More than 100,000 foreigners staying illegally in Thailand

[webfact]

OVERSTAY IN PARADISE

More than 100,000 foreigners staying illegally in Thailand

Source: File photo

BANGKOK: -- Following the announcement that the authorities in Thailand are considering introducing a 500 Baht fee for foreigners entering the country, it has been estimated that there are now more than 100,000 foreign nationals currently staying in the country despite their visa having already expired.

According to a report in the Bangkok Post, discussions between officials from the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, and the Royal Thai Police, who had all agreed on the idea, want to use the 500 Baht fee scheme to help attract ‘quality’ tourists to Thailand and tackle the problem of foreigners staying in the country illegally.

After speaking to reporters about the scheme, the Minister for Public Health Mr Pradit Sintavanarong said "Now is the time for us to have quality tourists. It's not as if inbound tour operators won't organise tours for foreign tourists to come to the country because of the entry fees."

The money will also be used to provide additional funding for the government departments responsible for foreign affairs, health and tourism, and the Thai Immigration Bureau.

As well as boosting government funding, the money raised from the scheme will contribute to new measures that will ensure foreign visitors who enter Thailand will be unable to outstay their visa.

According to the Thai government, ‘illegal overtstaying’ poses genuine and significant problems for the authorities, who estimate that more than 100,000 foreigners are staying in the Land of Smiles on expired visas.

Following the announcement of the plans to introduce an entry fee to Thailand, the tourism industry hasn’t exactly responded favorably to the new ideas.

Sitdiwat Cheevarattanaporn, chairman of the Thai Travel Agents said the move could be harmful to what is a very lucrative holiday market.

Tourism has boomed in Thailand since the country first became a haven for backpackers in the 1970’s. According to the government, visitor figures for 2013 are set to be highest on record, with the number of current arrivals suggesting that tourism is already up more than 20% from 2012.

As for the people currently staying in Thailand after their visa has expired, if they are caught by the authorities they are immediately charged a penalty of 500 Baht per day up to a maximum of 20,000 Baht for staying the country illegally. More severe but not uncommon punishments can also include a jail sentence, deportation and possible blacklisting from ever being able to enter Thailand again.


-- 2013-10-22

[monkey4u]

500 baht per tourist,

Lets see all the greedy little piggy's sniffing out their share, so much for stopping corruption.

If the police and immigration did their job maybe the number of illegal overstays would be lower

[laurentbkk]

Just wonder where did they get those figures .. 100,000 foreigners illegal ... and how many illegals in European countries ? in the US ? this 500 baht will only be used to fill up some pockets of greedy politicians ... they call is government funding !

[Swiss1960]

... discussions between officials from the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, and the Royal Thai Police, who had all agreed on the idea, want to use the 500 Baht fee scheme to help attract ‘quality’ tourists to Thailand and tackle the problem of foreigners staying in the country illegally

soooo... everbody with 500 Baht in his pocket on entering the LOS is a quality tourist??? Will I get the 500 Baht back on leaving the LOS and this will encourage tourists not to overstay???

wish those officials would listen to their on BS...

[negreanu]

Excellent!

500THB would clearly sort out the "Quality" tourists from those em who only have 275thb?

That would be 2 extra LEO's in soi 6 to assist with the thai economy and flood prevention...

Edited October 22, 2013 by negreanu

[robblok]

Nobody here said 100.000 European / American / Australian foreigners I dare say it will be mostly people from neighboring countries.

[ratcatcher]

Presumably, this means that all persons re-entering the country after a "visa run" will be, as usual, classified as 'tourists' and be expected to pay B500?

[Andre0720]

... discussions between officials from the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, and the Royal Thai Police, who had all agreed on the idea, want to use the 500 Baht fee scheme to help attract ‘quality’ tourists to Thailand and tackle the problem of foreigners staying in the country illegally

soooo... everbody with 500 Baht in his pocket on entering the LOS is a quality tourist??? Will I get the 500 Baht back on leaving the LOS and this will encourage tourists not to overstay???

wish those officials would listen to their on BS...

At least they have turned it into something positive...

[FarangTalk]

There are millions of illegal workers in Thailand.

But they are slaves to the rich and corrupt here so will not be mentioned.

I would argue they are far more likely to commit crime and be a problem for the authorities than John Smith from England who has got a bit beery and carried away and overstayed his tourist visa for a couple of days.

