay this time around ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneyjed Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) Well that's interesting to know ,so we should take it then that this is just the classic case of Thai immigration high command strutting their power around during the annual musical chairs 'change over' in order to look competent and in control..right or wrong or am I missing something here?..Is the bark bigger than the bite after all this fanfare..or has it after all just been rumour?A couple of minutes you said for your friend and 20.000 baht easy as that..and given a 30 dayer(issued the same day!)1000 lashes with a feather you'd probably describe it wouldn't you and the welcome mat out!!Ohhh I forgot it's Thailand isn't it!!!! Edited December 21, 2010 by sydneyjed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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