[arthurboy]

The article implies that the 100,000 originally entered Thailand legally, possibly as tourists.

If so, how many 'illegal' fishermen, labourers, maids etc.from underdeveloped countries are also here? How many of those people have been trafficked, indentured, or enslaved? Who bought them here? Who are the Mr. Bigs? What are the authorities doing about this?

The telling point however are these gems, '...want to use the 500 Baht fee scheme to help attract ‘quality’ tourists to Thailand and tackle the problem of foreigners staying in the country illegally....The money will also be used to provide additional funding for the government departments responsible for foreign affairs, health and tourism, and the Thai Immigration Bureau.'

Ker ching...

[sawati]

At the end we are going to pay for the rice losses and the confiscated money form the guy in Dubai.Wait and see!

[sms747]

Hopeless, it should be 5.000 baht if they really want to attract quality tourists! Truth is they don't care who comes and goes, as long as they are getting cash out of them.

[Tatsujin]

They are counting asian migrant workers in this 100,000 total I assume . . . or is this another "fact" they've pulled out of their arse's?

[theblether]

If they want rid of farang overstayers, declare an amnesty for 90 days, then after that make the daily fine unlimited. There's people here that are happy to pay the 20,000 baht on exit and overstay by years. They judge the risk of being caught against the aggro of getting visas. If the fine was unlimited, they'd leave. The sane one's would anyway.

So instead of a policy to deal with this problem, they'll punish all the honest people with a 500 baht charge.

Absurd

[meatboy]

shouldnt this be moved to the bottom of the page in the community forums.

[robblok]

If they want rid of farang overstayers, declare an amnesty for 90 days, then after that make the daily fine unlimited. There's people here that are happy to pay the 20,000 baht on exit and overstay by years. They judge the risk of being caught against the aggro of getting visas. If the fine was unlimited, they'd leave. The sane one's would anyway.

So instead of a policy to deal with this problem, they'll punish all the honest people with a 500 baht charge.

Absurd

It is a sham, just like how they said before to levy money to pay for foreigners that stay in hospitals and don't pay their bill. So then the good guys ware paying for healthcare without entitlement to it. They are just looking for an excuse to rip the tourist even more off as already. Mind you there is already a departing tax in tickets before you had to pay that separate. So this is just an addition.

[gemini81]

So, minus Lao/Indo/Burmese, how many others are staying illegally? Oh really? Quite a low amount?

[jaffacakes1]

Seem to recall there was an airport departure tax in Thailand around 10 years ago ?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Katipo]

Nobody here said 100.000 European / American / Australian foreigners I dare say it will be mostly people from neighboring countries.

Agreed. Many of whom are brought over by Thai mafia/gangs (with Govt connections I would assume) to work illiegally here. They'll just add the 500 Baht to the 'debt' these migrant workers have to work off.

[trainman34014]

Nobody knows how many illegal immigrants there are in Thailand, and probably least of all the Government departments that are supposed to know. All the numbers presented by these twits are random figures they dream up to make a case for their next 'innovative' idea about how to extract more cash from visitors to this country.

[theblether]

If they want rid of farang overstayers, declare an amnesty for 90 days, then after that make the daily fine unlimited. There's people here that are happy to pay the 20,000 baht on exit and overstay by years. They judge the risk of being caught against the aggro of getting visas. If the fine was unlimited, they'd leave. The sane one's would anyway.

So instead of a policy to deal with this problem, they'll punish all the honest people with a 500 baht charge.

Absurd

It is a sham, just like how they said before to levy money to pay for foreigners that stay in hospitals and don't pay their bill. So then the good guys ware paying for healthcare without entitlement to it. They are just looking for an excuse to rip the tourist even more off as already. Mind you there is already a departing tax in tickets before you had to pay that separate. So this is just an addition.

I can see it's a sham, they've done nothing about the overstay problem.

[simple1]

Just wonder where did they get those figures .. 100,000 foreigners illegal ... and how many illegals in European countries ? in the US ? this 500 baht will only be used to fill up some pockets of greedy politicians ... they call is government funding !

Based upon the OP we are talking about visa overstay. As an example in the UK it is claimed there are approx. 150,000 visa over stayers identified at any one time. In Australia it’s approx 54,000 at any one time, with the majority being from Europe together with 1,000+ Thais.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23187320

http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/86overstayers-and-other-unlawful-non-citizens.htm

[Guest]

If they want rid of farang overstayers, declare an amnesty for 90 days, then after that make the daily fine unlimited. There's people here that are happy to pay the 20,000 baht on exit and overstay by years. They judge the risk of being caught against the aggro of getting visas. If the fine was unlimited, they'd leave. The sane one's would anyway.

So instead of a policy to deal with this problem, they'll punish all the honest people with a 500 baht charge.

Absurd

What a refreshing change...​Instead of the boringly predictable TV whatever...he is a very sound solution that would flush the toilet nicely for both sides.

The foreigners get a chance to make it all good with a fresh start, and the Government also gets a fresh start, as in...we gave you a chance to fix this...now the fines are unlimited.

The 20,000 cap was simply an invitation to say, If you intend to stay for years, do not want the visa run hassle, can do a bit of math to see where the break even point is...then of course...it is not "good person, bad person" ... it is "Can do math, can not do math."

What an easy and elegant solution, "theblehter", well done.

[jonclark]

Once again the classic Thai definition of quality = rich(er). Those who can afford to pay must be of better 'quality' as they are richer.

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by this rather simplistic and crude definition of 'quality' as it pervades most parts of Thai society; Fat Somchai buys (on credit?) the best 'quality phone, tablet, car, etc. which he can purchase, this now implies that Fat Somchai is now materially and socially superior to Thin Somchai who has last years model. And is more correct about all things worldly as he is clearly of better quality (aka class).

And that is what this boils down to social snobbery and greed, based on an archaic system of social steroetyping where your 'worth' is defined by how fat your wallet is.

The sad irony is those who are worthless aka the poor farmers, voted the people that maintain this system into power, on the promise that they would enrich them and make them part of the 'quality' system, or in other words - make them like Fat Somchai so they wouldn't have to be Thin Somchai anymore. And time and time again they buy it.

This concept is now being applied to Tourists. Expect this to become law.

[Pib]

Quality tourists and reducing overstayers through a 500 baht fee...the answer was so simple...I feel so stupid now. And just think, if the govt raises the fee to 1,000 they could also solve poverty in Thailand (they'll think of that next month). Better living through fees.

[Ricardo]

Perhaps the overstay-tourists are all waiting somewhere in-the-queue, to get to the Immigration-desk at their local office, to try to extend their stay ? My local office is way over-stretched !

And don't these tourists on overstay also contribute, like the Indian/Russian/Chinese budget-hordes, to the Thai economy, by eating/drinking/staying-somewhere ?

The simplest way, to cut the overstay-problem (if indeed it is a problem), is to give a 90-day Visa-On-Arrival !

[givenall]

Just a drop in a bucket compared to the number on illegal Thais in US

Sent from my ST25i using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Ulysses G.]

All the numbers presented by these twits are random figures they dream up to make a case for their next 'innovative' idea about how to extract more cash from visitors to this country.

They not looking for "quality" tourists by adding a another charge on top of visa fees. They are looking for STUPID tourists.

[Time Traveller]

So instead of a policy to deal with this problem, they'll punish all the honest people with a 500 baht charge.

It is a sham, just like how they said before to levy money to pay for foreigners that stay in hospitals and don't pay their bill. So then the good guys ware paying for healthcare without entitlement to it. They are just looking for an excuse to rip the tourist even more off as already.

These comments are precisely the problem with this government proposal. The problems with foreigners not paying hospital bill is only a very small minority, and hospitals can easily cope with those losses like any well run business allow for some customers that can't pay. Otherwise they need to change their own payment policy by charging up front.

Also robblok has a good point. It seems like they are just looking for any excuse to get legitimately get more money from 20 million tourists. If it wasn''t the hospital bills, they would justify by saying too many foreigners are committing crimes and clogging up the courts and police time. Or causing environmental degradation on beaches , or contributing to much traffic jams. It's always the vote winner to blame the foreigners

Edited October 22, 2013 by Time Traveller

[ezzra]

And how 500 baht, pray-tell, will prevent foreigners from over saying?

Would a 'bad quality foreigner /tourist' will be deterred from entering

the kingdom just because he has to pay 500 baht?